Silicon Labs EFR32MG12 User Manual
UG260: EFR32MG12 2.4 GHz 19 dBm
Radio Board User's Guide
A Wireless Starter Kit with the BRD4161A Radio Board is an excellent starting point to get familiar with the EFR32™ Mighty
Gecko Wireless System-on-Chip, and it provides all necessary
tools for developing a Silicon Labs wireless application.
BRD4161A is a plug-in board for the Wireless Starter Kit Mainboard. It is a complete reference design for the EFR32MG12 Wireless SoC, with matching network and a PCB antenna for 19 dBm output power in the 2.4 GHz band. The radio board also feature a capacitive touch slider for evaluation of the EFR32 Capacitive Sense module.
The Wireless Starter Kit Mainboard contains an on-board J-Link debugger with a Packet
Trace Interface and a Virtual COM port, enabling application development and debugging the attached radio board as well as external hardware. The Mainboard also contains sensors and peripherals for easy demonstration of some of the EFR32's many capabilities.
This document describes how to use the BRD4161A Radio Board together with a Wireless Starter Kit Mainboard.
BRD4161A RADIO BOARD FEATURES
• EFR32MG12 Mighty Gecko Wireless SoC
with 1024 kB Flash, and 256 kB RAM
(EFR32MG12P432F1024GL125)
• 2.4 GHz integrated radio transceiver
• 19 dBm output power
• Inverted-F PCB antenna
• 8 Mbit low-power serial flash for over-theair upgrades.
• Capacitive touch slider
WIRELESS STK MAINBOARD FEATURES
• Advanced Energy Monitor
• Packet Trace Interface
• Virtual COM Port
• SEGGER J-Link on-board debugger
• External device debugging
• Ethernet and USB connectivity
• Silicon Labs Si7021 Relative Humidity and
Temperature sensor
• Low Power 128x128 pixel Memory LCD
• User LEDs / Pushbuttons
• 20-pin 2.54 mm EXP header
• Breakout pads for Wireless SoC I/O
• CR2032 coin cell battery support
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SOFTWARE SUPPORT
• Simplicity Studio™
• Energy Profiler
• Network Analyzer
ORDERING INFORMATION
• SLWSTK6000B
• SLWRB4161A
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Table of Contents
1. Introduction ................................4
1.1 Radio Boards ..............................4
1.2 Ordering Information ...........................4
1.3 Getting Started .............................4
2. Hardware Overview .............................5
2.1 Hardware Layout .............................5
2.2 Block Diagram..............................6
3. Connectors ................................7
3.1 J-Link USB Connector ...........................7
3.2 Ethernet Connector ............................7
3.3 Breakout Pads .............................8
3.4 Expansion Header ............................9
3.4.1 Expansion Header Pin-out .......................10
3.5 Debug Connector.............................11
3.6 Simplicity Connector............................12
3.7 Debug Adapter .............................13
4. Power Supply and Reset .......................... 14
4.1 Radio Board Power Selection ........................14
4.2 Board Controller Power...........................15
4.3 EFR32 Reset ..............................15
4.4 Battery Holder ..............................15
5. Peripherals ............................... 16
5.1 Push Buttons and LEDs ..........................16
5.2 Capacitive Touch Slider ..........................16
5.3 Memory LCD-TFT Display..........................17
5.4 Serial Flash ..............................18
5.5 Si7021 Relative Humidity and Temperature Sensor .................19
5.6 Virtual COM Port .............................20
5.6.1 Host Interfaces ...........................21
5.6.2 Serial Configuration ..........................21
5.6.3 Hardware Handshake .........................22
6. Board Controller ............................. 23
6.1 Admin Console .............................23
6.1.1 Connecting .............................23
6.1.2 Built-in Help ............................23
6.1.3 Command Examples .........................24
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6.2 Virtual UART ..............................24
7. Advanced Energy Monitor ......................... 25
7.1 Introduction...............................25
7.2 Theory of Operation ............................25
7.3 AEM Accuracy and Performance .......................26
7.4 Usage ................................26
8. On-Board Debugger ............................ 27
8.1 Host Interfaces .............................27
8.1.1 USB Interface ............................27
8.1.2 Ethernet Interface ..........................27
8.1.3 Serial Number Identification .......................27
8.2 Debug Modes ..............................28
8.3 Debugging During Battery Operation ......................29
9. Kit Configuration and Upgrades ....................... 30
9.1 Firmware Upgrades ............................30
10. Schematics, Assembly Drawings, and BOM .................. 31
11. Kit Revision History ........................... 32
11.1 SLWSTK6000B Revision history .......................32
11.2 SLWRB4161A Revision history........................32
12. Document Revision History ........................ 33
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UG260: EFR32MG12 2.4 GHz 19 dBm Radio Board User's Guide
Introduction
1. Introduction
The EFR32MG12 Mighty Gecko Wireless SoC itself is featured on a Radio Board that forms a complete reference design, including the
RF section and other components.
