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Hardware Information Sheet

Issue: A (Preliminary)

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Contents

Table of Figures ........................................................................................................................ 2

Scope ........................................................................................................................................ 3

Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 3

CoreBASIC ................................................................................................................................ 4

Electrical Specification ........................................................................................................... 5

Power ..................................................................................................................................... 5

Pin Specification................................................................................................................... 5

Digital I/O .......................................................................................................................... 5

Analogue Inputs ............................................................................................................... 6

Jumper Configuration ......................................................................................................... 6

User LED Information ............................................................................................................ 7

Ethernet ................................................................................................................................. 7

USB.......................................................................................................................................... 7

microSD ................................................................................................................................. 8

SPI Memory Expansion ......................................................................................................... 8

I2C Expansion ....................................................................................................................... 8

JTAG ....................................................................................................................................... 9

SolderCore Pin Functions .................................................................................................... 9

Programming SolderCore ..................................................................................................... 11

Mechanical Details ............................................................................................................... 12

Appendix A – Flashing SolderCore ...................................................................................... 13

Appendix B - Supported Shields .......................................................................................... 17

Table of Figures

Figure 1 SolderCore Features ................................................................................................. 4

Figure 2 Connecting to SolderCore using Ethernet ............................................................ 4

Figure 3 SolderCore Jumper Configuration ......................................................................... 6

Figure 4 SolderCore PCB Outline ......................................................................................... 12

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Scope

This document is intended to familiarize the reader with the basic features of the

SolderCore development platform. This document is not intended as complete users.

For more detailed information on using the SolderCore please visit the website.

Introduction

SolderCore is complete development platform consisting of an Arduino-shaped

microcontroller “CPU” board with a new and exciting software development

environment called CoreBASIC. SolderCore features a Cortex-M3 processor capable

of running at clock speeds of up to 80 MHz and provides a compact, flexible solution

for rapid product development. SolderCore is compatible with a large range of third

party plug-in PCBs to expand its capabilities.

Hardware Features:

1) 80 MHz ARM Cortex-M3 processor

2) 512kB of flash.

3) 96kB of RAM.

4) 20 user-programmable I/O pins + 6 power pins. Pins can be programmed to

perform alternative functions including I2C, SPI, UART, PWM, CCP, ADC, QEI

and CAN

5) 10/100 Mbit Ethernet port.

6) Micro-AB USB On-The-Go connector.

7) Spring-loaded microSD card holder.

8) 2.2mm barrel jack for power supply. 6 – 9V. Reverse polarity protected.

9) Standard Cortex 10-pin JTAG connector.

10) Two power indicator LEDs.

11) Five user programmable LEDs

12) Reset button

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Figure 1 SolderCore Features

CoreBASIC

SolderCore is shipped with a powerful and fun development environment called

CoreBASIC. CoreBASIC allows users to write complex applications that can utilize the

devices hardware in very little time. Users access CoreBASIC using a web browser or

over Telnet by connecting a PC to the device using the Ethernet port, CoreBASIC will

work with any operating system that has a web browser or Telnet capability.

Figure 2 Connecting to SolderCore using Ethernet

CoreBASIC is a rich language that supports the following features:

HTTP, Telnet, SMTP, DHCP,FTP, complex numbers, matrix mathematics, quaternions,

trigonometry, logarithmic, FAT, string manipulation, FIR/IIR Filtering, Analog/Digital IO,

PWM, I2C, UART, MIDI support, CAN, USB and direct shield support

These features and more can be utilized using the CoreBASIC language. CoreBASIC

programs can be downloaded from the SolderCore website directly to the

SolderCore, where you can edit, save and run the program. The SolderCore supports

in excess of 60 shields and plug-in modules (Appendix B - Supported Shields) from

third party vendors, such as Sparkfun, Arduino, Watterott electronic, Adafuit

Industries, and more. To keep up with ever-growing list of new hardware, SolderCore

can be updated over the web with the latest code using a single command.

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Electrical Specification

Power

The SolderCore can be powered from the 2.2mm barrel jack connector or the

Micro-AB USB connector.

