Intermediate
30 min

Experience Bluetooth like never before with BGX13S22GA-V31 and PIC18F4525

Connecting possibilities, empowering lifestyles

BLE 7 Click with Curiosity HPC

Published Nov 01, 2023

Click board™

BLE 7 Click

Dev Board

Curiosity HPC

Compiler

NECTO Studio

MCU

PIC18F4525

Say goodbye to tangled wires and embrace a world of simplified connectivity, empowering you to stream, share, and control your devices effortlessly

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Hardware Overview

How does it work?

BLE 7 Click is based on the BGX13S22GA-V31, a module from Silicon Labs that has some impressive features, including the fact that it is Bluetooth 5 low energy compliant, GPIO control through command API, Encrypted bonding and connectivity, and an Integrated DC-DC Converter. The BGX13S22GA-V31 module eliminates Bluetooth firmware development complexity with a serial interface that can operate as a raw data stream or control the device through an abstracted command API. The BGX13S22GA-V31 can facilitate a device-to-device cable replacement link or communicate with mobile devices through the Xpress Bluetooth mobile library. The device integrates a Bluetooth 5-compliant stack to future-proof applications as Bluetooth 5 adoption increases. The device is targeted for applications

where ultra-small size, reliable, high-performance RF, low power consumption, and fast time-to-market are key requirements. BGX13S22GA-V31 also integrates a high-performance, ultra-robust antenna, which requires minimal PCB, plastic, and metal clearance. Unless stated otherwise, minimum and maximum values represent the worst conditions across supply voltage, process variation, and operating temperature. The BGX13S module has only one external supply pin (VDD). Several internal supply rails are mentioned in the electrical specifications, whose connections vary based on transmit power configuration. The BGX13S creates a Bluetooth five-compliant BLE cable replacement interface, facilitating a BLE link to a second embedded or mobile device. An embedded MCU controls the device and

communicates across the BLE link through a serial interface and control signals. Parameters stored in non-volatile memory and configurable through the serial interface adjust the device's performance characteristics. Silicon Labs offers iOS and Android mobile libraries for Blue Gecko Xpress devices to speed mobile development and simplify communication. This Click board™ can be operated only with a 3.3V logic voltage level. The board must perform appropriate logic voltage level conversion before using MCUs with different logic levels. Also, it comes equipped with a library containing functions and an example code that can be used, as a reference, for further development.

BLE 7 Click top side image
BLE 7 Click bottom side image

Features overview

Development board

Curiosity HPC, standing for Curiosity High Pin Count (HPC) development board, supports 28- and 40-pin 8-bit PIC MCUs specially designed by Microchip for the needs of rapid development of embedded applications. This board has two unique PDIP sockets, surrounded by dual-row expansion headers, allowing connectivity to all pins on the populated PIC MCUs. It also contains a powerful onboard PICkit™ (PKOB), eliminating the need for an external programming/debugging tool, two mikroBUS™ sockets for Click board™ connectivity, a USB connector, a set of indicator LEDs, push button switches and a variable potentiometer. All

these features allow you to combine the strength of Microchip and Mikroe and create custom electronic solutions more efficiently than ever. Each part of the Curiosity HPC development board contains the components necessary for the most efficient operation of the same board. An integrated onboard PICkit™ (PKOB) allows low-voltage programming and in-circuit debugging for all supported devices. When used with the MPLAB® X Integrated Development Environment (IDE, version 3.0 or higher) or MPLAB® Xpress IDE, in-circuit debugging allows users to run, modify, and troubleshoot their custom software and hardware

quickly without the need for additional debugging tools. Besides, it includes a clean and regulated power supply block for the development board via the USB Micro-B connector, alongside all communication methods that mikroBUS™ itself supports. Curiosity HPC development board allows you to create a new application in just a few steps. Natively supported by Microchip software tools, it covers many aspects of prototyping thanks to many number of different Click boards™ (over a thousand boards), the number of which is growing daily.

Curiosity HPC double image

Microcontroller Overview

MCU Card / MCU

PIC18F4525

Architecture

PIC

MCU Memory (KB)

48

Silicon Vendor

Microchip

Pin count

40

RAM (Bytes)

3968

Used MCU Pins

mikroBUS™ mapper

General-Purpose I/0
RA1
AN
Reset
RD0
RST
UART RTS
RA3
CS
NC
NC
SCK
NC
NC
MISO
NC
NC
MOSI
Power Supply
3.3V
3.3V
Ground
GND
GND
General-Purpose I/0
RC2
PWM
UART CTS
RB5
INT
UART TX
RC6
TX
UART RX
RC7
RX
NC
NC
SCL
NC
NC
SDA
NC
NC
5V
Ground
GND
GND
1

Take a closer look

Schematic

BLE 7 Click Schematic schematic

Step by step

Project assembly

Curiosity HPC front no-mcu image hardware assembly

Start by selecting your development board and Click board™. Begin with the Curiosity HPC as your development board.

