SAMA5D29-Curiosity – Features

Introduction

This topic describes the features of the SAMA5D29-Curiosity Development Board (P/N: EV07R15A) with links to additional information. 

Features Summary

The major features of the SAMA5D29-Curiosity are: 

• SAMA5D29 MPU 
• Mass Storage 
• Communications 
• Debugging 
• User Interface 
• Expansion 
• Power Options 
• Jumper Summary 

References

• SAMA5D29-Curiosity User’s Guide 

Back to Top

SAMA5D29 MPU

The SAMA5D29 is a high-performance, ultra-low-power Arm^® Cortex-A5 CPU embedded microprocessor (MPU) running up to 500 MHz. 

Back to Top

Mass Storage

There are three mass storage options available on the development board. 

64 Mb Serial Quad I/O (SQI) Flash with EUI-48 and EUI-64 (U9)

U9 is a 64 Mb Serial Quad I/O (SQI) Flash with EUI-48 and EUI-64 memory (Microchip SST26VF064BEUI). It is connected to the Quad SPI Interface 1 (QSPI1) peripheral of the SAMA5D29. 

Secure Digital Multimedia Card (SDMMC) (J7)

J7 is a Secure Digital (SD) or MultiMediaCard (MMC) Memory Card slot. It is connected to the Secure Digital MultiMediaCard port 1 (SDMMC1) peripheral of the SAMA5D29. 

Micro Secure Digital (J6) (Bottom Side)

J6 is a micro Secure Digital (SD) Memory Card slot mounted on the bottom side of the development board. It is connected to the Secure Digital MultiMediaCard port 0 (SDMMC0) peripheral of the SAMA5D29. 

Back to Top

Communications

The SAMA5D29-Curiosity provides wired communications via Ethernet, USB, CAN, and wireless communications from SDMMC slot (J7) and Bluetooth^® UART (J8). 

Ethernet (J15-J18)

The SAMA5D29-Curiosity contains a 10Base T/100Base-TX Ethernet Reduced Media-Independent Interface (RMII) available on connectors J15, J16, J17, and J18. Microchip provides a wide range of compatible Ethernet daughter boards that can be used for testing and evaluation. See the SAMA5D29-Curiosity User’s Guide for more information. 

USB (J1 and J11)

The SAMA5D29-Curiosity features two USB communication ports named USB-A (J1) and USB-B (J11). 

The USB-A port (J1) acts only as a USB device interface and is accessed via USB Type-C connector J1. 

The USB-B port (J11) acts as a host and is accessed via USB Type-A connector J11. 

Controller Area Network (CAN) Flexible Data-Rate (FD)

The SAMA5D29 MPU contains two CAN-FD peripherals. By selecting a CAN-FD compatible mikro Click board™, the CAN-FD interfaces can be evaluated. 

MCAN0 signals are routed to the mikroBUS 1 connector (J19) by moving resistors R184 to R181 and R185 to R180. The resistors are located on the bottom side of the development board, below the mikroBUS 1 connector.

MCAN1 signals are routed to the mikroBUS 2 connector (J22) by moving resistors R192 to R189 and R193 to R188. The resistors are located on the bottom side of the development board, below the mikroBUS 2 connector.

Wireless Connectivity

Wireless communications (IEEE 802.11 b/g/n and Bluetooth) can be added to the SAMA5D29-Curiosity by plugging in SD memory card format radio modules such as the ATWILC3000-SD Evaluation Kit (P/N: AC164158) to SD Memory Card slot J7.  

Bluetooth modules that support the serial UART interface can connect to the 6-pin header J8. 

Back to Top

Debugging

There is one method of debugging the SAMA5D29-Curiosity via JTAG (J27). In addition, a dedicated serial port for debugging and Console Serial Communications (J28). 

JTAG (J27)

A JTAG interface to the SAMA5D29-Curiosity is provided by 20-pin connector J27. This facilitates software development and debugging by connecting an external JTAG debugger such as the J-32 Debug Probe or Segger J-Link BASE Debug Probe. 

