Chipcon RF Module Evaluation Board v1.1 User’s …The Chipcon RF Module Evaluation Board_v1.1 (Simply Evaluation Board or EB) is the motherboard in several development kits for Low

EVALUATIONBOARD_v1.1V-chip

Copyright @ 2010, V-chip Microsystems, Inc. EVALUATIONBOARD_v1.1-JUNE-2010-REVISED 1

Chipcon RF Module Evaluation Board_v1.1

User’s Guide



Table of Contents

1 Introduction......................................................................................................................................................... 3

2 Getting started ................................................................................................................................................... 3

2.1 SmartRF Studio .......................................................................................................................................... 3

2.2 Installing SmartRF Studio and USB drivers........................................................................................ 3

2.3 SmartRF Flash Programmer.................................................................................................................... 6

2.4 Using the SmartRF Flash programmer................................................................................................. 7

2.4.1 Verify the EB Connection ............................................................................................................... 7

2.4.2 Verify the EM ...................................................................................................................................... 8

2.4.3 Use IAR Workbench to Download Code to and Debug a SoC EM ....................................... 8

3 Using the Chipcon RF Module Evaluation Board_v1.1 ........................................................................... 9

4 The Chipcon RF Module Evaluation Board_v1.1 Architecture ............................................................ 10

5 USB MCU ........................................................................................................................................................... 11

6 Power Source ................................................................................................................................................... 11

6.1 Battery Power............................................................................................................................................ 11

6.2 USB Power ................................................................................................................................................. 12

7 EM Connectors and Jumpers....................................................................................................................... 12

8 UART RS232 Interface.................................................................................................................................... 15

9 Buttons............................................................................................................................................................... 15

10 LEDs ................................................................................................................................................................. 16

11 SoC EM Pin-out Available ........................................................................................................................... 16

12 USB MCU JTAG Interface............................................................................................................................ 16

13 Updating the firmware.................................................................................................................................. 17

14 References ...................................................................................................................................................... 17



1 Introduction

The Chipcon RF Module Evaluation Board_v1.1 (Simply Evaluation Board or EB) is the motherboard in

several development kits for Low Power RF Module from V-chip. The board has a wide range of user

interfaces, such as

　 - Full speed USB 2.0 interface

　 - UART

　 - LEDs

　 - Buttons

　 - Breakout pins

The EB is the platform for the Evaluation Module (Simply EM) and can be connected to the PC via USB

to control the EM.

2 Getting started

Before plugging the EB into the PC via the USB cable, it is highly recommended to perform the steps

described below first.

It is recommended to install SmartRF Studio before you connect the EB to the computer. The installation will include the USB drivers needed for proper operation of the evaluation board.

2.1 SmartRF Studio

SmartRF Studio is a PC application developed for configuration and evaluation of many of the RF-IC products

from Texas Instruments. The application is designed for use with an applicable SmartRF evaluation board,

such as the SmartRF04EB, and runs on Microsoft Windows.

SmartRF Studio lets you explore and gain knowledge about the RF-ICs as it gives you full overview and

access to the devices registers to configure the radio and has a control interface for simple radio operation

from your PC. This means that SmartRF Studio will help radio system designers to easily evaluate the RF-IC

at an early stage in the design process. It also offers a flexible code export function of radio register settings

for software developers.

The latest version of SmartRF Studio can be downloaded from the Texas Instruments website

(www.ti.com/smartrfstudio), where you will also find a complete user manual.

The EB support full function of the SmartRF Studio from TI Instruments.

2.2 Installing SmartRF Studio and USB drivers

Before your PC can communicate with the EB over USB, you will need to install the USB drivers for the EB.

The latest SmartRF Studio installer includes drivers for Windows.

A brief set of installation instructions for Microsoft Windows XP will be given here, but Windows 2000,

Windows NT and Windows 98 are also supported. Please consult the SmartRF Studio User Manual for further



details if needed.

