The I/O pins of the device are controlled by instances of the PORT peripheral registers. Each PORT instance has up to eight I/O pins. The PORTs are named PORTA, PORTB, PORTC, etc. Refer to the I/O Multiplexing and Considerations section to see which pins are controlled by what instance of PORT. The base addresses of the PORT instances and the corresponding Virtual PORT instances are listed in the Peripherals and Architecture section.
Each PORT pin has a corresponding bit in the Data Direction (PORTx.DIR) and Data Output Value (PORTx.OUT) registers to enable that pin as an output and to define the output state. For example, pin PA3 is controlled by DIR[3] and OUT[3] of the PORTA instance.
The input value of a PORT pin is synchronized to the Peripheral Clock (CLK_PER) and then made accessible as the data input value (PORTx.IN). The value of the pin can be read whether the pin is configured as input or output.
The PORT also supports asynchronous input sensing with interrupts and events for selectable pin change conditions. Asynchronous pin change sensing means that a pin change can trigger an interrupt and wake the device from sleep, including sleep modes where CLK_PER is stopped.
All pin functions are individually configurable per pin. The pins have hardware Read-Modify-Write functionality for a safe and correct change of the drive values and/or input and sense configuration.
The PORT pin configuration controls input and output selection of other device functions.