SN74HC165N

The SN74HC165N is an 8-bit parallel-load or serial-in shift registers with complementary serial outputs available from the last stage. When the parallel load (PL) input is LOW, parallel data from the D0 to D7 inputs are loaded into the register asynchronously. When PL is HIGH, data enters the register serially at the Ds input and shifts one place to the right (Q0 → Q1 → Q2, etc.) with each positive-going clock transition. This feature allows parallel-to-serial converter expansion by tying the Q7 output to the DS input of the succeeding stage.

Breadboard Schematic

The following image shows 10 pushbuttons wired to two SN74HC165N input shift registers. Note that the 6 unused input pins are grounded.

(Also the pins 16 on each SN74HC165N [top left pins] must both be connected to +5V)

Code

The following code demonstrates reading in 16 digital states from a pair of daisy-chained SN74HC165N shift registers while using only 4 digital pins on the Arduino.

/*
 * SN74HC165N_shift_reg
 *
 * Program to shift in the bit values from a SN74HC165N 8-bit
 * parallel-in/serial-out shift register.
 *
 * This sketch demonstrates reading in 16 digital states from a
 * pair of daisy-chained SN74HC165N shift registers while using
 * only 4 digital pins on the Arduino.
 *
 * You can daisy-chain these chips by connecting the serial-out
 * (Q7 pin) on one shift register to the serial-in (Ds pin) of
 * the other.
 * 
 * Of course you can daisy chain as many as you like while still
 * using only 4 Arduino pins (though you would have to process
 * them 4 at a time into separate unsigned long variables).
 * 
*/

/* How many shift register chips are daisy-chained.
*/
#define NUMBER_OF_SHIFT_CHIPS   2

/* Width of data (how many ext lines).
*/
#define DATA_WIDTH   NUMBER_OF_SHIFT_CHIPS * 8

/* Width of pulse to trigger the shift register to read and latch.
*/
#define PULSE_WIDTH_USEC   5

/* Optional delay between shift register reads.
*/
#define POLL_DELAY_MSEC   1

/* You will need to change the "int" to "long" If the
 * NUMBER_OF_SHIFT_CHIPS is higher than 2.
*/
#define BYTES_VAL_T unsigned int

int ploadPin        = 8;  // Connects to Parallel load pin the 165
int clockEnablePin  = 9;  // Connects to Clock Enable pin the 165
int dataPin         = 11; // Connects to the Q7 pin the 165
int clockPin        = 12; // Connects to the Clock pin the 165

BYTES_VAL_T pinValues;
BYTES_VAL_T oldPinValues;

/* This function is essentially a "shift-in" routine reading the
 * serial Data from the shift register chips and representing
 * the state of those pins in an unsigned integer (or long).
*/
BYTES_VAL_T read_shift_regs()
{
    long bitVal;
    BYTES_VAL_T bytesVal = 0;

    /* Trigger a parallel Load to latch the state of the data lines,
    */
    digitalWrite(clockEnablePin, HIGH);
    digitalWrite(ploadPin, LOW);
    delayMicroseconds(PULSE_WIDTH_USEC);
    digitalWrite(ploadPin, HIGH);
    digitalWrite(clockEnablePin, LOW);

    /* Loop to read each bit value from the serial out line
     * of the SN74HC165N.
    */
    for(int i = 0; i < DATA_WIDTH; i++)
    {
        bitVal = digitalRead(dataPin);

        /* Set the corresponding bit in bytesVal.
        */
        bytesVal |= (bitVal << ((DATA_WIDTH-1) - i));

        /* Pulse the Clock (rising edge shifts the next bit).
        */
        digitalWrite(clockPin, HIGH);
        delayMicroseconds(PULSE_WIDTH_USEC);
        digitalWrite(clockPin, LOW);
    }

    return(bytesVal);
}

/* Dump the list of zones along with their current status.
*/
void display_pin_values()
{
    Serial.print("Pin States:\r\n");

    for(int i = 0; i < DATA_WIDTH; i++)
    {
        Serial.print("  Pin-");
        Serial.print(i);
        Serial.print(": ");

        if((pinValues >> i) & 1)
            Serial.print("HIGH");
        else
            Serial.print("LOW");

        Serial.print("\r\n");
    }

    Serial.print("\r\n");
}

void setup()
{
    Serial.begin(9600);

    /* Initialize our digital pins...
    */
    pinMode(ploadPin, OUTPUT);
    pinMode(clockEnablePin, OUTPUT);
    pinMode(clockPin, OUTPUT);
    pinMode(dataPin, INPUT);

    digitalWrite(clockPin, LOW);
    digitalWrite(ploadPin, HIGH);

    /* Read in and display the pin states at startup.
    */
    pinValues = read_shift_regs();
    display_pin_values();
    oldPinValues = pinValues;
}

void loop()
{
    /* Read the state of all zones.
    */
    pinValues = read_shift_regs();

    /* If there was a chage in state, display which ones changed.
    */
    if(pinValues != oldPinValues)
    {
        Serial.print("*Pin value change detected*\r\n");
        display_pin_values();
        oldPinValues = pinValues;
    }

    delay(POLL_DELAY_MSEC);
}