After you have downloaded SmartRF Studio from the web, extract the zip-file, run the installer file and follow

the instructions. Pick a complete installation to include the SmartRF Studio program, the SmartRF Studio

documentation and the necessary drivers needed to communicate with the EB.

You can now connect your EB to the computer with a USB cable and turn it on. A “Found new Hardware”

dialog box will prompt you to locate the missing driver. See Figure 1. If you did a complete install of SmartRF

Studio, the driver to use is already copied to your hard drive. In the dialog window below, select “No, not this

time” and continue with “Next”.

Figure 1 - Connecting the EB for the first time (Windows XP)

After clicking next, the window as shown in Figure 2 will appear. Select “Install the software automatically” to

install the driver for the EB. Windows should automatically find the location of the driver to use.

Figure 2 - Select automatic installation of software (Windows XP)



If Windows does not find the correct driver, you can manually specify where Windows should look for the

driver. In the dialog shown in Figure 2, select “Install from a list of specific location”.

The drivers for the evaluation board are normally located in the directory C:\Program Files\Texas

Instruments\Extras\Drivers, where C:\Program Files\Texas Instruments is the default root installation directory

for SmartRF Studio.

Figure 3 - Manually locate driver

The driver is now installed and the computer should be ready for use with SmartRF Studio.

Figure 4 - The driver installation is completed (Windows XP)

You can verify that the driver is properly installed by opening the Device Manager (Figure 5). When the EB is

connected, the “Cebal controlled devices” list contains “SmartRF04EB”. If the board is listed as an unknown

device, please follow the steps outlined in the SmartRF Studio User Manual.



Figure 5 - Properly installed EB software (Windows XP)

When launching SmartRF Studio, the evaluation board should now appear in the SmartRF04 DK tab (Figure

6). Double click on the device, and a new window opens – giving access to all of the registers on the chip as

well as making it possible to perform various RF test.

Figure 6 - SmartRF Studio with a CC2530EM connected to a EB

Please refer to the SmartRF Studio User Manual for how to use Studio with an RF IC.

2.3 SmartRF Flash Programmer

The SmartRF Flash Programmer can be used to program the flash memory in Texas Instruments system on

chip MCU’s and for upgrading of the firmware in the USB MCU found on the SmartRF04EB, SmartRF05EB

and CC2430DB. In addition the SmartRF Flash Programmer can be used for programming the flash memory

of MSP430 via the MSP-FET430UIF and the eZ430 dongle.



When connecting a CC2430EM on SmartRF04EB or a CCMSP2618 on SmartRF05EB, the Flash

Programmer also support reading/writing the IEEE address.

The latest version of SmartRF Flash Programmer can be downloaded from the Texas Instruments website

(www.ti.com/lit/zip/swrc044), where you will also find a complete user manual.

The EB support SmartRF04EB functions on SmartRF Flash Programmer from TI Instruments.

2.4 Using the SmartRF Flash programmer

2.4.1 Verify the EB Connection

Remove any EM connected to the EB. Start the Flash Programmer. A screen shot is shown in Figure 7.

Figure 7 – SmarRF Flash Progrmmer

Choose to the “EB application (USB)” tab as shown in Figure 8.

Figure 8 – the EB Application (USB) Tab



Switch the EB power switch on and off a few times and verify that the board appears / disappears in the

device list.

- Verify that “Chip type” is “N/A” as shown in the figure above.

- Update EB firmware with the hex file that is distributed together with the SmartRF Flash Programmer.

- Verify that “EB firmware rev.” shows correct firmware revision.

2.4.2 Verify the EM

Turn off the EB power and mount the EM. If the EM connected contains a SoC (System on Chip) e.g. CC1110,

CC2430, CC2530 or C2510, switch to the “System-on-chip” tab in the Flash Programmer. If the EM is not a

SoC, stay in the “EB application (USB)” tab. Turn on EB power.

