Texas Instruments MSP-EXP430G2 User manual

MSP-EXP430G2 LaunchPad Evaluation Kit
User's Guide
Literature Number: SLAU318F
July 2010–Revised January 2015

Contents
1 MSP-EXP430G2 LaunchPad Overview .................................................................................... 4
1.1 Overview .................................................................................................................. 4
1.2 Features................................................................................................................... 5
1.3 Kit Contents............................................................................................................... 5
1.4 Revisions.................................................................................................................. 6
2 Installation .......................................................................................................................... 6
2.1 Download the Required Software...................................................................................... 6
2.2 Install the Software....................................................................................................... 6
2.3 Install the Hardware...................................................................................................... 6
3 Getting Started With MSP-EXP430G2 LaunchPad..................................................................... 7
3.1 Getting Started ........................................................................................................... 7
3.2 Demo Application, Internal Temperature Measurement ............................................................ 7
4 Develop an Application With the MSP-EXP430G2 LaunchPad.................................................... 8
4.1 Developing an Application .............................................................................................. 8
4.2 Program and Debug the Temperature Measurement Demo Application ......................................... 8
4.3 Disconnect Emulator From Target With Jumper J3 ................................................................. 9
4.4 Program Connected eZ430 Target Boards.......................................................................... 10
4.5 Connecting a Crystal Oscillator....................................................................................... 11
4.6 Connecting a BoosterPack ............................................................................................ 11
4.7 Supported Devices ..................................................................................................... 11
4.8 MSP-EXP430G2 On-Board Emulator................................................................................ 13
5 MSP-EXP430G2 Hardware ................................................................................................... 13
5.1 Device Pinout ........................................................................................................... 13
5.2 Schematics .............................................................................................................. 14
5.3 PCB Layout.............................................................................................................. 20
5.4 Bill of Materials (BOM)................................................................................................. 23
6 Suggested Reading ............................................................................................................ 24
7 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) ...................................................................................... 24
Revision History.......................................................................................................................... 26
2Table of Contents SLAU318F–July 2010–Revised January 2015
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List of Figures
1 MSP-EXP430G2 LaunchPad Overview................................................................................... 5
2 Insert Device Into Target Socket .......................................................................................... 8
3 Code Composer Studio™ v4 in Debugging Mode ...................................................................... 9
4 MSP-EXP430G2 LaunchPad With Attached eZ430-RF2500 Target Board........................................ 10
5 Device Pinout............................................................................................................... 13
6 Schematics, MSP-EXP430G2 Emulator (1 of 2), Revision 1.4 ...................................................... 14
7 Schematics, MSP-EXP430G2 Emulator (2 of 2), Revision 1.4 ...................................................... 15
8 Schematics, MSP-EXP430G2 Target Socket, Revision 1.4.......................................................... 16
9 Schematics, MSP-EXP430G2 Emulator (1 of 2), Revision 1.5 ...................................................... 17
10 Schematics, MSP-EXP430G2 Emulator (2 of 2), Revision 1.5 ...................................................... 18
11 Schematics, MSP-EXP430G2 Target Socket, Revision 1.5.......................................................... 19
12 Layout, LaunchPad Top Layer ........................................................................................... 20
13 Layout, LaunchPad Bottom Layer........................................................................................ 21
14 Layout, LaunchPad Silkscreen ........................................................................................... 22
List of Tables
1 Jumper Connection J3 Between Emulator and Target ................................................................. 9
2 eZ430 Debugging Interface............................................................................................... 10
3 Supported Devices......................................................................................................... 11
4 Features Supported by On-Board Emulator ............................................................................ 13
5 Bill of Materials ............................................................................................................. 23
3
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User's Guide
SLAU318F–July 2010–Revised January 2015
MSP-EXP430G2 LaunchPad Evaluation Kit
Preface: Read This First
If You Need Assistance
If you have any feedback or questions, support for the MSP430™ devices and the MSP-EXP430G2 is
provided by the Texas Instruments Product Information Center (PIC) and the TI E2E Forum
(http://e2e.ti.com/). Contact information for the PIC can be found on the TI web site at http://support.ti.com.
Additional device-specific information can be found on the MSP430 web site at http://www.ti.com/msp430.
Related Documentation from Texas Instruments
The primary sources of MSP430 information are the device-specific data sheets and user's guides
available at the Texas Instruments MSP430 web site: http://www.ti.com/msp430.
MSP430 device user's guides, application reports, software examples and other MSP430 user's guides
can be found at the Tech Docs section. The CCS user's guide includes detailed information on setting up
a project and using Code Composer Studio™ for the MSP430 microcontroller (SLAU157).
Information specific to the MSP-EXP430G2 LaunchPad Evaluation Kit, all the available IDEs, Software
Libraries, and examples can be found at the Tools & Software section: http://www.ti.com/tool/msp-
exp430g2.
