Intermediate
30 min

Redefine timekeeping for the modern age with PCF2123 and STM32F413RH

Time matters: Unleash the power of precision with our RTC solution

RTC 13 Click with Fusion for ARM v8

Published Oct 21, 2023

Click board™

RTC 13 Click

Dev Board

Fusion for ARM v8

Compiler

NECTO Studio

MCU

STM32F413RH

Elevate your engineering solutions with our advanced real-time clock, ensuring accurate time tracking and synchronization

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Hardware Overview

How does it work?

RTC 13 Click is based on the PCF2123, an SPI configurable real-time clock/calendar optimized for low-power operations from NXP Semiconductors. It contains sixteen 8-bit registers with an auto-incrementing address counter, an on-chip 32.768kHz oscillator with two integrated load capacitors, a frequency divider that provides the source clock for the RTC, and a programmable clock output. The integrated oscillator ensures year, month, day, weekday, hours, minutes, and seconds, making this Click board™ suitable for various time-keeping applications such as high-duration timers, daily alarms, and more. The PCF2123 communicates with MCU using the standard SPI serial interface with a maximum

frequency of 8MHz, where data transfers serially with a maximum data rate of 6.25 Mbit/s. An alarm and timer function is also available, providing the possibility to generate a wake-up signal on an interrupt line, available on the INT pin of the mikroBUS™ socket and indicated by a red LED marked as INT. Besides, this Click board™ also has an onboard header labeled CLKOUT, which provides a programmable square-wave output clock signal controlled by one GPIO pin, a CLE pin routed to the RTS pin, the mikroBUS™ socket. Frequencies of 32.768kHz, representing a default value of 1Hz, can be generated and used as a system and MCU clock, input to a charge pump, or oscillator calibration. Like this one, the most

common RTC configuration is a battery-backed-up, which maintains time and continues its work without interruption during a power failure. That’s why, besides the PCF2123, the RTC 13 Click has a button cell battery holder compatible with the 3000TR battery holder, suitable for 12mm Coin Cell batteries. 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.

RTC 13 Click top side image
RTC 13 Click bottom side image

Features overview

Development board

Fusion for ARM 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 ARM® Cortex®-M based MCUs regardless of their number of pins, and a broad set of unique functions, such as the first-ever embedded debugger/programmer over WiFi. 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 ARM v8 provides a fluid and immersive working experience, allowing access anywhere and under any

circumstances at any time. Each part of the Fusion for ARM 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 ARM 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 ARM v8 horizontal image

Microcontroller Overview

MCU Card / MCU

default

Type

8th Generation

Architecture

ARM Cortex-M4

MCU Memory (KB)

1536

Silicon Vendor

STMicroelectronics

Pin count

64

RAM (Bytes)

327680

Used MCU Pins

mikroBUS™ mapper

NC
NC
AN
Clock Output Enable
PC13
RST
SPI Chip Select
PA4
CS
SPI Clock
PA5
SCK
SPI Data OUT
PA6
MISO
SPI Data IN
PA7
MOSI
Power Supply
3.3V
3.3V
Ground
GND
GND
NC
NC
PWM
Interrupt
PB13
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

Schematic

RTC 13 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 ARM 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 via UART Mode

1. Once the code example is loaded, pressing the "FLASH" button initiates the build process, and programs it on the created setup.

2. After the programming is completed, click on the Tools icon in the upper-right panel, and select the UART Terminal.

3. After opening the UART Terminal tab, first check the baud rate setting in the Options menu (default is 115200). If this parameter is correct, activate the terminal by clicking the "CONNECT" button.

4. Now terminal status changes from Disconnected to Connected in green, and the data is displayed in the Received data field.

UART_Application_Output

Software Support

Library Description

This library contains API for RTC 13 Click driver.

Key functions:

  • rtc13_get_time - RTC 13 get time function

  • rtc13_set_time - RTC 13 set time function

  • rtc13_get_date - RTC 13 get date function

Open Source

Code example

This example can be found in NECTO Studio. Feel free to download the code, or you can copy the code below.

/*!
 * @file main.c
 * @brief RTC13 Click example
 *
 * # Description
 * This is an example that demonstrates the use of the RTC 13 click board™.
 *
 * The demo application is composed of two sections :
 *
 * ## Application Init
 * Initialization of SPI module, log UART and additional pins.
 * After driver initialization and default settings,
 * the app set the time to 23:59:50 and set the date to 04.08.2021.
 *
 * ## Application Task
 * This is an example that shows the use of a RTC 13 click board™.
 * In this example, we read and display the current time and date, 
 * which we also previously set.
 * Results are being sent to the Usart Terminal where you can track their changes.
 * All data logs write on USB changes every 1 sec.
 *
 * @author Nenad Filipovic
 *
 */

#include "board.h"
#include "log.h"
#include "rtc13.h"

static rtc13_t rtc13;
static log_t logger;

static uint8_t new_sec = 255;
static rtc13_time_t time;
static rtc13_date_t date;

void application_init ( void )
{
    log_cfg_t log_cfg;      /**< Logger config object. */
    rtc13_cfg_t rtc13_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.

    rtc13_cfg_setup( &rtc13_cfg );
    RTC13_MAP_MIKROBUS( rtc13_cfg, MIKROBUS_1 );
    err_t init_flag  = rtc13_init( &rtc13, &rtc13_cfg );
    if ( SPI_MASTER_ERROR == init_flag )
    {
        log_error( &logger, " Application Init Error. " );
        log_info( &logger, " Please, run program again... " );

        for ( ; ; );
    }

    rtc13_default_cfg ( &rtc13 );
    log_info( &logger, " Application Task " );
    Delay_ms( 100 );
    
    date.weekday = 3;
    date.day = 4;
    date.month = 8;
    date.year = 21;
    rtc13_set_date( &rtc13, date );
    Delay_ms( 100 );
    
    time.hours = 23;
    time.min = 59;
    time.sec = 50;
    rtc13_set_time( &rtc13, time );
    Delay_ms( 100 );
}

void application_task ( void )
{  
    rtc13_get_time( &rtc13, &time );
    Delay_ms( 1 );
    rtc13_get_date( &rtc13, &date );
    Delay_ms( 1 );
    
    if ( time.sec != new_sec ) 
    {
        log_printf( &logger, "  Date      : %.2d-%.2d-%.2d\r\n", ( uint16_t ) date.day, ( uint16_t ) date.month, ( uint16_t ) date.year );
        log_printf( &logger, "  Time      : %.2d:%.2d:%.2d\r\n", ( uint16_t ) time.hours, ( uint16_t ) time.min, ( uint16_t ) time.sec );
        log_printf( &logger, "- - - - - - - - - - - -\r\n" );
        new_sec = time.sec;
        Delay_ms( 1 );
     }
}

void main ( void )
{
    application_init( );

    for ( ; ; )
    {
        application_task( );
    }
}

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

Additional Support

Resources

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