- Verify that it appears in the device list.

- Verify that “Chip type” equals the type of device on the EM (for example “CC1110”, “CC2430”, or

“CC2530”).

Figure 9 – EB Application (CC2530) Tab

2.4.3 Use IAR Workbench to Download Code to and Debug a SoC EM

This chapter is only applies if you have an EM with a Chipcon System-on-Chip (SoC) device. If you have an

EM with a Chipcon transceiver, please skip this chapter.

Since all points previous this one has succeeded this should not give any problems. Both the SmartRF Flash

Programmer and IAR are using the same USB interface. So if this step fails it is highly probable that one of

the points above has failed. Please go back and verify that they really succeeded.

Open or create a project in IAR Embedded Workbench for 8051. Make sure the project compiles for the

correct SoC device. For more information on setting up IAR Embedded Workbench, please see the IAR IDE

User Manual.

Download the code to the device and start a debug session by choosing “Project” and “Debug” from the IAR

menu. This should happen:



- If only one EB is connected and it is turned on: This progress bar should appear

Figure 10 - IAR Embedded Workbench Progress Bar

- If no EB’s are connected (or they are switched off): A blank dialog box will appear. Switch the EB on and it

will appear in the list. Choose the EB in the list and click “Select” to continue. The progress bar above

should appear.

- If more than one EB is connected and switched on. Select the board you want to use in the list. Click

“Select” to continue. The progress bar above should appear.

3 Using the Chipcon RF Module Evaluation Board_v1.1

The EB is a flexible test and development platform that works together with RF Evaluation Modules from

V-chip. Currently EB supports:

- CC2520EM and variants with CC2590/CC2591



- CC2431EM

- CC2510EM

- CC1110EM

- CCMSP-EM430F2618

- CC1111 USB Dongle (connected through the debug header)



The modules can be plugged into the SmartRF05EB, which lets the PC take direct control of the RF device on

the EM over the USB interface.



SMA ConnectorRS232 Interface

Figure 11 - Board Overview

4 The Chipcon RF Module Evaluation Board_v1.1 Architecture

The EB acts as the motherboard in several development kits for Low Power RF ICs from Texas Instruments.

The board has several user interfaces and connections to external interfaces allowing fast prototyping and

testing of both software and hardware.

This chapter will give an overview of the general architecture of the board and describe the available IO. The

following sub-sections will explain the IO in more detail.

Figure 12 shows the main components of the board and outlines the main communication buses.

The main component on the board is the USB controller. It communicates with the PC via USB and translates

requests from various PC tools (e.g. SmartRF Studio, SmartRF Flash Programmer) to actions on the board.

The USB controller communicates with the evaluation module using SPI, External Debug Interface and/or the

SoC Debug Interface (System-on-Chips only).

Note that all of the peripherals on the board are accessible from the SoC EM only. It has access to the UART

RS232 interface, LED (D1, D2), button (K1 button).I.e.

SoC Pin-out Available

P9 Jumper LEDs

CC1101/CC2500EM

Interface

Buttons

P1 Jumper External DEBUG

Interface

Power LED SoC EM Interface

USB MCU Controller

JUAG Interface P2 Jumper

Power Switch USB Connector



Figure 12 - the EB Architecture

5 USB MCU

The USB MCU is the C8051F320 from Silicon Labs. Please see www.silabs.com for detailed information

about this controller.The USB controller is programmed with a boot loader and the standard SmartRF04EB

firmware when it is shipped from the factory.

When the boot loader starts running, it will check for a valid application in the flash of the C8051F320. If the

detection is successful, the application is started and the board can be operated normally. If no application is

detected (e.g. blank flash or firmware upgrade failed) the USB connected failure.

The standard firmware application is used to control the RF device on the attached Evaluation Module (EM)

and to communicate with applications running on the PC via USB.

Note that the boot loader will allow programming of a new application over the USB interface.

