RN -W IFLYCR -U M- .01 RN-ISP-UM In-System Programmer © 2012 Roving Networks. All rights reserved. RN-ISP-UM-1.1 Version 1.1 1/19/2012 www.rovingnetworks.
RN -ISP-U M- 1.1 OVERVIEW You use Roving Networks In-System-Programmer (ISP), RN-ISP, to download code to WiFly modules and debug it. The ISP can download code to the WiFly evaluation boards if they have a 16 or 10-pin debug header. The ISP measures current consumption and plots the power profiles of the WiFly modules in different power states. It also exposes the hardware signals and certain GPIO pins for debugging. The ISP has reset and wake buttons that help with debugging applications.
RN -ISP-U M- 1.1 CONNECTING THE RN-ISP TO THE DEVELOPMENT PC & RN-IDK Connect the components of the RN-IDK using the following steps: 1. Connect the USB cable from the RN-ISP to the development PC. 2. Connect the ISP 16-way ribbon cable from the RN-ISP to the RN-IDK’s H1 connector. To install the RN-ISP, follow the instructions in EPSILON-6, EPSILON-1. Also refer to Known Issues (KNOWN-24) for additional information. Figure 1 shows the connection setup. The RN-ISP provides power to the RN-IDK.
RN -ISP-U M- 1.1 BOARD DESCRIPTION Figure 2 describes the components on the RN-ISP development board and Figure 3 describes the pins and jumpers. Table 1 provides more detail on the probe hooks. Figure 2. RN-ISP Board Description Reset Button & LED Wake Button & LED 3.
RN -ISP-U M- 1.1 Figure 3.
RN -ISP-U M- 1.1 USING CUSTOM FIRMWARE You can develop custom firmware and load it into the WiFly module’s flash memory. The following sections describe how to load and run custom applications. Load an Application into Flash Memory Applications are stored in the WiFly module’s flash memory. To load applications onto the flash memory, you use the module’s DMA_UART port. To load the Hello World example application, perform the following steps: 1. Connect the hardware as described previously. 2.
RN -ISP-U M- 1.1 CONNECT THE RN-ISP TO EVALUATION BOARDS Application developers can use the WiFly evaluation boards as a prototyping platform for their applications. You can download application code to the board using a 16 or 10-pin header attached to the 16-way ribbon cable of the RN-ISP. Connect to the RN-134 Evaluation Board Pin1 (indicate with a square pad) on the 10-pin debug header on the RN-134 board must align with the 16-way ribbon cable’s red wire as shown in Figure 5.
RN -ISP-U M- 1.1 USING ROVING NETWORKS FIRMWARE ON THE WIFLY MODULE You can use the ISP to monitor and configure the WiFly module while it is running a Roving Networks application. Additionally, you can go into command mode and configure the various parameters using the ASCII command interface. The RN-ISP can be used to configure Roving Networks firmware from a Linux, Windows, or Mac computer.
RN -ISP-U M- 1.1 APPENDIX A: INSTALLING FTDI DRIVERS FOR WINDOWS Before using the RN-ISP to download firmware or configure the RN-131 or RN-171 module using their respective development boards (RN-134 or RN-174), you must first install FTDI drivers. You can download the drivers from the FTDI website at http://www.ftdichip.com/Drivers/VCP.htm. After you download the drivers perform these steps to configure the COM ports: 1. Run the FTDI driver executable to install it. 2.
RN -ISP-U M- 1.1 Figure 9. Turn On Load VCP Option 5. Disconnect the RN-ISP from your computer’s USB port. 6. Re-connect the RN-ISP to your computer’s USB port. The appropriate COM ports are created in the Ports section of the device manager (COM and LPT) as shown in Error! Reference source not found.Figure 10. You may need to reboot your Windows machine for the COM ports to be created. Windows typically creates four sequential COM ports (COM 3, 4, 5, and 6 in this example).
RN -ISP-U M- 1.1 Figure 10. RN-ISP COM Ports www.rovingnetworks.
RN -ISP-U M- 1.1 APPENDIX B: USING THE RN-ISP TO MEASURE THE POWER PROFILE You can use the RN-ISP to measure the power profile of the application that is running on the WiFly module. This tool is very useful for plotting the current drawn by the module in different states, such as sleep, idle, and receiving and transmitting data. To use this tool, you must have licensed the SDK from Roving Networks and installed it on a Linux computer.
RN -ISP-U M- 1.1 Figure 12. Example Power Profile The power profile in Figure 12 shows the power consumed by the module in various states, such as sleep, wake up and load an application from flash, power on the transmitter to send data, put the transmitter in idle (receiving) mode, and go back to sleep. The regions in Figure 12 is are: • Start to 0 ms—The module is asleep. • 0 to 10 ms—The module boots and loads the application into RAM from flash.
RN -ISP-U M- 1.1 FLASH LOADER UTILITY It is sometimes convenient to load a binary image without installing and using the SDK. With the flash loader utility, you can flash the firmware onto the module using a PC. To use the flash loader utility, you must have the RN-ISP and a target board with a 16-pin debug header. To set up the hardware, first, connect the target board to the RN-ISP using a 16-pin ribbon cable. Then, connect the RN-ISP to the PC using a USB cable.
RN -ISP-U M- 1.1 Figure 14. USB Serial Port (COM31) Properties Window 2. In the USB Serial Port (COM31) Properties window, click the Port Settings tab. 3. Click Advanced. Select COM3 in the COM Port Number drop-down list box to change the COM port number to COM3. See Figure 15. Figure 15. Advanced COM Port Settings www.rovingnetworks.
RN -ISP-U M- 1.1 NOTE: If all ports from COM1 through COM10 are in use, follow the instructions in the COM port reset application note to clear out the COM ports. The application note is available on the Roving Networks Documentation & Resources web page at http://www.rovingnetworks.com/resources/show/. To run the flash loader utility on a Windows PC, perform the following steps: 1. Open a command prompt window. 2. Change to the flash_load_32 directory. 3.
RN -ISP-U M- 1.1 APPENDIX D: LEGACY BOARD DIAGRAM Figure 17 shows the components and pin description of a legacy version of the ISP. Figure 17. Legacy ISP Components & Pin Description Reset B utton And LED Wake B utton And LED UART S tatus LEDs GND 3.3V R egulated 5V from USB AUX1 H eader Pin Description 1 VDD 3.3V J2 2 VDD 3.
RN -ISP-U M- 1.1 RESOURCES & RELATED DOCUMENTS For more information, refer to the following sources, which are available on the Support page on the Roving Networks website at http://www.rovingnetworks.com/support.php: • RN-131 Data Sheet • RN-134 Data Sheet • RN-171 Data Sheet • RN-174 Data Sheet • Advanced User Manual • COM Port Reset Application Note • http://www.ftdichip.com/Drivers/VCP.htm (FTDI drivers) www.rovingnetworks.
RN -ISP-U M- 1.1 NOTES www.rovingnetworks.
RN -ISP-U M- 1.1 Copyright © 2012 Roving Networks. All rights reserved. Roving Networks is a registered trademark of Roving Networks. Apple Inc., iPhone, iPad, iTunes, Made for iPhone are registered trademarks of Apple Computer. Roving Networks reserves the right to make corrections, modifications, and other changes to its products, documentation and services at any time.