Serial Debug Port (J28)

The Serial Debug Port (J28) is a dedicated TTL-level serial port connection between the SAMA5D29 and J28. A level shifter (U12) allows either 3.3 or 5.0 VDC levels. To interface between J28 and the host computer, you will need a USB-to-Serial (3.3 or 5.0 VDC) TTL level adapter with a 6-pin single-in-line 0.1” pitch connector.  

A terminal emulation program running on a host computer provides a user interface to interact with the target console. 

Back to Top

User Interface

Red-Green-Blue (RGB) LED (D5)

The SAMA5D29-Curiosity features one RGB LED (D5). 

Pushbuttons (SW1-SW3)

The SAMA5D29-Curiosity contains three pushbuttons: 

• USER (SW1): User push button is the connector to PIO PA17 and is available for the user’s usage. 
• RESET (SW2): Reset push button, when pressed the system resets. 
• START (SW3): When pressed it will initiate the PMIC start-up sequence if the buck converters are off. The PMIC will also assert the SAMA5D29 wakeup (WKUP) signal to wake the MPU from a low-power state. 

Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) Interface (J23)

The SAMA5D29-Curiosity contains an 18-bit parallel LCD Interface that supports various LCD Displays. The Liquid Crystal Display Controller (LCDC) I/O lines are available on the baseboard 50-pin Flexible Flat Cable (FFC) / Flexible Printed Circuit (FPC) connector J23. 

Image Sensor Controller (ISC) Camera Interface (J24) (Not populated)

The SAMA5D29 contains an Image Sensor Controller (ISC) that supports incoming data from a parallel CMOS/CCD sensor. The system supports an active interface and the ITU-R BT 656/1120 422 protocol with an 8-bit or 10-bit data width and raw Bayer format. The ISC I/O lines are available on baseboard 2x15 connector J24 (not populated). 

Back to Top

Expansion

mikroBUS™ (J19 and J22)

mikroBUS™ socket is a proprietary communication and plugin standard for small interface boards called Click boards that extends the capabilities of the development board by offering Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI), UART, TWI, and PWM-based sensors and devices. They are made by MikroElektronika, a producer and retailer of hardware and software tools for developing embedded systems. 

GPIO/Raspberry Pi Connector(J25)

The SAMA5D29-Curiosity contains a 40-pin GPIO connector (J25) for use. This connector is compatible with the Raspberry Pi expansion header. 

Multifunction 20-Pin Connector (J26) (Not populated)

The 20-pin Multifunction connector provides connectivity to alternate functions of certain SAMA5D29 PIOs. One such function is bringing the NAND Flash interface to this connector. Refer to the SAMA5D29-Curiosity User’s Guide for more information. 

Tamper (J29) and System Signals (J30) Connectors (Not populated)

The SAMA5D29-Curiosity board provides six tamper pins for static or dynamic intrusion detection on connector J29 (not populated).  

Unused I/O signals from the SAMA5D29 are routed to connector J30 (not populated). 

Back to Top

Power Options

There are two options to power the SAMA5D29-Curiosity. 

USB-A Port (J1)

The USB-A port (J1) is a USB-C connector and can be used as a source of power to the development board. In most cases, this port is limited to 500 mA. 

DC Jack (J2)

The SAMA5D29-Curisosity can be powered by an external 5.0 VDC power supply. The connector (J1) is a 2.1 mm coaxial center-positive. 

Back to Top

Jumper Summary

The SAMA5D29-Curiosity jumpers are as follows: 

Jumper J3 – VDDBU Current Measurement:

• Closed: (default) 
• Open: Removing the jumper will remove power to VDDBU and reset the Backup Registers (BUREG) to their initial configuration. 

Jumper J10 – Serial Quad I/O (SQI) Flash Boot:

• Closed: enable boot (default) 
• Open: disable boot 

Jumper J14 – Enable RMII 50 MHz Clock Source:

• Closed: Enables (default) 
• Open: Disables 

Back to Top

Learn More

• SAMA5D29-Curiosity – Introduction 
• SAMA5D29-Curiosity – Console Serial Communications
• SAMA5D29-Curiosity – Booting Demo Linux^® Image 
• SAMA5D29-Curiosity – Read and Write Boot Configuration Word using SAM-BA ISP
• Developing with Embedded Linux 
• Developing Applications with MPLAB Harmony v3 Software Framework for MPUs 

Back to Top