1 MSP-EXP430G2 LaunchPad Overview
1.1 Overview
The MSP-EXP430G2 LaunchPad is an inexpensive and simple evaluation kit for the MSP430G2xx Value
Line series of microcontrollers. It is an easy way to start developing on the MSP430 with on-board
emulation for programming and debugging as well as buttons and LEDs for a simple user interface.
Rapid prototyping is simplified by the 20-pin BoosterPack headers which support a wide range of available
BoosterPack plug-in modules. You can quickly add features like wireless connectivity, graphical displays,
environmental sensing, and much more. You can either design your own BoosterPack or choose among
many already available from TI and third party developers.
The LaunchPad features an integrated DIP target socket that supports up to 20 pins, allowing MSP430™
Value Line devices to be plugged into the LaunchPad board. The MSP-EXP430G2 LaunchPad comes
with an MSP430G2553 device by default. The MSP430G2553 has the most memory available of the
compatible Value Line devices.
The MSP430G2553 16-bit MCU has 16KB flash, 512 bytes RAM, up to 16-MHz CPU speed, 10-bit ADC,
capacitive touch enabled I/Os, universal serial communication interface, and more – plenty to get you
started in your development.
Free software development tools are also available: TI's Eclipse-based Code Composer Studio™ IDE
(CCS), IAR Embedded Workbench™ IDE (IAR), and the community-driven Energia open source code
editor. More information about the LaunchPad, including documentation and design files, can be found on
the tool page at http://www.ti.com/tool/msp-exp430g2.
MSP430, Code Composer Studio are trademarks of Texas Instruments.
IAR Embedded Workbench is a trademark of IAR Systems.
All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
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www.ti.com MSP-EXP430G2 LaunchPad Overview
1.2 Features
MSP-EXP430G2 LaunchPad features:
• USB debugging and programming interface featuring a driverless installation and application UART
serial communication with up to 9600 Baud
• Supports MSP430G2xx2, MSP430G2xx3, and MSP430F20xx devices in PDIP14 or PDIP20 packages
(see Section 4.7 for a complete list of supported devices)
• Two general-purpose digital I/O pins connected to green and red LEDs for visual feedback
• Two push button for user feedback and device reset
• Easily accessible device pins for debugging purposes or as socket for adding customized extension
boards
• High-quality 20-pin DIP socket for an easy plug-in or removal of the target device
Figure 1. MSP-EXP430G2 LaunchPad Overview
1.3 Kit Contents
The MSP-EXP430G2 evaluation kit includes the following hardware:
• LaunchPad emulator socket board (MSP-EXP430G2)
• Mini USB-B cable, 0.5 m
• Two MSP430 flash devices
– MSP430G2553: Low-power 16-bit MSP430 microcontroller with an 8-channel 10-bit ADC, on-chip
comparator, touch-sense enabled I/Os, universal serial communication interface, 16kB flash
memory, and 512 bytes of RAM (preloaded with a sample program)
– MSP430G2452: Low-power 16-bit MSP430 microcontroller with an 8-channel 10-bit ADC, on-chip
comparator, touch-sense enabled I/Os, universal serial interface, 8kB flash memory, and 256 bytes
of SRAM
• Two 10-pin PCB connectors female
• 32.768-kHz clock crystal from Micro Crystal (http://www.microcrystal.com)
• Quick start guide
• Two LaunchPad stickers
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MSP-EXP430G2 LaunchPad Overview www.ti.com
1.4 Revisions
The first production revision of the LaunchPad in 2010 was 1.3. In 2012 the LaunchPad board revision
changed from 1.4 to 1.5 to align with the new release of Value Line devices. The differences in the
schematic and the kit contents are:
• Layout and Schematic:
– Voltage feedback in the emulator changed to increase startup stability (Rev 1.3 to Rev 1.4)
– Rearranged jumper J3 to support two UART configurations: vertical (SW UART), horizontal (HW
UART)
– VCC on the connector J4 can now be disconnected from the emulator VCC by J3
– Pullup resistor R34 and capacitor C24 on P1.3 removed to reduce the current consumption
– Presoldered male headers J1 and J2
2 Installation
The MSP-EXP430G2 LaunchPad installation consists of three easy steps:
1. Download the required software.
2. Install the selected IDE.
3. Connect the LaunchPad to the PC.
Then the LaunchPad is ready to develop applications or to use the pre-programmed demo application.
2.1 Download the Required Software
Different development software tools are available for the MSP-EXP430G2 LaunchPad development
board. IAR Embedded Workbench™ KickStart IDE and Code Composer Studio™ (CCS) IDE are both
available in a free limited version. IAR Embedded Workbench allows 4KB of C-code compilation. CCS is
limited to a code size of 16KB. The software is available at http://www.ti.com/mspds. There are many
other compilers and integrated development environments (IDEs) available to use with the MSP-EXP430
LaunchPad including Rowley Crossworks and MSPGCC. However, example projects have been created
using IAR Embedded Workbench KickStart IDE and Code Composer Studio IDE (CCS). For more
information on the supported software and the latest code examples, visit the LaunchPad tool page
(http://www.ti.com/tool/msp-exp430g2).
