4
2486AAS–AVR–02/2013
ATmega8(L)
The Atmel
®
AVR
®
core combines a rich instruction set with 32 general purpose working registers.
All the 32 registers are directly connected to the Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU), allowing two inde-
pendent registers to be accessed in one single instruction executed in one clock cycle. The
resulting architecture is more code efficient while achieving throughputs up to ten times faster
than conventional CISC microcontrollers.
The ATmega8 provides the following features: 8 Kbytes of In-System Programmable Flash with
Read-While-Write capabilities, 512 bytes of EEPROM, 1 Kbyte of SRAM, 23 general purpose
I/O lines, 32 general purpose working registers, three flexible Timer/Counters with compare
modes, internal and external interrupts, a serial programmable USART, a byte oriented Two-
wire Serial Interface, a 6-channel ADC (eight channels in TQFP and QFN/MLF packages) with
10-bit accuracy, a programmable Watchdog Timer with Internal Oscillator, an SPI serial port,
and five software selectable power saving modes. The Idle mode stops the CPU while allowing
the SRAM, Timer/Counters, SPI port, and interrupt system to continue functioning. The Power-
down mode saves the register contents but freezes the Oscillator, disabling all other chip func-
tions until the next Interrupt or Hardware Reset. In Power-save mode, the asynchronous timer
continues to run, allowing the user to maintain a timer base while the rest of the device is sleep-
ing. The ADC Noise Reduction mode stops the CPU and all I/O modules except asynchronous
timer and ADC, to minimize switching noise during ADC conversions. In Standby mode, the
crystal/resonator Oscillator is running while the rest of the device is sleeping. This allows very
fast start-up combined with low-power consumption.
The device is manufactured using Atmel’s high density non-volatile memory technology. The
Flash Program memory can be reprogrammed In-System through an SPI serial interface, by a
conventional non-volatile memory programmer, or by an On-chip boot program running on the
AVR core. The boot program can use any interface to download the application program in the
Application Flash memory. Software in the Boot Flash Section will continue to run while the
Application Flash Section is updated, providing true Read-While-Write operation. By combining
an 8-bit RISC CPU with In-System Self-Programmable Flash on a monolithic chip, the Atmel
ATmega8 is a powerful microcontroller that provides a highly-flexible and cost-effective solution
to many embedded control applications.
The ATmega8 is supported with a full suite of program and system development tools, including
C compilers, macro assemblers, program simulators, and evaluation kits.
Disclaimer
Typical values contained in this datasheet are based on simulations and characterization of
other AVR microcontrollers manufactured on the same process technology. Minimum and Maxi-
mum values will be available after the device is characterized.
