SimpleLink Low Power F3 SDK Environment Setup Guide

Texas Instruments

10 min read

Introduction

The following guide will walk you through how to setup the environment on the CC2340RX. This could take up to two hours to complete, make sure to pay attention to all of the required hardware and software to complete your setup.

Note

This is a setup process for Windows 10 machines and is similar on other operating systems.

Required hardware

The following is needed to complete the setup.

Note

Other labs may need 2 devices, so you may want to source a second CC2340R5 LaunchPad™ and XDS110ET. This lab will only require one (1) of each of the following devices.

• (1) SimpleLink™ CC2340R5 LaunchPad™.

• (1) SimpleLink™ XDS110ET LaunchPad™ development kit debugger with EnergyTrace™.

  • Should include a USB-C to USB-A cable for connecting the XDS110ET to a computer.

• (1) Android or Apple smartphone that can access the Google or Apple app store, download, and run Texas Instruments’ SimpleLink Connect App found here.

  • TI SimpleLink Connect on Google App Store

  Note

  Here are links to the TI SimpleLink Connect app. Go to these on your phone and download and install the apps.

  • TI SimpleLink Connect on Apple App Store

  • TI SimpleLink Connect on Google App Store

  Or, here is the QR code to download the app:

  

  A more detailed guide walking through this application is found in the module TI SimpleLink Connect App

Agenda

1. Download and setup required software

2. Recommended steps for BTool

3. Loading a CC2340R5 project to CCS.

4. Configure a Serial Terminal

5. Setup the SimpleLink™ Connect App on a Mobile Device

6. Reference Material

Download and Install Required Software

Note: The following links will bring you to the product download page which includes all software versions.

• SIMPLELINK-LOWPOWER-F3-SDK Software Development Kit (SDK)

• Code Composer Studio CCS / CCS Cloud or IAR

  • See Dependencies section of SDK release notes for required version.

• Uniflash

  • See Dependencies section of SDK release notes for required version.

• Smart RF Studio 8

  • See Dependencies section of SDK release notes for required version.

We recommend installing the SDK in the default directory

C:\ti

Using a custom install directory is possible, but it is recommended to make note of it for referencing in the future.

• [Download SimpleLink™ Low Power F3 SDK v7.40 or newer].

Recommended Steps for Setup Verification and Ease of Use

A. Make Shortcut to BTool

We are going to make a shortcut to the Btool software. This shortcut may be used in subsequent labs for easy access.

1. Right-click in the desired location for the shortcut. We use the desktop here, but we suggest using a place that can be easily accessed later on.

2. Go to New at the bottom of the list, then click Shortcut.

3. Paste

   {SDK_INSTALL_DIR}\tools\ble5stack\btool\btool.exe
   

   into the textbox Type the location of the item:. This could look like this (using SDK 8.10.00.55):

   C:\ti\simplelink_lowpower_f3_sdk_8_10_00_55\tools\ble5stack\btool\btool.exe
   

4. Click on the Next button.

5. Name the shortcut (The default name ‘BTool’ is recommended) and press the Finish button.

B. Load Software with CCS

After all the above steps have completed, we will run through the steps to loading an example and flashing it onto the device.

1. Open CCS and create your workspace.

   Launch Code Composer Studio.

   After opening CCS, you should be automatically placed in the workspace as seen in picture below. To change your current workspace, go to the “File” pop up menu located at the top left corner and select “Open Folder” to select a different folder to act as the workspace.

   Note

   Ensure no spaces are included in your workspace name.

2. Load a project into your workspace.

   Here we are importing only the basic_ble_LP_EM_CC2340R5_freertos_ticlang project, as only a single project is required to complete the lab. If you would like to eliminate the need to continue importing projects in subsequent labs, you could import all projects in this step. For completing this lab, only the basic_ble_LP_EM_CC2340R5_freertos_ticlang is needed.

   To import a project, at the top-left of the CCS window do the following, in order:

   • Left-click File then click Import Project(s) as shown below.

   

   Import Project Example

   • Left-click the Browse... button.

   • Navigate to the SDK directory {SDK_INSTALL_DIR}.

   • Go to examples, then rtos, then LP_EM_CC2340R5, then ble5stack.

   • Press the Enter key.

   • Select basic_ble_LP_EM_CC2340R5_freertos_ticlang.

