SILICON LABS Si4010 Development Kit User Guide

AN690
Si4010 DEVELOPMENT KIT QUICK-START GUIDE

Purpose

Thank you for your interest in the Silicon Laboratories Si4010 RF SoC transmitter development kit. This development kit contains everything you need to develop your software with the Si4010 embedded Si8051 MCU. The kit has three versions: one for the 434 MHz band (P/N 4010-KFOBDEV-434), one for the 868 MHz band (P/N  010KFOBDEV-868) and one for the 915 MHz band (P/N 4010-KFOBDEV-915). The key features of the development platform are as follows:

• The key fob development board has five push buttons and one LED.
• The key fob development board has a battery to enable disconnect from the programming interface board and SMA antenna output to allow wired measurements.
• Uses Silicon Laboratories Integrated Development Environment (IDE) for software debugging and can also use Keil C compiler, assembler, and linker.
• Interfaces with Silicon Laboratories USB Debug Adapter or Toolstick.
• Contains a socketed key fob development board for burning the OTP NVM memory. Contains a Si4355 receiver board for link testing.
• Contains three blank NVM Si4010 chips and key fob demo boards without IC for burning and testing user code on an actual key fob PCB.

Kit Content

Table 1 lists the items contained in the kits.

Table 1. Kit Content

Table 1. Kit Content (Continued)

| 4010- KFOBDEV-868| Si4010 Key Fob Development Kit 868MHz
---|---|---
2| 4010-KFOB-868-NF| Si4010 key fob demo board 868 MHz w/o IC
1| MSC-DKPE1| SOIC/MSOP socketed development board
3| Si4010-C2-GS| Si4010-C2-GS transmitter IC, SOIC Package
1| 4010-DKPB868-BM| Si4010 MSOP key fob development board 868 MHz, SMA
1| 4355-LED-868-SRX| Si4355 RFStick 868 MHz receiver board
1| MSC-PLPB_1| Key Fob Plastic Case (translucent grey)
1| MSC-BA5| Programming interface board
1| MSC-BA4| Burning adapter board
1| EC3| USB Debug Adapter
1| Toolstick_BA| Toolstick Base Adapter
1| MSC-DKCS5| USB Cable
1| | USB extender cable (USBA-USBA)
2| AAA| AAA battery
2| CRD2032| CR2032 3 V coin battery
| 4010- KFOBDEV-915| Si4010 Key Fob Development Kit 915MHz
2| 4010-KFOB-915-NF| Si4010 key fob demo board 915 MHz w/o IC
1| MSC-DKPE1| SOIC/MSOP socketed development board
3| Si4010-C2-GS| Si4010-C2-GS transmitter IC, SOIC Package
1| 4010-DKPB915-BM| Si4010 MSOP key fob development board 915 MHz, SMA
1| 4355-LED-915-SRX| Si4355 RFStick 915 MHz receiver board
1| MSC-PLPB_1| Key Fob Plastic Case (translucent grey)
1| MSC-BA5| Programming interface board
1| MSC-BA4| Burning adapter board
1| EC3| USB Debug Adapter
1| Toolstick_BA| Toolstick Base Adapter
1| MSC-DKCS5| USB Cable
1| | USB extender cable (USBA-USBA)
2| AAA| AAA battery
2| CRD2032| CR2032 3 V coin battery

Note: Instead of this board, the 434 MHz development kits may contain the pcb antenna version of this board called the Si4010 key fob development board 434 MHz (P/N 4010-DKPB_434).

Software Installation

The software and documentation pack for the development kit is available as a zip file on the Silicon Labs website at http://www.silabs.com/products/wireless/EZRadio/Pages/Si4010.aspx on the Tools tab. The provided software pack contains all the documentation and files needed to develop a user application. It also contains example applications using API functions and the key fob demo application.
The directory structure of the software examples is as follows:

Copy the directory structure in a directory of your choice. It is recommended to keep the structure of the Si4010_projects folder to allow the compiler to find the Si4010 common files. Each project has a *.wsp project file in the bin folder that contains all the settings of the IDE for the project, including the relative path of the common files.

Silicon Labs IDE Run

Download the Silicon Labs IDE (Integrated Development Environment) from the following URL: http://www.silabs.com/products/mcu/Pages/SiliconLaboratoriesIDE.aspx and install it on your computer. To run the Silicon Labs IDE, open an *.wsp project file.

Hardware Setup using a USB Debug Adapter

A detailed description of the IDE and debug adapters can be found in the Si4010 Development Kit User’s Guide.
The target board is connected to a PC running the Silicon Laboratories IDE via the USB Debug Adapter as shown in Figure 9.

