Microchip's SAM B11ZR Xplained Pro evaluation kit is a hardware platform used to evaluate the
ATSAMB11ZR-210CA module.
Supported by the Atmel Studio integrated development platform, the kit provides easy access to the
features of the ATSAMB11ZR 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 ATSAMB11ZR.
The Xplained Pro extension kits offer additional peripherals to extend the features of the board and ease
the development of custom designs.
–Symbolic debug of complex data types including scope information
–Programming and debugging, including power measurements
–Data Gateway Interface (DGI): SPI, I2C, four GPIOs
–Virtual COM port (CDC)
•Embedded current measurement circuitry with support for data visualization
•USB-powered
•Supported with application examples in Atmel Software Framework
ATSAMB11ZR
1.2 Kit Overview
The SAM B11ZR Xplained Pro evaluation kit is a hardware platform used to evaluate the
ATSAMB11ZR-210CA module.
The kit offers a set of features that enable the user to get started with the ATSAMB11ZR-210CA module
peripherals right away, and to understand how to integrate the device in their own design.
Steps to start exploring the Xplained Pro platform:
1.Download and install Atmel Studio.
2.Launch Atmel Studio.
3.Connect the Debug USB port on the evaluation kit to the computer using a USB cable (Standard-A
to Micro-B or Micro-AB).
ATSAMB11ZR
When the Xplained Pro MCU kit is connected to the computer for the first time, the operating system
installs the driver software automatically. This driver supports 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Microsoft
Windows® XP, Windows Vista®, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10, and Windows Server 2012.
When the Xplained Pro MCU board is powered, the power LED (green) glows and the Atmel Studio
automatically detects the specific Xplained Pro MCU and extension board(s) that are connected. The
landing page of the kit in the Atmel Studio has an option to launch the Atmel Software Framework (ASF)
and the Atmel START example application codes for the kit. The SAM B device is programmed and
debugged by the on-board embedded debugger and therefore no external programmer or debugger tool
is required.
2.2 Design Documentation and Relevant Links
The following list contains links to the most relevant documents and software for the SAM B11ZR
Xplained Pro.
•Xplained products - Xplained evaluation kits are a series of easy-to-use evaluation kits for
microcontrollers and other products. For low pin count devices, the Xplained Nano series provides
a minimalistic solution with access to all I/O pins of the target microcontroller. Xplained Mini kits are
for medium pin count devices and adds Arduino Uno compatible header footprint and a prototyping
area. Xplained Pro kits are for medium to high pin count devices, and feature advanced debugging
and standardized extensions for peripheral functions. All these kits have on board programmers/
debuggers which creates a set of low-cost boards for evaluation and demonstration of features and
capabilities of different products.
•Atmel Studio - Atmel Studio presents Free Atmel IDE for development of C/C++ and assembler
code for microcontrollers and relevant documentation.
•Microchip sample store - Microchip sample store where you can order samples of devices.
•EDBG User Guide - User guide containing more information about the on-board Embedded
Debugger.
•IAR Embedded Workbench ® 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 16KB for devices with M0, M0+, and M1 cores
and 32KB for devices with other cores.
•Atmel Data Visualizer - Atmel Data Visualizer is a program used for processing and visualizing
data. Data Visualizer can receive data from various sources such as the Embedded Debugger Data
Gateway Interface found on Xplained Pro boards and COM ports.
•SAM B11ZR Xplained Pro BluSDK - Software, firmware, applications, and tools packages.
Xplained Pro is an evaluation platform which contains a series of microcontroller boards (evaluation kits)
and extension boards. Atmel Studio is used to program and debug the microcontrollers on these boards.
Atmel Studio includes Advanced Software Framework (ASF) and Atmel START, which has drivers and
demo code, and Data Visualizer, which supports data streaming and advanced debugging. Xplained Pro
evaluation kits can be connected to a wide range of Xplained Pro extension boards through standardized
headers and connectors. Xplained Pro extension boards have identification (ID) chips to uniquely identify
which boards are connected to the Xplained Pro evaluation kits.
