C2000™ DIMM100 Experimenter's Kit Overview

The C2000 DIMM100 Experimenter's Kit provides a quick, easy, low-cost way to evaluate the TMS320F28x family of devices (see Figure 1). The kit consists of a docking station and a F28x controlCARD. The docking station is a small baseboard that accepts any of the DIMM100 plug-in controlCARDs and allows the user access to all the key GPIO and ADC signals of the F28x device. Additionally, the docking station also provides two prototyping areas (one on each side of the DIMM100 connector) with an array of 0.1" spaced plated through holes for wire-wrapping and soldering.

Figure 1. C2000 DIMM100 Experimenter's Kit

Trademarks

Code Composer Studio is a registered trademark of Texas Instruments.

All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

1 Introduction

Other features of the docking station include the following:

Onboard xds100v1 USB emulator or the ability to use an external JTAG emulator
Can use either 5-V supply of the USB or an external power supply to power the board
UART communications through onboard USB-to-UART bridge (once jumper J9 is placed)
5.0-V supply for prototyping area
3.3-V supply for prototyping area
All key signals accessible through clearly labeled header pins

DIM100 controlCARDs are small, 100-pin, Dual In Line Memory Module (DIMM) style, vertical, plug-in boards that have all the necessary support circuitry (clock, supply LDO, decoupling, pull-ups, and so on) to provide reliable operation for the C2000 MCU. The board design is robust and meant for operation in noisy electrical environments. TI offers several pin compatible controlCARDs for evaluating the different MCUs available in the C2000 family.

DIM100 controlCARDs include the following features:

Small size: 90 mm × 25 mm (3.5" × 1")
All key GPIO, ADC, and other important signals routed to gold edge connector fingers
Extensive supply pin decoupling with L+C close to pins
Clamping diode protection at ADC input pins
Anti-aliasing filter (noise filter) at ADC input pins
Ground plane

Both the controlCARD and docking station include a Hardware Developer's Package, a set of files that make copying or redeploying this technology very easy (see Section 3).

The Hardware Developer's Package includes the following:

Schematics (source or .PDF files)
Bill of materials (BOM)
Gerber files to freely use or modify
Pin-out table showing all key signals on the 100-pin connector
DIMM100 pin / socket mechanical details
PCB files done in the popular Freeware tool, ExpressPCB, for easy modification (docking station only)

NOTE

This EVM includes a crystal component (CSTCR6M00G53Z-R0) that contains > 0.1% of Lead Titanium Zirconium Oxide CAS# 12626-81-2, listed in EU REACH as a Substance of Very High Concern.
The ceramic crystal component CSTCR6M00G53Z-R0 is RoHS exempt through exemption 7(c)-1.
The ceramic resistor component CRCW08050000Z0EA is RoHS exempt through exemption 7(c)-1.

2 Hardware Setup

This guide sets up the board to use onboard USB emulation and uses the 5-V supply of the USB to power the board.

Follow these steps to set up the hardware:

Unpack the DIMM style controlCARD.
Spread open the winged retaining clips on connector J1.
Sit the DIMM card loosely in the connector slot. Ensure to align the two keyed notches and position the card bottom corners inside the retaining clips (see Figure 2).
Push down vertically using even pressure from both ends of the card until the clips snap and lock.

NOTE

To remove or eject the card, simply spread open the retaining clips with your thumbs.

Place switch 1 (SW1) in the ON position, then connect the USB cable to USB connector JP2.
Once you download the TI Software or are ready to run your own project, turn on the board power by putting SW1 in the USB position. This allows the board to use the 5 V of the USB as the supply voltage.
For full details (schematics, pin-out table, and so on) of the hardware see the Hardware Developer’s package, DockingStnHWdevPkg.

Figure 2. Retaining Clips

3 Software Setup

All of the documentation, software, and hardware files needed to use the experimenter's kit and develop on a C2000 MCU is in the controlSUITE package. The controlSUITE installs the Hardware Developer's package for the experimenter's kit baseboard and for all C2000 controlCARDs. In addition all software and documentation for this and all other kits can also be installed.

To install controlSUITE, do the following:

Visit http://www.ti.com/controlsuite and download the controlSUITE installer.
Run the installer and after a few clicks select the experimenter's kit checkbox.
By default the installer creates a directory called controlSUITE on the C drive inside the TI directory:
1. The example software for the experimenter's kit is at: \controlSUITE\development_kits\TemplateProjects\
2. The hardware documentation for the experimenter's kits is at: \controlSUITE\development_kits\~ExperimentersKits
3. The controlCARD hardware developer's package is at: \controlSUITE\development_kits\~controlCARDs
4. More examples for your specific device are within the controlSUITE at: \controlSUITE\device_support