Semtech SX9306 User manual

WIRELESS & SENSING
Rev 1 – 12
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May 2014 1 www.semtech.com
User’s Guide
SX9306 Evaluation Kit
SX9306 Evaluation Kit
User's Guide

WIRELESS & SENSING
Rev 1 – 12
th
May 2014 2 www.semtech.com
User’s Guide
SX9306 Evaluation Kit
Table of Contents
1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................................... 4
1.1 SX9306 Main Features ................................................................................................................................... 4
1.2 Getting Started................................................................................................................................................ 5
1.2.1 Kit Contents....................................................................................................................................................5
1.2.2 Installation ......................................................................................................................................................5
2 Hardware Description................................................................................................................................... 6
2.1 Overview ......................................................................................................................................................... 6
2.2 USB Connector ............................................................................................................................................... 6
2.3 Microcontroller (µC)......................................................................................................................................... 7
2.4 LEDs................................................................................................................................................................ 7
2.5 Jumpers........................................................................................................................................................... 8
2.5.1 Power Supply Jumpers ..................................................................................................................................8
2.5.2 Microcontroller to SX9306 header and jumper ..............................................................................................9
2.5.3 A1, A0 and TXEN jumpers...........................................................................................................................10
3 Graphical User Interface (GUI)................................................................................................................... 10
3.1 Sensor Status................................................................................................................................................ 11
3.2 Registers ....................................................................................................................................................... 12
3.3 Cap Sensing Settings.................................................................................................................................... 13
3.3.1 Analog Block ................................................................................................................................................13
3.3.2 Digital Block..................................................................................................................................................14
3.4 Graph ............................................................................................................................................................ 15
3.5 Status Area.................................................................................................................................................... 15
4 Scripts .......................................................................................................................................................... 16
4.1 Introduction to Scripting ................................................................................................................................16
4.2 Scripting Language ....................................................................................................................................... 16
4.2.1 Necessary Header information.....................................................................................................................16
4.2.2 Variables.......................................................................................................................................................16
4.2.3 Register Write and Reads............................................................................................................................16
4.2.4 Display Command........................................................................................................................................16
5 Schematics and Layout.............................................................................................................................. 17
5.1 Schematics.................................................................................................................................................... 17
5.2 Layout............................................................................................................................................................ 19
6 References................................................................................................................................................... 22

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Table of Figures
Figure 1 SX9306EVKA Contents ...................................................................................................................................5
Figure 2 SX9306EVKA BOARD PICTURE (TOP).........................................................................................................6
Figure 3 USB connector on Left side.............................................................................................................................6
Figure 4 Proximity/Touch LEDs on EVK........................................................................................................................7
Figure 5 Sensors FPC....................................................................................................................................................8
Figure 6 Power supply Jumpers.....................................................................................................................................8
Figure 7 External supply pins.........................................................................................................................................9
Figure 8 Direct Connect Jumpers ..................................................................................................................................9
Figure 9 A1, A0 and TXEN jumper...............................................................................................................................10
Figure 10 Sensor Status ..............................................................................................................................................11
Figure 11 Smart SAR engine status – human body detected......................................................................................11
Figure 12 Smart SAR engine status – human body detected......................................................................................11
Figure 13 Register Area...............................................................................................................................................12
Figure 14 Force Manual Compensation.......................................................................................................................13
Figure 15 PROXIMITY (ANALOG) SECTION..............................................................................................................13
Figure 16 PROXIMITY (DIGITAL) Section...................................................................................................................14
Figure 17 GUI screen in Graphs ..................................................................................................................................15
Figure 18 Script buttons...............................................................................................................................................15
Figure 19 Header Information......................................................................................................................................16
Figure 20 Variables......................................................................................................................................................16
Figure 21 Register Write and Reads Commands........................................................................................................16
Figure 22 Display command ........................................................................................................................................16
Figure 23 Microcontroller section.................................................................................................................................17
Figure 24 USB power supply and calibration connector..............................................................................................18
Figure 25 SX9306 Section...........................................................................................................................................18
Figure 26 Layout: Top Layer........................................................................................................................................19
Figure 27 Layout: Midlayer 1........................................................................................................................................20
Figure 28 Layout: Midlayer 2........................................................................................................................................21
Figure 29 Layout: Bottom Layer...................................................................................................................................22

