CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 OVERVIEW

The past few years have seen a shift across institutions, organizations in the type of signage

used to deliver important messages to their students, staffs, audiences, including customers,

employees, partners. Businesses are moving away from those signboards or display made of

wood, plastic, paper, fabrics, metals with their message written with paints usually designed

by artist, printed signs to more dynamic, flexible, and customizable digital signs, often

referred to as digital signage, electronic billboards, or e-signage.

Institutions, marketing and advertising budgets are now being directed to this new electronic

medium. Institution and retail organizations are taking advantage of digital signage for proper

information dissemination and to promote products and services in their branches and stores,

and to create richer, more interactive experiences for their customers. Other industries,

including government, education, healthcare, sports, entertainment, and transportation, are

also implementing digital signage as a tool to enhance customers' and end users' experiences,

resulting in new uses of and demands on organizations infrastructures. Digital signage is a

relatively new form of advertising that allows companies to use electronic screens to

broadcast information, commercials, or anything else of their choosing to large amounts of

people. This kind of advertisement is spreading to different venues like wild fire. From malls

to restaurants to airports to post offices, digital signage is sweeping the advertising market.

But where did it all start? Digital signage was used in the 1970s in stores with VCRs and

televisions to attract customers but it was always on a closed circuit and everything was pre-

recorded. It wasnt until recent years that companies were able to display high quality content
that was supported by a broadband internet connection digital billboards and interactive

screens are relatively new. People and companies are just starting to realize the potential of

digital signage. This kind of advertising could revolutionize the consumer market in the span

of a few years. We have all seen the huge screens in places like Times Square and Las Vegas,

but now, they are everywhere, directing you in places that you may or may not want to go.

Even five years ago, this kind of advertising would have been too expensive considering

LCD and Plasma screens were either experimental technology or too costly to be worth the

investment. Now, thanks to the availability of high speed internet, a large digital signage

network has emerged on and around the internet. Many companies are now linked together

because they use this kind of signage. These networks are now developing new strategies

along with better digital signage software in order to maximize effectiveness and, ultimately,

profit. Now that LCD and Plasma screens have decreased in price, they are more affordable

now and the investment for businesses is more reasonable. Right now, Microsoft, Cisco, and

Google are all trying to chase the market because of the potential this market has to offer.

At the moment, Cisco has gotten a steady foot-hold on the digital signage market. They are

the ones who have created the device which allows for images and videos from the internet to

be directly imported into a large LCD or plasma screen. They have now eliminated the need

for costly computers and a lot of the security risks of using digital signage in airports and

retail stores [2].

The birth of microelectronics in 1960 led to the ability to compounding or packaging large

number of electrical devices such as diodes,transistors and many other switching passive and

active components like diodes, transistors, resistors etc is also known as integrated circuit. In

this project the microcontroller is used as the triggering circuit, it is an eighteen terminal
devices which can be programmed to perform varieties of functions. To understand the

operation of a microcontroller requires some knowledge of both the internal hardware

arrangement and the instruction set that it uses to carry out the program operation.

Fig 2.1: BLOCK DIAGRAM OF THE P.C CONTROLLED DIGITAL SIGNAGE

P.C Terminal Program:

This is the software program written to control the information that is sent to the display unit

(Hardware), it sends Hexadecimal data to the microcontroller through the serial port which

later sends it to the display unit.

Microcontroller Interface:

The microcontroller serves as an interface between the PC and the display unit. As stated

earlier, the microcontroller receives the information of what to display from the P.C through

the serial port using its internal Universal Asynchronous Receiver and Transmitter (UART)

features by which it communicates with the PC. It also receives the decoders information to

decode and translate to binary information for driving the LED drivers that causes the LED

display to display the required information in 5x7 matrix format (that is 5 column and 7 rows

per character).

Decoder/Demultiplexer:

Since the microcontroller does not have enough pins to drive the led matrix (35 LEDs), a

decoder/ demultiplexer is used to decode the few BCD (Binary Coded Digit) output of the

microcontroller into a 16-bit output in order to provide sufficient signals needed to drive the

LED matrix.

LED Column and Row Matrix Drivers:

These are used to drive the LED matrix display with enough current as the microcontroller

cannot drive the LEDs well enough.

