The SAM E54 Curiosity Ultra Development Board (DM320210) includes an integrated programmer and debugger,
hence additional hardware is not required to get started. Users can add functionality through MikroElectronika
mikroBUS™ Click™ adapter boards, add Ethernet connectivity with the Microchip PHY Daughter Board, add Wi-Fi
connectivity capability using the Microchip expansions boards, and add audio input and output capability with
Microchip audio daughter boards.
With or without expansion boards, the SAM E54 Curiosity Ultra Development Board provides the freedom to develop
for a variety of applications, including Bluetooth® Audio, CAN, Graphics User Interface (GUI), Internet of Things (IoT),
robotics development, and proof-of-concept (PoC) designs.
The following are features of the SAM E54 Curiosity Ultra development board
• ATSAME54P20A, 120 MHz, 1MB Flash, 256 KB RAM
• On-Board Debugger (EDBG)
– Real time Programming and Debugging
– Virtual COM port (VCOM)
– Data Gateway Interface (DGI)
• One mikroBUS interfaces
• One X32 audio interfaces supporting Bluetooth and audio
• Ethernet interface
• Graphics interface
• Xplained Pro extension compatible interface
• CAN interface
• User buttons
• User LEDs
• 8-MB QSPI memory
• Arduino Uno R3 compatible interface
SAM E54
Kit Contents
The development board kit contains one SAM E54 Curiosity Ultra development board (DM320210).
Note: If you are missing any part of the kit, contact a Microchip sales office for assistance. A list of Microchip offices
for sales and service is provided on the last page of this document.
The Microchip Website.................................................................................................................................32
The following diagram shows the power system on the SAM E54 Curiosity Ultra development board. The
development board has many power sub systems that allow it to accept up to 16V. The barrel jack is a 2.1 mm center
positive connector. The power in can also be connected through the Arduino header (Vin), and it supplies power
before the reverse voltage protection.
The SAM E54 Curiosity Ultra development board implements several Curiosity Pro standards, such as extension
headers and connectors. Curiosity Pro is an evaluation platform that provides a full Microchip microcontroller
experience. The platform consists of a series of Microcontroller (MCU) boards and extension boards that are
integrated with the Microchip MPLAB® X IDE that supports data streaming. The Curiosity Pro MCU boards support a
wide range of Curiosity Pro extension boards, such as audio DACs and codecs, Ethernet PHYs, graphics cards, and
mikroBUS 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 connected to a Xplained Pro MCU board. This
information is given in the relevant user guides, application notes, data sheets, and the example code examples
through the MPLAB X IDE.
The development board contains a Microchip Embedded Debugger (EDBG) for on-board debugging. The EDBG is a
complex USB device, which is based on the following interfaces:
• Debugger
• Virtual COM Port
• Data Gateway Interface (DGI)
Together with the Microchip MPLAB X IDE, the EDBG debugger interface can program and debug the
ATSAME54P20A. On the development board, the SWD interface is connected between the EDBG and the
ATSAME54P20A.
The Virtual COM Port is connected to a UART on the ATSAME54P20A and provides an easy way to communicate
with the target application through the terminal software. It offers variable baud rate, parity, and Stop bit settings. The
settings on the ATSAME54P20A must match with the settings given in the terminal software.
Note: If not set automatically, Data Terminal Ready (DTR) must be set in the terminal software.
The DGI consists of several physical interfaces for communication with the host computer. Communication over the
interfaces is bidirectional. It can be used to send events and values from the ATSAME54P20A, or as a generic printfstyle data channel. Traffic over the interfaces can be timestamped on the EDBG for accurate tracing of events. Note
that timestamping imposes an overhead that reduces maximal throughput. The Data Visualizer is used to send and
receive data through DGI.
The EDBG controls two LEDs on the development board: a power LED and a status LED. The table below provides
how the LEDs are controlled in different operation modes.
Table 1-2. EDBG LED Control
SAM E54
SAM E54 Curiosity Ultra Development Board ...
Operation ModePower LEDStatus LED
Normal operationThe power LED is lit when power is applied
to the board.
Bootloader mode (Idle
mode)
Bootloader mode
(firmware upgrade)
For additional information on EDBG, refer to the EDBG User Guide.
Hardware Identification System
All Curiosity Pro-compatible extension boards have an Microchip ATSHA204 CryptoAuthentication™ chip mounted.
This chip contains information that identifies the extension with its name and data. When an Xplained Pro extension
is connected to a Curiosity Pro MCU board, the information is read and sent to the MPLAB X IDE. The Microchip kits
extension, installed with MPLAB X IDE, provides relevant information, such as code examples, and links to relevant
documents. The following table provides the data fields stored in the ID chip with content examples.
The SAM E54 has two ways of supporting I2S audio applications: Host mode and Slave mode. This refers to which
mode generates the I2S Master clock, and it also known as a reference clock. The following figure shows the
relationship between the devices. On this board there is a jumper to select between the two modes, Master mode
and Slave mode. The usable modes also depend on which codec it supports, as not all codecs can support both the
modes.
Figure 1-4. Audio Clock Selection
SAM E54
SAM E54 Curiosity Ultra Development Board ...
1.5.1 Pinout
The following table describes the pinout for the X32 Audio Interface. See the 2.1 Schematics for more information.
10Audio WS/LRCLKAudio Word Select/Left Right ClockI2S
11Audio InAudio into MCU, out from codacI2S
12Audio CLKAudio clockI2S
13Audio outAudio out of MCU, into codac/DACI2S
14REFCLK/MCKReference clock #1REFCLK
15GNDGroundPower
16GNDGroundPower
17NCLegacy hold over-
18+3.3vVDDPower
19NCLegacy hold over-
20+5.0vVDDPower
21 (1)NCNC
22 (2)ADC/Card ID pinAnalog-to-Digital Converter to read voltage on the daughter card1-wire
23 (3)NCNC
24 (4)NCNC
25 (5)NCNC
26 (6)NCNC
27 (7)NCNC
28 (8)NCNC
29 (9)NCNC
30 (10)NCNC
31 (11)GNDGroundPower
32 (12)GNDGroundPower
1.5.2 X32 Port Connections
The following table provides the port and connection details of the X32 audio interface. The I2S signals listed are the
Main signals, and both the signals are available at each interface.