Experience lightning-fast data storage and retrieval with PIC32MZ2048EFM100

Non-volatile memory using Ferroelectric Random Access Memory (FRAM) technology

Published Feb 01, 2024

Click board™

FRAM click

Dev. board

Curiosity PIC32 MZ EF

Compiler

NECTO Studio

MCU

PIC32MZ2048EFM100

Ultra-reliable lightning-fast memory storage for your projects!

Hardware Overview

How does it work?

FRAM Click is based on the MB85RS256A, a memory FRAM from Fujitsu. It can retain data without a backup battery, as SRAM needs. Although the FRAM is still being developed, this company provided a very reliable and fast FRAM module that can write data at bus speed, has an extremely high endurance of 10 billion read/write cycles, and a fast SPI interface. When using the Writer to an array instruction, it is possible to write the whole array, which is an obvious advantage

over the traditional EEPROM. The FRAM memory does not use pages because the memory is written faster than the SPI bus can deliver new information (the data is written at bus speed). Therefore, no buffering is required, and the whole array can be sequentially written. FRAM Click uses a standard 4-Wire SPI interface to communicate with the host MCU supporting 25MHz of maximum operating frequency and an SPI 0 (0, 0) and SPI 3 (1, 1) modes. The MB85RS256A includes the write

protection of the specific parts or the whole memory array, which can be accessed over the WP pin. The hold HLD pin interrupts serial input/output without deselecting the chip. 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.

Features overview

Development board

Curiosity PIC32 MZ EF development board is a fully integrated 32-bit development platform featuring the high-performance PIC32MZ EF Series (PIC32MZ2048EFM) that has a 2MB Flash, 512KB RAM, integrated FPU, Crypto accelerator, and excellent connectivity options. It includes an integrated programmer and debugger, requiring no additional hardware. Users can expand

functionality through MIKROE mikroBUS™ Click™ adapter boards, add Ethernet connectivity with the Microchip PHY daughter board, add WiFi connectivity capability using the Microchip expansions boards, and add audio input and output capability with Microchip audio daughter boards. These boards are fully integrated into PIC32’s powerful software framework, MPLAB Harmony,

which provides a flexible and modular interface to application development a rich set of inter-operable software stacks (TCP-IP, USB), and easy-to-use features. The Curiosity PIC32 MZ EF development board offers expansion capabilities making it an excellent choice for a rapid prototyping board in Connectivity, IOT, and general-purpose applications.

Microcontroller Overview

MCU Card / MCU

Architecture

PIC32

MCU Memory (KB)

2048

Silicon Vendor

Microchip

Pin count

100

RAM (Bytes)

524288

Used MCU Pins

mikroBUS™ mapper

Data Transfer Pause

RA9

RST

SPI Chip Select

RPD4

SPI Clock

RPD1

SCK

SPI Data OUT

RPD14

MISO

SPI Data IN

RPD3

MOSI

Power Supply

3.3V

Ground

GND

Write Protection

RPE8

PWM

INT

SCL

SDA

Power Supply

Ground

GND

Take a closer look

Click board™ Schematic

Step by step

Project assembly

Curiosity PIC32MZ EF front image hardware assembly

Start by selecting your development board and Click board™. Begin with the Curiosity PIC32 MZ EF as your development board.

Thermo 28 Click front image hardware assembly

Curiosity PIC32 MZ EF MB 1 - upright/background hardware assembly

Curiosity PIC32 MZ EF MCU Step hardware assembly

Necto No Display image step 8 hardware assembly

Debug Image Necto Step hardware assembly

Track your results in real time

Application Output

1. Application Output - In Debug mode, the 'Application Output' window enables real-time data monitoring, offering direct insight into execution results. Ensure proper data display by configuring the environment correctly using the provided tutorial.

2. UART Terminal - Use the UART Terminal to monitor data transmission via a USB to UART converter, allowing direct communication between the Click board™ and your development system. Configure the baud rate and other serial settings according to your project's requirements to ensure proper functionality. For step-by-step setup instructions, refer to the provided tutorial.

3. Plot Output - The Plot feature offers a powerful way to visualize real-time sensor data, enabling trend analysis, debugging, and comparison of multiple data points. To set it up correctly, follow the provided tutorial, which includes a step-by-step example of using the Plot feature to display Click board™ readings. To use the Plot feature in your code, use the function: plot(*insert_graph_name*, variable_name);. This is a general format, and it is up to the user to replace 'insert_graph_name' with the actual graph name and 'variable_name' with the parameter to be displayed.

Software Support

Library Description

This library contains API for FRAM Click driver.

Key functions:

fram_write_enable - This function sends write enable command to the chip
fram_read - This function reads sequential memory locations to buffer
fram_write - This function writes to sequential memory locations from buffer.

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 
 * \brief Fram Click example
 * 
 * # Description
 * This app writing data to click memory.
 *
 * The demo application is composed of two sections :
 * 
 * ## Application Init 
 * Initialization device.
 * 
 * ## Application Task  
 * Writing data to click memory and displaying the read data via UART. 
 * 
 * \author MikroE Team
 *
 */
// ------------------------------------------------------------------- INCLUDES

#include "board.h"
#include "log.h"
#include "fram.h"

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

static fram_t fram;
static log_t logger;

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

void application_init ( void )
{
    log_cfg_t log_cfg;
    fram_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.

    fram_cfg_setup( &cfg );
    FRAM_MAP_MIKROBUS( cfg, MIKROBUS_1 );
    fram_init( &fram, &cfg );
    fram_erase_all( &fram );
    Delay_ms( 1000 );
}

void application_task ( void )
{
    char wr_data[ 10 ] = { 'M', 'i', 'k', 'r', 'o', 'E', 13, 10, 0 };
    char rd_data[ 20 ] = { 0 };
    uint8_t i = 0;

    log_printf( &logger, "Writing MikroE to  Fram memory, from address 0x0150: \r\n" );
    fram_write( &fram, 0x0150, &wr_data[ 0 ], 9 );
    Delay_ms( 1000 );
    log_printf( &logger, "Reading 9 bytes of Fram memory, from address 0x0150: \r\n" );
    fram_read( &fram, 0x0150, &rd_data[ 0 ], 9 );
    log_printf( &logger, "Data read: %s \r\n", rd_data );
    
    Delay_ms( 1000 );
}

void main ( void )
{
    application_init( );

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

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