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BM70 Compact Demo Board User's Guide: Using BM70 Firmware on BM-70-CDB

Last modified by Microchip on 2023/11/09 09:03
Contents

Chapter 3. Using BM70 Firmware on BM-70-CDB

3.1 Introduction

The simplest method to program the BM70 module on the BM-70-CDB is to connect it to a PC host that supports USB CDC virtual COM (serial) ports.

Using BM70 firmware on CDB, user data can be transferred to a remote device over Transparent UART (Refer to "BM70 Compact Demo Board User's Guide Appendix G. Transparent UART"). This section shows the procedure how to connect to a smartphone via the BM70 and open a Transparent UART data pipe to communicate with the smartphone app.

To interact directly with the BM70 module, the following software are needed:

  • PC Host supporting USB CDC virtual serial port
  • Terminal Emulator Application
    • Tera Term or CoolTerm is recommended.
  • Microchip SmartData App for iOS® Available on App Store® (for iOS).
  1. At the time of publication, the BM70 modules are released with firmware version 1.03. The latest firmware version for the BM70 is available on the "BM70 Bluetooth Low Energy Module" page.
  2. Refer to "BM70 Compact Demo Board User's Guide Appendix B. Loading BM70 Firmware" for how to program firmware on BM70 and "Appendix C. BM-70-CDB Example Configuration" for how to configure the BM70 after programming the firmware.

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3.2 Connecting the BM-70-CDB to a Host PC

To connect the BM-70-CDB to a host PC, perform the following steps:

Configure the BM-70-CDB board as follows:

  • Pins 2 and 3 on J6 are closed to select USB power option
  • J8 is closed
  • Operating mode switch (Switch 2 on SW2) is in position 2 to enable Application Mode.

Connect the BM-70-CDB to the host PC using a micro USB cable.

  • Verify that the virtual COM port is enumerated on the host PC. If the COM port does not enumerate, the MCP2200 drivers may need to be downloaded to the host PC. The drivers can be downloaded from the "MCP2200 USB 2.0 to UART Protocol Converter with GPIO" page.
  • Press Reset button (SW1) and verify that LD2 is flashing slowly.

Start the terminal emulator software. In this example, Tera Term is used.

  • Configure the enumerated COM port as shown in Figure 3-1.
Configure the enumerated COM port

Figure 3-1: COM PORT SETTINGS FOR TERMINAL EMULATOR

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3.3 BM70 UART Transparent Connection Using SmartData App

To establish a UART Transparent connection on the BM-70-CDB using the Bluetooth SmartData App, use the following steps:

On your Apple device, download and install the SmartData App by Microchip Technology Inc. from iTunes App Store.
Open a serial port terminal to the BM70 module using steps in 3.2 “Connecting The BM-70-CDB To A Host PC”.
Turn on Bluetooth and open the SmartData App on the iOS device.

SmartData will automatically scan for BLE modules in the vicinity upon opening. From the list of scanned devices, Click BLE-SPP (or any user-defined name) from the scan list in the SmartData App to connect to the module. Refer to Figure 3-2

BLE Peripherals

Figure 3-2: CONNECT TO BM70 MODULE USING SMARTDATA APP

After the connection is established with the BM70 module, go to Serial Data tab in the SmartData App.
Enter example text in the first dialog box of the Serial Data tab and click the Send button. The example text should appear in the serial terminal emulator on the host PC.

Type any data on the serial terminal of the BM70 to send data from BM70 to the SmartData App. The data sent from the host PC is displayed in the Receive box of the SmartData app. Refer to Figure 3-3 and Figure 3-4.

DATA EXCHANGE WITH BM70 MODULE

Figure 3-3: DATA EXCHANGE ON SMARTDATA APP WITH BM70 MODULE

Tera Term Terminal

Figure 3-4: DATA EXCHANGE ON BM70 UART TERMINAL EMULATOR WITH S

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