SAMA7D65-Curiosity – Features
Introduction
This topic describes the features of the SAMA7D65-Curiosity Development Board (P/N: EA89C15A) with links to additional information.
Features Summary
The major features of the SAMA7D65-Curiosity are:
- SAMA7D65 MPU
- Mass Storage
- Communications
- Debugging
- User Interface
- Expansion
- Power Options
- Jumper Summary
References
SAMA7D65 MPU
The SAMA7D65 is a high-performance Arm® Cortex®-A7 CPU embedded microprocessor (MPU) running up to 1 GHz.
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), NAND Flash Memory (U8), and Secure Digital Multimedia Card (SDMMC) (J10).
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 0 (QSPI0) peripheral of the SAMA7D65.
NAND Flash Memory (U8)
U8 is a 4-Gbit SLC NAND Flash memory Macronix MX30LF4G28AD-XKI.
Secure Digital Multimedia Card (SDMMC) (J10)
J10 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 SAMA7D65.
Communications
The SAMA7D65-Curiosity provides wired communications via Ethernet, USB, CAN, and wireless communications from M2 wireless interface.
Ethernet (J15)
The SAMA7D65-Curiosity contains a 10/100/1000 Reduced Gigabit Media-Independent Ethernet (RGMII) and Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) SODIMM interface available on connector J15. Microchip provides a wide range of compatible Ethernet daughter boards that can be used for testing and evaluation. See the SAMA7D65-Curiosity User’s Guide for more information.
USB (J3, J23 and J24)
The SAMA7D65-Curiosity features three USB communication ports named USB-A (J3), USB-B (J23) and USB-C (J24).
The USB-A port (J3) acts only as a USB device interface and is accessed via USB Type-C connector J3.
The USB-B port (J23) and USB-C port (J24) acts as a host and is accessed via USB Type-A connectors J23 and J24.
Controller Area Network (CAN) Flexible Data-Rate (FD)
The SAMA7D65 MPU contains three dedicated CAN-FD interfaces, each equipped with an MCP2542FD CAN transceiver.
Each CAN port features a 3-pin terminal block named CAN1 (J29), CAN2 (J30) and CAN3 (J31). Wires can be plugged in the terminal blocks without the use of a screwdriver.
Wireless M.2 interface (J11)
The SAMA7D65-Curiosity board embeds an M.2 connector to interconnect with Wireless add-on cards. Only wireless cards cards compatible with the PCIe M.2 Key E slot (J11) are supported.
M.2 (formerly known as NGFF) is a small form factor card and connector that supports applications such as Wi-Fi®, WLAN, USB, PCI Express® (PCIe®) and SATA, as defined in the PCI-SIG® M.2 Specification.
The M.2 slot also features a Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter (UART) interface with hardware flow control for the Bluetooth® component
of the add-on card.
The main interface integrated in the M.2 slot is SDMMC2, for the Wi-Fi component of the add-on
card. An optional SPI interface is also multiplexed with the SDMMC2 pins and is available by
changing the JP5 jumper position on the J12 header.
Debugging
There is one method of debugging the SAMA7D65-Curiosity via JTAG (J38) using MPLAB® PIC™kit 5. In addition, a dedicated serial port for debugging and Console Serial Communications (J35).
JTAG (J38)
A JTAG interface to the SAMA7D65-Curiosity is provided by 20-pin connector J38. This facilitates software development and debugging by connecting an external JTAG debugger such as MPLAB PICkit 5.
Serial Debug Port (J35)
The Serial Debug Port (J35) is a dedicated TTL-level serial port connection between the SAMA7D65 and J35. A level shifter (U19) allows either 3.3 or 5.0 VDC levels. To interface between J35 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.
User Interface
Red-Green-Blue (RGB) LED (D11)
The SAMA7D65-Curiosity features one RGB LED (D11).
Pushbuttons (SW1-SW4)
The SAMA7D65-Curiosity contains three pushbuttons:
- WKUP (SW1): When pressed the MPU wakes up from a low-power state.
- USER (SW2): User push button is the connector to PIO PA17 and is available for the user’s usage.
- RESET (SW4): 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 SAMA7D65 wakeup (WKUP) signal to wake the MPU from a low-power state.
LVDS Interface (J17)
The SAMA7D65-Curiosity contains an 30-pin FPC LVDS display connector. An external LVDS display can be connected to the J17 30-pin FPC connector.
MIPI DSI Display Interface (J16)
The SAMA7D65-Curiosity contains a 34-pin FPC MIPI display connector. An external MIPI display can be connected to the J16 34-pin FPC connector.
Expansion
mikroBUS™ (J25 and J26)
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 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(J18)
The SAMA7D65-Curiosity contains a 40-pin GPIO connector (J18) for use. This connector is compatible with the Raspberry Pi® expansion header.
Tamper (J33) and System Signals (J34) Connectors (Not populated)
The SAMA7D65-Curiosity board provides two tamper pins for static or dynamic intrusion detection on connector J33 (not populated).
Unused I/O signals from the SAMA7D65 are routed to connectors J33 and J34 (not populated).
Signal Name | Description |
---|---|
JTAGSEL (J33) | JTAG boundary scan mode enable |
SHDN (J33) | Enable/disable external power supply circuit |
AUDIOCLK (J33) | Dedicated audio clock signal |
MCP16502_HPM (J34) | PMIC High Power mode enable |
NRST_OUT (J34) | Peripheral reset output |
NRST (J34) | Processor reset input |
SEL_VLDO1 (J34) | Selects the output voltage of LDO1 of the MCP16502 PMIC |
Power Options
There are two options to power the SAMA7D65-Curiosity: USB-A Port (J3) and DC Jack (J1).
USB-A Port (J3)
The USB-A port (J3) is a USB-C connector and can be used as a power source for the development board. In most cases, this port is limited to 500 mA.
DC Jack (J1)
The SAMA7D65-Curisosity can be powered by an external 5.0 VDC power supply. The connector (J1) is a 2.1 mm coaxial center-positive.
Jumper Summary
The SAMA7D65-Curiosity jumpers are as follows:
Jumper J4 – VDDBU Current Measurement:
- Closed: (default)
- Open: Removing the jumper will remove power to VDDBU and reset the Boot Sequence
Controller Configuration register (BSC_CR) to their initial configuration.
Jumper J39 – Serial Quad I/O (SQI) Flash Boot:
- Closed: Enable boot (default)
- Open: Disable boot
Jumper J36 – NAND Flash Boot:
- Closed: Enable boot (default)
- Open: Disable
Jumper J32 – CAN1, CAN2 and CAN3 Transceiver:
- Closed: Enable boot (default)
- Open: Disable
Jumper J2 – Extra 3.3V and 2.5V source select
- 1-2 Closed: Enable extra power source from VDD_3V3
- 2-3 Closed: Enable extra power source from 5V_MAIN
- Open: Disable
Jumper J6 – PAC1934 TWCK selection on USB
- 1-2 Closed: Enable TWCK selection on USB (default)
- 2-3 Closed: Enable TWCK selection on MPU
- Open: Disable
Jumper J7 – PAC1934 TWD selection on USB
- 1-2 Closed: Enable TWD selection on USB (default)
- 2-3 Closed: Enable TWD selection on MPU
- Open: Disable
Jumper J12 – M.2 SDIO/SPI interface selection
- 1-2 Closed: Enable SDIO (default)
- 2-3 Closed: Enable SPI
- Open: Disable