Beginner
10 min

Show information in a clear and easy-to-read way with LTP-3862 and TM4C129ENCPDT

Dual-digit 16-segment alphanumeric green display

AlphaNum G 2 Click with Fusion for Tiva v8

Published Dec 14, 2023

Click board™

AlphaNum G 2 Click

Dev Board

Fusion for Tiva v8

Compiler

NECTO Studio

MCU

TM4C129ENCPDT

Use a vibrant 16-segment alphanumeric display to illuminate your projects with clear numerical and textual information – perfect for applications that demand visibility and a touch of modern display sophistication

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Hardware Overview

How does it work?

AlphaNum G 2 Click is based on the LTP-3862, a dual-digit 16-segment alphanumeric green display from Lite-ON. It has a 75mW of power disipation per segment. The TLC5947, a 24-channel 12-bit PWM LED driver from Texas Instruments, drives all these LED segments. It is a constant current sink LED driver with adjustable 4096 pulse width modulation (PWM) on each channel individually. The PWM control is repeated automatically with the programmed grayscale data. An external resistor sets the constant current to around 10mA.

The LED driver features thermal shutdown, auto display repeat, noise reduction, and more. AlphaNum G 2 Click uses a standard 4-Wire SPI serial interface to communicate with the host MCU, supporting a clock frequency of up to 30MHz. A Blank BLK pin can turn all constant current outputs OFF while initializing the grayscale PWM timing. This can be achieved by writing the High logic state on the Blank pin. You can also turn off every display separately, no matter the LED driver IC, over the CA1 and CA2

pins. These pins control the common anode pins of the displays. This Click board™ can operate with either 3.3V or 5V logic voltage levels selected via the VCC SEL jumper. This way, both 3.3V and 5V capable MCUs can use the communication lines properly. Also, this Click board™ comes equipped with a library containing easy-to-use functions and an example code that can be used as a reference for further development.

AlphaNum G 2 Click hardware overview image

Features overview

Development board

Fusion for TIVA v8 is a development board specially designed for the needs of rapid development of embedded applications. It supports a wide range of microcontrollers, such as different 32-bit ARM® Cortex®-M based MCUs from Texas Instruments, regardless of their number of pins, and a broad set of unique functions, such as the first-ever embedded debugger/programmer over a WiFi network. The development board is well organized and designed so that the end-user has all the necessary elements, such as switches, buttons, indicators, connectors, and others, in one place. Thanks to innovative manufacturing technology, Fusion for TIVA v8 provides a fluid and immersive working experience, allowing access

anywhere and under any circumstances at any time. Each part of the Fusion for TIVA v8 development board contains the components necessary for the most efficient operation of the same board. An advanced integrated CODEGRIP programmer/debugger module offers many valuable programming/debugging options, including support for JTAG, SWD, and SWO Trace (Single Wire Output)), and seamless integration with the Mikroe software environment. Besides, it also includes a clean and regulated power supply module for the development board. It can use a wide range of external power sources, including a battery, an external 12V power supply, and a power source via the USB Type-C (USB-C) connector.

Communication options such as USB-UART, USB HOST/DEVICE, CAN (on the MCU card, if supported), and Ethernet is also included. In addition, it also has the well-established mikroBUS™ standard, a standardized socket for the MCU card (SiBRAIN standard), and two display options for the TFT board line of products and character-based LCD. Fusion for TIVA v8 is an integral part of the Mikroe ecosystem for rapid development. Natively supported by Mikroe software tools, it covers many aspects of prototyping and development thanks to a considerable number of different Click boards™ (over a thousand boards), the number of which is growing every day.

Fusion for Tiva v8 horizontal image

Microcontroller Overview

MCU Card / MCU

default

Type

8th Generation

Architecture

ARM Cortex-M4

MCU Memory (KB)

1024

Silicon Vendor

Texas Instruments

Pin count

128

RAM (Bytes)

262144

Used MCU Pins

mikroBUS™ mapper

Blank Input
PD0
AN
ID SEL
PK3
RST
SPI Select / ID COMM
PH0
CS
SPI Clock
PQ0
SCK
SPI Data OUT
PQ3
MISO
SPI Data IN
PQ2
MOSI
Power Supply
3.3V
3.3V
Ground
GND
GND
Common Anode Enable 1
PL4
PWM
Common Anode Enable 2
PQ4
INT
NC
NC
TX
NC
NC
RX
NC
NC
SCL
NC
NC
SDA
Power Supply
5V
5V
Ground
GND
GND
1

Take a closer look

Click board™ Schematic

AlphaNum G 2 Click Schematic schematic

Step by step

Project assembly

Fusion for PIC v8 front image hardware assembly

Start by selecting your development board and Click board™. Begin with the Fusion for Tiva v8 as your development board.

