Texas instruments CC2540, CC2541 User Manual

Bluetooth® Low Energy

Sensor Tag Hands On

for Sensor Tag

SWRU270C

1. Introduction

Thank you for purchasing a Texas Instruments (TI) Bluetooth® low energy (BLE) Sensor Tag Development
Kit. The purpose of this document is to give an overview of the hardware and software included in the kit
and to provide an introduction into BLE.

The information in this guide will get you up and running with the kit. For more detailed information on
BLE technology and the TI BLE protocol stack, please consult the Texas Instruments Bluetooth® Low
Energy Software Developer’s Guide.

1.1 Kit Contents Overview

The kits contain the following hardware components including cables:

CC2541 Sensor Tag CC2540 Dongle Plastic Case

Sensor Tag Kit • • •

The CC2541 Sensor Tag is designed to act as a Peripheral Device (BLE Slave). Plastic casing for the sensor
tag is also included. The sensor tag operates on a single CR2032 coin cell battery and includes a two­colored LED and the following sensors: temperature, humidity, pressure, accelerometer, gyroscope, and
magnetometer.

The sensor tag uses I2C to interface to the different sensors. It is a FCC, IC, and ETSI certified solution. An
overview of the sensor tag is shown below:

The CC2540 USB Dongle can be used to emulate any type of Bluetooth low energy behavior but is usually
used as a Central Device (BLE Master). It connects to a Windows PC’s USB Port, and is pre-loaded with the
necessary software to receive commands from the PC tool BTool. That is, it acts as a network processor
by default.

Caution! The kits include a non-rechargeable lithium battery. Always make sure the battery is removed from the CC2540/41 Sensor
tag when it is connected to an external power source (Do not apply voltage > 3.6V). Dispose the battery properly and keep out of the
reach of children. If swallowed, contact a physician immediately.

Caution! The kits contain ESD sensitive components. Handle with care to prevent permanent damage.

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1.2 System Requirements

To use the TI BLE software, a PC running Microsoft Windows (XP or later) is required, as well as Microsoft
.NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1 (SP1) or greater.

In order to check whether your system has the appropriate .NET Framework, open up the Windows
Control Panel, and select “Add or Remove Programs”. Amongst the list of currently installed programs,
you should see “Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 SP1”, as shown in Figure 1:

Figure 1 System Requirements, .NET Framework 3.5 SP1

If you do not see it in the list, you can download the framework from Microsoft.

From a hardware standpoint, the Windows PC must contain one free USB port. An additional free USB
port is required in order to use the CC Debugger and the USB Dongle simultaneously.

IAR Embedded Workbench for 8051 development environment is required in order to make changes to
the sensor tag software. More information on IAR can be found in the Texas Instruments Bluetooth® Low
Energy Software Developer’s Guide Error! Reference source not found..

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2. Getting Started

This section describes how to set up the software and get started with the Development Kit. It is assumed
that the Sensor tag comes pre-programmed out of the box. If not, please see Chapter 4 for details on how
to program the sensor tag with the latest firmware. In addition, this section assumes that the latest
version of the TI BLE software (v1.3.1 as of the release of this document) has been installed. The latest BLE
software can be downloaded at www.ti.com/ble-stack.

2.1 Associate Driver with USB Dongle

After the software installation is complete, the USB Dongle driver must be associated with the device in
order to use the demo application. To associate the USB Dongle driver, first you must connect the USB
Dongle to the PC’s USB port, or to a USB hub that connects to the PC.

The first time that the dongle is connected to the PC, a message will most probably pop-up, indicating
that Windows does not recognize the device.

Figure 2 PC, Found New Hardware

When prompted whether to use Windows Update search for software, select “No, not this time” and
press the “Next” button. On the next screen, select the option “Install from a list or specific location
(Advanced)”, and press the “Next” button:

Figure 3 PC, Install Driver

On the next screen, click the checkbox labeled “Include this location in the search:”, and click the
“Browse” button. Select the following directory (assuming the default installation path was used):

C:\Texas Instruments\BLE-CC254x-1.3.1\Accessories\Drivers

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Figure 4 PC, Select Driver

Click the “Next” button. This should install the driver. It will take a few seconds for the file to load. If the
installation was successful, you should see the screen to the below. Click the “Finish” button to complete
the installation.

Figure 5 PC, CDC Driver Installation Complete

2.2 Determining the COM Port

Once the driver is installed, you need to determine which COM port Windows has assigned to the USB
Dongle. After you have completed the USB Dongle driver association in section 2.1, right-click on the
“Computer” icon on your Start and select “Properties”, as shown in Figure 5.

Figure 6 Win7 PC, Finding Computer Properties

The “System Properties” window should open up. Click “Device Manager as shown in Figure 7.

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