Gerbers/PCB Layout of CC2531 USB Dongle

Hi ds,

The gerber/PCB files for the CC2531 USB Dongle for use as a reference design is not yet ready, but it will be released when design has been fully verified. As you probably know, the CC2531 chip has not yet been officially released, and some details are still being worked on. The CC2530DK kit you got should include a note about the CC2531 USB Dongle hardware to be experimental. When ready the reference design layout files will in addition to various CC2531 pages (e.g. CC2531EMK) appear on the CC2530DK page. If doing software development you should have the schematics in Appendix C of the CC2530 Development Kit User's Guide (swru208).

By the way, how's the kit so far? Have you tried to use the CC2531 USB Dongle as an RF packet snffer tool yet?

I was just wondering when this will be avail as well.  I have the CC2530 DK user guide (swru208a) but the appendix just points you to the website.  I found the reference design for the 2530EMK, but still no reference to the 2531 USB board.

I am also interested in schematics for the smartRFEB05 that we are using with the 2530EMK modules.

I also am awaiting the reference design for the CC2531 USB dongle, and the CC2531 data sheet, neither would I mind seeing "preliminary" versions of just as a "heads up" for contemplating design options and requirements.

It would be also interesting to see a reference design of the CC2531 + CC2591, just as it would be good to see a reference design of the CC2530 + CC2591 since even that is not yet to be found though the CC2530 and CC2591 are "ACTIVE" now.

Even better would be if the CAD files for the part schematic symbols, PCB packages, PCB board designs, and so on could be made available in other CAD formats like, say, EAGLE, although I'm sure there are plenty of people that would like it in OrCAD / PADS / etc.  Not everyone has CADSTAR, and there's only a limited possibility / convenience of trying to load gerber files to reverse engineer trace / pad layouts and so on given only the ability to read the gerber files.  Rather than cadstar / gerber only which is partly useless to a lot of people without cadstar software it would be better to have the reference PCB's critical layout geometry exported to something like DXF or even PDF plus a set of blueprint style dimensional measurement drawing markups as is already done for the PACKAGE recommended PCB layout in most of the chip data sheets.  If there's a recommended layout for not just the PACKAGE (solder pad, solder mask geometry) but also associated RF ROUTING and RF COMPONENTS as in the case of the RF parts like the CC253x / CC259x / CC24xx then that too might as well just be put at the end of the data sheet with proper drawings / dimensions / diagrams as a "typical application circuit" which is always shown in schematic form but is almost impossible to find in a more useful CAD / drawing form than gerber.

I'm pretty sure TI must have some CAD file format conversion / export utilities that could save the reference design files for the LPRF parts in other formats with only a few minutes of work, DXF at least, certainly.

Here's some examples of TI officially and recently publishing things in EAGLE CAD format; it'd be great to see that trend continue to the CC series RF parts, and even to package libraries and reference designs for any other offerings.

http://www.ti.com/litv/zip/slac060c

http://www.ti.com/lit/zip/slac228

http://focus.ti.com/docs/toolsw/folders/print/msp-exp430f5438.html

http://focus.ti.com/docs/prod/folders/print/msp430fe423.html

http://focus.ti.com/docs/toolsw/folders/print/msp-exp430f5438.html

Another suggestion of a thing that would be good to see in some LPRF reference designs would be the inclusion of a low capacitance ESD protection device on the antenna port; there have been a few threads on the forums requesting a reference design for that for various CC2xxx devices, but nobody seems to have a solution since it would affect the antenna matching / layout just enough to need a good evaluation with equipment that mostly only large firms have in-house.  Since USB devices are often handled on carpet etc., I'd hope to see ESD protection included on both the USB connector and antenna output end of such a reference design, and even more so on the antenna end of reference designs concerning other parts like CC259x, CC2530, etc. which will often be used with whip/wire/SMA antennas and in harsh environments.

Hi C. Hayes.

I see that schematics in cadstar/gerber file format only can be problem. I'll try to forward your comments about this to the right people to see if a change to export to other formats is possible, but I can't promise anything. However, thank you for this feedback.

Photon --

The SMARTRFEB05 schematics that you said you wanted to see are in the swru208a.pdf file, and also even more information / schematics for it is  in the swru210.pdf document where other explanatory information is found on the SmartRFEB05 and its various versions.  No PCB layout information for the EB is there, though.

The CC2531 USB dongle though has its schematics located in swru208a.pdf and no gerbers, as we've all seen. 

Hopefully also the CC2530 + CC2591 combination board gerbers and schematics will be ready soon.

Thank you, esy, I appreciate your helpfulness in checking on the possibilities of improving the accessibility / usability of the schematics and PCB layout files etc.

C.Hayes -

Thanks.  I did find both of these after some additonal searching.  I should have updated this post with the details.  Thanks for taking the time to do that for me!

Hi Everyone,

Regarding Gerbers and so on.  I have had really good success importing the Cadstar Files using Altium Designer Winter 09.  The only problem is that currently the schematic files are not importing.

However, in general, the pcb import works very well and you can certainly avoid a lot of errors by creating your schematic with the same ref des IDs found on the pcb (or the their reference schematic).

Thanks maldrich, I didn't know about Altium's product that could import cadstar.  I'll keep it in mind the next time we're shopping for a CAD solution, the product looks interesting.

I also am awaiting the reference design for the CC2531 USB dongle, and the CC2531 data sheet,

I hope to see the release date for CC2531's gerber files and datasheet as possible as soon.

so when will The gerber/PCB files for the CC2531 USB Dongle for use as a reference design be ready?

I am also waiting for the Layout of CC2531 USB Dongle. Can anyone please let us know an approximate release date?