1.4 EDBG

The SAM E54 Curiosity Ultra development board implements several Curiosity Pro standards, such as extension headers and connectors. Curiosity Pro is an evaluation platform that provides a full Microchip microcontroller experience. The platform consists of a series of Microcontroller (MCU) boards and extension boards that are integrated with the Microchip MPLAB^® X IDE that supports data streaming. The Curiosity Pro MCU boards support a wide range of Curiosity Pro extension boards, such as audio DACs and codecs, Ethernet PHYs, graphics cards, and mikroBUS that are connected through a set of standardized headers and connectors. Each extension board has an identification (ID) chip to uniquely identify which boards are connected to a Xplained Pro MCU board. This information is given in the relevant user guides, application notes, data sheets, and code examples through the MPLAB X IDE.

The development board contains a Microchip Embedded Debugger (EDBG) for on-board debugging. The EDBG is a complex USB device, which is based on the following interfaces:

Debugger
Virtual COM Port
Data Gateway Interface (DGI)

Together with the Microchip MPLAB X IDE, the EDBG debugger interface can program and debug the ATSAME54P20A. On the development board, the SWD interface is connected between the EDBG and the ATSAME54P20A.

The Virtual COM Port is connected to a UART on the ATSAME54P20A and provides an easy way to communicate with the target application through the terminal software. It offers variable baud rate, parity, and the Stop bit settings. The settings on the ATSAME54P20A must match with the settings given in the terminal software.

Note: If not configured automatically, the Data Terminal Ready (DTR) setting must be set in the terminal software.

The DGI consists of several physical interfaces for communication with the host computer. Communication over the interfaces is bidirectional. It can be used to send events and values from the ATSAME54P20A, or as a generic printf-style data channel. Traffic over the interfaces can be timestamped on the EDBG for accurate tracing of events. Timestamping imposes an overhead that reduces maximal throughput. The Data Visualizer is used to send and receive data through DGI.

The EDBG controls two LEDs on the development board: a power LED and a status LED. The table below provides how the LEDs are controlled in different operation modes.

Table 1-3. EDBG LED Control
Operation Mode	Power LED	Status LED
Normal operation	The power LED is lit when power is applied to the board.	Activity indicator, LED flashes when any communication happens to the EDBG.
Bootloader mode (Idle mode)	The power LED and the status LED blinks simultaneously.	The power LED and the status LED blinks simultaneously.
Bootloader mode (firmware upgrade)	The power LED and the status LED blinks in an alternating pattern.	The power LED and the status LED blinks in an alternating pattern.

For additional information on EDBG, refer to the EDBG User Guide.

Hardware Identification System

All Curiosity Pro-compatible extension boards have an Microchip ATSHA204 CryptoAuthentication™ chip mounted. This chip contains information that identifies the extension with its name and data. When an Xplained Pro extension is connected to a Curiosity Pro MCU board, the information is read and sent to the MPLAB X IDE. The Microchip kits extension, installed with MPLAB X IDE, provides relevant information, such as code examples and links to relevant documents. The following table provides the data fields stored in the ID chip with content examples.

Table 1-4. Xplained Pro ID Chip Content Example
Data Field	Data Type	Example
Manufacture	ASCII string	Microchip’\0’
Product Name	ASCII string	–
Product Revision	ASCII string	04’\0’
Product Serial number	ASCII string	1774020200000010’\0’
Minimum Voltage (mV)	uint16_t	3000
Maximum Voltage (mV)	uint16_t	3600
Maximum Current (mA)	uint16_t	30