Integrate fiber-optic communication using IF-D91, IF-E97 and STM32L041C6 for lightning-speed data exchange
Transforming designs with fiber-optic innovation
Published Aug 25, 2023
Click board™
Fiber Opt click
Dev Board
UNI Clicker
Compiler
NECTO Studio
MCU
STM32L041C6
Integrate high-speed fiber-optic communication and establish reliable, secure networks to meet growing demands for rapid data exchange while enhancing overall performance and efficiency.
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Hardware Overview
How does it work?
Fiber Opt Click is based on one IF-D91, a fiber-optic photodiode, and one IF-E97, a fiber-optic LED, both from Industrial Fiber Optics. The IF-D91 is a high-speed photodiode detector housed in a connector-less plastic fiber optic package. Its optical response extends from 400 to 1100nm, making it compatible with a wide range of visible and near-infrared LED and laser diode sources. The detector package features an internal micro-lens and a precision-molded PBT housing to ensure efficient optical coupling with standard 1000μm core 2.2mm jacketed plastic fiber cable capable of 100Mbps data rates. The IF-D91 can also be used for analog video links with bandwidths
up to 70MHz. The other precision-molded PBT housing with internal micro-lens, the IF-E97, is a high-optical-output visible red LED. The housing ensures efficient optical coupling with the same standard jacketed plastic fiber cable. The output spectrum is produced by a GaAlAs die, which peaks at 650nm, representing an optimal transmission window for PMMA plastic optical fiber. The visible red light has low attenuation in PMMA plastic fiber, aids troubleshooting installations, and is the main reason the IF-E97 achieves data rates of 1Mbps. This Click board™ communicates with the host MCU over selectable pins of the mikroBUS™ socket. Transmission can
be selected through the TX SEL selection jumper between the UART TX pin or PWM pin of the mikroBUS™ socket, as UART is selected by default. Received data is available on the RX pin of the mikroBUS™ socket. This Click board™ can operate with either 3.3V or 5V logic voltage levels selected via the PWR 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.
Features overview
Development board
UNI Clicker is a compact development board designed as a complete solution that brings the flexibility of add-on Click boards™ to your favorite microcontroller, making it a perfect starter kit for implementing your ideas. It supports a wide range of microcontrollers, such as different ARM, PIC32, dsPIC, PIC, and AVR from various vendors like Microchip, ST, NXP, and TI (regardless of their number of pins), four mikroBUS™ sockets for Click board™ connectivity, a USB connector, LED indicators, buttons, a debugger/programmer connector, and two 26-pin headers for interfacing with external electronics. Thanks to innovative manufacturing technology, it allows you to build
gadgets with unique functionalities and features quickly. Each part of the UNI Clicker development kit contains the components necessary for the most efficient operation of the same board. In addition to the possibility of choosing the UNI Clicker programming method, using a third-party programmer or CODEGRIP/mikroProg connected to onboard JTAG/SWD header, the UNI Clicker board also includes a clean and regulated power supply module for the development kit. It provides two ways of board-powering; through the USB Type-C (USB-C) connector, where onboard voltage regulators provide the appropriate voltage levels to each component on the board, or using a Li-Po/Li
Ion battery via an onboard battery connector. All communication methods that mikroBUS™ itself supports are on this board (plus USB HOST/DEVICE), including the well-established mikroBUS™ socket, a standardized socket for the MCU card (SiBRAIN standard), and several user-configurable buttons and LED indicators. UNI Clicker is an integral part of the Mikroe ecosystem, allowing you to create a new application in minutes. Natively supported by Mikroe software tools, it covers many aspects of prototyping thanks to a considerable number of different Click boards™ (over a thousand boards), the number of which is growing every day.
Microcontroller Overview
MCU Card / MCU
Type
8th Generation
Architecture
ARM Cortex-M0
MCU Memory (KB)
32
Silicon Vendor
STMicroelectronics
Pin count
48
RAM (Bytes)
8192
Used MCU Pins
mikroBUS™ mapper
Take a closer look
Schematic
Step by step
Project assembly
Start by selecting your development board and Click board™. Begin with the UNI Clicker as your development board.
Track your results in real time
Application Output
After loading the code example, pressing the "DEBUG" button builds and programs it on the selected setup.
After programming is completed, a header with buttons for various actions available in the IDE appears. By clicking the green "PLAY "button, we start reading the results achieved with Click board™.
Upon completion of programming, the Application Output tab is automatically opened, where the achieved result can be read. In case of an inability to perform the Debug function, check if a proper connection between the MCU used by the setup and the CODEGRIP programmer has been established. A detailed explanation of the CODEGRIP-board connection can be found in the CODEGRIP User Manual. Please find it in the RESOURCES section.
Software Support
Library Description
This library contains API for Fiber Opt Click driver.
Key functions:
fiberopt_generic_write- Generic single write functionfiberopt_generic_read- Generic single read 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
* \brief FiberOpt Click example
*
* # Description
* This application is an add-on for fiber-optical communication.
*
* The demo application is composed of two sections :
*
* ## Application Init
* Initalizes UART driver and makes an initial log.
*
* ## Application Task
* Example can either check if new data byte is received in rx buffer (ready for reading),
* if ready than reads one byte from rx buffer and displays on USART terminal, or transmit message every 2 seconds.
*
* \author MikroE Team
*
*/
// ------------------------------------------------------------------- INCLUDES
#include "board.h"
#include "log.h"
#include "fiberopt.h"
// ------------------------------------------------------------------ VARIABLES
#define DEMO_APP_RECEIVER
//#define DEMO_APP_TRANSMITER
static fiberopt_t fiberopt;
static log_t logger;
static char demo_message[ 9 ] = { 'M', 'i', 'k', 'r', 'o', 'E', 13, 10, 0 };
// ------------------------------------------------------ APPLICATION FUNCTIONS
void application_init ( void )
{
log_cfg_t log_cfg;
fiberopt_cfg_t cfg;
/**
* 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.
fiberopt_cfg_setup( &cfg );
FIBEROPT_MAP_MIKROBUS( cfg, MIKROBUS_1 );
fiberopt_init( &fiberopt, &cfg );
log_printf( &logger, "Initialized \r\n" );
Delay_ms( 100 );
}
void application_task ( void )
{
char tmp;
// Task implementation.
#ifdef DEMO_APP_RECEIVER
// RECEIVER - UART polling
tmp = fiberopt_generic_single_read( &fiberopt );
log_printf( &logger, "%c" , &tmp );
#endif
#ifdef DEMO_APP_TRANSMITER
// TRANSMITER - TX each 2 sec
fiberopt_generic_multi_write( &fiberopt, demo_message, 9 );
Delay_ms( 2000 );
#endif
}
void main ( void )
{
application_init( );
for ( ; ; )
{
application_task( );
}
}
// ------------------------------------------------------------------------ END