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User’s Guide
SX9306 Evaluation Kit
1 Introduction
The purpose of this User Guide is to describe the usage of the evaluation platform for the SX9306. The figures
presented in this document are based on the SX9306EVKA board, the GUI and the firmware.
The GUI requires a PC running Windows XP/Vista/7 with at least one USB available for connecting to the EVK.
1.1 SX9306 Main Features
•2.7 – 5.5V Input Supply Voltage
•Up to 4 Capacitive Sensor Inputs
oPatent Pending On-Chip Smart Engine for Human Detection and Advanced SAR Control
oHigh Resolution Capacitive Sensing down to 0.08fF
oCapacitance Offset Compensation up to 30pF
oConfigurable Proximity Detection (single/combined)
oIntegrated High Performance RF Shield for Enhanced Noise Immunity
oExtremely Low Temperature Drift for Stable Measurement
oReduced VDD Ripple Susceptibility
•Active Sensor Guarding
•Automatic Calibration
•Ultra Low Power Consumption:
oActive Mode: 170 uA
oDoze Mode: 18 uA
oSleep Mode: 2.5 uA
•400kHz I2C Serial Interface
oFour programmable I2C Sub-Addresses
oInput Levels Compatible with 1.8V Host Processors
•Open Drain NIRQ Interrupt pin
•Up to Three Reset Sources: POR, Soft Reset, NRST
•-40°C to +85°C Operation
•1.617x1.217 mm WLCSP or 3x3mm Thin QFN package
•QFN version pin-to-pin compatible with SX9300/SX9500
•Pb & Halogen Free, RoHS/WEEE compliant

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1.2 Getting Started
1.2.1 Kit Contents
The SX9306 Evaluation kit consists of:
•SX9306EVKA board
•SX9306EVKA CDROM including all necessary PC software and documentation (requires min Windows XP)
•Mini USB cable to connect the SX9306EVKA board to the PC
Figure 1 SX9306EVKA Contents
1.2.2 Installation
1.2.2.1 Stand-Alone Demo
1- Connect the SX9306EVKA board to a USB port/supply via the cable provided.
2- Wait for a few seconds.
3- SX9306EVKA is now ready to be used!
1.2.2.2 PC Software
1. Run the “SX9306EvaluationKit Setup.exe” file contained in the included CDROM.
2. After installation is completed, connect the SX9306EVKA board to the PC via the mini USB cable.

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3. Launch “Semtech->SX9306Evaluation->SX9306Evaluation” from Start menu.
4. The SX9306EVKA and GUI are now ready to use!
1.2.2.3 Hardware
The EVK’s jumpers are setup to work out of the box. Simply connect the EVK using the USB cable and start the GUI
on the PC.
2 Hardware Description
The SX9306EVKA is described in this chapter. Full schematics and layout are provided at the end of this document
for additional reference.
2.1 Overview
The following pictures show an overview of the SX9306EVKA’s Top. The SX9306 is soldered on the top side of the
PCB and the microcontroller is soldered on the bottom side of the PCB.
Figure 2 SX9306EVKA BOARD PICTURE (TOP)
2.2 USB Connector
The USB connector provides the power to the EVK and the communication to the GUI for evaluation. J1 is the USB
connector which is located on the lower left edge of the PCB.
Figure 3 USB connector on Left side

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2.3 Microcontroller (µC)
The microcontroller (C8051F387) implements the firmware that provides the USB communication to the SX9306
(through I2C) and drives the associated LEDs.
2.4 LEDs
1. D1, on the left side is the Power LED. When the EVK is connected to USB port of a computer, this LED is
ON.
2. D2 to D8 LEDs are controlled by the microcontroller. They show the status of the touch/proximity bits in
register 0x01, RegStat. When Bit 7 goes high, D2 is turned on, Bit 6 will turn on D3, Bit 5 will turn on D4 and
Bit 4 will turn on D5. When the smart SAR engine is enabled, D7 is turned on if the table is detected. D8 is
turned on if the body is detected. When the combined mode is enabled, D6 is turned on if proximity is
detected.
3. All other LEDs are reserved for future use.
Figure 4 Proximity/Touch LEDs on EVK

