Abstract:
The present invention provides an electronic device consisting of a Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter (UART) having its transmit data output connected to a triggered timer and a computing means that computes the transmitted baud rate from the time measured by the timer for transmitting the known data byte.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
   This invention relates to automatic determination of baud rate in serial asynchronous interface circuits. In particular, it relates to a device and method for providing automatic baud rate detection in an efficient manner. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   Data communications is an essential part of a large number of electronic systems today. One of the most common data communication methods utilizes asynchronous serial data transfers in which the data is transferred serially one bit at a time without the help of a synchronizing clock and without incorporating an embedded clock in the serial data stream. This mode of data communication is particularly common in applications based on microcontrollers. The rate at which the bits are transferred is termed the baud rate. The timing for transmitting and receiving the data, is supplied by “Baud rate generators” that are provided separately at both the transmitting and the receiving ends. Correct communication requires the transmission baud rate and reception baud rates to be matched reasonably closely. Component tolerances lead to variations in actual baud rates achieved. This variation makes it necessary to have a mechanism that can determine the baud rate automatically and provide suitable corrective action. 
   Existing solutions for providing automatic baud rate detection utilize considerable external hardware to achieve automatic baud rate determination. U.S. Pat. No. 5,612,961 for instance, utilises a second communication device to verify the baud rate on the basis of transmitting and than receiving the same data byte. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The object of this invention is to provide an electronic device that is capable of automatic baud rate detection using the transmission of only a single known data byte, without the need for complex external hardware. 
   To achieve this object, the invention provides an electronic device consisting of a Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter (UART) having its transmit data output connected to a triggered timer and a computing means that computes the transmitted baud rate from the time measured by the timer for transmitting the known data byte. 
   Accordingly, the invention provides an electronic device providing asynchronous serial communication capability with efficient automatic baud rate detection, comprising:
         a Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter (UART),   a triggered Timer with Input-capture capability having its trigger input connected to the Transmit Data Output of the UART, and   a computation means for computing the baud rate from the time measured for transmitting at least one known data character.
 
The computation means is an embedded microcontroller containing firmware for computing the transmitted baud rate.
       

   Another embodiment of the invention provides a microcontroller providing asynchronous serial communication capability with efficient automatic baud rate detection, comprising:
         a Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter (UART) peripheral,   a peripheral Timer with Input-capture capability having its trigger input connected to the Receive Data input of the UART, and   firmware for computing the received baud rate from the time measured for receiving at least one known data character.       

   The invention also provides a method for providing asynchronous serial communication capability with efficient automatic baud rate detection, comprising the steps of:
         measuring the time for receiving at least one known data character, and   computing the received baud rate from the measured time.       

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings: 
       FIGS. 1(   a )-( c ) show preferred embodiments of the invention. 
       FIG. 2  shows an example of a known data byte used for the baud rate detection. 
       FIG. 3  shows a flow-chart of the preferred embodiment. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
   As shown in  FIG. 1(   a ), a preferred embodiment of the invention comprises a general-purpose 8-Bit microcontroller, which includes an SCI (Serial Communication Interface) and a 16-Bit in-built timer as an on chip component. The TDO (Transmit Data Output) pin of the SCI is connected with Input Capture pin of the timer. A constant power supply of 5V constant output is used for driving the micro controller. The embedded firmware in the microcontroller includes the algorithm to capture an active edge on the data port and compute the actual transmission baud rate. The complete transmitted data byte frame consists of 10 bits, including eight data bits, one start and one stop bit. The time taken for transmitting the data byte is captured with the help of the Input Capture feature of the timer. This data is then used to compute the actual baud rate. The actual baud rate achieved can be further compared with the expected to determine any deviation. 
   A first embodiment of the invention is shown in  FIG. 1(b)  and includes a Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter (UART) and a triggered Timer with Input-capture capability having its trigger input connected to the Transmit Data Output of the UART. 
   A second embodiment of the invention is shown in  FIG. 1(   c ) and includes a Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter (UART) peripheral and a peripheral Timer with Input-capture capability having its trigger input connected to the Receive Data input of the UART. 
     FIG. 2  shows one possible transmitted test data byte. The data byte of value “0x01” is received from the serial interface device at a baud rate ‘x’. In this example, the LSB is received first. The timer is driven by a clock “fcpu/2” which is derived from the main CPU clock. The Timer Input capture feature is configured to capture the contents of the counter at the each rising edge (LSB) of the bit sequence. In this example, the timer therefore captures the rising edges corresponding to the first and last bits of the data. These data values are correlated with the fcpu (CPU Clock frequency) to compute the actual time delay in transmitting the complete bit sequence and then determining the actual baud rate of the device. 
   One of two possibilities may arise in the calculation of the captured elapsed time. If the Timer Counter does not overflow during the elapsed interval (as shown in  FIG. 1 ), time is calculated simply as;
 
Capture Count=Capture2 time−Capture1 time
 
If, on the other hand, a counter overflow is generated then the time is given by
 
Capture Counter=(((0xffff−capture1)+capture2)+1)
 
Timer Frequency=fcpu/2=Ftimer
 
Time Required for Transmitting the byte=Capture Counter/Timer Frequency=Tbyte
 
Time required for transmitting a single bit=Tbyte/No. of data bits in the frame=Tbit
 
Actual baud rate=1/Tbit=Factual
 
If the selected baud rate is Fselected,
 
Deviation=Fselected−Factual
 
     FIG. 3  shows a flowchart describing the procedure for the measurement and determination of the actual baud rate as implemented on an ST72F63, an 8-Bit micro controller from ST Microelectronics comprising of SCI and Timer as on chip components. Serial Communication Interface (SCI) is configured at different possible baud rates (As given below in Table 1). Timer Input capture feature is configured as rising edge sensitive. Following mathematical data have been used.
 CPU Clock=8 MHZ Timer Clock=CPU Clock/2=4 MHZ Number of bits per data frame=8 
   The actual results obtained experimentally in one particular case are as shown in Table 1. 
   
     
       
             
           
             
             
             
           
             
             
             
           
         
             
               TABLE 1 
             
           
           
             
                 
             
             
               Actual Baud rate vs. Selected Baud rate 
             
           
        
         
             
               Selected Baud Rate 
               Actual Baud Rate 
               Deviation 
             
             
               Bits/sec 
               Bits/sec 
               % 
             
             
                 
             
           
        
         
             
               38400 
               38461 
               0.159 
             
             
               19200 
               19230 
               0.156 
             
             
               9600 
               9615 
               0.156 
             
             
               4800 
               4807 
               0.146 
             
             
               2400 
               2403 
               0.125 
             
             
               1200 
               1201 
               0.083 
             
             
               600 
               600 
               0.000 
             
             
                 
             
           
        
       
     
   
   It will be apparent to those with ordinary skill in the art that the foregoing is merely illustrative and is not intended to be exhaustive or limiting, having been presented by way of example only and that various modifications can be made within the scope of the above invention. 
   Accordingly, this invention is not to be considered limited to the specific examples chosen for purposes of disclosure, but rather to cover all changes and modifications, which do not constitute departures from the permissible scope of the present invention. The invention is therefore not limited by the description contained herein or by the drawings, but only by the claims.