not reflect the registers of the 32-bit counter. Writing to any of the slave registers will not affect the
32-bit counter. Normal access to the slave COUNT and CCx registers is not allowed.
35.6.2.5. Counter Operations
Depending on the mode of operation, the counter is cleared, reloaded, incremented, or decremented at
each TC clock input (CLK_TC_CNT). A counter clear or reload marks the end of the current counter cycle
and the start of a new one.
The counting direction is set by the Direction bit in the Control B register (CTRLB.DIR). If this bit is zero
the counter is counting up, and counting down if CTRLB.DIR=1. The counter will count up or down for
each tick (clock or event) until it reaches TOP or ZERO. When it is counting up and TOP is reached, the
counter will be set to zero at the next tick (overflow) and the Overflow Interrupt Flag in the Interrupt Flag
Status and Clear register (INTFLAG.OVF) will be set. When it is counting down, the counter is reloaded
with the TOP value when ZERO is reached (underflow), and INTFLAG.OVF is set.
INTFLAG.OVF can be used to trigger an interrupt, a DMA request, or an event. An overflow/underflow
occurrence (i.e. a compare match with TOP/ZERO) will stop counting if the One-Shot bit in the Control B
register is set (CTRLBSET.ONESHOT).
It is possible to change the counter value (by writing directly in the COUNT register) even when the
counter is running. When starting the TC, the COUNT value will be either ZERO or TOP (depending on
the counting direction set by CTRLBSET.DIR or CTRLBCLR.DIR), unless a different value has been
written to it, or the TC has been stopped at a value other than ZERO. The write access has higher priority
than count, clear, or reload. The direction of the counter can also be changed during normal operation.
See also the figure below.
Figure 35-3. Counter Operation
DIR
COUNT
MAX
"reload" update
TOP
COUNT written
Direction Change
Period (T)
ZERO
"clear" update
Due to asynchronous clock domains, the internal counter settings are written when the synchronization is
complete. Normal operation must be used when using the counter as timer base for the capture channels.
Stop Command and Event Action
A Stop command can be issued from software by using Command bits in the Control B Set register
(CTRLBSET.CMD = 0x2, STOP). When a Stop is detected while the counter is running, the counter will
be loaded with the starting value (ZERO or TOP, depending on direction set by CTRLBSET.DIR or
CTRLBCLR.DIR). All waveforms are cleared and the Stop bit in the Status register is set
(STATUS.STOP).
Atmel SAM L22G / L22J / L22N [DATASHEET]
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