Fusion for PIC v8 front image hardware assembly
Buck 22 Click front image hardware assembly
SiBRAIN for PIC32MZ1024EFK144 front image hardware assembly
v8 SiBRAIN MB 1 - upright/background hardware assembly
Necto image step 2 hardware assembly
Necto image step 3 hardware assembly
Necto image step 4 hardware assembly
NECTO Compiler Selection Step Image hardware assembly
NECTO Output Selection Step Image hardware assembly
Necto image step 6 hardware assembly
Necto image step 7 hardware assembly
Necto image step 8 hardware assembly
Necto image step 9 hardware assembly
Necto image step 10 hardware assembly
Necto PreFlash Image hardware assembly

Track your results in real time

Application Output

This Click board can be interfaced and monitored in two ways:

  • Application Output - Use the "Application Output" window in Debug mode for real-time data monitoring. Set it up properly by following this tutorial.

Software Support

Library Description

This library contains API for AlphaNum G 2 Click driver.

Key functions:

  • alphanumg2_display_character - AlphaNum G 2 display character function.

  • alphanumg2_set_led_output - AlphaNum G 2 set LED output function.

Open Source

Code example

The complete application code and a ready-to-use project are available through the NECTO Studio Package Manager for direct installation in the NECTO Studio. The application code can also be found on the MIKROE GitHub account.

/*!
 * @file main.c
 * @brief AlphaNum G 2 Click example
 *
 * # Description
 * This example demonstrates the use of the AlphaNum G 2 Click board™ 
 * by writing and displaying the desired alphanumeric characters.
 *
 * The demo application is composed of two sections :
 *
 * ## Application Init
 * Initialization of SPI module and log UART.
 * After driver initialization, the app executes a default configuration.
 *
 * ## Application Task
 * The demo application displays digits from '0' to '9', 
 * symbols: colon, semicolon, less-than, equals-to, greater-than, question mark, at sign 
 * and capital alphabet letters, on both alphanumeric segments of the click. 
 * Results are being sent to the UART Terminal, where you can track their changes.
 *
 * @author Nenad Filipovic
 *
 */

#include "board.h"
#include "log.h"
#include "alphanumg2.h"

#define ASCII_CHARACTER_DIGIT_0        '0'
#define ASCII_CHARACTER_UPPERCASE_Z    'Z'

static alphanumg2_t alphanumg2;
static log_t logger;
static uint8_t character = ASCII_CHARACTER_DIGIT_0;

void application_init ( void )
{
    log_cfg_t log_cfg;  /**< Logger config object. */
    alphanumg2_cfg_t alphanumg2_cfg;  /**< Click config object. */

    /** 
     * Logger initialization.
     * Default baud rate: 115200
     * Default log level: LOG_LEVEL_DEBUG
     * @note If USB_UART_RX and USB_UART_TX 
     * are defined as HAL_PIN_NC, you will 
     * need to define them manually for log to work. 
     * See @b LOG_MAP_USB_UART macro definition for detailed explanation.
     */
    LOG_MAP_USB_UART( log_cfg );
    log_init( &logger, &log_cfg );
    log_info( &logger, " Application Init " );

    // Click initialization.
    alphanumg2_cfg_setup( &alphanumg2_cfg );
    ALPHANUMG2_MAP_MIKROBUS( alphanumg2_cfg, MIKROBUS_1 );
    if ( SPI_MASTER_ERROR == alphanumg2_init( &alphanumg2, &alphanumg2_cfg ) )
    {
        log_error( &logger, " Communication init." );
        for ( ; ; );
    }
    
    if ( ALPHANUMG2_ERROR == alphanumg2_default_cfg ( &alphanumg2 ) )
    {
        log_error( &logger, " Default configuration." );
        for ( ; ; );
    }
    
    log_info( &logger, " Application Task " );
    log_printf( &logger, "------------------------\r\n" );
    Delay_ms( 100 );
}

void application_task ( void )
{
    log_printf( &logger, " %c %c\r\n", character, character + 1 );
    if ( ALPHANUMG2_OK == alphanumg2_display_character( &alphanumg2, 
                                                        character, ALPHANUMG2_BRIGHTNESS_MAX, 
                                                        character + 1, ALPHANUMG2_BRIGHTNESS_MAX ) )
    {
        character++;
        if ( ASCII_CHARACTER_UPPERCASE_Z <= character )
        {
            character = ASCII_CHARACTER_DIGIT_0;
            log_printf( &logger, "------------------------\r\n" );
            Delay_ms( 1000 );
        }
    }
}

int main ( void ) 
{
    application_init( );
    
    for ( ; ; ) 
    {
        application_task( );
    }

    return 0;
}

// ------------------------------------------------------------------------ END

Additional Support

Resources

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