LED Matrix Display :

This is the display section of the system. It displays the information that was entered through

the PC terminals program. LEDs arranged in matrix format are used to display this

information. The LEDs are arranged in 5x7 format (which is 5 columns and 7 rows per

character).
Power Supply:

It supplies power to various part of the system.

2.2 PIC 16F877A MICROCONTROLLER

The PIC16F877A CMOS FLASH-based 8-bit microcontroller is upward compatible with the

PIC16C5x, PIC12Cxxx and PIC16C7x devices. It features 200 ns instruction execution, 256

bytes of EEPROM data memory, self programming, an ICD, 2 Comparators, 5 channels of

10-bit Analog-to-Digital (A/D) converter, 2 capture/compare/PWM functions, a synchronous

serial port that can be configured as either 3-wire SPI or 2-wire I2C bus, and a USART.

Microchip PIC16F877A Microcontroller Features

High-Performance RISC CPU

Operating speed: 20 MHz, 200 ns instruction cycle

Operating voltage: 4.0-5.5V

Industrial temperature range (-40 to +85C)

14 Interrupt Sources

35 single-word instructions

All single-cycle instructions except for program branches (two-cycle)

Special Microcontroller Features

Flash Memory: 14.3 Kbytes (8192 words)

 Data SRAM: 368 bytes

Data EEPROM: 256 bytes

Self-reprogrammable under software control

In-Circuit Serial Programming via two pins (5V)

Watchdog Timer with on-chip RC oscillator

Programmable code protection

Power-saving Sleep mode

Selectable oscillator options

In-Circuit Debug via two pins

Peripheral Features of PIC16F877A Microcontroller

22 I/O pins; 3 I/O ports

Timer0: 8-bit timer/counter with 8-bit prescaler

Timer1: 16-bit timer/counter with prescaler

o Can be incremented during Sleep via external crystal/clock

Timer2: 8-bit timer/counter with 8-bit period register, prescaler and postscaler

Two Capture, Compare, PWM modules

o 16-bit Capture input; max resolution 12.5 ns

 o 16-bit Compare; max resolution 200 ns

o 10-bit PWM

Synchronous Serial Port with two modes:

o SPI Master

o I2C Master and Slave

USART/SCI with 9-bit address detection

Brown-out detection circuitry for Brown-Out Reset

Analog Features of PIC16F877A Microcontroller

10-bit, 5-channel A/D Converter

Brown-Out Reset

Analog Comparator module

o 2 analog comparators

o Programmable on-chip voltage reference module

o Programmable input multiplexing from device inputs and internal VREF

o Comparator outputs are externally accessible

Microchip PIC flash microcontroller with 14.2 KByte(8K Words)Flash, 368 Ram, 256

Eeprom, 20MHz, DIL28. This powerful (200 nanosecond instruction execution) yet easy-to-
program (only 35 single word instructions) CMOS FLASH-based 8-bit microcontroller packs

Microchip's powerful PIC architecture into an 28-pin package and is upwards compatible

with the PIC16C5X, PIC12CXXX and PIC16C7X devices. The PIC16F876A features 256

bytes of EEPROM data memory, self programming, an ICD, 2 Comparators, 5 channels of

10-bit Analog-to-Digital (A/D) converter, 2 capture/compare/PWM functions, the

synchronous serial port can be configured as either 3-wire Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI)

or the 2-wire Inter-Integrated Circuit (IC) bus and a Universal Asynchronous Receiver

Transmitter (USART). All of these features make it ideal for more advanced level A/D

applications in automotive, industrial, appliances and consumer application [2].

Fig 2.2 The PIC16F877A Microcontroller

2.3 LED DOT MATRIX DISPLAY UNIT

The LED dot matrix display is simply an arrangement of LEDs in a row and column

formation just like a basic mathematical matrix arrangement. The desired character is simply

formed by lighting the appropriate LED, which gives the display pattern. The construction of
the dot-matrix display is achieved by connecting each LED between horizontal and vertical

grid lines. These grid lines are actually connection paths. There are two different modes of

connection; they are common cathode connection and the common anode configuration

2.3.1 Common Cathode Connection

Here all the cathodes of the LEDs are connected to the same column path and the anodes are

connected together along the rows.

2.3.2 Common Anode Configuration

It involves connecting the anodes to the same column paths, and the cathodes along the rows.

