The Atmel® SAM4S Xplained Pro evaluation kit is a hardware platform to
evaluate the ATSAM4SD32C microcontroller.
Supported by the Atmel Studio integrated development platform, the kit provides
easy access to the features of the Atmel ATSAM4SD32C and explains how to
integrate the device in a custom design.
The Xplained Pro MCU series evaluation kits include an on-board Embedded
Debugger, and no external tools are necessary to program or debug the
ATSAM4SD32C.
The Xplained Pro extension series evaluation kits offers additional peripherals to
extend the features of the board and ease the development of custom designs.
●Programming and debugging (target) through Serial Wire Debug (SWD)
●Virtual COM-port interface to target via UART
●Atmel Data Gateway Interface (DGI) to target via synchronous SPI or TWI
●Four GPIOs connected to target for code instrumentation
●Digital I/O
●Two mechanical buttons (user and reset button)
●One user LED
●Three extension headers
●LCD display header
●USB interface for host and device function (target)
●2Gb NAND Flash for non-volatile storage
●SD card connector
●Adjustable analog reference
●Three possible power sources
●External power
●Embedded debugger USB
●Target USB
●12MHz crystal
●32kHz crystal
1.2Kit overview
The Atmel SAM4S Xplained Pro evaluation kit is a hardware platform to evaluate the Atmel ATSAM4SD32C.
The kit offers a set of features that enables the ATSAM4SD32C user to get started using the ATSAM4SD32C
peripherals right away and to get an understanding of how to integrate the device in their own design.
3 Steps to start exploring the Atmel Xplained Pro Platform
●Download and install Atmel Studio1.
●Launch Atmel Studio.
●Connect an USB cable to the DEBUG USB port.
2.2Connecting the kit
When connecting Atmel SAM4S Xplained Pro to your computer for the first time, the operating system will do a
driver software installation. The driver file supports both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Microsoft® Windows® XP
and Windows 7.
Once connected the green power LED will be lit and Atmel Studio will autodetect which Xplained Pro
evaluation- and extension kit(s) that's connected. You'll be presented with relevant information like datasheets
and kit documentation. You also have the option to launch Atmel Software Framework (ASF) example
applications. The target device is programmed and debugged by the on-board Embedded Debugger and no
external programmer or debugger tool is needed. Please refer to the Atmel Studio user guide2 for information
regarding how to compile and program the kit.
2.3Design documentation and related links
The following list contains links to the most relevant documents and software for SAM4S Xplained Pro.
1. Xplained Pro products 3 - Atmel Xplained Pro is a series of small-sized and easy-to-use evaluation kits
for 8- and 32-bit Atmel microcontrollers. It consists of a series of low cost MCU boards for evaluation and
demonstration of features and capabilities of different MCU families.
2. SAM4S Xplained Pro User Guide 4 - PDF version of this User Guide.
3. SAM4S Xplained Pro Design Documentation 5 - Package containing schematics, BOM, assembly
drawings, 3D plots, layer plots etc.
4. Atmel Studio 6 - Free Atmel IDE for development of C/C++ and assembler code for Atmel
microcontrollers.
5. IAR Embedded Workbench® 7 for ARM®. This is a commercial C/C++ compiler that is available for
ARM. There is a 30 day evaluation version as well as a code size limited kick-start version available from
their website. The code size limit is 16K for devices with M0, M0+ and M1 cores and 32K for devices with
other cores.
6. Atmel sample store 8 - Atmel sample store where you can order samples of devices.
Xplained Pro is an evaluation platform that provides the full Atmel microcontroller experience. The platform
consists of a series of Microcontroller (MCU) boards and extension boards that are integrated with Atmel
Studio, have Atmel Software Framework (ASF) drivers and demo code, support data streaming and more.
Xplained Pro MCU boards support a wide range of Xplained Pro extension boards that are connected through
a set of standardized headers and connectors. Each extension board has an identification (ID) chip to uniquely
identify which boards are mounted on a Xplained Pro MCU board. This information is used to present relevant
user guides, application notes, datasheets and example code through Atmel Studio. Available Xplained Pro
MCU and extension boards can be purchased in the Atmel Web Store1.
3.1Embedded Debugger
The SAM4S Xplained Pro contains the Atmel® Embedded Debugger (EDBG) for on-board debugging. The
EDBG is a composite USB device of 3 interfaces; a debugger, Virtual COM Port and Data Gateway Interface
(DGI).
