CC2540 General Questions, How to program, ide etc.

michael mccarty

Other Parts Discussed in Thread: CC2540, CC2541

Hello Everyone,

These chips look amazing and seem to be the perfect fit for a design I've been thinking of that might sell quite a few units. No one else offers these functions in a SoC package like you guys. The only thing is I dont know where to start. I've worked with mostly Microchip MCU's but I have also worked with the MSP430 via the chronos watch. I changed the basic sportswatch software and added functions to count calories.

I've been reading the entire data sheet for the CF2540, but I dont see any thing on how to program it. With my watch there was a little usb board that facilitated programming of the MCU. Do I need such a board with the CF2540 ? I've read in the datasheet that it has a "full speed" usb port, do i program it via this port ?

In the data sheet it talks about " Bluetooth low energy protocol stack from Texas Instruments ", would this be in the form of software, where would I find it ?

Can anyone recommend a place where I can read up on these things ? Which IDE should I get, is there any free/trial versions. When I got my watch I signed up and downloaded a trial version of CCS I think. I only used it for a few hours to add functionality to the watch.

Also i know bt and ble are different, does this device support traditional bluetooth, like the kind thats in all cell phones ?

Thanks for you time, and your products.

over 14 years ago

0 Lisa TI over 14 years ago

TI__Guru*** 130875 points

Hello Michael,

I hope the following comments will help.

First of all, as you are aware, bluetooth low energy is different to normal bluetooth. The CC2540 is a bluetooth low engergy only SoC.

The CC2540 is 8051 based and the supported compiler is IAR (www.iar.com) for the 8051. As thereis a proprietary debug interface, programming is done with the CC Debugger (included in the development kit I believe). The CC Debugger is similar to other emulators you might be familiar with.

Good places to start looking and reading (and finding the software) are the product and DK folders:

http://focus.ti.com/docs/prod/folders/print/cc2540.html

http://focus.ti.com/docs/toolsw/folders/print/cc2540dk-mini.html

Cheers,
Lisa

0 michael mccarty over 14 years ago in reply to Lisa TI

Prodigy 30 points

Thanks Lisa,

I see I cant use the device with existing bluetooth. Is the difference hardware or software ? I also see I need to purchase a different programmer to program the chip. I now have a better understanding, back to the drawling board.

0 Lisa TI over 14 years ago in reply to michael mccarty

TI__Guru*** 130875 points

Hi Michael,

no worries. There are acutally differences in hardware and software. A couple examples

Bluetooth

- TDD (time division, full duplex)

- 79 channels, 1 MHz spacing

- hopping pattern determined by an algorithm based on masters clock and address

BLE

- FDMA and TDMA

- 40 channels, 2MHz spacing

- hopping pattern determined by parameter in the connection request

There is useful information at www.bluetooth.org

Cheers,
Lisa

0 michael mccarty over 14 years ago in reply to Lisa TI

Prodigy 30 points

Thanks again Lisa.

I can see that ble might be better and a future implementation of bt in phones and devices. I just got in over my head. Unfortunatley I ordered samples of the cc2540 chip. I thought I could program it with a home built programmer or the programmer for my msp430, I see now that I would need the CC debugger and a version of IAR that supports that chip.

I've found another solution to my bluetooth delema, a few actually. I just dont know what I'm going to do with these samples when I get them, had I not been so hasty I would have ordered something I could have used like some more msp430s.

I'll look before I leap next time . . .

0 Epic Vancouver over 14 years ago in reply to michael mccarty

Intellectual 885 points

What is the best way to program the CC2540 when it is already populated on the customer's board?

0 Lisa TI over 14 years ago in reply to Epic Vancouver

TI__Guru*** 130875 points

Hi,

The best thing for the customer to do is to get a CC Debugger and connect their board to it.

Information on the CC Debugger:

http://focus.ti.com/docs/toolsw/folders/print/cc-debugger.html

Information on how to connect the prototype can be found on page 11 of the Users Guide ....

http://www.ti.com/lit/pdf/swru197

Cheers,
Lisa

0 gian paolo perusini over 11 years ago in reply to Lisa TI

Prodigy 25 points

a question:

cc2541 ds says

– 2.4-GHz Bluetooth low energy Compliant Microcontroller Core With Code Prefetch
and Proprietary RF System-on-Chip

elsewhere it said thati it is bt AND ble compliant

very bad documentation...

i need to start a project (bt standard, NOT ble) asap, and i must choose a device.

can you clarify this?

and maybe improve ti documentation? it is getting worse than it used to be.

thanks gp

0 YiKai Chen over 11 years ago in reply to gian paolo perusini

Guru 735685 points

Hi GP,

Actually, CC2541 is for BLE. If you want to use BT standard not BLE, I would suggest you to use CC256x.

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CC2540 General Questions, How to program, ide etc.