tm4c tm4c129 texas-instruments tiva tiva-c-series

Hardware Demonstration Project for the TI Tiva TM4C1294 Connected LaunchPad

Auth: M. Fras, Electronics Division, MPI for Physics, Munich
Mod.: M. Fras, Electronics Division, MPI for Physics, Munich
Date: 07 Feb 2020
Rev.: 01 Sep 2020

Prerequisites

Software

ARM GCC.
GNU make.
Firmware flashing tool lm4flash.
Minicom terminal program.
ARM GDB and nemiver graphical debugger.
Python 3 and required modules.

Hardware

TI Tiva TM4C1294 Connected LaunchPad Evaluation Kit board.
BOOSTXL-RS232 board (connected to the BoosterPack 1 socket).
Educational BoosterPack MK II (connected to the BoosterPack 2 socket).

Firmware Features

Simple UART user interface on UART 7:
Settings:
- baud rate = 115200
- data format = 8N1
  Simply connect the BOOSTXL-RS232 board to the BoosterPack 1 socket of the TI Tiva TM4C1294 Connected LaunchPad. Connect its 9-pin D-sub connetor to a PC and open a terminal software using the above settings.
GPIO LEDs:
Control the 4 LEDs on the Tiva TM4C1294 Connected LaunchPad board using GPIO.
GPIO buttons:
Receive messages on the console when one of the 2 buttons on the Tiva TM4C1294 Connected LaunchPad or on the Educational BoosterPack MK is pressed or released.
PWM - RGB LED:
Control the RGB LED on the Educational BoosterPack MK II using PWM.
I2C master:
- Basic read/write from/to the I2C master ports 0 and 2 (BoosterPack 1 and 2).
- Functions to read information from the TMP006 temperature sensor and the OPT3001 ambient light sensor on the Educational BoosterPack MK II are implemented in the firmware.
Synchronous Serial Interface (SSI) / SPI master:
Read/write from/to the SSI ports 2 and 3 (BoosterPack 1 and 2).
UART master:
Read/write from/to the UART port 6.
Analog inputs:
Reading of the ADC values of the analog joystick and the accelerometer on the Educational BoosterPack MK II are implemented in the firmware.
LCD on the Educational BoosterPack MKII:
- Displays the firmware status and logo after boot.
- Setup of the screen orientation is supported.
- Basic functions for drawing pixels, lines, rectangles, circles and text are implemented.

Getting Started

Install required packages. Example for Ubuntu 18.04.
ARM cross compiler toolchain.

sudo apt-get install build-essential gcc-arm-none-eabi binutils-arm-none-eabi openocd

Firmware flashing tool.

sudo apt-get install lm4flash

Minicom terminal program.

sudo apt-get install minicom

ARM GDB and nemiver graphical debugger.

sudo apt-get install gdb-multiarch nemiver

Python 3 and required modules.

sudo apt-get install python3 python3-serial python3-tk

Install the serial boot loader.
The serial boot loader provides firmware updates over the UART 7, which is normally used for the user interface. In order to build and install the boot loader, change to the Firmware/boot_loader directory and run this command:
```
make install
```
The boot loader sits at address 0x0000 of the flash, the main firmware image starts at address 0x4000.

The 4 LEDs D1..D4 indicate activity of the boot loader:
- LED 1 blinks during the countdown of the boot loader.
- The LED 1 is on when the boot loader is active.
- During firmware download via the boot loader, the LEDs 2..4 count up.
- When the firmware download via the boot loader is finished, all 4 LEDs blink 3 times indicating the end of the firmware download.
Example minicom session for the serial boot loader:
```
***** TIVA TM4C1294 boot loader version 0.0.3, release date: 28 Aug 2020 *****

Press any key to enter the boot loader menu.
5 4 3 2 1

Boot Loader Menu
================

Available commands:
h   Show this help text.
b   Start normal boot process.
f   Force MCU firmware download via the serial boot loader.
r   Reboot the MCU.
> f



***** TIVA TM4C1294 boot loader version 0.0.3, release date: 28 Aug 2020 *****

Waiting for firmware data...
```
Note that you can abort a pending firmware update by pressing the reset button on the TM4C1294 Connected LaunchPad Evaluation Kit board.
Compile and download the firmware project.
Change to the Firmware directory. Then clean the firmware project directory.
```
make clean
```
This will wipe all compiled files and backups of source files from the project.
```
make mrproper
```
Build the firmware project.
```
make
```
Download the firmware. Make sure that the TM4C1294 Connected LaunchPad™ Evaluation Kit is connected to an USB port of the PC.
```
make install
```
Compile and download a debug version of the firmware, then start the nemiver graphical debugger. Please note that there is a breakpoint set at the start of the program! This prevents it from running until the program is continued from the debugger.
```
make debug
```
After you have finished debugging, build and download the normal firmware version again.
```
make clean install
```
Firmware download via the serial boot loader.
Once the serial boot loader is installed, you can use it to download the main firmware. To do so, hit any key during the countdown after power-up to enter the boot loader menu. Then press the key f to force a firmware update. Now quit the terminal program, change to the Firmware directory and download the main firmware via the serial boot loader.
```
make sflash
```
If not yet done, this will automatically build the sflash tool that comes with the TivaWare. After the firmware download, the MCU reboots automatically.