The voltage applied to the barrel jack should be between 6V and 9V. The inner pin

of the barrel jack is the positive connection.

SolderCore has two onboard regulators for generating 3.3V and 5.0V. The power

rails are routed to the power connector for powering external PCBs. When using

SolderCore with external modules supplied from the power pins, care should be

taken to consume no more than 800mA from the power supply.

When power is supplied via the USB connector, the 5V rail will be approximately 4.7V

due a protection diode voltage drop.

Pin Specification

Digital I/O

Pins D0–D13 and A0–A5 when configured as digital I/O are 5V tolerant. When A0 to

A5 are set as analog inputs they are not 5V tolerant and no more than 3.3V should

be applied to them.

Every I/O pin can be further configured (in Software) to support:

Weak pull-up (50K – 110k) or pull-down (55k – 180K) resistors

Flexible drive current. (2mA, 4mA and 8mA)

Slew rate control (8 mA only)

Open drain.

Parameter Parameter Name Min Nom Max Unit

VIH High level Input

Voltage

2.0 0 5.0 V

VIL Low-level input

voltage

-0.3 - 1.3 V

VOH High level output

voltage

2.4 - - V

VOL Low-level output

voltage

- - 0.4 V

Table 1. Digital I/O Specification

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Analogue Inputs

A0–A5 can be configured as ADC inputs. A4 and A5 are shared with SCL/SDA and

thus JP1 and JP3 must be set accordingly (see section

Jumper Configuration). The analog inputs can sample at a maximum frequency of

1MHz at a resolution of 10 bits. Table 2 details the ADC specifications.

Parameter Parameter Name Min Nom Max Unit

VADCIN Maximum single-

ended, full-scale

analog input voltage

using internal reference

- - 3.3 V

Maximum single

ended, full scale

analog input voltage

using external

reference

- - VREFA V

Minimum single-ended,

full scale analog input

voltage

0 - - V

Maximum differential,

full scale analog input

voltage using internal

reference

VREFA/2 V

Minimum differential,

full-scale analog input

voltage.

0 V

N Resolution 10 Bits

tADCCONV Conversion time. 1 uS

Table 2 ADC Specification

Jumper Configuration

There are three (3 way) jumpers on the SolderCore which can be used to tailor

device operation. Figure 3 shows the position and default configuration for each the

solder jumpers. Each jumper consists of three pads. The center pad (pad 2) should

be connected to either pad 1 or pad 3 (not both) using a solder bridge.

Figure 3 SolderCore Jumper Configuration

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JP1 and JP3 configure the device for either I2C mode or Analog mode. By default

the SolderCore is configured for I2C.

JP4 is used to select the reference voltage for microcontrollers ADC. By default the

reference voltage is set by the A pin of J3. However, the reference voltage can be

tied to the 3.3V rail if it is deemed more convenient by modifying the solder jumper;

in this mode the REF pin is disconnected.

User LED Information

There are 5 LEDs located on the SolderCore that can be activated through code by

the user. Two of these LEDs are located within the RJ45 connector.

Table 3 details the LED connections to the microprocessor

LED Description LM3S Pin

1 UL – User-configurable LED –

Green

PC5

2 IDL – User configurable LED –

Green

PE7

3 CS – microSD Chip Select LED –

Red

PJ4

4 RJ45 LED – Yellow PF2

5 RJ45 LED – Green PF3

Table 3 LED Pin Configuration

Two LEDs indicate the 3.3V and 5.0 V rail are operating correctly. When power is

applied, both of these should light.

The RJ45 LEDs can be configured to be under program control or to display the

status and activity on the Ethernet link. By default, the RJ45 LEDs display Ethernet-

related information.

Ethernet

SolderCore provides an RJ45 connector with integrated magnetic for connection to

10/100 Mbit Ethernet networks. The Ethernet connector has two internal LEDs that

can be configured to provide activity information on the network. Refer to Table 3

for LED connection information. Every SolderCore will be pre-programmed with a

MAC address. The MAC address is stored within USER configuration registers. A label

is appended to the underside of the SolderCore with the device MAC address.