2.2 Install the Software
Download one of the integrated development environments (IDEs) (see Section 2.1). IAR KickStart and
CCS offer the required driver support to work with the MSP-EXP430 LaunchPad onboard emulation. Once
installed, the IDE should find the MSP-EXP430G2 LaunchPad as USB:HID debugging interface. Now all is
set for developing MSP430G2xx based application on the LaunchPad.
2.3 Install the Hardware
Connect the MSP-EXP430G2 LaunchPad socket board with the enclosed USB cable to a PC. The driver
installation starts automatically. If prompted for software, allow Windows to install the software
automatically. This is possible only if either IAR KickStart or CCS is already installed.
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www.ti.com Getting Started With MSP-EXP430G2 LaunchPad
3 Getting Started With MSP-EXP430G2 LaunchPad
3.1 Getting Started
The first time the MSP-EXP430G2 LaunchPad Evaluation Kit is used, a demo application automatically
starts as soon as the board is powered from the USB host. To start the demo, connect the MSP-
EXP430G2 LaunchPad with the included mini USB cable to a free USB port. The demo application starts
with an LED toggle to show the device is active. More information about the demo application can be
found in Section 3.2.
3.2 Demo Application, Internal Temperature Measurement
The LaunchPad includes a pre-programmed MSP430G2553 device already installed in the target socket.
When LaunchPad is connected via USB, the demo starts with an LED toggle sequence. The onboard
emulation generates the supply voltage and all the signals necessary to start.
Press button P1.3 to switch the application to a temperature measurement mode. A reference temperature
is taken at the beginning of this mode, and the LEDs of the LaunchPad signal a rise or fall in temperature
by varying the brightness of the on-board red or green LED, respectively. The reference temperature can
also be recalibrated with another button press on P1.3. The collected temperature data is also
communicated via back-channel UART through the USB emulation circuitry back to the PC. The internal
temperature sensor data from the MSP430G2553 device is sent to the PC to be displayed on the GUI.
The pre-loaded demo application and the GUI are found in the Software Examples zip folder. The GUI is
opened with LaunchPad_Temp_GUI.exe. This GUI is made with Processing (http://processing.org) with
the source available for customization. The serial communication port on the PC must be configured with
2400 bps, one stop bit, and no flow control to display the values correctly.
The demo application uses the on-chip peripherals of the MSP430G2553 device such as the 10-bit ADC,
which samples the internal temperature sensor, and 16-bit timers, which drive the PWM to vary brightness
of the LEDs and enable software UART for communication with the PC. The MSP430G2553 offers a USCI
interface that is capable of communicating through UART at up to 2 MBaud, but to be aligned with all the
other MSP430G2xx devices, the demo uses the Timer UART implementation, which can be used on all
the other devices. This way the demo can be used with any other MSP430G2xx device with an integrated
ADC, without any change in the program.
The provided applications can be a great starting point for various custom applications and give a good
overview of the various applications of the MSP430G2xx Value Line devices.
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4 Develop an Application With the MSP-EXP430G2 LaunchPad
4.1 Developing an Application
The integrated development environments (IDEs) shown in Section 2 offer support for the whole
MSP430G2xx Value Line. The MSP-EXP430G2 LaunchPad needs only a connection to the USB of the
Host PC—there is no external hardware required. The power supply and the Spy-Bi-Wire JTAG signals
TEST and RST must be connected with jumper J3 to allow the onboard emulation connection to the
device. Now the preferred device can be plugged into the DIP target socket of the LaunchPad (see
Figure 2). Both PDIP14 and PDIP20 devices of the MSP430G2xx Value Line and the MSP430F20xx
family can be inserted into the DIP socket aligned to pin 1. A complete list of supported devices can be
found in Section 4.7.
Figure 2. Insert Device Into Target Socket
The following example for Code Composer Studio shows how to download and debug the demo
application described in Section 3.2.
4.2 Program and Debug the Temperature Measurement Demo Application
The source code of the demo application can be found in the Software Examples zip folder. Download the
project folder and unpack it to a location of your choice. For this demo, Code Composer Studio v4 or
newer must be installed.
The demo application can be loaded to the CCS workspace by clicking File→Import. Select the location of
the extracted project files and import Existing projects into Workspace. Now the MSP-EXP430G2-
Launchpad project appears inside the CCS workspace. The project must be marked as the active project
to start programming and debugging the device.
