World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology 39 2008
Remote Token Display System using
Microcontroller
Seint Seint Htwe, May Thwe Oo, and Hnin Lelt Win
 component selections for these designs.
Abstract—This paper describes microcontroller based remote
token display system. This system consists of two portions:
transmitter unit and receiver unit. The software and hardware designs
in both units will be accomplished using two PIC16F877A
microcontrollers. The information which is set with the control unit is
displayed on the large-sized display installed in the about 15m place
using the RS232 cable. The process programming for both units are
developed and written in PIC (Peripheral Interface Controller)
assembly language. This system informs the people about the token
number of something. This system is designed to construct using
with the components which can buy easily in the market, easy to use
and familiar with a person who interested in the electronic field. It is
easy to see display letters from the distant place. This paper describes
the design, construction, testing and result of a remote token display
device.
Keywords—PIC assembly language, Receiver unit, Serial
transmission, Transmitter unit.
I. INTRODUCTION
P EOPLE have always looked for ways to add convenience
and comfort to their lives. Displaying is one way that this
has been achieved. It adds comfort by seeing from distant
place people the creating information displays and is
convenient because of being its long distance serial
communication. The remote token display system can be
divided into two main portions: the transmitter unit and the
receiver unit. Each unit consists of two main parts; hardware
and software implementations.
The PIC microcontrollers can be used as the brain to control
a large variety of products. The software and hardware
designs in both units will be accomplished using the two
PIC16F877A microcontrollers. This chip was chosen for
reasons of speed, digital ports ability, memory storage, and
number of I/O (input or output) ports. This system has been
developed which allows for keypad design, display design and
serial communication design based on two PIC chips and
Manuscript received March 24, 2008. This work was supported in part by
the Ministry of Science and Technology, Union of Myanmar.
Miss Seint Seint Htwe is with the Mandalay Technological University,
Mandalay, Myanmar. Contact Phone: Fax: 095-2-88702 (Office,MTU), (e-
mail: seintseinthtwe@gmail.com).
Miss May Thwe Oo is with the Mandalay Technological University,
Mandalay, Myanmar. Contact Phone: Fax: 095-2-88702 (Office,MTU), (e-
mail: maythweoomtu@gmail.com).
Miss Hnin Lelt Win is with Mandalay Technological University,
Mandalay, Myanmar. Contact Phone: Fax: 095-2-88702 (Office,MTU), (e-
mail: hninleltwin@gmail.com).
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One PIC16F877A microcontroller is used by consideration
of the communication functions to send data to the receiver
unit from the transmitter unit and the number of the input-
output ports. Another PIC16F877A microcontroller is to
receive the data from the transmitter unit and display control
of them. The asynchronous communication function of
PIC16F877A microcontroller is used for this research work.
In order to connect a microcontroller with serial port to
another microcontroller, it is needed to adjust the level of the
signals so that the serial asynchronous communication can
take place.
Typically, the PIC microcontroller serial port is used with
an RS232 transmitter/receiver to provide a serial
communication link to another unit. This communication
provides serial asynchronous data transfer over two lines such
as Tx for transmitting and Rx for receiving within 15m range.
Besides voltage level of the RS232 line interface, MAX232
has a role to adjust signal levels in the microcontroller side,
format and transfer rate. The way to transfer data between the
microcontroller and other microcontroller is via RS232
communication port. There are multiplexing group LED and
five numbers of seven-segment LED displays, scanning a
fifteen-keypad. Communications interface modules are often
integrated into the controller and can therefore be seen as
controller components.
The small-sized transmitter unit predicts to display the input
digit number using five small-sized seven-segment LEDs and
three LEDs which display a selected group character. The
information which is set with the control unit is displayed on
the large-sized display installed in the about 15m using the
RS232 cable. About ±9V from the transmitter unit is used for
signal voltage on the connection cable with the receiver unit
and the long distance transmission is possible comparatively.
Actually, it is possible to use for any more distance. It
depends on the condition of the cable.
The large-sized receiver unit also predicts to display the
output digit numbers using five large-sized seven-segment
LEDs and three group characters using only one LED matrix.
The token number is displayed by the large-sized seven-
segment Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs). The group display
LED matrix can be expressed the three characters. A group is
displayed as the letter by the combination of the LEDs. The
LEDs which corresponds to the character in the transmitter
unit is lit up. This system is used to display the numbers such
as 0 to 99999 which corresponding a group character such as
 World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology 39 2008

A to C that is being known the people.

