User Manual

RN131/171 EVALUATION KIT
USER’S GUIDE
 2013 Microchip Technology Inc. DS50002183A-page 19
Chapter 2. Getting Started
2.1 INTRODUCTION
This chapter describes the RN131/171 Evaluation Kit board as an independent
development board for exploring the ASCII command set and prototyping of embedded
systems. Certain hardware and software/utilities are essential to support the
development of demo applications.
This chapter discusses the following topics:
• Hardware Requirements
• Software/Utility Requirements
• Module Configuration
2.2 HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS
Along with an USB cable either RN-131-EK or RN-171-EK boards are required for eval-
uation hardware setup and to run the demo applications.
2.2.1 Hardware Setup
The following are the steps to setup the RN131/171 Evaluation Board demo:
1. Supply power to RN-131-EK and RN-171-EK evaluation board using an USB
cable. Alternatively, power can be supplied to RN-171-EK evaluation board by
inserting two AAA batteries into the battery pack.
2. Connect the USB cable to a USB port on the host system and to the USB connector
on the evaluation board.
3. If the drivers are not automatically installed, download and install the FTDI drivers
from the Microchip web site “http://ww1.microchip.com/downloads/en/Device-
Doc/FTDI-Drivers.zip” FTDI Chipset Drivers.
4. Once the FTDI drivers are installed, the COM port is automatically assigned based
on the active connection.
Figure 2-1 and Figure 2-2 show the setup arrangement of RN131 and RN171 Evalua-
tion Boards connected to computer/laptop.