USB

SolderCore provides a USB micro AB connector for support of the USB otg protocol.

SolderCore can be software configured to act as a USB host or slave. In host mode

SolderCore can sources up to 500mA at 5V to power external peripherals.

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microSD

SolderCore provides a microSD holder. Programs are able to read and write data to

a micro SD card.

An internal SPI bus is used to communicate with the card which is separate from the

hardware SPI bus routed to the user-accessible signals on the headers. The internal

SPI bus is shared with the two SOIC-8 memory devices that can be populated on the

underside of the SolderCore. Table 4 details the pins used on the microcontroller to

communicate with the microSD card.

Signal

Name

LM3S Pin

SCK PH4

MISO PF4

MOSI PF5

CSSD PG7

Table 4 LM3S to microSD pin information.

SPI Memory Expansion

The SolderCore has two SOIC-8 sites on the underside of the PCB which you can

populate with compatible SPI-based memory devices. CoreBASIC does not support

these at the current time, but we intend to support them in a future release. The SPI

bus used for data transfer is common to that used by the microSD card bar the IC

chip selects.

I2C Expansion

The SolderCore has an additional I2C header located adjacent to the two user LEDs.

This I2C bus is currently unused and CoreBASIC does not support it. You can,

however, attach additional I2C devices to this bus along with I2C pull-up resistors

and program them in your own C-based applications.

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JTAG

The SolderCore provides a 10-way Cortex JTAG connector for programming and

debugging the on-board microcontroller.

JTAG Signal

Name

Connector Pin

Number

VREF (3V3) 1

TMS 2

GND 3, 5, 9

TCK 4

TDO 6

TDI 8

RST 10

Table 5 JTAG Connector Pin out

Holding TCK low during a power up will place the SolderCore into Boot mode. See

Appendix A – Flashing SolderCore for more information.

SolderCore Pin Functions

The SolderCore general I/O pins are multifunctional; pins can be configured, using

software, to perform alternative functions. These alternative functions include I2C,

SPI, ADC, I2S, CAN and PWM. Table 6 details the SolderCore pin allocation and

function. Pin functionality of the SolderCore is similar to that of the Arduino module.

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J1 LM3S Arduino GPIO I2C SPI CAN I2S QEI PWM/CCP Analog UART