In this research, the hardware controlling programs which
are the key scan process, displays process, transmitting and
receiving process programming for both units are developed
and written in PIC assembly language. Program writing is a
special field of work with microcontrollers and is called
“programming”. After the program is written, install the
microcontroller into a device and run it. In order to does this
measurement circuit need to add a few more external
components necessary for its work. Based on its clocks
microcontroller executes instruction of a program.
This research consists of three parts: one for the designing
of hardware and software for this system, two for construction
of hardware circuit including interfacing circuit and other for
testing how to control the process by using microcontrollers.
This research is based on two PIC16F877A microcontrollers
for keypad, displays and serial interface.

II. REMOTE TOKEN DISPLAY CIRCUIT DESIGN Fig. 1 Block diagram of the remote display system
The remote token display system with serial interface is
designed into two main parts: the transmitter unit and the A. Transmitter Circuit Design
receiver unit. This system is electronically controlled by the
In the transmitter unit, it consists of two parts: hardware
two units, which consist of hardware and software
and software implementations. The hardware implementation
implementations. This system can be used for displaying at the
is designed with one PIC16F877A microcontroller, one
transmitter unit, sending data from the transmitter unit to the
MAX232, one 74LS154 decoder, one 7805 regulator, five
receiver unit and displaying at the receiver unit as shown in
small-sized seven-segment LEDs, three LEDs, fifteen
Fig. 1. Many choices had to be made during the design to
switches, fifteen switching diodes, five 2SA1015 transistors,
insure that all parts would interact correctly and efficiently.
4MHz crystal, resistors and capacitors.

Fig. 2 Circuit diagram of the transmitter unit

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 World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology 39 2008
Fig. 2 describes circuit diagram of the transmitter unit. The
seven-segment LEDs which use in this circuit are common
anode type. The serial cable of the D9 connector is used for
the connection between the transmitter unit and the receiver
unit. The female connector is used for the side of the
transmitter unit.
An LED for group display and five seven-segment LEDs
are used for the input numbers. These LEDs are controlled
one by one in the order by PIC16F877A microcontroller. The
control port RA5 from RA0 of PIC microcontroller is decided
lighting-up possible condition for LEDs. The condition of
RB6 from RB0 decides a lit segment.
PIC microcontroller scans a switch in the order and detects
a pushed switch. Four-to-sixteen decoder is used to specify
the switch to scan. This decoder develops the binary signal of
four bits and makes a corresponding signal port in sixteen
kinds of signals a low level. The detection of the switch
operation is done in RC4. A transmission speed is calculated
by 4MHz. Because of being the long distance serial
transmission, MAX232 IC is used.
In software implementation, the transmitter circuit is
controlled by using PIC16F877A microcontroller. In this
circuit, the program is written to display in the transmitter unit
and then transmit the serial data to the receiver unit via RS232
cable. Fig. 3 presents software flowchart of programming
process for the transmitter unit.
Fig. 3 Software flowchart of programming process for
the transmitter unit
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Instruction is executed from zero addresses of the program
memory when the power ON of the PIC is made. When there
is interruption processing, processing is begun from the
address four. It makes each processing jump with the GOTO
instruction.
In the software, two kinds of interruption are used. They are
interruption by the time-out of TMR0 and the interruption
when the transmit data setting buffer (TXREG) becomes
empty. The interruption of TMR0 is identified by the T0IF bit
of the INTCON register and transmission buffer interruption
is identified by the TXIF bit of the PIR1 register. The user
made display the letter of "E" in the first digit of the LED
when the interruption which does not correspond to two kinds
of above-mentioned interruption occurred. This processing is
hardly executed.
As for the LED control, one digit is processed every time it
does 2ms interruption. Because there are six kinds of LEDs, it
takes 12ms to control all LEDs. So, each digit does the
operation which lights up only in the 2ms every 12ms. When
controlling at this speed, at the eyes of the human being, it
seems to light up continuously with the afterimage. The
control of the LED is done in order of each LED.
The key scan processing is continuously done by the LED
control. The condition of one key is checked every time it
interrupts. The order of the checking is from SW1. Because
there are fifteen-keys in all, they need in the 30ms to check all
keys. A data transmission to the receiver unit is done by data
send process. This process is started by the transmission
buffer interruption by the TXIF bit of the PIR1 register. By
this way, the transmitter unit is designed.
B. Receiver Circuit Design
In the receiver circuit, it consists of two parts: hardware and
software implementation. The hardware implementation is
designed with one PIC16F877A microcontroller, one
MAX232, one 74LS154 decoder, one 7805 regulator, five
74LS273 latch registers, five large-sized seven-segment
LEDs, LED matrix, 2SA1015 transistors, 2SC1815
transistors, LEDs, 4MHz crystal, resistors and capacitors. The
seven-segment LEDs which use in this circuit are common
cathode type. The power of the receiver unit is supplied from
the transmitter unit. The male connector is used for the
receiver unit. Fig. 4 presents the circuit diagram of the
receiver unit of the remote token display system.
The display data is hold by latch register, 74LS273. One
74LS273 is used to control one seven-segment LED. A group
character is one character but is displayed by the LED matrix.
Because the direct control by PIC microcontroller is difficult,
a control signal is developed from the four-bit signal of PIC
microcontroller to the decoder IC. The character to display is
three kinds. The character is controlled by RB5, RB6 and RB7
of PIC. It decides a displaying character pattern in the LED
matrix and it decides the combination of these diodes every
LED. Because of being the long distance transmission,
MAX232 IC is used in this circuit. A transmission speed is
calculated by 4MHz.
World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology 39 2008