Perform the following steps to set up the debug adapter:

1. Connect the EC3 Debug Adapter to the J2 connector on the Burning Adapter board with the 10-pin ribbon
   cable.

2. Connect one end of the USB cable to the USB connector on the USB Debug Adapter.

3. Connect the other end of the USB cable to a USB Port on the PC.

4. Reset the firmware of the Debug adapter by running the following application: \Silabs_IDE\usb_debug_adapter_firmware_reset.exe (This operation needs to be done only once per USB Debug Adapter before a new version of the IDE can be used.)

5. Run Silabs_IDE\ide.exe
   The first time the IDE program is run, it will automatically update the correct firmware for the adapter.

Note: Remove power from the target board and the USB Debug Adapter before connecting or disconnecting the ribbon cable from the target board. Connecting or disconnecting the cable when the devices have power can damage the device and/or the USB Debug Adapter.

 Keil Toolchain Integration

The project files in the examples assume that the Keil toolchain is installed to: the C:\Keil directory. The location of the Keil toolchain can be easily changed in the Silabs IDE in the Project—Tool Chain Integration menu. An evaluation version of the Keil toolchain can be downloaded from the Keil website, http://www.keil.com/. This free version has 2 kB code limitation and starts the code at 0x0800 address. The Keil free evaluation version can be unlocked to become a 4k version with no code placement limitation by following the directions given in the application note “AN104: Integrating Keil 8051 Tools into the Silicon Labs IDE”, which covers Keil toolchain integration and license management. The unlock code can be found in the documentation pack mentioned in “3. Software Installation” on page 5 of this document. You can find the unlock code in the root folder in the Keil_license_number.txt file. Contact your Silicon Laboratories sales representative or distributor for application assistance.

Known Issues

There is an issue related to the LED driver, which demonstrates itself only under the following circumstances when all three conditions are satisfied:

1. The device programming level is Factory or User. For those levels, the C2 debugging interface is enabled after the boot by a boot routine.
2. The device has been disconnected from the Silicon Labs IDE. “Disconnected” is meant in the software sense (not physically) using the Connect/Disconnect buttons on IDE, or the device is running the User code automatically after the boot without ever being connected to the IDE.
3. The device is running a code that turns the LED on and off.

If all the conditions are satisfied, after the first LED blink when the LED is turned off, the GPIO4 stops working and is no longer visible to the application.
If the device programming level is Run or the C2 debugging interface is internally disabled, there is no issue. The LED can be turned on and off without affecting the device’s GPIO4 functionality. The issue can be summarized as follows: Whenever the C2 debugging interface is enabled and the device is not connected to the IDE and the LED is turned on and off, then the GPIO4 will stop functioning. Since, in Run mode, the C2 is disabled after the boot process finishes, the GPIO4 is not affected. Therefore, this issue only affects the software development process and inconveniences the developer. After the application is finalized and the chip is programmed as Run, there is no issue.
There are several possible software workarounds; see details in the Si4010 key fob development kit user guide.

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Disclaimer
Silicon Laboratories intends to provide customers with the latest, accurate, and in-depth documentation of all peripherals and modules available for system and software implementers using or intending to use Silicon Laboratories products. Characterization data, available modules and peripherals, memory sizes, and memory addresses refer to each specific device, and “Typical” parameters provided can and do vary in different applications. Application examples described herein are for illustrative purposes only. Silicon Laboratories reserves the right to make changes without further notice and limitation to product information, specifications, and descriptions herein, and does not give warranties as to the accuracy or completeness of the included information. Silicon Laboratories shall have no liability for the consequences of the use of the information supplied herein. This document does not imply or express copyright licenses granted hereunder to design or fabricate any integrated circuits. The products must not be used within any Life Support System without the specific written consent of Silicon Laboratories. A “Life Support System” is any product or system intended to support or sustain life and/or health, which, if it fails, can be reasonably expected to result in significant personal injury or death. Silicon Laboratories products are generally not intended for military applications. Silicon Laboratories products shall under no circumstances be used in weapons of mass destruction including (but not limited to) nuclear, biological or chemical weapons, or missiles capable of delivering such weapons.

Trademark Information
Silicon Laboratories Inc., Silicon Laboratories, Silicon Labs, SiLabs and the Silicon Labs logo, CMEMS®, EFM, EFM32, EFR, Energy Micro, Energy Micro logo and combinations thereof, “the world’s most energy friendly microcontrollers”, Ember®, EZLink®, EZMac®, EZRadio®, EZRadioPRO®, DSPLL®, ISOmodem ®, Precision32®, ProSLIC®, SiPHY®, USBXpress®, and others are trademarks or registered trademarks of Silicon Laboratories Inc. ARM, CORTEX, Cortex-M3 and THUMB are trademarks or registered trademarks of ARM Holdings. Keil is a registered trademark of ARM Limited. All other products or brand names mentioned herein are trademarks of their respective holders.

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References

• Keil Embedded Development Tools for Arm, Cortex-M, Cortex-R4, 8051, C166, and 251 processor families.

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