Curiosity HPC front no-mcu image hardware assembly
Thermo 28 Click front image hardware assembly
MCU DIP 40 hardware assembly
Prog-cut hardware assembly
Curiosity HPC MB 1 - upright/with-background hardware assembly
Necto image step 2 hardware assembly
Necto image step 3 hardware assembly
Necto image step 4 hardware assembly
Necto image step 5 hardware assembly
Necto image step 6 hardware assembly
Necto DIP image step 7 hardware assembly
Necto No Display image step 8 hardware assembly
Necto image step 9 hardware assembly
Necto image step 10 hardware assembly
Debug Image Necto Step hardware assembly

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.

Application Output Step 1

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™.

Application Output Step 3

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.

Application Output Step 4

Software Support

Library Description

This library contains API for BLE 7 Click driver.

Key functions:

  • ble7_reset - This function allows user to reset BGX module

  • ble7_send_command - This function allows user to transmit data to the BGX module

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 Ble7 Click example
 * 
 * # Description
 * This example reads and processes data from BLE 7 clicks.
 *
 * The demo application is composed of two sections :
 * 
 * ## Application Init 
 * Initializes the driver and configures the click board.
 * 
 * ## Application Task  
 * Checks for the received data, reads it and replies with a certain message.
 * 
 * ## Additional Function
 * - ble7_process ( ) - Logs all received messages on UART, and sends the certain message back 
 * to the connected device.
 * 
 * @note
 * We have used the BLE Scanner smartphone application for the test. 
 * A smartphone and the click board must be paired in order to exchange messages with each other.
 * For more information about the BGX module commands, please refer to the following link:
 * https://docs.silabs.com/gecko-os/1/bgx/latest/commands
 * 
 * \author MikroE Team
 *
 */
// ------------------------------------------------------------------- INCLUDES

#include "board.h"
#include "log.h"
#include "ble7.h"
#include "string.h"

#define PROCESS_COUNTER 10
#define PROCESS_RX_BUFFER_SIZE 200

// ------------------------------------------------------------------ VARIABLES

#define BLE7_ENABLE_ECHO                        "set sy c e 1"
#define BLE7_CLEAR_BONDING                      "clrb"
#define BLE7_ENABLE_BONDING                     "set bl e b 1"
#define BLE7_ENABLE_PAIRING                     "set bl e p any"
#define BLE7_SET_ADVERTISING_ON                 "adv high"
#define BLE7_SET_ADVERTISING_HIGH_DURATION      "set bl v h d 120"
#define BLE7_SET_DEVICE_NAME                    "set sy d n \"BLE7-DEVICE\""
#define BLE7_SAVE_CONFIGURATION                 "save"
#define BLE7_SWITCH_TO_STREAM_MODE              "str"

static ble7_t ble7;
static log_t logger;
static uint8_t data_mode = 0;
static uint8_t config_mode = 0;
static char current_parser_buf[ PROCESS_RX_BUFFER_SIZE ];

// ------------------------------------------------------- ADDITIONAL FUNCTIONS

static int8_t ble7_process ( void )
{
    int32_t rsp_size;
    uint16_t rsp_cnt = 0;
    int8_t ret_flag = 0;
    
    char uart_rx_buffer[ PROCESS_RX_BUFFER_SIZE ] = { 0 };
    uint8_t check_buf_cnt;
    uint8_t process_cnt = PROCESS_COUNTER;
    
    // Clear current buffer
    memset( current_parser_buf, 0, PROCESS_RX_BUFFER_SIZE ); 
    
    while( process_cnt != 0 )
    {
        rsp_size = ble7_generic_read( &ble7, uart_rx_buffer, PROCESS_RX_BUFFER_SIZE );

        if ( rsp_size > 0 )
        {  
            // Validation of the received data
            for ( check_buf_cnt = 0; check_buf_cnt < rsp_size; check_buf_cnt++ )
            {
                if ( uart_rx_buffer[ check_buf_cnt ] == 0 ) 
                {
                    uart_rx_buffer[ check_buf_cnt ] = 13;
                }
            }
            // Storages data in current buffer
            rsp_cnt += rsp_size;
            if ( rsp_cnt < PROCESS_RX_BUFFER_SIZE )
            {
                strncat( current_parser_buf, uart_rx_buffer, rsp_size );
            }
            
