LAUNCHXL-CC3235S: Help designing with WIFI and various sensors

Hi,

The CC32xx line of Wi-Fi MCUs are the simplest and cheapest Wi-Fi devices that TI offers. Within the CC32xx product line, there are various options that are cheaper with modest reduction in features compared to the superset CC3235 device. A full parametric table can be found here:

https://www.ti.com/wireless-connectivity/wi-fi/products.html#p2792=Arm%C2%AE%20Cortex%C2%AE-M4&sort=p1130;asc

The most slimmed down device is the CC3220R. Compared to the CC3235, these are the main differences:

1. Lack of 5GHz Wi-Fi

2. Lack of most MCU security features such as secure boot, serial flash file encryption, etc.

3. Lack of FIPS 140-2 certification

4. Missing BLE hardware coexistence support

5. Missing some new Wi-Fi features such as WFA IoT low power modes

That being said, from a hardware perspective, other than the missing 5GHz radio everything else is the same between the entire CC32xx product line. The devices all use the same ARM Cortex M4 80MHz MCU, with the exact same hardware peripherals such as UART, SPI, I2C. So while the CC3220R might be cheaper due to the lack of the features above, from a hardware design standpoint all of the CC32xx devices will have roughly the same HW design complexity (minus the 5GHz radio functionality).

Now, we do offer some Wi-Fi modules that aim to simplify the HW design, especially of the radio components. They feature transferable regulatory (FCC, etc) certification and will reduce the complexity of your design. Modules such as the CC3220MOD or CC3220MODA would help simplify your design. There are launchpads for those modules that you can use as a guide for your hardware design.

To slim down your design further, there are third-party solutions that demonstrate how to integrate our modules and pull out the GPIOs/UART/etc with a minimum of a footprint. Something like this might be of interest:

https://www.tindie.com/products/swr_tech/cc32xxmodasx-maker-friendly-wifi-proto-bare-pcb/

Considering all of the information presented above, what do you think most suits your desired functionality and level of complexity? Let me know if you need more clarification or have further questions on part selection.

Regards,

Michael

Michael, I am wanting to be able to utilize a stripped down version of CC3235S. When I open the design documents it shows there are multiple sensors attached. Can you help me figure out which pins I would need to reconfigure if I am only utilizing one sensor.

Hi,

If you use the sysconfig tool. you can select whichever peripherals you need to use.

See the guide here for more information:

https://dev.ti.com/tirex/explore/node?node=AO3dBAhu05HBWXd.SPxt0g__fc2e6sr__LATEST

Regards,

Michael

Thank you so much! Where can I find sys config tool?

Michael, were you referring to the software system config tool? Because I am looking for a hardware fix and am not following your suggestion if you are referring to software. Could you please clarify your response?

Michael, I believe you are misunderstanding my question. I am needing to strip down the hardware to a more basic system that only needs to contain one sensor. Is there a reference that i can use for the hardware design and layout for just one sensor?

Hi,

There is no Wi-Fi MCU that has a simpler feature set than the CC32xx devices - you will get the ability to use all of the peripheral interfaces if needed.

Now, if you are simply looking for a simplified hardware PCB design, then the simplest option would be to use a CC32xx module with a breakout PCB like the one I showed you in my previous post.

In terms of the simplest fully-functional design, there is the CC3200 sensortag: https://www.ti.com/tool/CC3200STK-WIFIMK

This is a demo platform, not for development use, that is about as barebones as you can get. While there are multiple I2C sensors connected, you can simply remove them all and add your own sensors onto the I2C bus.

Regards,

Michael