The Radio Board plugs directly into a Wireless Starter Kit Mainboard. The Mainboard features several tools for easy evaluation and
development of wireless applications. An on-board J-Link debugger enables programming and debugging on the target device over
USB or Ethernet. The Advanced Energy Monitor (AEM) offers real-time current and voltage monitoring. A virtual COM port interface
(VCOM) provides an easy-to-use serial port connection over USB or Ethernet. The Packet Trace Interface (PTI) offers invaluable debug
information about transmitted and received packets in wireless links.
All debug functionality, including AEM, VCOM and PTI, can also be used towards external target hardware instead of the attached radio
board.
To further enhance its usability, the Mainboard contains sensors and peripherals demonstrating some of the many capabilities of the
EFR32MG12.
1.1 Radio Boards
A Wireless Starter Kit consists of one or more mainboards and radio boards that plug into the mainboard. Different radio boards are
available. Each featuring different Silicon Labs devices with different operating frequency bands.
Since the mainboard is designed to work with all different radio boards, the actual pin mapping from a device pin to a mainboard feature
is done on the radio board. This means that each radio board has its own pin mapping to the Wireless Starter Kit features such as
buttons, LEDs, the display, the EXP header and the breakout pads. Because this pin mapping is different for every radio board, it is
important that the correct document be consulted which shows the kit features in context of the radio board plugged in.
This document explains how to use the Wireless Starter Kit when the EFR32MG12 2.4 GHz 19 dBm Radio Board (BRD4161A) is combined with a Mainboard. The combination of these two boards is hereby referred to as a Wireless Starter Kit (Wireless STK).
1.2 Ordering Information
BRD4161A can be obtained as part of SLWSTK6000B EFR32MG12 2.4 GHz Mesh Networking Starter Kit or as a separate radio board,
SLWRB4161A.
Table 1.1. Ordering Information
Part Number Description Contents
SLWSTK6000B EFR32MG12 2.4 GHz Mesh Networking Starter Kit 3x BRD4001A Wireless Starter Kit Mainboard
3x BRD4161A EFR32MG12 2.4 GHz 19 dBm Radio Board
3x BRD4162A EFR32MG12 2.4 GHz 10 dBm Radio Board
3x AA battery holders
3x USB Type A to Mini-B cables
1x BRD8010A Debug Adapter Board
SLWRB4161A EFR32MG12 2.4 GHz 19 dBm Radio Board 1x BRD4161A EFR32MG12 2.4 GHz 19 dBm Radio Board
1.3 Getting Started
Detailed instructions for how to get started can be found on the Silicon Labs web pages:
http://www.silabs.com/start-efr32mg
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On-board USB and
Ethernet J-Link
Debugger
Radio Board Breakout Pads
Plug-in Radio Board
Si7021 Humidity and
Temperature Sensor
EXP-header for
expansion boards
Serial-port, packet trace and Advanced
Energy Monitoring header
ARM Coresight 19-pin
trace/debug header
Ultra-low power 128x128
pixel memory LCD,
buttons and LEDs
Battery or
USB power
USB-serial-port
Packet-trace
Advanced Energy
Monitoring
UG260: EFR32MG12 2.4 GHz 19 dBm Radio Board User's Guide
2. Hardware Overview
2.1 Hardware Layout
The layout of the EFR32MG12 2.4 GHz 19 dBm Wireless Starter Kit is shown in the figure below.
