Silicon Laboratories CP2103 User manual

Rev. 0.4 7/13 Copyright © 2013 by Silicon Laboratories CP2103-EK
CP2103-EK
CP2103 EVALUATION KIT USER’SGUIDE
1. Kit Contents
The CP2103 Evaluation Kit contains the following items:
CP2103 Evaluation Board
RS232 Serial Cable
USB Cable
DVD
Quick Start Guide
2. Relevant Documentation
Application notes can be found on the Interface Application Notes page for all fixed-function devices:
www.silabs.com/interface-appnotes.
AN721: CP210x/CP211x Device Customization Guide — Customize the VID, PID, serial number, and
other parameters stored in the CP2103 EPROM.
AN197: Serial Communications Guide for CP210x — Programming guide for using the Virtual COM Port
(VCP) drivers.
AN169: USBXpress Programmer’s Guide — Programming guide for using the USBXpress drivers.
AN220: C8051F32x and CP210x USB Driver Customization — VCP or USBXpress driver customization
tool.
AN223: Port Configuration and GPIO for CP210x — Programming guide and DLL for runtime control of
the CP2103 GPIO pins.
AN571: CP210x Virtual COM Port Interface — USB interface details for CP210x devices.
3. Software Setup
The Software Development Kit (SDK) for the CP2103 kit is included on the kit DVD. The latest version of this
installer can also be downloaded from the www.silabs.com/interface-software website. This package includes:
Device Customization Utility (AN721)
Documentation — data sheet, application notes, user’s guide, quick start guide, etc.
CP210x Virtual COM Port (VCP) Drivers
Software — Driver Customization Utility (AN220) and programming examples
The Windows installer should launch automatically after inserting the DVD. For Mac and Linux, browse to the
appropriate directory on the DVD to install the software package. Follow the instructions to install the SDK and
drivers to the system.
3.1. USBXpress Driver Development Kit
The Silicon Laboratories USBXpress ® Development Kit provides a complete host software solution for interfacing to
CP210x devices. No USB protocol or host device driver expertise is required. Instead, a simple, high-level Application
Program Interface (API) for the host software is used to provide complete USB connectivity. The USBXpress
Development Kit includes Windows device drivers, Windows device driver installer, host interface function library
(host API) provided in the form of a Windows Dynamic Link Library (DLL). See Application Note AN169, “USBXpress
Programmer’s Guide” for detailed information on using the USBXpress drivers.
The USBXpress drivers are available here: www.silabs.com/usbxpress.
Click the USBXpress Development Kit link in the Download for Windows 2000/XP/Server 2003/Vista/Win7 section
to download the USBXpress drivers. Run the installer and follow the steps to install the software to the desired

CP2103-EK
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location. The default installation directory is C:\SiLabs\MCU\USBXpress_SDK.
Further installation instructions for the WinCE drivers can be found in the ReadMe.txt file contained inside the
driver package.
4. CP2103 Hardware Interface
The evaluation board is connected to a PC as shown in Figure 1.
1. Connect one end of the USB cable to a USB Port on the PC.
2. Connect the other end of the USB cable to the USB connector on the
CP2103 evaluation board.
3. Connect one end of the RS232 serial cable to the DB-9 connector on the CP2103 evaluation board .
4. Connect the other end of the RS232 serial cable to the target serial device.
Figure 1. Hardware Setup
CP2103 EK
Serial Device
RS232
CP2103 USB-to-
UART Bridge
USB
1
2
3
4

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5. CP2103 Software Interface
If the Virtual COM Port drivers are used, the CP2103 will appear as a COM port in the Device Manager, as shown
in Figure 2. The CP2103 will always use the lowest available COM port for operation. For instance, if COM ports 1
and 2 are in use by other peripherals and applications, the CP2103 will use COM 3.
The CP2103 functions identically to a COM port from the reference point of both the host application and the serial
device, and it can support serial device control requests defined in the Microsoft Win32®Communications API.
Examples for how to communicate with the device as a serial COM port are included in AN197 on the
www.silabs.com/interface-appnotes page or in the SDK.
If the USBXpress drivers are used, the CP2103 will appear as a USB USBXpress device as shown in Figure 2.
Examples for how to communicate with the device using the USBXpress interface are included in AN169 on the
www.silabs.com/interface-appnotes page.
Figure 2. CP2103 in Device Manager

