There are a number of bits that the 80C320 considers vital to correct operation. If any of these bits were to be inadvertently changed by a runaway (crashed) CPU, system reliability could suffer. In order to insure that these bits are not accidentally modified, a "timed access protection system" was created to protect them.
Programming Tip: The "Timed Accessed" procedure explained in this page also applies to other Dallas Semiconductor high-speed microcontrollers.
The timed access protection system requires that the following instructions be executed immediately prior to modifying a protected bit (note that the Timed Access TA SFR is at C7h):
MOV TA,#0AAh
MOV TA,#55h
Executing these two instructions (in the specified order) opens a 3-cycle window during which a protected bit can be modified. If an attempt is made to modify a protected bit without these two instructions being executed immediately beforehand, the modification will not take effect.
For example, if you wish to enable the Watchdog by setting EWT (WDCON.1), you would need to execute the following code:
MOV TA,#0AAh
MOV TA,#55h
SETB WDCON.1
You can also use the MOV command. So the above example could also be written in the following manner:
MOV TA,#0AAh
MOV TA,#55h
MOV WDCON,#02h
It is very important to note that the following code would not work:
MOV TA,#0AAh
MOV TA,#55h
SETB WDCON.0 ;This instruction will take effect
SETB WDCON.1 ;This instruction will NOT take effect
The above code segment will not work because the timed access window opened by the first two instructions is only open for 3 instruction cycles. The first SETB instruction requires 2 cycles to execute, so the timed access window will be closed while the second SETB instruction is still executing-- thus it will not take effect. If you wish to set both WDCON.0 and WDCON.1, the most efficient way to do it is, again, with a MOV command. For example:
MOV TA,#0AAh
MOV TA,#55h
MOV WDCON,#03h
Protected Bits
The following bits are protected and, thus, you must execute the two MOV TA instructions before attempting to modify any of them:
