User Guide🔗

Introduction🔗

The evaluation board features a PAN1781 Bluetooth® Low Energy (LE) module which is based on the Nordic Semiconductor nRF52820 single-chip controller.

You can access all the different module interfaces like USB, UART, GPIOs, current measurement pins, and Segger J-Link on-board debugger easily, which makes the evaluation board ideally suited for the evaluation of the module and rapid prototyping of products.

Warning

During development module-specific information, which also includes the Bluetooth Device Address, may get lost. Before you start any development, it is recommended to save module-specific information.

Please refer to Bluetooth Device Address Safeguard.

Features🔗

Arduino interface configurable as shield or board
All GPIOs accessible via pin headers
Power measurement interface
Segger J-Link on-board debugger
FTDI USB to UART Interface
Peripherals can be deactivated for low power applications
2x user buttons, 2x user LEDs
Module native USB interface
Compatible to nRF5 SDK and nRF Connect SDK projects

Block Diagram🔗

Board Overview🔗

1 USB connector X1
You can use the USB connector to power the board and gain access to the UART communication and debugging capabilities. Also see Powering Options 2 User LEDs
You can use the user LEDs from the application to interact with the user. 3 Reset button
You can use the reset button to reset the board to a known-good state. 4 User buttons
You can use the user buttons to interact with the running application if the application supports it. 5 Current measurement pin header P4
You can use the current measurement pin header to measure the current consumption of the currently running application. Also see Powering OptionsCurrent Consumption Measurement 6 Module power supply pin header P5
You can use the module power supply pin header to disconnect the power to the module for current consumption measurement purposes. Also see Current Consumption Measurement 7 Module native USB connector X5
You can use the module native USB connector to interact with the USB interface of the module. It is directly connected to module's USB pins. Also see Powering Options 8 Arduino power direction pin header P17
You can use the Arduino power direction pin header to configure the operation when using the Arduino pin headers. Also see Arduino Configuration 9 Arduino pin headers P8, P11, P12, P15
You can use Arduino pin headers to attach to Arduino shields or boards. Also see Arduino Interface 10 Breakout pin header P23
You can use the breakout pin headers to access all the module GPIO pins directly. Also see GPIO Pin Access 11 Power LED
You can observe the power LED to verify that the board is correctly powered. 12 The module

13 GPIO connection pin header P26
You can connect the GPIOs P0.16 and P0.17 to the breakout pin header with this pin header. Always keep it populated. 14 Power configuration pin header P7
You can use power configuration pin headers to choose between 3.3 V and 5 V voltage levels. Also see Module Power Options 15 Arduino UART direction pin header P16
You can use the Arduino UART direction pin headers to choose the configuration when running in shield or board mode. Also see Arduino Configuration 16 Arduino pin configuration pin header P18, P19, P20, P21
You can choose the routing for a few selected Arduino interface pins with this pin header. Also see Arduino Configuration 17 Auxillary UART connection pin header P2
You can use the Segger J-Link UART connection pin header to connect and access an additional UART interface to the module. Also see Additional UART Peripheral 18 SWD pin header P3
You can use the SWD pin header to control the connection between the SWD interface and the SWD module pins. You can cut the connection here in order to isolate the module for Current Consumption Measurement. 19 Segger J-Link LED
You can use the Segger J-Link LED to verify that the Segger J-Link on-board debugger is correctly powered. 20 UART module connection pin header P1
You can use the UART module connection pin header to interact with the FTDI USB device or the default UART pins that are usually used. The UART pins are directly connected to the module. You can cut the connection here in order to isolate the module for Current Consumption Measurement. 21 Peripheral disable pin header P6
You can use the peripheral disable pin header to control the connection of the USB hub, FTDI adapter and Segger J-Link on-board debugger to the power supply. This is useful to disconnect certain peripherals for power consumption measurements. 22 USB hub power LED
You can use the USB hub power LED to verify that the USB hub is correctly powered. 23 User LED pin header P20
You can use the user LED pin header to control the connection of the LEDs to the module pins. 24 Power pins on Arduino pin header P12
You can use these power pins on the Arduino pin header to power the board. Also see Powering Options 25 Power pins on breakout pin header P23
You can use these power pins on the breakout pin header to power the board. Also see Powering Options

Initial Preparations🔗

Before you can work with the evaluation tool (again) you may have to check (or restore) the default jumper configuration or install device drivers, depending on the operating system you are using.

Default Jumper Configuration🔗

You can check the default jumper configuration easily because it is imprinted with white (or blue) line markings on the silkscreen of the PCB.

For example, the default jumper configuration in the following picture is:

One jumper put on the lower left two pins
One jumper put on the lower right two pins

Note

There is an exception with the default configuration of RTS and CTS on UART module connection pin header P1 20. Here the default configuration is "unplugged". If you want to use flow control you can connect these two jumpers. If you use flow control you cant use the I2C interface on the Arduino pin headers P8, P11, P12, P15 9

FTDI USB UART Driver🔗

You may have to install a driver for the FTDI USB UART if the operating system you are using does not provide one automatically.

If in doubt, please refer to the FTDI website and install the drivers manually. For further information please refer to FTDI Driver Page.

Segger J-Link On-Board Debugger Driver🔗

When you install one of the Development Tools from Nordic Semiconductor a driver for the Segger J-Link on-board debugger is automatically installed as well.

Pin Map🔗

Header	Item	Function	Module Footprint	Module Pin	nRF52820 Footprint	nRF52820 Pin
P1	20	RX	E6	P0.08	31	P0.08
		TX	F7	P0.06	6	P0.06
		CTS	B6	P0.07	7	P0.07
		RTS	B5	P0.30	33	P0.30
P2	17	RX	E6	P0.08	31	P0.08
P2	17	TX	F7	P0.06	6	P0.06
P3	18	SWDCLK	C5	SWDCLK	20	SWDCLK
		SWDIO	C4	SWDIO	19	SWDIO
		NRST	A3	RESET	16	P0.18
P16	15	RX	E6	P0.06	31	P0.06
P16	15	TX	F7	P0.08	6	P0.08
P18-P21	16	Arduino Interface
P23	10	GPIO Pin Access
P24	2	LED1	E1	P0.14	14	P0.14
P24	2	LED2	C6	P0.15	15	P0.15
P26	13	Top	A8	P0.16	22	P0.16
P26	13	Bottom	F6	P0.17	23	P0.17
SW1	4	Switch1	B2	P0.04	4	P0.04
SW2	4	Switch2	C3	P0.05	5	P0.05

Powering Options🔗

You can power the evaluation board in different ways:

USB connector X1 1
module native USB connector X5 7
current measurement pin header P4 5
power pins on Arduino pin header P12 24
power pins on breakout pin header P23 25

Risk of damaging board components

Do not supply 5 V on the 3.3 V pin of the power pins on Arduino pin header P12 24 or the power pins on breakout pin header P23 25.

USB Connector🔗

You can power the whole evaluation board using the USB connector X1 1.

Note

Please note that the module is still powered if the peripherals are deactivated using peripheral disable pin header P6 21.

Module Native USB Connector🔗

You can power the whole evaluation board using the module native USB connector X5 7.

Note

Please note that the module is still powered if the peripherals are deactivated using peripheral disable pin header P6 21.

Current Measurement Pin Header🔗

You can power the module by attaching VCC to the current measurement pin header P4 5.

You have to attach GND to the breakout pin header P23 10 accordingly, and you have to unplug the jumper from the module power supply pin header P5 6.

Arduino Pin Header🔗

You can power the whole evaluation board using the power pins on Arduino pin header P12 24.

Both the 3.3 V and the 5 V pins can be used.

When you want to use 5 V, you must set the Arduino power direction pin header P17 8 as follows:

Breakout Pin Header🔗

You can power the whole evaluation board using the power pins on breakout pin header P23 25.

Both the 3.3 V and the 5 V pins can be used.

Module Power Options🔗

You can power the module by two different supply voltage modes.

Normal Voltage Mode using 3.3 V
High Voltage Mode using 5 V

The mode setting depends on which voltage levels are connected to VCC and VDDH pins on the power configuration pin header P7 14.

Normal Voltage Mode🔗

You can configure the supply voltage mode to Normal Voltage Mode using the power configuration pin header P7 14 as follows:

Connect 3.3 V to VCC pin
Connect 3.3 V to VDDH pin

High Voltage Mode🔗

Note

When you use the High Voltage Mode, a current measurement using the current measurement pin header P4 5 is not possible anymore.

You have to use a separate power supply and connect it directly to the VDDH pin of the power configuration pin header P7 14 instead.

You can configure the supply voltage mode to High Voltage Mode using the power configuration pin header P7 14 as follows:

Connect 5 V to VDDH pin
Leave VCC pin unconnected

For further information please refer to Nordic Infocenter.

GPIO Pin Access🔗

You can access every GPIO pin of the module through the breakout pin header P23 10.

For each GPIO pin dedicated pull-up and pull-down pins are available as well which you can bridge using a jumper. This makes it easy to permanently pull GPIO pins to GND or VCC or attach additional circuitry easily.

You can check the details of the pin mappings between the evaluation board, the module and the nRF52820 in the following table.

