RM0090: Reference manual - STMicroelectronics

General-purpose timers (TIM2 to TIM5) RM0090
Using one timer as prescaler for another timer
For example, you can configure Timer 1 to act as a prescaler for Timer 2. Refer to
Figure 159 for connections. To do this:
● Configure Timer 1 master mode to send its Update Event (UEV) as trigger output
(MMS=010 in the TIM1_CR2 register). then it outputs a periodic signal on each counter
overflow.
● Configure the Timer 1 period (TIM1_ARR registers).
● Configure Timer 2 to get the input trigger from Timer 1 (TS=000 in the TIM2_SMCR
register).
● Configure Timer 2 in external clock mode 1 (SMS=111 in TIM2_SMCR register).
● Start Timer 2 by writing ‘1 in the CEN bit (TIM2_CR1 register).
● Start Timer 1 by writing ‘1 in the CEN bit (TIM1_CR1 register).
Starting 2 timers synchronously in response to an external trigger
In this example, we set the enable of timer 1 when its TI1 input rises, and the enable of
Timer 2 with the enable of Timer 1. Refer to Figure 159 for connections. To ensure the
counters are aligned, Timer 1 must be configured in Master/Slave mode (slave with respect
to TI1, master with respect to Timer 2):
● Configure Timer 1 master mode to send its Enable as trigger output (MMS=001 in the
TIM1_CR2 register).
● Configure Timer 1 slave mode to get the input trigger from TI1 (TS=100 in the
TIM1_SMCR register).
● Configure Timer 1 in trigger mode (SMS=110 in the TIM1_SMCR register).
● Configure the Timer 1 in Master/Slave mode by writing MSM=1 (TIM1_SMCR register).
● Configure Timer 2 to get the input trigger from Timer 1 (TS=000 in the TIM2_SMCR
register).
● Configure Timer 2 in trigger mode (SMS=110 in the TIM2_SMCR register).
When a rising edge occurs on TI1 (Timer 1), both counters starts counting synchronously on
the internal clock and both TIF flags are set.
Note: In this example both timers are initialized before starting (by setting their respective UG
bits). Both counters starts from 0, but you can easily insert an offset between them by
writing any of the counter registers (TIMx_CNT). You can see that the master/slave mode
insert a delay between CNT_EN and CK_PSC on timer 1.
453/1416 Doc ID 018909 Rev 3