Note that you may need to change the serial device in the Makefile from /dev/ttyUSB0 to the one your computer uses to communicate with UART 7 of the MCU.

Optionally, you can also run the sflash tool from the command line:
```
sflash -c /dev/ttyUSB0 -p 0x4000 -b 115200 -d -s 252 gcc/hw_demo.bin
```

Communicate with the MCU using the minicom terminal program.
Create a file .minirc.hw_demo in your home directory with this content:

pu port             /dev/ttyUSB0
pu rtscts           No

Adapt the pu port to the serial input to which your TM4C1294 Connected LaunchPad™ Evaluation Kitis connected.

Launch minicom either by calling make minicom inside the firmware directory or by starting minicom from the shell minicom -c on hw_demo. To quit minicom, press Ctrl-A, then Q. To edit the minicom settings, press Ctrl-A, then Z.

Example minicom session:

*******************************************************************************
TIVA TM4C1294 `hw_demo' firmware version 0.3.3, release date: 24 Apr 2020
*******************************************************************************

Type `help' to get an overview of available commands.
> help
Available commands:
  help                                Show this help text.
  adc     [COUNT]                     Read ADC values.
  bootldr                             Enter the boot loader for firmware update.
  button  [INDEX]                     Get the status of the buttons.
  delay   MICROSECONDS                Delay execution.
  i2c     PORT SLV-ADR ACC NUM|DATA   I2C access (ACC bits: R/W, Sr, nP, Q).
  i2c-det PORT [MODE]                 I2C detect devices (MODE: 0 = auto,
                                          1 = quick command, 2 = read).
  illum   [COUNT]                     Read ambient light sensor info.
  info                                Show information about this firmware.
  lcd     CMD PARAMS                  LCD commands.
  led     [VALUE]                     Get/Set the value of the user LEDs.
  reset                               Reset the MCU.
  rgb     VALUE                       Set the RGB LED (RGB value = 0xRRGGBB).
  ssi     PORT R/W NUM|DATA           SSI/SPI access (R/W: 0 = write, 1 = read).
  ssi-set PORT FREQ [MODE] [WIDTH]    Set up the SSI port.
  temp    [COUNT]                     Read temperature sensor info.
  uart    PORT R/W NUM|DATA           UART access (R/W: 0 = write, 1 = read).
  uart-s  PORT BAUD [PARITY] [LOOP]   Set up the UART port.
> info
TIVA TM4C1294 `hw_demo' firmware version 0.4.0, release date: 27 Aug 2020
It was compiled using gcc 6.3.1 20170620 at 14:46:56 on Aug 27 2020.
> button
OK. Button 3..0 status: 0x0
> button
OK. Button 3..0 status: 0xf
> button 0
OK. Button 0 status: 0x0, pressed count: 1, released count: 1
> button 0
OK. Button 0 status: 0x1, pressed count: 2, released count: 1
> led 0xf
OK: LEDs set to 0xf.
> led
OK: Current LED value: 0xf
> i2c-det 2
OK. I2C device(s) found at slave address: 0x40 0x44
> i2c 2 0x40 0 0x2
OK.
> i2c 2 0x40 1 2
OK. Data: 0x74 0x80
> uart-s 6 11520 0 1
OK.
> uart 6 0 0x11 0x22 0x33
OK.
> uart 6 1
OK. Data: 0x11 0x22 0x33
> adc 2
OK: Joystick: X = 1919 Y = 1892 ; Accelerometer: X = 1977 Y = 2074 Z = 2867
OK: Joystick: X = 1929 Y = 1896 ; Accelerometer: X = 1983 Y = 2072 Z = 2871
> temp
OK: Temperature = 27.25000 *C ; Manufacturer ID = 0x5449 ; Device ID = 0x0067
>

Control the MCU using the Python scripts.
Change to the Software/pyMcu directory. Then type ./pyMcu.py --test to run a pre-defined automated test procedure from the command line or ./pyMcu.py --gui to open a GUI. You can specify a custom serial device to which the MCU is attached using the --device option, e.g. ./pyMcu.py --device /dev/ttyUSB0 --gui.