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6. Target Board
The CP2103 Evaluation Kit includes an evaluation board with a CP2103 device pre-installed for evaluation and pre-
liminary software development. Numerous input/output (I/O) connections are provided to facilitate prototyping using
the evaluation board. Refer to
Figure 3 for the locations of the various I/O connectors.
J1 DB9 connector for RS232 interface
J2 UART signal access connector
J3 USB connector for USB interface
J4, J7 Power Connector
J5, J6 GPIO Access Connector
D0–D3 Green GPIO LEDs
D4 Red SUSPEND indicator LED
Figure 3. CP2103 Evaluation Board
6.1. LED Headers (J5, J6)
Connectors J5 and J6 are provided to allow access to the GPIO pins on the CP2103. Place shorting blocks on J5
and J6 to connect the GPIO pins to the four green LEDs D0 - D3. These LEDs can be used to indicate active
communications through the CP2103. Table 1 shows the LED corresponding to each header position.
6.2. Universal Serial Bus (USB) Interface (J3)
A Universal Serial Bus (USB) connector (J3) is provided to facilitate connections to the USB interface on the
CP2103. See Table 2 for the USB pin definitions.
Table 1. J5 and J6 LED Locations
LED Pins
D0 J5[3:4]
D1 J5[1:2]
D2 J6[3:4]
D3 J6[1:2]
Table 2. USB Connector Pin Descriptions
Pin # Description
1 VBUS
2D-
3D+
4 GND (Ground)
J1
CP2103
J3
SUSPEND
J4
J2
Pin 2 Pin 1
J5
J7
J6 D3
D2
D1
D0
_________
D4
RS232
Transceiver

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6.3. UART Signals (J1, J2)
A RS232 transceiver circuit and DB-9 connector (J1) are provided on the evaluation board to connect the CP2103
virtual serial port to external serial devices. See Table 3 for the RS232 J1 pin descriptions. The J2 connector is pro-
vided to facilitate direct access to the CP2103’s UART signals. Shorting blocks on J2 are required to connect the
UART signals to J1. See Table 4 for J2 pin descriptions.
6.4. Power Connectors (J4, J7)
Two headers, J4 and J7, are included on the evaluation board to provide several power options. The following
describes the function of each connector:
J4 - Connects the CP2103 VDD (pin 6) to the main +3 V net that powers the other components (4 green
LEDs and RS-232 Sipex Part) on the board.
J7 - Connects CP2103 VIO input (pin 5) to the main +3 V net. Remove the shorting block to power VIO
from an external source.
Table 3. RS232 Pin Descriptions
Pin Signal CP2103
Direction Description
1 DCD Input Data Carrier Detect
2 RXD Input Receive Data
3 TXD Output Transmit Data
4 DTR Output Data Terminal Ready
5 GND Ground
6 DSR Input Data Set Ready
7 RTS Output Request to Send
8 CTS Input Clear to Send
9 RI Input Ring Indicator
Table 4. J2 Pin Descriptions
Pins Signal CP2103
Direction Description
1-2 TXD Output Transmit Data
3-4 RXD Input Receive Data
5-6 DTR Output Data Terminal Ready
7-8 RI Input Ring Indicator
8-10 DCD Input Data Carrier Detect
11-12 DSR Input Data Set Ready
13-14 CTS Input Clear to Send
15-16 RTS Output Request to Send

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7. Schematic
Figure 4. CP2103 Evaluation Board Schematic

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DOCUMENT CHANGE LIST
Revision 0.1 to Revision 0.2
Updated CD-ROM contents in Section “1. Kit
Contents” to correspond with versions 4.0 and later
of the CP210x Drivers and Product Information CD-
ROM.
Updated Section “3. Software Setup” to include
installation instructions for software included on
versions 4.0 and later of the CP210x Drivers and
Product Information CD-ROM.
Added installation instructions for USBXpress Driver
Development Kit in Section “3. Software Setup”.
Added screenshots in Section “5. CP2103 Software
Interface”, for the Device Manager window after
correct installation of driver software.
Revision 0.2 to Revision 0.3
Updated "3. Software Setup" on page 1.
Revision 0.3 to Revision 0.4
Updated “1. Kit Contents” to change CD-ROM to
DVD.
Added “2. Relevant Documentation”.
Updated “3. Software Setup” to point to the drivers
on the website.
Updated Figure 1 and Figure 2.

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CONTACT INFORMATION
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Austin, TX 78701
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Toll Free: 1+[phone]
Please visit the Silicon Labs Technical Support web page:
https://www.silabs.com/support/pages/contacttechnicalsupport.aspx
and register to submit a technical support request.
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