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2.5 Sensors FPC and Jumpers
2.5.1 Sensors FPC
There are two individual sensors (CS0, CS1) and a pair of sensors for the smart SAR engine (CS2/CS3):
Figure 5 Sensors FPC
2.5.2 Power Supply Jumpers
VDD and SVDD can be utilized in two ways. The first way (default method) is to use the power from the USB
connection. The second way is to use an external power supply.
2.5.2.1 Power from the USB
VDD Sel and SVDD Sel jumpers are used to select the on board voltage sources. If VDD Sel is connected on the
left (as shown in the picture), VDD of the chip is 5 volts or if it is on the right side then VDD is 3.3 volt.
SVDD Sel determines the SVDD voltage. SVDD can be 3.3 volt or a voltage that is selected on VDD by jumper
(VDD Sel). The orange and yellow on the right side of the picture disconnect the VDD or SVDD supplies once they
are removed.
SVDD
Selection
VDD
Selection
3
3 1
1
Short 2-3 to
set VDD to 5V
Short 2-3 to
set SVDD to
follow VDD
Short 1-2 to
set SVDD to
3.3V
Short 1-2 to
set VDD to
3.3V
Figure 6 Power supply Jumpers

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2.5.2.2 Power from External Power Supply
In order to connect the board to external supplies, you MUST first remove both jumpers VDD Sel and SVDD Sel and
then connect external supply to the chip. It may cause permanent damage to the board if these jumpers are in and
external supplies are connected. Diode D10 (picture above) in EVK circuit is used for protection as SVDD cannot be
higher than VDD. It should be noted that even though an external supply is used for the SX9306, a USB cable is
still needed for powering and communicating with the microcontroller. Note, SCL and SDA have MOSFETS for level
shifting since the microcontroller’s I/Os work off of the USB 5V line. In order to avoid communication issues, please
keep SVDD to at most the 5V level from the USB.
Figure 7 External supply pins
2.5.3 Microcontroller to SX9306 header and jumper
There are four jumpers needed for communications between the microcontroller and the SX9306.
1- NIRQ connection is for microcontroller operation based on interrupt services.
2- SCL - I2C clock, normally input on SX9306 side and output on microcontroller side.
3- SDA, Bidirectional Data serial link between SX9306 and microcontroller.
4- NRST - Reset line to SX9306.
This jumper connects this link from microcontroller on left side to SX9306 on right side as shown in the
figure below.
There are VDD and GND provided on this header. Two pins labeled GND are internally connected together. Same
is true for two other pins labeled VDD that are connected together internally. This is shown by two red circles on left
picture.
Figure 8 Direct Connect Jumpers

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2.5.4 A1, A0 and TXEN jumpers
A1 and A0 can be individually connected to high or low through the jumpers as shown in the figure below to either
voltage levels. The default values set in the EVK’s GUI and firmware for addressing the device is A1 = A0 = High (or
“1” or “VDD”).
TX_EN jumper is used to set TXEN low to pause cap sensing. For normal operation, the jumper must be removed
so that cap sensing can occur.
Figure 9 A1, A0 and TXEN jumper
3 Graphical User Interface (GUI)
There are four main areas on the GUI.
1. Right hand side (Sensor Status) which is a feedback for touch or proximity detection.
2. Left hand side shows the raw registers
3. Middle section contains the main configuration area where the registers are broken up to a more visual
format and an area for graphs to display raw cap sensing data.
4. Status Area provides a way to get general status items along with other various items.

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3.1 Sensor Status
a- b- c- d-
Figure 10 Sensor Status
a- Combined mode OFF, Smart SAR engine OFF
b- Combined mode OFF, Smart SAR engine ON
c- Combined mode ON, Smart SAR engine OFF
d- Combined mode ON, Smart SAR engine ON
Here, CS (Cap Sensor) is labeled as Channel so we have CS0 being Channel 0, CS1 being Channel 1, and so on.
When a touch is detected, the corresponding channel is set to green. When the smart SAR engine is enabled, when
a body or a table is detected, the corresponding image appears next to the smart SAR indicator. When the
combined mode is enabled, the corresponding channel appears as a single sensor labelled “COMB”.
If the smart SAR engine is enabled, there are 2 possible statuses. When human body is detected:
Figure 11 Smart SAR engine status – human body detected
When a table is detected:
Figure 12 Smart SAR engine status – human body detected

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3.2 Registers
The Registers section allows reading and writing to the registers directly. Registers are either read only or
read/write capable which is shown by the “Read” and “Write” buttons on the Access column. To write to a register
that is read/write capable, you should double click of the data area of the same register and type your desired value
of that register. After the data has been entered in (press enter or click elsewhere on the screen to accept the
change), the text color will turn to red to indicate that it has not yet been written to the device. When you click on
“Write”, the value will go back to black to indicate it has been written to the device. Reading a register works similar
in that when clicking the “Read” button, the register’s data will be updated.
Figure 13 Register Area

