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IWR6843: Clarification on UART Connections for IWR6843 Radar Module

Manoj Wakdikar
Intellectual 535 points
Part Number: IWR6843
Other Parts Discussed in Thread: IWRL6432, ,

Hi,

I am working with the IWR6843 radar module, which provides two communication ports, one for configuration and another for data output.

I have connected the radar module to a microcontroller via UART as follows:

  • Pin 12 (EXT_LOGGER_TX) of the radar header is connected to the RX pin of the microcontroller to receive radar data.

According to the user guide, to send configuration commands to the radar module, I need to use the following pins:

  • Pin 13 (EXT_UART_TXD)

  • Pin 15 (EXT_UART_RXD)

Based on this, I understand that two UARTs from the microcontroller are required:

  • One UART for receiving radar data (EXT_LOGGER)

  • One UART for sending configuration commands (EXT_UART)

Could you please confirm if my understanding is correct?
Additionally, I would like to know if it is possible to use a single UART to both send configuration commands to the radar and receive radar output data simultaneously.

Thanks,
Manoj

  • 0
    TI__Mastermind 24357 points

    Hello Manoj,

    Have you checked how the PINMUX is done in the UART example test?

    C:\ti\mmwave_sdk_03_06_02_00-LTS\packages\ti\drivers\uart\test\xwr68xx

    You can have one UART for both sending configurations and receiving data. This is what is currently done on IWRL6432 example demo.

    Best Regards,

    Pedrhom

  • 0 in reply to Pedrhom Nafisi
    Intellectual 535 points

    Hi Pedrhom,

    The way we use DIP switches to toggle between function mode and flashing mode, we can similarly control that pin through an external microcontroller. Please confirm if my understanding is correct.

    Thanks,
    Manoj

  • 0 in reply to Manoj Wakdikar
    TI__Mastermind 24357 points

    Hello Manoj,

    You can through an external microcontroller if the 6843 is being supported via XDS debugger. We do it like this with 6432

    Best Regards.

    Pedrhom

  • 0 in reply to Pedrhom Nafisi
    Intellectual 535 points

    Hi Pedrhom,

    Sorry, but I didn't understand this. Being supported via XDS debugger, here you mean to say whether I can debug IWR6843 through its USB connector?

    Do you have any document or more details on how you do it with 6432?

    Thanks,
    Manoj 

  • 0 in reply to Manoj Wakdikar
    TI__Mastermind 24357 points

    Hello Manoj,

    On IWRL6432BOOSTEVM, we have the XDS110 debug probe which we use to interface with the device as well as debug. In order to do a software based SOP mode switch and full NRESET, we can do this via commands such as "dbgjtag -f @xds110 -Y reset, system=yes"

    The IWR6843ISK/IWR6843AOP EVMs do not have this debugger, but I think I may be misunderstanding exactly what you are looking for.

    How is this external microcontroller planned to be connected to the chip to do this SOP mode controlling?

  • 0 in reply to Pedrhom Nafisi
    Intellectual 535 points

    Hi Pedrhom,

    Apologies for the confusion. Let me clarify, similar to how we can use the micro-USB port on the IWR6843ISK board to both send configurations and receive data, I would like to achieve the same functionality using an external microcontroller (e.g., STM32). To interface it with the microcontroller, we might need to solder some wires for uart onto the ISK board. Please let me know how feasible this approach is.

    Thanks,
    Manoj

  • 0 in reply to Manoj Wakdikar
    TI__Mastermind 24357 points

    Hello Manoj,

    For the short term and testing yeah you can do this. You can go the IWR6843ISK's schematic, and find a good place to solder to and "intercept" the uart or spi lines.

    Best Regards,

    Pedrhom