NXP Semiconductors
UM10301
User Manual for PCF85x3, PCF85x63, PCA8565, PCF2123, and
PCA21125
UM10301
All information provided in this document is subject to legal disclaimers.
© NXP Semiconductors N.V. 2015. All rights reserved.
User manual
Rev. 2.1 — 23 July 2015
43 of 54
17. First period inaccuracy when using the timer
This chapter describes why the programmed delay is not always exactly as expected and
what to do in order to be as accurate as possible. The enable instruction for the timer is
generated by the I
2
C or SPI interface clock. This clock is asynchronous to the timer
source clock. The timer source clock is derived from the 32.768 kHz crystal frequency.
The consequences will be described here.
The RTCs for which this user manual was written include a countdown timer function,
except PCF8583 and PCF8593. The 8-bit countdown timer is controlled by the timer
control register. The timer control register determines one of 4 source clock frequencies
for the timer (4096 Hz, 64 Hz, 1 Hz or 1/60 Hz), and enables or disables the timer.
Table 10. Timer delays
Range of possible timer delays dependent on selected source clock frequency and n
Timer Source clock frequency
[1]
delay for n = 1
delay for n = 255
4096 Hz
244 μs
62.256 ms
64 Hz
15.625 ms
3.984 s
1 Hz
1 s
255 s
1/60 Hz
60 s
4 hrs 15 min
[1]
If the timer is not used, set source clock frequency to 1/60 Hz for power saving
Remark:
Note that all timings which are generated from the 32.768 kHz oscillator are
based on the assumption that there is 0 ppm deviation. Deviation in oscillator frequency
will result in deviation in timings.
In the example it is assumed that the timer flag is cleared before the next countdown period expires
and that the
INT
is set to pulsed mode
Fig 20. General countdown timer behaviour