No additional hardware or programmers are needed. Both SmartRF Studio and SmartRF Flash Programmer

can be used for this purpose.

6 Power Source

There are tow possible solutions for applying power to the EB. The power source can be selected using the

power source selection switch.

Figure 13 - Power Selection Switch

6.1 Battery Power

The evaluation board includes a battery connector on the PCB: Normal AA batteries can be used to supply

3.0 V DC to the board. The power source selection switch should switch to the “BATT” side. A POWER LED

on the board will be lit when the Power supply normally.



6.2 USB Power

When the EB is connected to a PC via a USB cable, it can draw power from the USB bus. The onboard

voltage regulator supplies approx 3.3 V to the board. The power source selection should switch to the “USB”

side.

Maximum current consumption is limited by the regulator to 250 mA.

7 EM Connectors and Jumpers

The EM connectors are used for connecting an EM to the EB. The connectors “DEBUG”, “SoC RF Module”

(P5, P6 and P7), “CC1101 RF Module” and “CC2500 RF Module” are used as the main interface as Figure 14,

Figure15 and Figure16 show.

Figure 14 - External DEBUG Interface

Figure 15 – CC1101/CC2500 EM Interface

Figure 16 - SoC EM Interface



The pin-out for these connectors is shown below. Note that some of the signals are shared.

Pin External DEBUG Connector

1 GND

2 VCC

3 GDO2 ( CC1101/CC2500/CC1100E…) / P2_2 ( SoC controller )

4 GDO0 ( CC1101/CC2500/CC1100E…) / P2_1 ( SoC controller )

5 CSN ( SPI Enable )

6 SCLK ( SPI clock )

7 RESET

8 SI ( SPI MOSI )

9 VCC

10 SO ( SPI MISO )

Table 1 - External Debug connector Pin-out

CC1110 EM DEBUG Connector CC2530 EM DEBUG Connector

P5 P7 Jumper P6 P7 Jumper

P1.0 P1:1 - 2 GND RESET P1:5 - 6

RESET P1:3 - 4 GND P0_0

GND VCC P2:1 - 2 VCC P0_1

GND VCC P2:3 - 4 VCC P0_2

P1_5 P2_2 P0_3

P1_3 P0_0 P2_1 P0_4

P1_4 P2_2 P2_0 P0_5

P1_7 P2_1 P1_7 P0_6

P1_6 P2_0 P1_6 P0_7

P1_2 P1_1 P1_5 P1_0

P0_2 P0_5 P1_4 P1_1

P0_3 P0_4 P1_3 P1_2

Table 2 - SoC EM Connector Pin-out and Jumper

CC1101/CC2500 DEBUG Connector Jumper

VCC P9:1 - 2

GND P9:3 - 4

SI ( SPI MOSI ) P9:5 - 6

SCLK ( SPI clock ) P9:7 - 8

SO ( SPI MISO ) P9:9 - 10

GDO2 P9:11 - 12

GDO0 P9:13 - 14

CSN ( SPI Enable )

Table 3 - CC1101/CC2500 EM Connector Pin-out and Jumper



Figure 17 – Connect EM to External DEBUG Interface

Figure 18 – SoC EM Connect

Figure 19 – CC1101/CC2500 EM Connect



8 UART RS232 Interface

The UART interface can be used by custom applications for communication with other devices. The interface

uses a line driver device so that the port is compatible with RS232 signaling.

Figure 20 - UART RS232 Signals

CC1110 EM UART CC2530 EM UART

Tx Rx Tx Rx

P1_6 P1_7 P1_6 P1_7

Table 4 - SoC EM UART Pin-out

9 Buttons

There are three buttons on the EB.

RESET: The USB Reset button resets the USB controller. Note that the software on the USB controller will

reset the EM during the startup, so pushing the USB reset button also resets the controller on the EM.

RESET_SoC: The SoC EM Reset button resets the controller on the EM. Pushing the EM reset button will

pull the reset line on the EM low.