In conjunction with Atmel Studio, the EDBG debugger interface can program and debug the ATSAM4SD32C.
On the SAM4S Xplained Pro, the SWD interface is connected between the EDBG and the ATSAM4SD32C.
The Virtual COM Port is connected to a UART port on the ATSAM4SD32C (see section “Embedded Debugger
implementation” on page 16 for pinout), and provides an easy way to communicate with the target
application through a simple terminal software. It offers variable baud rate, parity and stop bit settings. Note
that the settings on the target device UART must match the settings given in the terminal software.
The DGI consists of several physical data interfaces for communication with the host computer. Please,
see section “Embedded Debugger implementation” on page 16 for available interfaces and pinout.
Communication over the interfaces are bidirectional. It can be used to send events and values from the
ATSAM4SD32C, or as a generic printf-style data channel. Traffic over the interfaces can be timestamped on
the EDBG for more accurate tracing of events. Note that timestamping imposes an overhead that reduces
maximal throughput. The DGI uses a proprietary protocol, and is thus only compatible with Atmel Studio.
The EDBG controls two LEDs on SAM4S Xplained Pro, a power LED and a status LED. Table 3.1, “EDBG LED
control” shows how the LEDs are controlled in different operation modes.
Table 3.1. EDBG LED control
Operation modePower LEDStatus LED
Normal operationPower LED is lit when power is
applied to the board.
Bootloader mode (idle)The power LED and the status LED blinks simultaneously.
Bootloader mode (firmware
upgrade)
For further documentation on the EDBG, see the EDBG User Guide.
3.2Hardware identification system
All Xplained Pro compatible extension boards have an Atmel ATSHA204 crypto authentication chip mounted.
This chip contains information that identifies the extension with its name and some extra data. When an
Xplained Pro extension board is connected to an Xplained Pro MCU board the information is read and sent
to Atmel Studio. The Atmel Kits extension, installed with Atmel Studio, will give relevant information, code
examples and links to relevant documents. Table 3.2, “Xplained Pro ID chip content” shows the data fields
stored in the ID chip with example content.
The SAM4S Xplained Pro kit can be powered either by USB or by an external power source through the 4pin power header, marked PWR. This connector is described in “Power header” on page 10. The available
power sources and specifications are listed in Table 3.3, “Power sources for SAM4S Xplained Pro”.
Table 3.3. Power sources for SAM4S Xplained Pro
Power inputVoltage requirementsCurrent requirementsConnector marking
External power5 V +/- 2 % (+/- 100 mV)
for USB host operation.
4.3 V to 5.5 V if USB
host operation is not
required
Embedded debugger
USB
4.4V to 5.25V
(according to USB spec)
Target USB4.4V to 5.25V
(according to USB spec)
Recommended
minimum is 1A to be
able to provide enough
current for connected
USB devices and the
board itself.
Recommended
maximum is 2A due
to the input protection
maximum current
specification.
500 mA (according to
USB spec)
500 mA (according to
USB spec)
PWR
DEBUG USB
TARGET USB
The kit will automatically detect which power sources are available and choose which one to use according to
the following priority:
1. External power
2. Embedded debugger USB
3. Target USB
Note
External power is required when the 500mA through the USB connector is not enough to power a
connected USB device in a USB host application.
3.3.1Measuring SAM4S power consumption
As part of an evaluation of the SAM4S it can be of interest to measure its power consumption. Because the
device has a separate power plane (VCC_MCU_P3V3) on this board it is possible to measure the current
consumption by measuring the current that is flowing into this plane. The VCC_MCU_P3V3 plane is connected
via a jumper to the main power plane (VCC_TARGET_P3V3) and by replacing the jumper with an ampere
meter it is possible to determine the current consumption. To locate the current measurement header, please
refer to Figure 1.1, “SAM4S Xplained Pro evaluation kit overview”.
Warning
Do not power the board without having the jumper or an ampere meter mounted. This can cause
the SAM4S to be powered through its I/O pins and cause undefined operation of the device.
3.4Standard headers and connectors
3.4.1Xplained Pro extension header
All Xplained Pro kits have one or more dual row, 20 pin, 100mil extension headers. Xplained Pro MCU boards
have male headers while Xplained Pro extensions have their female counterparts. Note that all pins are
not always connected. However, all the connected pins follow the defined pin-out described in Table 3.4,
“Xplained Pro extension header”. The extension headers can be used to connect a wide variety of Xplained Pro