Testing Hardware Features

Easily test some hardware features with the following instructions.

ADC (Analog-to-Digital Converter)

Repeatedly read all ADC values 10,000 times:

> adc 10000
OK: Joystick: X = 1983 Y = 1878 ; Accelerometer: X = 2063 Y = 2067 Z = 2883
OK: Joystick: X = 1985 Y = 1867 ; Accelerometer: X = 2049 Y = 2072 Z = 2887
...

Watch the values change while moving the joystick and tilting/turning the whole board.

Hint: You can stop the test by pressing the RESET button on the board.

I2C (Inter-Integrated Circuit) Bus

Automatically detect all devices on I2C port 2:

> i2c-det 2
OK. I2C device(s) found at slave address: 0x40 0x44
>

Preform a raw access the I2C temperature sensor on the Educational BoosterPack MK II. It has the I2C slave address 0x40. Set the pointer to the temperature register and read the raw temperature values:

> i2c 2 0x40 0 0x01
OK.
> i2c 2 0x40 1 2
OK. Data: 0x0e 0x14
>

SSI (Synchronous Serial Interface) / SPI (Serial Peripheral Interface) Bus

Note: The slave select pin PD2 of the SSI port 2 on BoosterPack 1 is used as analog input on BoosterPack 2 (joystick X on the Educational BoosterPack MK II)! Thus it is disabled in the firmware by default.

Note: The SSI port 3 on BoosterPack 2 is used by the LCD on the Educational BoosterPack MK II!

Since firmware version 0.2.0, you can set the clock frequency, the SSI mode and the data width with the command ssi-set.
Example for an SSI clock of 1 MHz, SPI mode 0 and a data width of 8 on SSI port 2:

ssi-set 2 1000000 0 8

To test the SSI port 2 on BoosterPack 1 in loopback mode, remove the jumper across pins 5 and 6 of the BOOSTXL-RS232 board and place it across the pins 14 and 15. These are the pins PD0 and PD1 on the TM4C1294 Connected LaunchPad Evaluation Kit.

Then send a few bytes and read them back. E.g.

> ssi 2 0 0x11 0x22 0x33 0x44 0x55 0xaa
OK.
> ssi 2 1
OK. Data: 0x11 0x22 0x33 0x44 0x55 0xaa
>

Please note that the hardware FIFO for buffering SSI data is only 8 entries long. This limits the maximum number of data for this test to 8.

Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter (UART)

To test the UART 6 on BoosterPack 2, you can set the loopback mode in the configuration of the UART in the file hw_demo.c.

sUartBoosterPack2.bLoopback = true;

Since firmware version 0.2.0, you can set the baud rate, the parity and the loopback mode with the command uart-s.
Example for a baud rate of 11520, no parity and internal loopback mode on UART port 6:

uart-s 6 11520 0 1

Alternatively, put a jumper across the pins PP0 and PP1 on the TM4C1294 Connected LaunchPad Evaluation Kit.

Then send a few bytes and read them back. E.g.

> uart 6 0 0x11 0x22 0x33 0x44 0x55 0xaa
OK.
> uart 6 1
OK. Data: 0x11 0x22 0x33 0x44 0x55 0xaa
>

Literature

ARM® Cortex®-M4F-Based MCU TM4C1294 Connected LaunchPad™ Evaluation Kit

BoosterPacks

TRS3122E: RS-232 transceiver BoosterPack™ Plug-in Module

Educational BoosterPack MKII

TM4C1294NCPDT IoT enabled High performance 32-bit ARM® Cortex®-M4F based MCU

Getting Started, HOWTOs, Tutorials

About

Hardware Demonstration Project for the TI Tiva TM4C1294 Connected LaunchPad Evaluation Kit.

tm4c tm4c129 texas-instruments tiva tiva-c-series

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