I'm reading the datasheet of a PSRAM (available here). In the top-right hand corner all the pins are listed. Some of the pin names end with a hash, e.g. LB#, OE#.
What does the # notation mean for pins?
Pins – Meaning of Hash Symbol in Pin Name
pins
Related Solutions
PORT is the OUTPUT buffer, PIN is the INPUT buffer.
When you want to set the pin to a "high" or "low" voltage, write to the PORT register.
When you want to know what voltage is currently presented to a pin, read the PIN register.
The bits of these registers represent the corresponding pins of the general-purpose input/output port.
Here is a simplified schematic of the electronics inside the AVR connected to a single pin (go here for complete datasheets).
This circuit block is repeated for each pin. Eight of these form a port (port A, for example).
Starting at the left-most square (which represents the physical connection to the outside world), you can see three paths:
- The upper-most path is the software selectable pull-up resistor
- The middle path is used when the pin is configured as an output
- The lowest path is used when the pin is configured as an input
It should be noted that some or all of this circuitry can be bypassed when the pin is shared with an internal peripheral. For example, the Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC).
Here's a good chart for several switches of this type: -
You will likely find that it matches the 3PDT column but this is not guaranteed so double check with a multimeter.
And, here is what a 4 pole switch does (just a random phot from the internet): -
Hopefully this should make sense - the pole is the pin that connects to either of the other two pins in a single switch element. In the example above there are 4 switch elements all toggled together but, equally it could be a push button.
Best Answer
I suppose it means active-low logic, usually indicated by an overscore. Signals like WE#, CE#, LB# and UB# are typically active-low. In datasheets you'll see them as \$\overline{\mathrm{WE}}\$, \$\overline{\mathrm{CE}}\$, \$\overline{\mathrm{LB}}\$ and \$\overline{\mathrm{UB}}\$.