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3.3 Cap Sensing Settings
The scope of this paragraph is to describe the different parameters that can be changed by the user during
evaluation. We recommend forcing a manual compensation of the sensors offset after changing one of these
parameters:
Figure 14 Force Manual Compensation
3.3.1 Analog Block
Figure 15 PROXIMITY (ANALOG) SECTION
The Analog settings can be changed here. In this section you can
1- Set Scan period to be from 30ms to 300 ms.
2- Turn On or Off the Cap sensors.
3- Sampling Frequency can be fixed at 167kHz(Typical value), 125kHz or 83kHz.
4- Set Input Capacitance Range between Large to Small(Typical value).
5- Set Capacitance Measurement Resolution between Coarsest to Finest(Typical value).
6- Enable the doze mode with different doze scan period
7- Enable the combined mode

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3.3.2 Digital Block
Figure 16 PROXIMITY (DIGITAL) Section
In the digital section, you can set the following variables:
1- Proximity Detection Hysteresis
2- Proximity Detection Threshold
3- Far and Close Debounce
4- Smart SAR engine options
a. Enable smart SAR engine
b. Delta threshold
c. Ratio threshold
d. SAR Engine Debouncer
e. Saturation threshold
5- PROXRAW filter Strength
6- Digital Gain Factor
7- You can select the sensor and monitor the data in the digital processor box
8- Setup for Periodic, Stuck, Average, and Compensate all settings
9- Negative and positive threshold and debounce values.

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3.4 Graph
In this section, we are able to graph the sensor data
a) Average
b) Useful
c) Differential
d) Useful/Average
Figure 17 GUI screen in Graphs
Data graphs allow observing the progress of the proximity sensing’s parameters in real time. Each graph has the
ability to hide individual sensors from being displayed. Note that all sensors can be displayed, as well as the
programmed thresholds. Right clicking on the graph provides other options such as the ability to zoom in.
3.5 Status Area
The status area provides a way to view various status items and controls. The Interrupt Status box shows other
interruptible items other than the sensor status. The Auto Read box allows programming the microcontroller’s
firmware to automatically clear events. “Clear NIRQ”, for example, allows handling the NIRQ event. When you click
on the “Run Script”, a windows dialog box will open and asks for the name and location of script file. “Save To
Script” provides a way to save the current registers to a script that can be loaded by “Run Script” for later use. If
“Disconnect from EVK” button is clicked, GUI will disconnect from the EVK and change the button to display
“Connect to EVK”. “Force Manual Compensation” allows a way to force a manual compensation. If “Read Raw
Data” is enabled, GUI will display Graphs (cf Graphs Tab Section).
Figure 18 Script buttons

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4 Scripts
4.1 Introduction to Scripting
The GUI provides a way to automate tasks by implementing a script language. Scripts are run by using the “Run
Script” button. A startup script is also used to initialize registers to a default working setup once the EVK is
connected. This script is described more in detail later in this document. It can be used as a reference.
4.2 Scripting Language
The following sections describe briefly some common functions that can be used in the scripting language.
4.2.1 Necessary Header information
The very first line must only contain the string “-3-“ without any quotes. This tells the scripting language that it is a
version 3 script.
Figure 19 Header Information
4.2.2 Variables
Variables are defined when a “$” (without the quotes) prefixes a string. The scripting language will automatically
decode the type used so there is no need to specify a type. The following pictures show a variable called $test being
assigned a value of 4.
Figure 20 Variables
4.2.3 Register Write and Reads
The device uses an object oriented like method for the register access. First, the EVK BASE device is written, then
i2c signifying it is for i2c and then write or read. The write command consists of an address and value to set. The
read command consists of an address and a variable of where to save the value. Variables can be used for address
or setting the register if needed.
Figure 21 Register Write and Reads Commands
4.2.4 Display Command
Another useful core command is display. This will display a string to the screen.
Figure 22 Display command

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5 Schematics and Layout
5.1 Schematics
Figure 23 Microcontroller section

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Figure 24 USB power supply and calibration connector
Figure 25 SX9306 Section

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5.2 Layout
Figure 26 Layout: Top Layer

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Figure 27 Layout: Midlayer 1