Connect the LaunchPad with an inserted MSP430G2553 device to the host PC and click the Debug button
on the CCS Toolbar. The MSP-EXP430G2 LaunchPad is initialized and the download of the compiled
demo application starts. The CCS view switches to a debugging interface once the download is completed
and the application is ready to start. Figure 3 shows Code Composer Studio v4 with the MSP-EXP430G2
LaunchPad demo application in debug view.
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Figure 3. Code Composer Studio™ v4 in Debugging Mode
4.3 Disconnect Emulator From Target With Jumper J3
The connection between the MSP-EXP430G2 emulator and the attached target device can be opened
with the jumper array J3. This can be useful to access an attached eZ430 target board by disconnecting
the Spi-Bi-Wire JTAG lines RST and TEST or if the JTAG lines are used for other application purposes.
The jumper array can also be used to measure the power consumption of the LaunchPad application. For
this intention, all connections except VCC must be opened, and a multi meter can used on the VCC
Jumper to measure the current of the MSP-EXP430G2 target device and its peripherals. The jumper J5
VCC also must be opened if the LaunchPad board is powered with an external power supply over J6
Table 1 or the eZ430 interface J4.
NOTE: The assignment of jumper J3 has been changed in MSP-EXP430G2 revision 1.5, see the
comments in Table 1 to find the assignment for a specific board revision.
Table 1. Jumper Connection J3 Between Emulator and Target
Jumper Signal Description
1 VCC Target socket power supply voltage (power consumption test jumper) (located on 5 before Rev. 1.5)
Test mode for JTAG pins or Spy-Bi-Wire test clock input during programming and test (located on 1 before
2 TEST Rev. 1.5)
3 RST Reset or Spy-Bi-Wire test data input/output during programming and test (located on 2 before Rev. 1.5)
4 RXD UART receive data input (direction can be selected by jumper orientation) (located on 3 before Rev. 1.5)
5 TXD UART transmit data output (direction can be selected by jumper orientation) (located on 4 before Rev. 1.5)
Jumpers 4 and 5 connect the UART interface of the emulator to the target device pins P1.1 and P1.2.
These jumpers can be used to select between a software (SW) UART or a hardware (HW) UART by their
orientation. In vertical orientation (SW UART), the jumpers connect the emulation TXD signal to target
P1.2 and the emulation RXD signal to target P1.1, as they are used for the software UART communication
on the demo application (see Section 2.2). In horizontal orientation (HW UART), the jumpers connect the
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emulator TXD signal to target P1.1 and the emulator RXD to target P1.2, as required for the USCI module.
Keep in mind that UART communication is full duplex, so connections are made for both transmit and
receive on each side, and the labeling is specific to what action each side of the UART bus is performing.
For example, the emulator TXD (transmit) signal connects to the target RXD (receive) signal, and the
emulator RXD signal connects to the target TXD signal.
4.4 Program Connected eZ430 Target Boards
The MSP-EXP430G2 LaunchPad can program the eZ430-RF2500T target boards, the eZ430-Chronos
watch module, or the eZ430-F2012T/F2013T. To connect one of the ez430 targets, connector J4 must be
populated with a 0.050-in (1.27-mm) pitch male header, as shown in Figure 4.
Figure 4. MSP-EXP430G2 LaunchPad With Attached eZ430-RF2500 Target Board
To program the attached target without interfering with the LaunchPad socket board, jumper connections
TEST and RST of J3 must be open. The interface to the eZ430 target board is always connected to the
MSP-EXP430G2 emulator, so the programming and debugging of a connected LaunchPad target device
is possible only if the eZ430 target is not connected on the same time. The application UART, on the other
hand, is connected directly to the LaunchPad target device, and jumper J3 can be closed to monitor the
transmission from the LaunchPad target to the attached eZ430. This way both possible connections, from
the device to the PC and from the device to the eZ430, can be established without changing the direction
of the UART pins.
The VCC connection to the eZ430 interface is directly connected to the LaunchPad target VCC and can
be separated with jumper J3, if the LaunchPad itself should be powered via a connected battery on J4. To
supply the eZ430 interface with the onboard emulator the jumper J3 VCC needs to be closed.
Table 2 shows the pinout of the eZ430 debugging interface J4, the first pin is the left pin located on the
emulator part of the LaunchPad.
Table 2. eZ430 Debugging Interface
Pin Signal Description
1 TXD UART transmit data output (UART communication from PC or MSP430G2xx to eZ430 target board)
2 VCC Power supply voltage (J3 VCC needs to be closed to supply via onboard emulator)
3 TEST / SBWTCK Test mode for JTAG pins and Spy-Bi-Wire test clock input during programming and test
4 RST / SBWTDIO Reset, Spy-Bi-Wire test data input/output during programming and test
5 GND Power supply ground
6 RXD UART receive data input (UART communication from eZ430 target board to PC or MSP430G2xx)
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