AN 265: Using Altera MAX Series as Microcontroller I/O Expanders

ID 683386
Date 9/22/2014
Public

1.2.2. Functional Description of the Microcontroller I/O Expander

The I/O expander operates as a slave that sends and receives data from and to the microcontroller through the MCU port.
Table 3.  Operation Modes of the Microcontroller I/O ExpanderDuring read and write operations, set the MODE signal control pin to low.
Mode Description

Read

In read mode, the microcontroller receives the incoming data through the I/O expander.

  • The selected port (A, B, C, or D) becomes an input port and the MCU port becomes an output port.
  • When the RD and CS signals are low, the application enables the clock through the input data registers. On the rising edge of CLK, the I/O expander writes the data from the selected port to the input data registers.

Write

In write mode, the microcontroller transmits data out through the I/O expander.

  • The selected port (A, B, C, or D) becomes an output port and the MCU port becomes an input port.
  • When the WR and signals are low, the application enables the clock through the output registers. On the rising edge of the CLK signal, the I/O expander writes the data received at the MCU port to the output data register of the selected port.

Disabled

In this mode, the microcontroller cannot receive or transmit data through the I/O expander.

When WR or RD signal is high, the application disables the CLK through the I/O data registers.