
ML51/ML54/ML56
Sep. 01, 2020
Page
340
of 719
Rev 2.00
ML
51
/ML
54
/ML
5
6 S
E
RI
E
S
TECHNI
CA
L
RE
F
E
R
E
NC
E
M
A
NU
A
L
ML51/M
L54
/M
L56
Series
Tec
hnical Reference
Manual
Interrupt Service
6.2.4.4
The interrupt flags are sampled every system clock cycle. In the same cycle, the sampled interrupts
are polled and their priority is resolved. If certain conditions are met then the hardware will execute an
internally generated LCALL instruction, which will vector the process to the appropriate interrupt vector
address. The conditions for generating the LCALL are,
1. An interrupt of equal or higher priority is not currently being serviced.
2. The current polling cycle is the last cycle of the instruction currently being executed.
3. The current instruction does not involve a write to any enabling or priority setting bits and is not a
RETI.
If any of these conditions are not met, then the LCALL will not be generated. The polling cycle is
repeated every system clock cycle. If an interrupt flag is active in one cycle but not responded to for
the above conditions are not met, if the flag is not still active when the blocking condition is removed,
the denied interrupt will not be serviced. This means that the interrupt flag, which was once active but
not serviced is not remembered. Every polling cycle is new.
The processor responds to a valid interrupt by executing an LCALL instruction to the appropriate
service routine. This action may or may not clear the flag, which caused the interrupt according to
different interrupt source. The hardware LCALL behaves exactly like the software LCALL instruction.
This instruction saves the Program Counter contents onto the Stack RAM but does not save the
Program Status Word (PSW). The PC is reloaded with the vector address of that interrupt, which
caused the LCALL. Execution continues from the vectored address until an RETI instruction is
executed. On execution of the RETI instruction, the processor pops the Stack and loads the PC with
the contents at the top of the stack. User should take care that the status of the stack. The processor
does not notice anything if the stack contents are modified and will proceed with execution from the
address put back into PC. Note that a simple RET instruction would perform exactly the same process
as a RETI instruction, but it would not inform the Interrupt controller that the interrupt service routine is
completed. RET would leave the controller still thinking that the service routine is underway, making
future interrupts impossible.
Interrupt Latency
6.2.4.5
The response time for each interrupt source depends on several factors, such as the nature of the
interrupt and the instruction underway. Each interrupt flags are polled and priority decoded each
system clock cycle. If a request is active and all three previous conditions are met, then the hardware
generated LCALL is executed. This LCALL itself takes 4 clock cycles to be completed. Thus, there is a
minimum reaction time of 5 clock cycles between the interrupt flag being set and the interrupt service
routine being executed.
A longer response time should be anticipated if any of the three conditions are not met. If a higher or
equal priority is being serviced, then the interrupt latency time obviously depends on the nature of the
service routine currently being executed. If the polling cycle is not the last clock cycle of the instruction
being executed, then an additional delay is introduced. The maximum response time (if no other
interrupt is currently being serviced or the new interrupt is of greater priority) occurs if the device is
performing a RETI, and then executes a longest 6-clock-cycle instruction as the next instruction. From
the time an interrupt source is activated (not detected), the longest reaction time is 16 clock cycles.
This period includes 5 clock cycles to complete RETI, 6 clock cycles to complete the longest
instruction, 1 clock cycle to detect the interrupt, and 4 clock cycles to complete the hardware LCALL to
the interrupt vector location.
Thus in a single-interrupt system the interrupt response time will always be more than 5 clock cycles
and not more than 16 clock cycles.