Fig. 4 Circuit diagram of the receiver unit

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 World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology 39 2008
Software implementation is designed by using PIC16F877A
microcontroller. The receiving data from the transmitter unit
and displaying control of them are done by microcontroller.
Fig. 5 describes software flowchart of programming process
for the receiver unit.
Fig. 5 Software flowchart of programming process for
the receiver unit
When making the power ON of the PIC, the instruction is
executed from zero address of the program memory. When
there is interruption processing, processing is began for the
address four. The initialization processing is done after
turning on. In Port mode initializing, the PORTB is used for
the group specification and the display digit specification for
the seven-segment LED. In the interruption process, two kinds
of interruptions are used. They are interruption by the time-out
of TMR0 and the interruption when the data is received. The
interruption of TMR0 is identified by the TOIF bit of the
INTCON register and the data receive interruption is
identified by the RCIF bit.
As for the control of the group display, one row is done
every time it interrupts in the two milliseconds. The data
receive process makes the data receiving from the transmitter
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unit. This process is started by the data receive interruption by
the Receive Interrupt Flag (RCIF) bit of the PIR1 register. In
number information control and latch timing control, seven
segment display control is described. The counter is to decide
control contents. This counter is increased every two
milliseconds. By this way, the receiver unit is designed.
C. RS232 Interface
The RS232 interface is used as the connector between the
transmitter unit and receiver unit. RS232 cable for this circuit
is designed for serial transmission of data to 9600bps for a
distance of approximately 15m. The voltage of the RS232
cable (about ±9V) can be made only with +5V power. RS232
is the most known serial port used in transmitting the data in
communication and interface. RS232 is the communication
line which enables the data transmission by only using
through wire links. The data is transmitted serially. Serial
transmission is used for long distance communication.
Fig. 6 TTL/CMOS serial logic waveform
Fig. 6 shows TTL/CMOS serial logic waveform. The serial
data format is NRZ format, one start bit, eight data bit and one
stop bit. It was decided to use asynchronous serial
transmission from the PIC of the transmitter unit to the
receiver unit. When doing a data communication, the
condition of "0" and "1" to have let out from the side of the
sending it must be able to be recognized in the receiving side.
The RX port is used for receiving and the TX port is used for
the transmission.
III. CONSTRUCTION
The remote token display device consists of two parts: the
transmitter circuit and the receiver circuit. Two PIC16F877A
microcontrollers for overall remote token display system are
used by asynchronous communication functions to send data
to the receiver unit from the transmitter unit and the number of
the I/O ports. MPLAB software is used for the PIC assembly
programming. The PIC software is loaded onto the PIC before
any of the following tests are performed.
Firstly, PCB (Printed Circuit Board) layout is drawn for the
transmitter circuit and then is constructed it. The transmitter
unit for the system is made up of several components. It
contains a PIC16F877A to handle input or output ports and
the out coming information from the transmitter unit. Fig. 7
shows its construction which controls a transmitter unit.
In this circuit, the IC sockets for the pin side of ICs are
mounted. There are wires which pass under the components.
In this case, the wiring is done before mounting components.
The step-down transformer is used to change from the AC
220V to the 12V. Ten digit keys, three group keys, one send
key and one clear key are mounted in the order. In this circuit,
 World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology 39 2008
the first row is for SW1 to SW5 and the second row is for
SW6 to SW10 and the third row is for SW11 to SW15. So
when connecting with the display receiver, confirmation by
the circuit tester is needed.
Fig. 7 Transmitter circuit construction
Fig. 8 Receiver circuit construction
The Fig. 8 shows the receiver portion of the remote token
display system. As the transmitter circuit, PCB layout for the
receiver circuit is drawn. Because the receiver circuit is large,
it is composed of more than one sheet of printed boards. In
this circuit, there is much wiring. PIC16F877A is used for the
receiver controller. The left side of the receiver display is the
