Hardware testing method for TI-CC chip

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Hardware testing method for TI-CC chip [Copy link]

Brief description

Forced to do something that is meaningless to the current direction, we can only grab some meaning from it.
Based on TI's test software smartRF studio, the hardware needs to reserve VCC, GND, RST, TCK, and TMS interfaces. The main reason for using official tools for testing is to troubleshoot software factors, so that you can confidently tell the hardware that this is a hardware problem and has nothing to do with software.
The tool directly operates the registers to control the RF transceiver. In other words, it is equivalent to testing the hardware's program download, clock, and RF. If there are no problems with these, then there is basically no problem with the MCU. Of course, other functions on the hardware will be tested separately, which is not related to this article.

Prepare

If the hardware developer prefers to leave 1.25 spacing pin headers in the first version, either ask him to make an adapter board, or write a guide on how to self-test the hardware like I did and give it to him. Anyway, he doesn't program, so there is no reason why he can't test it. If none of the above can be done, it is recommended that you make an adapter board yourself. This hardware will most likely be re-boarded and thrown to you for testing again.
Prepare two development boards of the same chip produced by TI, one as a downloader and the other as a transceiver, so as to eliminate unnecessary factors. It looks similar to the picture below. I occasionally have some problems using other downloaders, but there have been no problems using the downloader on the development board.

Lead out the 5 wires of VCC, GND, RST, TCK, and TMS on your hardware and connect them to the side of the jumper cap on the development board near the USB side. Then connect it to the computer via USB.

Configure smartRF

1Connect

Check whether the device is recognized as shown in the figure

If not, check whether the downloader XDS110 is recognized, and then check whether the connection is wrong.

image.png

If it still cannot be recognized, plug the original jumper cap on the development board back and see if the MCU on the development board can be recognized. If it can, it means that there is a problem with your hardware download circuit.

2 Configuration

Double-click the recognized device, such as the CC1312R I show here.
The first step is to select the configuration based on the hardware. If it is an official development board, you can directly select it in the drop-down menu. Otherwise, you need to add a new one yourself.

For example, my hardware is externally connected to an 1190, so I need to add more pin descriptions when configuring. Another thing to note is the bias of the red line in the figure, which is related to the circuit and is divided into internal bias and external bias.

The second step is to configure the radio frequency parameters to ensure the consistency of sending and receiving

The third step is to open the receiving, check infinite, and click start in the lower right corner.

The fourth step is to plug in another development board. The hardware configuration can be directly selected in the drop-down menu described in the first step. No need to create a new configuration. Then the device parameters are the same as before. Select Send, check Infinite, and then click Start in the lower right corner.

3Observe receiving and sending

Set your own board as the sender and the development board as the receiver, observe the rssi, then invert it and observe it again

As shown in the figure, the antenna test results are at a distance of 1M. Obviously, the signal is not very good. Record the results and feed them back to the hardware.

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