The LED dot matrix display can also be characterized by their matrix size that is the number

LEDs on a row and on a column to form a particular character to be displayed. The most

popular size is the 5X7 matrix display, a character is formed by a matrix with 5 LED columns

having 7 LEDs on each row or 7 LED rows having 5 LEDs on each column.

2.4 74154 4-16 LINE DECODER/DEMULTIPLEXER

IC 74154 is a 4-16 line decoder, it takes the 4 line BCD input and selects respective output

one among the 16 output lines, it is active low output IC so when any output line is selected it

is indicated by active low signal, rest of the output lines will remain active high. This 4-line-

to-16-line decoder utilizes TTL circuitry to decode four binary-coded inputs into one of

sixteen mutually exclusive outputs when both the strobe inputs, G1 and G2, are low. The

demultiplexing function is performed by using the 4 input lines to address the output line,

passing data from one of the strobe inputs with the other strobe input low. When either strobe
input is high, all outputs are high. These demultiplexers are ideally suited for implementing

high-performance memory decoders.

Fig. 2.3: G. IC 74154 4-16 line decoder

All inputs are buffered and input clamping diodes are provided to minimize transmission-line

effects and thereby simplify system design.

2.5 SERIAL PORT COMMUNICATION

In computing, a serial port is a serial communication physical interface through which

information transfers in or out, one bit at a time (contrast to parallel port). Throughout most

of the history of personal computers, data transfer through serial ports connected the

computer to devices such as terminals and various peripherals.

While such interfaces as Ethernet, FireWire, and USB all send data as a serial stream, the

term "serial port" usually identifies hardware more or less compliant to the RS-232 standard,

intended to interface with a modem or with a similar communication device.

For its use in connecting peripheral devices, the serial port has largely been replaced by USB.

For networking, it has been replaced by Ethernet. For console use with terminals (and then

graphics) it was replaced long ago by MDA and then VGA. While nearly every server has a

serial port connector, most non-power user workstations and laptops do not have an

outwardly wired one as it is a legacy port, and superseded for most uses. Serial ports are

commonly still used in legacy applications such as industrial automation systems, scientific

analysis, and some industrial and consumer products. Network equipment (such as routers

and switches) often use serial console for configuration. Serial ports are still used in these

areas as they are simple, cheap and their console functions (RS-232) are highly standardized

and widespread.

The vast majority of computer systems have a serial port, however it must usually be wired

manually and sometimes there are no pins in the manufactured version

Fig.2.4: A male DE-9 connector used for a serial port on a PC

Some computers, such as the IBM PC, used an integrated circuit called a UART, that

converted characters to (and from) asynchronous serial form, and automatically looked after

the timing and framing of data. Very low-cost systems, such as some early home computers,

would instead use the CPU to send the data through an output pin, using the so-called bit-

banging technique.

Many personal computer motherboards still have at least one serial port. Small-form-factor

systems and laptops may omit RS-232 connector ports to conserve space, but the electronics

are still there. RS-232 has been standard for so long that the circuits needed to control a serial

port became very cheap and often exist on a single chip, sometimes also with circuitry for a

parallel port.

Early home computers often had proprietary serial ports with pinouts and voltage levels

incompatible with RS-232. Inter-operation with RS-232 devices may be impossible as the

serial port cannot withstand the voltage levels produced and may have other differences that

"lock in" the user to products of a particular manufacturer. Low-cost processors now allow

higher-speed, but more complex, serial communication standards such as USB and FireWire

to replace RS-232. These make it possible to connect devices that would not have operated

feasibly over slower serial connections, such as mass storage, sound, and video devices [3].

2.5.1 Common applications for serial ports

The RS-232 standard is used by many specialized and custom-built devices. This list includes

some of the more common devices that are connected to the serial port on a PC. Some of

these such as modems and serial mice are falling into disuse while others are readily

available.

Computer terminal
 Dial-up modems

Printers

Networking (Macintosh AppleTalk at 230.4kbit/s)

Serial Mice

GPS receivers (typically NMEA 0183 at 4800bit/s)

Satellite phones, low-speed satellite modems and other satellite based transceiver

devices

Microcontroller, EPROM and other programmers

Bar code scanners and other point of sale devices

LED and LCD text displays

2.6 RESISTOR

The resistor is an electronic component that limits or restricts the flow of electrons (current

carriers) in an electronic circuit. Various types, as well as sizes, are available commercially.