   • Left-click the Finish button at the bottom right.

   

   Import CCS Projects View

3. Use a USB-C to USB-A cable to connect your board to any USB port on your computer. The LP-EM-CC2340R5 board should be connected to the LP-XDS110 (or LP-XDS110ET) first and then the USB-C to USB-A cable connects to the LP-XDS110.

   Note

   The green LED (on the XDS) should turn on when the device is connected.

4. Find the device’s COM port. This is used with Serial Monitor and BTool which are software tools used to communicate with the device. Serial Monitor allows the user to read messages being sent by the chip out through the UART communication interface. BTool enables user-device communication and controllability.

   • Press the Windows key and search for Device Manager, then press enter.

   • Open up the Ports (COM & LPT) drop-down and you will see two ports that correspond to the device similar to what is shown below. The image below shows our device on COM21 and COM20. The COM21 port is what we will use to connect to the device using Serial Terminal. The serial port connection is always the one titled XDS110 Class Application/User UART.

   

COM ports are unique to each board and computer combination. This means that a given board will likely be assigned different COM ports when plugged in to different computers.

5. Build and run the software on the device.

   • Left click on the project basic_ble_LP_EM_CC2340R5_freertos_ticlang on the left side of CCS in the Explorer window pane.

   • Left click Project then click on Build Projectshown in the below image and wait for the project to finish building.

   

   Build Icon

   • Left click Run then click on Debug Project shown in the image below and wait for the program to finish flashing.

   

   Debug Icon

   • The debug button will build the project if needed, place the device into debug mode, flash the device, and start running the image in debug mode. When debugging, by default, after the device is flashed, it will reset and pause execution.

   • Left click the play button seen in the debug menu example below.

   

   Debug Icon

   Note

   Later on we will discuss how to make the software load to a specific device. This is useful for ensuring a specific program is flashed to a specific device when multiple devices and projects are to be used simultaneously

6. Visually inspect the board and see the green and red LEDs are turned on. The XDS110ET will have flashing green and red LEDs when the software is loading.

   Note

   Do not close any software or unplug the device yet. We will now verify and setup Serial Terminal which will be commonly used in the future labs.

7. Setup the serial terminal to see the device’s UART output.

C. Configure Serial Terminal standard connection options

Here we will walk through using a serial terminal. In this example, PuTTY will be used.

The Serial Terminal can be used to receive and send UART data to your evaluation board through the USB serial interface.

To use the terminal, open PuTTY and make sure the following parameters are configured:

1. For ‘Connection Type’ select Serial

2. Serial Line: Your device’s UART COM Port (COM1 in this guide, but yours will be different.)

3. Speed: 115200

PuTTY connection parameters for connecting to a CC23xx device

Here is what the terminal should now be showing after successfully flashing and running Basic BLE:

PuTTY Terminal with Basic BLE Flashed

## Quiz What happens in Serial Terminal when you press the `left` button on the CC2345R5 EVM? 1. [ ] Nothing, the screen is still blank. > If this is happening then there is something wrong with either the serial terminal or the program loading to the device. Please review section B, C, and/or that the correct SDK was downloaded. 1. [ ] The device connects to a peripherial. > Incorrect, we are not issuing connection commands. 1. [x] The screen shows the menu change. > Correct! You have successfully loaded a program to the device and it is now properlly operating and communicating through the serial port. The left button helps navigate through the menu options. ### What happens in the serial terminal when you press and hold the `XDS110ET button`? 1. [ ] Nothing, the menu is still the same. > Incorrect, although the menu options may appear to be the same the device state has been changed. 1. [x] The menu options have been reset. > Correct! The device reset to the original state when the code was first flashed. 1. [ ] The menu text is jumbled. > If this is happening then the device is not functioning properly and could be due to improper serial settings. Please reflash the device (left-click the green bug icon) and check to see if the menu options display correctly. If not please contact support.

Conclusion

You have now fully setup your development envinroment and can either take a break or immediately begin SimpleLink basic_ble example.

Material for additional information

The following documentation provides more in-depth information that can be useful for debugging and development with the CC23XX series of devices. These are not required for completing the setup or following lab(s) and are posted here at the beginning for easy access when referring to this startup guide.

Datasheet

Technical Reference Manual

Quickstart Guide for CC23xx Low Power F3 SDK