1 10 D0(Rx) PD0 - - Rx0 RXSCK0 IDX0 - P0 CC6 - - - AIN15 Rx2 Rx1 CTS1

2 6 D1(Tx) PE4 - - - TXWS0 - - CC3 CC2 - - - AIN3 Tx2 - -

3 5 D2 PE5 - - - TXSD0 - - CC5 - - - - AIN2 - - -

4 2 D3 (PWM) PE6 - - - - - - P4 - - - - AIN1 CTS1 - -

5 18 D4 PG1 SDA1 - - - - - P1 P5 - - - - Tx2 - -

6 47 D5 (PWM) PF0 - - Rx1 TXSD0 PhB0 - P0 - - - - - DSR1 - -

7 11 D6 (PWM) PD1 - - Tx0 RXWS0 PhA0 PhB1 P1 CC7 - - CC2 AIN14 Tx2 Tx1 DCD1

8 61 D7 PF1 - - Tx1 TXMCLK0 IDX1 - P1 CC3 - - - - RTS2 - -

J2 LM3S Arduino

1 95* A5 / D19

(SCL) PB2 SCL0 - - - IDX0 - CC3 CC0 - - - - - - -

2 96* A4 / D18

(SDA) PB3 SDA0 - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

3 97 A3 / D17 PD4 - - - RXSD0 - - CC0 CC3 - - - AIN7 RI2 - -

4 98 A2 / D16 PD5 - - - RXMCLK0 - - CCP2 CC4 - - - AIN6 Rx2 - -

5 99 A1 / D15 PD6 - - - TXSCK0 - - - - - - - AIN5 Tx2 - -

6 100 A0 / D14 PD7 - - - TXWS0 IDX0 - CC1 - - - - AIN4 DTR1 - -

J3 LM3 Arduino

1 22 D8 PC7 - - - - PhB0 - CC0 CC4 - - - - Tx1 - -

2 25 D9(PWM) PC4 - - - - PhA0 - P6 CC1 CC2 CC4 CC5 - - - -

3 12 D10 (PWM) PD2 - - - - - - P2 CC6 - - CC5 AIN13 Rx1 - -

4 31 D11 (MOSI,

PWM) PA5 - Tx0 Tx0 TXWS0 - - P7 - - - - - - - -

5 30 D12 (MISO) PA4 - Rx0 Rx0 TXSCK0 - - P6 - - - - - - - -

6 28 D13 (SCK) PA2 - Clk0 - RXSD 0 - - P4 - - - - - - - -

7 GND GND - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

8 AREF* AREF PB6 - - - TXSCK IDX0 - CC1 CC5 CC7 - - VREFA - - -

Table 6 SolderCore Pin Information

*Selectable via Solder Jumper

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Programming SolderCore

SolderCore is delivered preprogrammed with CoreBASIC. Users programming

CoreBASIC only require a PC with Ethernet & USB connecion, no other hardware is

required. CoreBASIC is the quickest and simplest way to get going with SolderCore.

For further information on CoreBASIC please visit the SolderCore WebSite.

eLua (embedded Lua) has also been ported to SolderCore. eLua is an open source

interpreted language, for more information on eLua, please visit the eLua website.

Although SolderCore is preloaded, with CoreBASIC, it is a simple task to load new

firmware without the need for any other hardware. SolderCore has an Ethernet

booloader that works with the Texas Instruments LMFLASH tool, freely available from

TI.

To re-flash a SolderCore with new firmware follow the procedures in Appendix A.

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Mechanical Details

The SolderCore PCB has the same form factor as the popular Arduino module.

Figure 4 SolderCore PCB Outline

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Appendix A – Flashing SolderCore

To re flash the SolderCore follow the instructions below. (Note: CoreBASIC is not

available in a binary format. Once erased, CoreBASIC can only be reprogrammed

at Hot Solder UK ltd or Rowley Associates).

1) Download LMFlash tool from Texas Instruments.

2) Configure the Ethernet port on the PC to use a fixed address of 192.168.1.1.

a. Open the control panel.

b. Select Network and Sharing

c. Select Change Adapter Settings

d. Right click and select properties on the local area connection that is

going to be used for programming SolderCore.

e. Select Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) and select properties.

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f. Select Use the Following IP address: and set the IP address to

192.168.1.1 and the Subnet mask to 255.255.255.0

g. Click Ok

3) Connect SolderCore to a PC using the Ethernet connector. Make sure

SolderCore is connected to the Ethernet port configured with a fixed IP

address

4) Power up the SolderCore.

5) Place SolderCore into Boot mode by holding pin 4 of J7 (JTAG connector) low

and pressing the reset button.

6) Run the LMFlash tool and select the configuration tab.

7) In the Quick Set pull down list, select “Manual Configuration”.

8) Select “Ethernet in the Interface drop down menu.

9) Type IP client address to 192.168.1.2. (This is the address SolderCore is given

during the programming sequence)

10) Type in the devices MAC address. The MAC address can be found on a label

on the underside SolderCore.

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11) Select the correct Ethernet Adapter from the drop down list.

12) Select the Program tab and browse to the location of the binary file to be

programmed to SolderCore.

13) Click on the Program button and wait for the programmer to finish.

14) Reset the SolderCore and the new binary file should be running.

15) Browse to the binary file that is to be programmed to the SolderCore

hardware.

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16) Click the Program button and wait for the down load process to complete.