The values could either be inscribed on it or a system of color codes could be used. This

system uses four color bands. Three of the bands are closely spaced which shows the

resistance value while the fourth band is often gold or silver (though other exists like red,

brown and blacks) is the tolerance.

For the purpose of this project the fix resistor is used the output of the microcontroller

(PORTB) is connected to resistors which limit the current supplied to the transistors
(MOSFET) if the resistors are removed excess current will be drawn from the microcontroller

port these will cause the port to be permanently damaged.

2.7 CAPACITORS

These are electronic components that have the ability of storing energy in form of electric

field. Their ability to store or absorb electricity is called capacitance and it is measured in

Farads with other units as microfarads (F). The charging and discharging characteristics was

used in building oscillators while its smoothening ability was explored in filtering ripples

from the rectified AC in the power supply chain.

The capacitor in this project is used mainly to filter out ripples in the circuit and to stabilize

the operation of the microcontroller.

2.8 THE LIGHT EMITTING DIODE

A light emitting diode is a semiconductor device that emits incoherent narrow spectrum light

when electrically biased in the forward direction of the p-n junction.

As the name indicates it is a forward biased p-n junction which emits visible light when

energised , charge carrier recombination takes place when electrons from the N-side cross the

junction and recombine with the holes on the P-side. During recombination some of the

energy difference is given up in the form of heat and light ([Link]). If the semiconductor

material is translucent, light is emitted and the junction becomes a light source i.e. a light

emitting diode (LED). The colour of the emitted light depends on the type of material used

[3].

2.9 BRIEF HISTORY OF LEDS

A light-emitting-diode (LED) is a light source that emits light when an electrical current is

applied to it. Discovered in the early 20th century the technology has been greatly developed

and continues to advance through research and development. From early indicator lights with

low light output, with only one available color, to today's devises that emit visible, ultraviolet

or infra red light, with very high brightness.

The technology behind LED is based on semiconductor technology, which is also the basis of

modern computers. In the semiconductor diode, electrons are brought from a state of high

energy to a state of low energy state and this energy difference is emitted in the form of light,

the effect is called electroluminescence. Specific colors are associated with specialized

materials that are constructed to have an energy gap corresponding to light with particular

wave length or color.

The first known report of a light-emitting solid-state diode was made in 1907 by the British

experimenter H. J. Round of Marconi Labs when he noticed electroluminescence produced

from a crystal of silicon carbide while using a cat's-whisker detector.

2.9.1 APPLICATIONS OF LEDS

To choose light emitting diodes for a particular application, one or more of the following

points have to be considered wavelength of light emitted, input power required , output power

, efficiency,turn-on and turn-off time, mounting arrangement, light intensity and brightness

etc.

Since LEDs operate at voltage levels from 1.5Vto 3.3V, they are highly compatible with

solid-state circuitry.

Their uses include the following:

1. LEDs are used in burglar-alarm systems

2. for solid state video displays which are rapidly replacing cathode-ray tubes (CRT)
 3. In image sensing circuits used for picturephone

4. In data links and remote controllers

5. For numeric display in handheld or pocket calculators

6. In arrays of different types for displaying alphanumeric (letters and numbers) or

supplying input power to lasers or for entering information into optical computer

memories.

2.10 TRANSISTORS

In electronics, a transistor is a semiconductor device commonly used to amplify or switch

electronic signals. A transistor is made of a solid piece of a semiconductor material, with at

least three terminals for connection to an external circuit. A voltage or current applied to one

pair of the transistor's terminals changes the current flowing through another pair of

terminals. Because the controlled (output) power can be much larger than the controlling

(input) power, the transistor provides amplification of a signal. In the early days of transistor

circuit design, the bipolar junction transistor, or BJT, was the most commonly used transistor.

Even after MOSFETs became available, the BJT remained the transistor of choice for digital

and analog circuits because of their ease of manufacture and speed. However, desirable

properties of MOSFETs, such as their utility in low-power devices, have made them the

ubiquitous choice for use in digital The essential usefulness of a transistor comes from its

ability to use a small signal applied between one pair of its terminals to control a much larger

signal at another pair of terminals. This property is called "gain". A transistor can control its

output in proportion to the input signal; this is called an "amplifier". Or, the transistor can be

used to turn current on or off in a circuit like an electrically controlled "switch", where the

amount of current is determined by other circuit elements [4].