K1: The K1 Button only connected to the SoC EM. Pushing the K1 Button will pull the P0.3 Pin of CC1110 or

the P1.3 Pin of CC2530 low.

CC1110 EM Button CC2530 EM Button

P0_3 P1_3

Figure 21 - the EB Buttons Table 5 - SoC Button Pin-out



10 LEDs

There are three LEDs on the EB.

LED D1 and D2 only connected to the SoC EM and controlled by the controller on the EM.

OFF ....Connected Pin’s voltage level high.

ON.......Connected Pin’s voltage level low.

LED Power On indicator is turn on when the power on, no matter USB power source or battery power source

supply.

CC1110 EM LEDs CC2530 EM LEDs

D1 D2 D1 D2

P0_2 P1_2 P1_4 P1_5

Table 6 - SoC EM LEDs Pin-out

11 SoC EM Pin-out Available

Pin CC1110 EM Pin-out CC2530 EM Pin-out

P4:1 P1_3

P4:2 P1_0

P4:3 P0_0

P4:4 P1_4 P2_0

P4:5 VCC P0_2

P4:6 VCC P0_1

P4:7 P0_0 P0_4

P4:8 P0_3

P4:9 P2_1 P0_6

P4:10 P2_2 P0_5

P4:11 P1_1 P1_0

P4:12 P2_0 P0_7

P4:13 P0_4 P1_2

P4:14 P0_5 P1_1

Table 7 - SoC EM Pin-out Available

12 USB MCU JTAG Interface

It is also possible to update both the firmware and boot loader on the board by using the JTAG interface of the

USB Controller.

Figure 22 - USB controller JTAG Interface

V-chip EVALUATIONBOARD_v1.1


The USB controller is the C8051F320 from Silicon Labs, so it is possible to use Silicon Labs program tools

(such as C8051F USB DEBUG ADAPTER) to program the chip.

13 Updating the firmware

Updating of firmware is done automatically by SmartRF Studio if it detects an old and/or incompatible

firmware version on the controller. SmartRF Studio and SmartRF Flash Programmer also allow manual

programming of the firmware.

There should not be any EM boards connected to the EB while updating the firmware on the EB.

Please refer to the respective user’s guides for detailed instructions. A simple step-by-step guide is provided

below:

1. Turn off the evaluation board (EB)

2. Disconnect the evaluation module (EM)

3. Plug in the USB cable and turn the board on

4. The EB should appear as an entry in the list under the SmartRF04DK tab in SmartRF Studio. Single click

the entry in the list to highlight the board.

5. Click the "Load USB firmware" button. A file select dialog window will pop up.

6. Select the following file: <installation_dir>\extras\srf04eb\srf04eb_fwid0400.hex

7. The firmware will be upgraded. This might take several seconds.

8. The EB will re-appear as an entry in the SmartRF Studio window.

9. If you get the warning about failed upgrade, it might actually happen that the firmware was upgraded as

expected - it is only the timing of the response from the board that confuses Studio sometimes. It would not

be a problem to retry the firmware update. If it fails completely, use the SmartRF Flash Programmer.

14 References

[1] SmartRF Studio

www.ti.com/smartrfstudio

[2] SmartRF Studio User Manual

www.ti.com/lit/pdf/swru070

[3] Flash Programmer

www.ti.com/lit/zip/swrc044

[4] Flash Programmer User Manual

www.ti.com/lit/pdf/swru069

[5] C8051F320

www.silabs.com

http://www.ti.com/smartrfstudio

http://www.ti.com/lit/pdf/swru070

http://www.ti.com/lit/zip/swrc044

http://www.ti.com/lit/pdf/swru069

http://www.silabs.com/

Chipcon RF Module Evaluation Board v1.1 User’s …The Chipcon RF Module Evaluation Board_v1.1 (Simply Evaluation Board or EB) is the motherboard in several development kits for Low

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