Hardware Overview
Figure 2.1. Kit Hardware Layout
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Debug
USB Mini-B
Connector
UART
RJ-45 Ethernet
Connector
Packet Trace
AEM
Multiplexer
Debug
UART
ETM Trace
Packet Trace
AEM
Debug
UART
Packet Trace
AEM
Simplicity
Connector
Debug
Connector
Board
Controller
OUT
IN
MCU
SMA
Connector
2.4 GHz RF
Inverted-F
PCB Antenna
EFR32MG12
Wireless SoC
ETM Trace
128 x 128 pixel
Memory LCD
I2C
Si7021
Temperature
& Humidity
Sensor
SPI
8 Mbit
MX25R
Serial Flash
GPI
O
EXP
Header
User Buttons
& LEDs
GPIO
CSEN
Capacitive
Touch Slider
UG260: EFR32MG12 2.4 GHz 19 dBm Radio Board User's Guide
2.2 Block Diagram
An overview of the EFR32MG12 2.4 GHz 19 dBm Wireless Starter Kit is shown in the figure below.
Hardware Overview
Figure 2.2. Kit Block Diagram
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Simplicity
Connector
In/Out Debug
Header
GND
GND
5V
5V
P25
P24
P27
P26
P29
P28
P31
P30
P33
P32
P35
P34
P37
P36
P39
P38
P41
P40
P43
P42
P45
P44
GND
GND
NC
NC
Radio Board
Connectors
Expansion
Header
GND
GND
VMCU
VMCU
P1
P0
P3
P2
P5
P4
P7
P6
P9
P8
P11
P10
P13
P12
P15
P14
P17
P16
P19
P18
P21
P20
GND
GND
P23
P22
VRF
VRF
3V3
3V3
Ethernet
Connector
J-Link USB
Connector
UG260: EFR32MG12 2.4 GHz 19 dBm Radio Board User's Guide
Connectors
3. Connectors
This chapter gives you an overview of the Wireless STK Mainboard connectivity. The placement of the connectors can be seen in the
figure below.
Figure 3.1. Mainboard Connector Layout
3.1 J-Link USB Connector
The J-Link USB connector is situated on the left side of the Wireless Starter Kit mainboard. Most of the kit's development features are
supported through this USB interface when connected to a host computer, including:
• Debugging and programming of the target device using the on-board J-Link debugger
• Communication with the target device over the virtual COM port using USB-CDC
• Accurate current profiling using the Advanced Energy Monitor
In addition to providing access to development features of the kit, this USB connector is also the main power source for the kit. USB 5V
from this connector powers the board controller and the Advanced Energy Monitor. It is recommended that the USB host be able to
supply at least 500 mA to this connector, although the actual current required will vary depending on the application.
3.2 Ethernet Connector
The Ethernet connector provides access to all of the Wireless Starter Kit's development features over TCP/IP. The Ethernet interface
provides some additional development features to the user. Supported features include:
• Debugging and programming of the target device using the on-board J-Link debugger
• Communication with the target device over the virtual COM port using TCP/IP socket 4901
• "VUART" communication with the target device over the debug SWD/SWO interface using TCP/IP socket 4900
• Accurate current profiling using the Advanced Energy Monitor
• Packet Trace interface supports real-time radio packet and network analysis
• The "Admin Console", a telnet console that gives access to advanced configuration options, using TCP/IP socket 4902
Please note that the Wireless Starter Kit cannot be powered using the Ethernet connector, so in order to use this interface, the USB
connector must be used to provide power to the board.