3.2 Embedded Debugger
The SAM B11ZR Xplained Pro contains an Embedded Debugger (EDBG) for on-board debugging. The
EDBG is a USB composite device with the following interfaces:
•Debugger
•Virtual COM Port
•Data Gateway Interface (DGI)
ATSAMB11ZR
The EDBG can program and debug the ATSAMB11ZR with the help of Atmel Studio. The SWD interface
is connected between the EDBG and the ATSAMB11ZR on the SAM B11ZR Xplained Pro.
The Virtual COM Port is connected to a UART on the ATSAMB11ZR and provides an easy way to
communicate with the target application through terminal software. It offers variable baud rate, parity, and
stop bit settings. The settings on the ATSAMB11ZR must match the settings given in the terminal
software.
Info: The Virtual COM Port in the EDBG requires the terminal software to set the Data
Terminal Ready (DTR) signal to enable the UART pins connected to the ATSAMB11ZR. If the
DTR signal is not enabled, the UART pins on the EDBG are kept in tri-state (high-z) to render
the COM Port not usable. The DTR signal is automatically set by some terminal software, but it
may have to be manually enabled in your terminal.
The DGI consists of several physical interfaces for bidirectional communication with the host computer.
Communication over the interfaces is bidirectional. It can be used to send event values, and data from
the ATSAMB11ZR. Traffic over the interfaces can be timestamped by the EDBG for more accurate tracing
of events, but timestamping reduces the maximal data throughput. The Data Visualizer is used to send
and receive data through DGI.
The EDBG controls two LEDs on the SAM B11ZR Xplained Pro, a power LED and a status LED. The
following table provides details on how the LEDs are controlled in different operation modes.
Bootloader mode (idle)The power LED and the status LED blink simultaneously.
Bootloader mode (firmware
upgrade)
For additional information on the EDBG, see the EDBG User Guide.
3.3 Xplained Pro Analog Module
3.3.1 Overview
The Xplained Pro Analog Module (XAM) extends the embedded debugger with high dynamic range
current measurement. This enables power profiling of the target system.
Figure 3-1. XAM Block Diagram
Calibration
circuitry
Current output
Calibration ON/OFF
Activity indicator, the LED flashes
power is applied to the board.
when any communication
happens to the EDBG.
The power LED and the status LED blink in an alternating pattern.
The current measurement front-end is a high side shunt measurement with a pre-amplifier and a second
active filter stage with gain as shown in Figure 3-1. The wide dynamic range is achieved by four
measurement ranges, which are defined by two shunt resistors and the two parallel second stage active
filters with gain.
3.3.2 Sample Rate
The raw sampling rate of the XAM is up to 250 kHz and with the default averaging configuration (average
of 16 samples), the actual output of the XAM is 16.67 ksps.
Info: The XAM output sample rate is not an integer fraction of the raw sampling.
3.3.3 Measurement Ranges and Accuracy
The XAM has four measurement ranges. These are defined by two shunt resistors and two gain stages.
ATSAMB11ZR
Table 3-2. XAM Measurement Ranges and Accuracy
Measurement
Range
Range 1Low current shunt and
Range 2Low current shunt and
Range 3High current shunt and
Range 4High current shunt and
The ranges are automatically switched by the XAM to achieve the best measurement results and the
currently active range is visualized in the Data Visualizer front-end tool. The maximum voltage drop over
the shunt resistor is 100 mV, and the XAM switches the range automatically before reaching this limit.
HardwareResolution AccuracyComments
20 nA1 LSB ±1% Accuracy will decrease below
high gain stage
150 nA1 LSB ±1%
low gain stage
10 μA1 LSB ±1%
high gain stage
100 μA1 LSB ±1% Accuracy will decrease above
low gain stage
1 μA. Typical accuracy for
300 nA is 1 LSB ±10%.
100 mA. Typical accuracy is
1 LSB ±5% at 400 mA.
Maximum current is 400 mA.
3.4 Hardware Identification System
All Xplained Pro extension boards come with an identification chip (ATSHA204A CryptoAuthentication
chip) to uniquely identify the boards that are connected to the Xplained Pro evaluation kit. This chip
contains information that identifies the extension with its name and some extra data. When an Xplained
Pro extension is connected to an Xplained Pro evaluation kit, the information is read and sent to the
Atmel Studio. The following table shows the data fields stored in the ID chip with example content.