            // Clear RX buffer
            memset( uart_rx_buffer, 0, PROCESS_RX_BUFFER_SIZE );
            
            if ( strstr( current_parser_buf, "Command failed" ) ) 
            {
                ret_flag = 0;
                return ret_flag;
            }
            
            if ( strstr( current_parser_buf, "Success" ) ) 
            {
                ret_flag = 1;
            }
            
            if ( strstr( current_parser_buf, "STREAM_MODE" ) ) 
            {
                data_mode = 1;
                ret_flag = 1;
            }
            
            if ( strstr( current_parser_buf, "COMMAND_MODE" ) ) 
            {
                data_mode = 0;
                ret_flag = 1;
            }
            
            if ( ret_flag == 1 )
            {
                log_printf( &logger, "%s", current_parser_buf );
                return ret_flag;
            }
            
            if ( config_mode == 0 )
            {   
                log_printf( &logger, "%s", current_parser_buf );
                if ( data_mode == 0 ) 
                {
                    ble7_send_command( &ble7, "send Hello" );
                    Delay_ms( 2000 );
                    ble7_send_command( &ble7, "send MikroE" );
                }
                else
                {
                    ble7_send_command( &ble7, "Hello" );
                    Delay_ms( 2000 );
                    ble7_send_command( &ble7, "MikroE" );
                }
            }
        } 
        else 
        {
            process_cnt--;
            
            // Process delay 
            Delay_ms( 100 );
        }
    }
    
    ret_flag = 0;
    return ret_flag;
}

// ------------------------------------------------------ APPLICATION FUNCTIONS

void application_init ( void )
{
    log_cfg_t log_cfg;
    ble7_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.

    ble7_cfg_setup( &cfg );
    BLE7_MAP_MIKROBUS( cfg, MIKROBUS_1 );
    ble7_init( &ble7, &cfg );
    Delay_1sec( );
    
    log_printf( &logger, "Configuring the module...\r\n" );
    Delay_1sec( );
    config_mode = 1;
    
    do 
    {
        ble7_reset( &ble7 );
        Delay_1sec( );
    }
    while( ble7_process(  ) != 1 );
    
    do 
    {
        ble7_send_command( &ble7, BLE7_CLEAR_BONDING );
        Delay_1sec( );
    }
    while( ble7_process(  ) != 1 );
    
    do 
    {
        ble7_send_command( &ble7, BLE7_ENABLE_ECHO );
        Delay_1sec( );
    }
    while( ble7_process(  ) != 1 );
    
    do 
    {
        ble7_send_command( &ble7, BLE7_ENABLE_PAIRING );
        Delay_1sec( );
    }
    while( ble7_process(  ) != 1 );
    
    do 
    {
        ble7_send_command( &ble7, BLE7_ENABLE_BONDING );
        Delay_1sec( );
    }
    while( ble7_process(  ) != 1 );
    
    do 
    {
        ble7_send_command( &ble7, BLE7_SET_DEVICE_NAME );
        Delay_1sec( );
    }
    while( ble7_process(  ) != 1 );
    
    do 
    {
        ble7_send_command( &ble7, BLE7_SET_ADVERTISING_ON );
        Delay_1sec( );
    }
    while( ble7_process(  ) != 1 );
    
    do 
    {
        ble7_send_command( &ble7, BLE7_SET_ADVERTISING_HIGH_DURATION );
        Delay_1sec( );
    }
    while( ble7_process(  ) != 1 );
    
    do 
    {
        ble7_send_command( &ble7, BLE7_SAVE_CONFIGURATION );
        Delay_1sec( );
    }
    while( ble7_process(  ) != 1 );
    
    do 
    {
        ble7_send_command( &ble7, BLE7_SWITCH_TO_STREAM_MODE );
        Delay_1sec( );
    }
    while( ble7_process(  ) != 1 );
    
    config_mode = 0;
    log_printf( &logger, "The module has been configured.\r\n" );
    Delay_1sec( );
}

void application_task ( void )
{
    ble7_process(  );
}

void main ( void )
{
    application_init( );

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


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

Additional Support

Resources