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GND
VMCU
P23 / PI0
P21 / PF14
P19 / NC
P17 / PC5
GND
P15 / PB9
P13 / PC11 / EXP16 / I2C_SDA
P11 / PB7 / EXP14
P9 / PB6 / EXP12
P7 / PA9 / EXP10
P5 / PA8 / EXP8
P3 / PA7 / EXP6
P1 / PA6 / EXP4
VRF
GND
VMCU
PF15 / P22
PF13 / P20
NC / P18
PC4 / P16
GND
PB8 / P14
I2C_SCL / EXP15 / PC10 / P12
EXP13 / PC9 / P10
EXP11 / PD12 / P8
EXP9 / PD11 / P6
EXP7 / PD10 / P4
EXP5 / PD9 / P2
EXP3 / PD8 / P0
VRF
J101
GNDGND
5V5V
NCNC
P45 / PF12 / TRACED3TRACED2 / PF11 / P44
P43 / PF10 / TRACED1TRACED0 / PF9 / P42
P41 / PF8 / TRACECLKNC / P40
3V33V3
P39 / NCNC / P38
P37 / PB10 / SENSOR_ENABLEVCOM_RTS / PA3 / P36
P35 / PA2 / VCOM_CTSVCOM_RX / PA1 / P34
P33 / PA0 / VCOM_TXBODEN / P32
P31 / PK2PK1 / P30
P29 / PK0PJ15 / P28
P27 / PJ14PI3 / P26
P25 / PI2PI1 / P24
GNDGND
J102
UG260: EFR32MG12 2.4 GHz 19 dBm Radio Board User's Guide
Connectors
3.3 Breakout Pads
Most pins of the EFR32 are routed from the radio board to breakout pads at the top and bottom edges of the Wireless STK Mainboard.
A 2.54 mm pitch pin header can be soldered on for easy access to the pins. The figure below shows you how the pins of the EFR32
maps to the pin numbers printed on the breakout pads. To see the available functions on each, please refer to the data sheet for
EFR32MG12P432F1024GL125.
Figure 3.2. Radio Board Pin Mapping on Breakout Pads
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12
4
8
6
10
3
5
9
7
12
13
14
11
1516
17
18
20 19
VMCU
SPI_MOSI / PA6
SPI_MISO / PA7
SPI_CLK / PA8
SPI_CS / PA9
UART_TX / PB6
UART_RX / PB7
I2C_SDA / PC11
5V
3V3
GND
PD8 / GPIO
PD9 / GPIO
PD10 / GPIO
PD11 / GPIO
PD12 / GPIO
PC9 / GPIO
PC10 / I2C_SCL
Board ID SDA
Board ID SCL
Reserved (Board Identification)
EFR32 I/O Pin
UG260: EFR32MG12 2.4 GHz 19 dBm Radio Board User's Guide
Connectors
3.4 Expansion Header
On the right hand side of the Wireless STK Mainboard an angled 20-pin expansion header is provided to allow connection of peripherals or plugin boards. The connector contains a number of I/O pins that can be used with most of the EFR32 Mighty Gecko's features.
Additionally, the VMCU, 3V3 and 5V power rails are also exported.
The connector follows a standard which ensures that commonly used peripherals such as an SPI, a UART and an I2C bus are available
on fixed locations in the connector. The rest of the pins are used for general purpose IO. This allows the definition of expansion boards
that can plug into a number of different Silicon Labs Starter Kits.
The figure below shows the pin assignment of the expansion header. Because of limitations in the number of available GPIO pins,
some of the expansion header pins are shared with kit features.
Figure 3.3. Expansion Header
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UG260: EFR32MG12 2.4 GHz 19 dBm Radio Board User's Guide
Connectors
3.4.1 Expansion Header Pin-out
The pin-routing on the EFR32 is very flexible, so most peripherals can be routed to any pin. However, many pins are shared between
the Expansion Header and other functions on the Wireless STK Mainboard. Table 3.1 Expansion Header Pinout on page 10 includes
an overview of the mainboard features that share pins with the Expansion Header.