17) To run the new, reset the SolderCore by pressing the reset button

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Appendix B - Supported Shields

1. 4D-SYSTEMS-4DISPLAY-SHIELD Shield

2. 4D-SYSTEMS-MICROCAM

3. ADAFRUIT-TFT-TOUCH-SHIELD Shield

4. ANALOG-DEVICES-ADXL345 SExI

5. ARDUINO-MOTOR-CONTROL-SHIELD Shield

6. ASAHI-KASEI-AK8975

7. BOSCH-SENSORTEC-BMP085 SExI

8. CIRCUITS@HOME-USB-HOST-SHIELD Shield

9. CIRCUITS@HOME-USB-HOST-SHIELD Shield

10. CORE-WSN SExI

11. EXCAMERA-GAMEDUINO Shield

12. FREESCALE-MAG3110

13. FREESCALE-MMA7660FC

14. FREESCALE-MMA8451Q

15. GRAVITECH-7SEG-SHIELD Shield

16. HONEYWELL-HMC5883L

17. HONEYWELL-HMC6352

18. INTERSIL-ISL29023 SExI

19. INVENSENSE-IDG3200 SExI

20. INVENSENSE-IDG3200 SExI

21. INVENSENSE-MPU-6050 SExI

22. JEE-LABS-LCD-PLUG Plug

23. JIMMIE-RODGERS-LOL-SHIELD Shield

24. LIQUIDWARE-INPUTSHIELD:MODE-A Shield

25. MAXIM-DS1340 Plug

26. NINTENDO-CLASSIC-CONTROLLER SExI

27. NINTENDO-NUNCHUK-CONTROLLER SExI

28. NUELECTRONICS-3310-LCD-SHIELD Shield

29. NUELECTRONICS-LCD-KEYPAD-SHIELD Shield

30. OLIMEX-MOD-MOKIA6610

31. PS2-KEYBOARD

32. ROWLEY-OLED-SHIELD

33. ROWLEY-QWHEEL-SHIELD

34. ROWLEY-UVGA-SHIELD

35. SEEED-STUDIO-OLED-128x64-BRICK Twig Brick

36. SEEED-STUDIO-OLED-96x16-BRICK Brick

37. SEEED-STUDIO-OLED-96x96-TWIG Twig

38. SEEED-STUDIO-SD-CARD-SHIELD Brick

39. SEEED-STUDIO-TFT-TOUCH-SHIELD Shield

40. SOLDERCORE-ARCADE-SHIELD Shield

41. SOLDERCORE-ARCADE-SHIELD Shield

42. SOLDERCORE-LCD-SHIELD Shield

43. SOLDERCORE-MOTOR-SHIELD Shield

44. SOLDERCORE-SENSECORE Shield

45. SOLDERCORE-SERVO-SHIELD Shield

46. SPARKFUN-ARDUMOTO Shield

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47. SPARKFUN-BUTTONPAD

48. SPARKFUN-COLOR-LCD-SHIELD Shield

49. SPARKFUN-DANGER-SHIELD Shield

50. SPARKFUN-EL-ESCUDO Shield

51. SPARKFUN-JOYSTICK-SHIELD Shield

52. SPARKFUN-MICROSD-SHIELD Shield

53. SPARKFUN-MIDI-BREAKOUT Shield

54. SPARKFUN-MIDI-SHIELD Shield

55. SPARKFUN-RADIO-SHIELD Shield

56. SPARKFUN-RINGCODER-BREAKOUT

57. SPARKFUN-SPECTRUM-SHIELD Shield

58. SPARKFUN-TOUCH-SHIELD Shield

59. SPARKFUN-USB-HOST-SHIELD Shield

60. SPARKFUN-USB-HOST-SHIELD-SKU-9628 Shield

61. SPARKFUN-VOICEBOX-SHIELD Shield

62. SPARKFUN-WIFLY-SHIELD Shield

63. SPARKFUN-XBEE-SHIELD Shield

64. STMICROELECTRONICS-LIS302DL

65. TAOS-TSL2561

66. THINGM-BLINKM-BREAKOUT Breakout

67. U-BLOX-NEO-6

68. WATTEROTT-MSD-SHIELD Shield

69. WATTEROTT-S65-SHIELD Shield