Easily upgrade and expand storage capacity with SST26VF064B and ATmega328

Lightning-fast data waves

Published Feb 14, 2024

Click board™

Flash 2 Click

Dev Board

Arduino UNO Rev3

Compiler

NECTO Studio

MCU

ATmega328

Harness the capability of flash memory to provide considerably faster read and write speeds than traditional hard drives, thereby elevating the overall performance and responsiveness of the system

Hardware Overview

How does it work?

Flash 2 Click is based on the SST26VF064B, a Flash memory chip from Microchip. The Flash memory density is usually expressed in bits, so exactly 67,108,864 bits are organized in units of 8 bits (bytes), which gives 8,388,608 bytes of data memory. This memory module contains 2048 sectors of 4 KB each. Furthermore, the memory is organized into pages. One page holds 256 bytes, and there are 32,768 pages (32,768 pages x 256 bytes = 8,388,608 bytes total). Having insight into how the memory cells are organized is crucial for understanding the Write and Erase operations. The SST26VF064B offers a flexible memory protection scheme that allows each individual block to be write-protected. The addition of 2KB of

one-time programmable (OTP) memory can be useful for building secure storage devices and similar secure storage applications. It can be used to store various security data. Once programmed, this memory can be permanently locked without the possibility to reprogram it ever again. The flash memory IC used on this Click board™ features Serial Flash Discoverable Parameters (SFDP) mode, used to retrieve the advanced information from the device, such as the operating characteristics, structure and vendor specified information, memory size, operating voltage, timing information, and more. Flash 2 Click uses a standard 4-wire SPI serial interface to communicate with the host MCU, supporting

clock frequencies of up to 104MHz. Additional pins routed to the mikroBUS™ include the WP write protect pin, used to put the device into the hardware write protect mode, and the HLD hold pin, used to hold the data transfer. Flash 2 Click also supports Quad SPI mode, in which the WP and HLD pins become SO2 and SO3. 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, 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

Arduino UNO is a versatile microcontroller board built around the ATmega328P chip. It offers extensive connectivity options for various projects, featuring 14 digital input/output pins, six of which are PWM-capable, along with six analog inputs. Its core components include a 16MHz ceramic resonator, a USB connection, a power jack, an

ICSP header, and a reset button, providing everything necessary to power and program the board. The Uno is ready to go, whether connected to a computer via USB or powered by an AC-to-DC adapter or battery. As the first USB Arduino board, it serves as the benchmark for the Arduino platform, with "Uno" symbolizing its status as the

first in a series. This name choice, meaning "one" in Italian, commemorates the launch of Arduino Software (IDE) 1.0. Initially introduced alongside version 1.0 of the Arduino Software (IDE), the Uno has since become the foundational model for subsequent Arduino releases, embodying the platform's evolution.

Microcontroller Overview

MCU Card / MCU

Architecture

AVR

MCU Memory (KB)

Silicon Vendor

Microchip

Pin count

RAM (Bytes)

2048

You complete me!

Accessories

Click Shield for Arduino UNO has two proprietary mikroBUS™ sockets, allowing all the Click board™ devices to be interfaced with the Arduino UNO board without effort. The Arduino Uno, a microcontroller board based on the ATmega328P, provides an affordable and flexible way for users to try out new concepts and build prototypes with the ATmega328P microcontroller from various combinations of performance, power consumption, and features. The Arduino Uno has 14 digital input/output pins (of which six can be used as PWM outputs), six analog inputs, a 16 MHz ceramic resonator (CSTCE16M0V53-R0), a USB connection, a power jack, an ICSP header, and reset button. Most of the ATmega328P microcontroller pins are brought to the IO pins on the left and right edge of the board, which are then connected to two existing mikroBUS™ sockets. This Click Shield also has several switches that perform functions such as selecting the logic levels of analog signals on mikroBUS™ sockets and selecting logic voltage levels of the mikroBUS™ sockets themselves. Besides, the user is offered the possibility of using any Click board™ with the help of existing bidirectional level-shifting voltage translators, regardless of whether the Click board™ operates at a 3.3V or 5V logic voltage level. Once you connect the Arduino UNO board with our Click Shield for Arduino UNO, you can access hundreds of Click boards™, working with 3.3V or 5V logic voltage levels.

Used MCU Pins

mikroBUS™ mapper

Data Transfer Pause/SO3

PD2

RST

SPI Chip Select

PB2

SPI Clock

PB5

SCK

SPI Data OUT/SO1

PB4

MISO

SPI Data IN/SO0

PB3

MOSI

Power Supply

3.3V

Ground

GND

Write Protect/SO2

PD6

PWM

INT

SCL

SDA

Ground

GND

Take a closer look

Click board™ Schematic

Step by step

Project assembly

Click Shield for Arduino UNO front image hardware assembly

Start by selecting your development board and Click board™. Begin with the Arduino UNO Rev3 as your development board.

Arduino UNO Rev3 front image hardware assembly

Charger 27 Click front image hardware assembly

Arduino UNO Rev3 Access MB 1 - upright/background 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 Flash 2 Click driver.

Key functions:

flash2_global_block_unlock - Global block-protection unlock function
flash2_chip_erase - Chip-erase function
flash2_read_generic - Generic read function

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 Flash2 Click example
 * 
 * # Description
 * This application demonstrates the process of writing and reading data from Flash 2 click memory.
 *
 * The demo application is composed of two sections :
 * 
 * ## Application Init 
 * Flash Driver Initialization, initialization of click by setting mikorBUS to
 * approprieate logic levels, performing global block unlock and chip erase functions.
 * 
 * ## 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 "flash2.h"

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

static flash2_t flash2;
static log_t logger;

char wr_data[ 10 ] = { 'M', 'i', 'k', 'r', 'o', 'E', 13, 10 , 0 };
char rd_data[ 10 ];

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

void application_init ( void )
{
    log_cfg_t log_cfg;
    flash2_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.

    flash2_cfg_setup( &cfg );
    FLASH2_MAP_MIKROBUS( cfg, MIKROBUS_1 );
    flash2_init( &flash2, &cfg );
    Delay_ms( 300 );
    flash2_global_block_unlock( &flash2 );
    Delay_ms( 400 );
    flash2_chip_erase( &flash2 );
    Delay_ms( 300 );
}

void application_task ( void )
{
    log_printf( &logger, "Writing MikroE to flash memory, from address 0x015015:\r\n" );
    flash2_write_generic( &flash2, 0x015015, &wr_data[ 0 ], 9 );
    log_printf( &logger, "Reading 9 bytes of flash memory, from address 0x015015:\r\n" );
    flash2_read_generic( &flash2, 0x015015, &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