Table 3.1. Expansion Header Pinout
Pin Connection EXP Header function Shared feature Peripheral mapping
20 3V3 Board controller supply
18 5V Board USB voltage
16 PC11 I2C_SDA SENSOR_I2C_SDA I2C0_SDA #16
14 PB7 UART_RX - USART3_RX #10
12 PB6 UART_TX - USART3_TX #10
10 PA9 SPI_CS - USART2_CS #1
8 PA8 SPI_SCLK - USART2_CLK #1
6 PA7 SPI_MISO - USART2_RX #1
4 PA6 SPI_MOSI - USART2_TX #1
2 VMCU EFR32 voltage domain, included in AEM measurements.
19 BOARD_ID_SDA Connected to Board Controller for identification of add-on boards.
17 BOARD_ID_SCL Connected to Board Controller for identification of add-on boards.
15 PC10 I2C_SCL SENSOR_I2C_SCL I2C0_SCL #14
13 PC9 GPIO -
11 PD12 GPIO -
9 PD11 GPIO -
7 PD10 GPIO -
5 PD9 GPIO -
3 PD8 GPIO -
1 GND Ground
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1 2
4
8
6
10
5
9
12
13 14
11
15 16
17 18
2019
TMS / SWDIO / C2D
TCK / SWCLK / C2CK
TDO / SWO
TDI / C2Dps
TRACECLK
TRACED0
TRACED1
TRACED2
TRACED3
RESET / C2CKps
GND
NC
NC
GND
GND
GND
7
GND
VTARGET
Cable Detect
NC
3
UG260: EFR32MG12 2.4 GHz 19 dBm Radio Board User's Guide
Connectors
3.5 Debug Connector
The Debug Connector serves multiple purposes based on the "debug mode" setting which can be configured in Simplicity Studio. When
the debug mode is set to "Debug IN", the debug connector can be used to connect an external debugger to the EFR32 on the radio
board. When set to "Debug OUT", this connector allows the kit to be used as a debugger towards an external target. When set to "Debug MCU" (default), the connector is isolated from both the on-board debugger and the radio board target device.
Because this connector is electronically switched between the different operating modes, it can only be used when the Board Controller
is powered (i.e. J-Link USB cable connected). If debug access to the target device is required when the Board Controller is unpowered,
connect directly to the appropriate breakout pins.
The pinout of the connector follows that of the standard ARM Cortex Debug+ETM 19-pin connector. The pinout is described in detail
below. Even though the connector has support for both JTAG and ETM Trace, it does not necessarily mean that the kit or the on-board
target device supports this.
Figure 3.4. Debug Connector
Note: The pinout matches the pinout of an ARM Cortex Debug+ETM connector, but these are not fully compatible as pin 7 is physically
removed from the Cortex Debug+ETM connector. Some cables have a small plug that prevent them from being used when this pin is
present. If this is the case, remove the plug, or use a standard 2x10 1.27 mm straight cable instead.
Table 3.2. Debug Connector Pin Descriptions
Pin number(s) Function Description
1 VTARGET Target reference voltage. Used for shifting logical signal levels between target and
debugger.
2 TMS / SDWIO / C2D JTAG test mode select, Serial Wire data or C2 data
4 TCK / SWCLK / C2CK JTAG test clock, Serial Wire clock or C2 clock
6 TDO/SWO JTAG test data out or Serial Wire Output
8 TDI / C2Dps JTAG test data in, or C2D "pin sharing" function
10 RESET / C2CKps Target device reset, or C2CK "pin sharing" function
12 TRACECLK PF8
14 TRACED0 PF9
16 TRACED1 PF10
18 TRACED2 PF11
20 TRACED3 PF12
9 Cable detect Connect to ground
11, 13 NC Not connected
3, 5, 15, 17, 19 GND Ground
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