Instantly capture and preserve critical data when power is interrupted thanks to the FM24V10 and PIC18LF26K22

Ferroelectric random-access memory

Published Nov 01, 2023

Click board™

FRAM 5 Click

Dev Board

EasyPIC v8

Compiler

NECTO Studio

MCU

PIC18LF26K22

Instantly capture and preserve critical data

Hardware Overview

How does it work?

FRAM 5 Click is based on the FM24V10, a 1Mbit ferroelectric random access memory (FRAM) logically organized as 131,072×8 bits and accessed using an industry-standard I2C interface from Infineon. The functional operation of the FRAM is similar to serial I2C EEPROM, where the significant difference between the FM24V10 and EEPROM represents the F-RAM's superior write performance, high endurance, and low power consumption. This Click board™ is ideal for nonvolatile memory applications requiring frequent or rapid writes, where example ranges from data collection to demanding industrial controls where the long write time of serial EEPROM can cause data loss. This Click board™ communicates with MCU using the standard

I2C 2-Wire interface, supporting operation with a clock frequency of up to 3.4MHz. Unlike serial EEPROM, the FM24V10 performs write operations at bus speed, where no write delays are incurred. It provides reliable data retention for 151 years while eliminating the complexities, overhead, and system-level reliability problems caused by EEPROM and other nonvolatile memories. It also supports 10 trillion (1014) read/write cycles or 100 million times more write cycles than EEPROM. Besides, the FM24V10 allows choosing its I2C slave address using the SMD jumpers labeled ADDR SEL. The selection can be made by positioning the SMD jumpers to an appropriate position marked as 1 or 0. An additional feature of this FRAM represents

the configurable Write Protection function labeled as WP routed on the PWM pin of the mikroBUS™ socket. The WP pin protects the entire memory and all registers from write operations and must be set to a high logic state to inhibit all the write operations. All memory and register write are prohibited when this pin is high, and the address counter is not incremented. This Click board™ can only be operated with a 3.3V logic voltage level. The board must perform appropriate logic voltage level conversion before using MCUs with different logic levels. However, the Click board™ 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

EasyPIC v8 is a development board specially designed for the needs of rapid development of embedded applications. It supports many high pin count 8-bit PIC microcontrollers from Microchip, regardless of their number of pins, and a broad set of unique functions, such as the first-ever embedded debugger/programmer. 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, EasyPIC v8 provides a fluid and immersive working experience, allowing access anywhere and under any

circumstances at any time. Each part of the EasyPIC v8 development board contains the components necessary for the most efficient operation of the same board. In addition to the advanced integrated CODEGRIP programmer/debugger module, which offers many valuable programming/debugging options and seamless integration with the Mikroe software environment, the board 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 DEVICE, and CAN are also included, including the well-established mikroBUS™ standard, two display options (graphical and character-based LCD), and several different DIP sockets. These sockets cover a wide range of 8-bit PIC MCUs, from the smallest PIC MCU devices with only eight up to forty pins. EasyPIC 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.

Microcontroller Overview

MCU Card / MCU

Architecture

PIC

MCU Memory (KB)

Silicon Vendor

Microchip

Pin count

RAM (Bytes)

3896

Used MCU Pins

mikroBUS™ mapper

RST

SCK

MISO

MOSI

Power Supply

3.3V

Ground

GND

Write Protect

RC1

PWM

INT

I2C Clock

RC3

SCL

I2C Data

RC4

SDA

Ground

GND

Take a closer look

Click board™ Schematic

Step by step

Project assembly

EasyPIC v8 front image hardware assembly

Start by selecting your development board and Click board™. Begin with the EasyPIC v8 as your development board.

NECTO Output Selection Step Image hardware assembly

In the advanced settings, pay special attention to the Redirect standard output field. By default, it is set to Application output as the method of displaying final results. To show results via a UART terminal, select the “UART” option in that field and click the “SAVE” button. You will be returned to the Compiler field, and now you can move on to the next step by pressing the “NEXT” button.

GNSS2 Click front image hardware assembly

EasyPIC v8 Access DIPMB 1 - upright/background hardware assembly

NECTO Compiler Selection Step Image hardware assembly

Necto DIP image step 7 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 5 Click driver.

Key functions:

fram5_check_communication This function checks the communication by reading and verifying the device ID.
fram5_memory_write This function writes a desired number of data bytes starting from the selected memory address.
fram5_memory_read This function reads a desired number of data bytes starting from the selected memory address.

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 FRAM5 Click example
 *
 * # Description
 * This example demonstrates the use of FRAM 5 click board by writing specified data to
 * the memory and reading it back.
 *
 * The demo application is composed of two sections :
 *
 * ## Application Init
 * Initializes the driver and checks the communication with the click board.
 *
 * ## Application Task
 * Writes a desired number of bytes to the memory and then verifies that it's written correctly
 * by reading from the same memory location and displaying the memory content on the USB UART.
 *
 * @author Stefan Filipovic
 *
 */

#include "board.h"
#include "log.h"
#include "fram5.h"

static fram5_t fram5;
static log_t logger;

#define DEMO_TEXT_MESSAGE           "MikroE - FRAM 5 click board"
#define STARTING_ADDRESS            0x01234   

void application_init ( void ) 
{
    log_cfg_t log_cfg;  /**< Logger config object. */
    fram5_cfg_t fram5_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.
    fram5_cfg_setup( &fram5_cfg );
    FRAM5_MAP_MIKROBUS( fram5_cfg, MIKROBUS_1 );
    if ( I2C_MASTER_ERROR == fram5_init( &fram5, &fram5_cfg ) ) 
    {
        log_error( &logger, " Communication init." );
        for ( ; ; );
    }
    
    if ( FRAM5_ERROR == fram5_check_communication ( &fram5 ) )
    {
        log_error( &logger, " Check communication." );
        for ( ; ; );
    }
    
    log_info( &logger, " Application Task " );
}

void application_task ( void ) 
{
    uint8_t data_buf[ 128 ] = { 0 };
    if ( FRAM5_OK == fram5_memory_write ( &fram5, STARTING_ADDRESS, 
                                          DEMO_TEXT_MESSAGE, strlen ( DEMO_TEXT_MESSAGE ) ) )
    {
        log_printf ( &logger, "Data written to address 0x%.5lx: %s\r\n", ( uint32_t ) STARTING_ADDRESS, 
                                                                           ( char * ) DEMO_TEXT_MESSAGE );
    }
    if ( FRAM5_OK == fram5_memory_read ( &fram5, STARTING_ADDRESS, 
                                         data_buf, strlen ( DEMO_TEXT_MESSAGE ) ) )
    {
        log_printf ( &logger, "Data read from address  0x%.5lx: %s\r\n\n", ( uint32_t ) STARTING_ADDRESS, 
                                                                                        data_buf );
        Delay_ms ( 3000 );
    }
}

void main ( void ) 
{
    application_init( );

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

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