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part which displays the character of the group. This is in the
condition that the receiver unit is complete. After the
transmitter circuit and the receiver circuit have been
constructed completely, the RS232 cable with 15m length is
connected between them. In the next section, it is described
how to test this device successfully.
IV. TESTING AND RESULT
The following tests will allow an individual to determine if
the constraints of the design have been met. The tests consist
of a procedure for performing the test and the expected results
of the test. If the expected and measured values agree then the
design has met the constraints.
For transmitter unit section, the transmitter circuit is a small
sized simple circuit. The A, B and C characters are
represented by using red LED, white LED and green LED. A
selected group character is displayed only one LED. The input
red number 0 to 99999 using small-sized seven-segment LEDs
are counted with one of characters A, B and C.
When the user want to display the A character and the
number 73678, he must push SW7, SW3, SW6, SW7, SW8
and SW11 and then display at transmitter circuit. After that
this data is sent from the transmitter circuit to the receiver
circuit by using SW14.
Fig. 9 Measuring of transmit signal level by using oscilloscope
Fig. 9 shows the data transmitting signal waveform by
using an oscilloscope. This signal waveform is measured from
MAX232 output pin of the transmitter circuit. This voltage
level is -9V for the data that is sent to the receiver circuit.
RS232 cable is the communication line which enables the data
transmission by only using through wire links for a distance of
15m.
For receiver unit test, the large sized receiver circuit can be
used to inform the people from distance place. The supply
voltage of the receiver circuit is supplied from the transmitter
circuit. Before the power supply is on, the data is not being
sent from the transmitter circuit to the receiver circuit. This
signal level is measured from MAX232 IC input pin of the
receiver unit. This voltage level is -9V for the data that is sent
 World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology 39 2008
from the transmitter unit. This information displays at the
receiver circuit. The LEDs which are arranged like a matrix is
used for the character display such as A to C. The digit
numbers such as 0 to 99999 is displayed by using five
numbers of large-sized seven-segment LEDs using only red
color.
Transmitter displaying is clear when SW15 is pushed. But
displaying of receiver circuit continues. When the clear data
from transmitter circuit is sent by using SW14, the receiver
displaying is clear, too. The user is ready to use this device for
next choice. This is testing of the PIC based remote token
display system successfully as shown in Fig. 10.
Fig.10 Testing of the remote token display device
V. CONCLUSION
At the conclusion of this research, the remote token display
system successfully works. This instrument performs the
display functions and operation counting of one group. This
system is designed for English language capital letters and
numbers. This research is not only applied for the educational
aid for the beginner to learn the design, programming and
development of the applications which use the PIC but also
applied for displaying the number in many fields such as
clinic, bank, financial institutions, interviewing committees to
call the candidates and so on. This system can be widely used
in many fields that need to give information to partners. This
instrument is more account, easy and seen visual information
with digit system.
Its main limitations are its use of three alphabets such as A,
B, and C and five digit numbers from 0 to 99999. The cable
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with 15m length is used in this system.
In the future work, the other cables better than RS232 cable
can be used for more distance between two units. To extend
seven-segment LED for number displays, not only five digits
but also other more digits can be designed. To extend LED
matrix for group displays, not only A, B, C but also other
characters can be created.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Firstly the authors would like to thank their parents for their
best wishes to join the Ph.D research. The authors would like
to express the heart-felt gratitude to Dr. Maung Maung Latt
for his leadership and advice, U Clement Saldanha for
guidance in their research and Dr. Yin Mon Myint and Dr.
Nay Win Zaw for suggestions on how to design the remote
token display system. The authors greatly express their thanks
to all persons who will concern to support in preparing this
paper.
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