User Manual

P A G E 19
mikromedia 4 for STM32 CAPACITIVE U S E R M A N U A L
P A G E 19
mikromedia 4
U S E R M A N U A L
5. Connectivity
mikromedia 4 offers a huge number of connectivity options.
It includes support for the Ethernet, RF and USB (HOST/
DEVICE). Besides those options, it also offers two 1x26 pin
headers, which are used to directly access the MCU pins.
5.1 Ethernet
Ethernet is a popular computer networking technology for local area
networks (LAN). Systems communicating over Ethernet divide a stream of
data into individual packets, known as frames. Each frame contains source
and destination addresses and error-checking data so that damaged data
can be detected and re-transmitted. This makes the Ethernet protocol very
popular for communication over longer distances or in noisy environments.
The host MCU features an integrated Ethernet peripheral module, which
contains the entire communication stack on-chip. The physical layer is
provided by the LAN8720A (1), an RMII 10/100 Mbit Ethernet PHY IC from
Microchip. This IC has many useful features, including flexPWR
®
technology
with a flexible power management architecture and a support for various
low-power modes, compliance with ISO 802-3/IEEE and IEEE802.3/802.3u
frame formats, loopback modes support, auto-negotiation, automatic
polarity detection and correction, link status change wake-up detection,
vendor specific register functions, support for the reduced pin count RMII
interface, and much more.
It allows mikromedia 4 to connect to an Ethernet network over its shield as
TX and RX lines are routed to the 1x26 pin headers (2). mikromedia 4 is
equipped with two LED indicators, which are located on the front side. They
are used to signal status and data traffic.
Figure 10: 1x26 pins-header view
12
mikromedia 4 for STM32 CAPACITIVE U S E R M A N U A L