EVB Pin	Module Footprint	Module Pin	nRF52820 Footprint	nRF52820 Pin
02	F5	P0.02	36	P0.02
03	A2	P0.03	35	P0.03
04	B2	P0.04	4	P0.04
05	C3	P0.05	5	P0.05
06	F7	P0.06	6	P0.06
07	B6	P0.07	7	P0.07
08	E6	P0.08	31	P0.08
14	E1	P0.14	14	P0.14
15	C6	P0.15	15	P0.15
16	A8	P0.16	22	P0.16
17	F6	P0.17	23	P0.17
20	E2	P0.20	17	P0.20
28	F8	P0.28	34	P0.28
29	B1	P0.29	32	P0.29
30	B5	P0.30	33	P0.30
3.3 V ¹
5 V ²
GND

¹ The maximum output current is 500 mA.

² The maximum output current depends on the USB supply.

Arduino Interface🔗

You can use the Arduino interface on the Arduino Arduino pin headers P8, P11, P12, P15 9 to stack the evaluation board with other boards and shields that have an Arduino connector.

Note

The Arduino pins D6, D7, D8 and D9 are not connected to GPIOs of the module.

You can use the Arduino pin configuration pin header P18, P19, P20, P21 16 to route 4 pads of the module to specific Arduino pins, by either putting the jumper to the lower or the upper position.

Position	P18 / P0.02	P19 / P0.03	P20 / P0.04	P21 / P0.05
Lower	A0	A1	A2	A3
Upper	AREF	D10	D4	D5

You can check the details of the pin mappings between the evaluation board, the module and the nRF52820 in the following table.

Arduino Pin	Function	Module Footprint	Module Pin	nRF52820 Footprint	nRF52820 Pin
IOREF	3.3 V Ref Voltage Out
NRST	Module Reset	Reset	A3	P0.18	16
3V3 ¹
5V ²
GND	Ground
GND	Ground
VIN	Not Connected
A0	Analog Input	P0.02	F5	P0.02	36
A1	Analog Input	P0.03	A2	P0.03	35
A2	Analog Input	P0.04	B2	P0.04	4
A3	Analog Input	P0.05	C3	P0.05	5
A4	Not connected
A5	Not connected
SCL	I2C Clock	P0.30	B5	P0.30	33
SDA	I2C Data	P0.07	B6	P0.07	7
AREF		P0.02	F5	P0.02	36
GND	Ground
D13	GPIO	P0.28	F8	P0.28	34
D12	GPIO	P0.29	B1	P0.29	32
D11	GPIO	P0.20	E2	P0.20	17
D10	GPIO	P0.03	A2	P0.03	35
D9	Not connected
D8	Not connected
D7	Not connected
D6	Not connected
D5	GPIO	P0.05	C3	P0.05	5
D4	GPIO	P0.04	B2	P0.04	4
D3	GPIO	P0.15	C6	P0.15	15
D2	GPIO	P0.14	E1	P0.14	14
D1	GPIO / UART RX ³	P0.08	E6	P0.08	31
D0	GPIO / UART TX ³	P0.06	F7	P0.06	6

¹ 3.3 V input/output - The maximum output current is 500 mA.

² 5 V input/output - The maximum output current depends on the USB supply.

³ Depending on setup of Arduino UART direction pin header P16 15 described in section Arduino Configuration.

Arduino Configuration🔗

You can use the evaluation board either as an Arduino board or as an Arduino shield. The main difference between the two is that the UART communication and the 5 V power configuration are changed.

Note

In the default configuration the evaluation board is configured as Arduino shield.

You can configure the UART communication by using the Arduino UART direction pin header P16 15 which will flip the Rx and Tx direction of the UART communication.

You can configure the 5 V power configuration by using the Arduino power direction pin header P17 8 which configures a diode to block the input power accordingly.

Board Configuration🔗

You can configure the evaluation board to Arduino board configuration as follows:

Set the Arduino UART direction pin header P16 15 as shown
Set the Arduino power direction pin header P17 8 as shown

Shield Configuration🔗

You can configure the evaluation board to Arduino shield configuration as follows:

Set the Arduino UART direction pin header P16 15 as shown
Set the Arduino power direction pin header P17 8 as shown

Peripheral Configuration🔗

You can enable or disable some of the peripheral components on the evaluation board by using the peripheral disable pin header P6 21, for example, to aid current consumption measurements.

The following peripherals will always be enabled, regardless of the setting of the peripheral disable pin header P6 21:

The module itself
Module power mode configuration
Reset button
User buttons
User LEDs
Power from USB FTDI/SWD connector
Current measurement
Module native USB interface
Arduino interface
Breakout pin interface

Enable Peripherals🔗

You can enable the power to all of the peripheral components as follows:

Disable Peripherals🔗

You can disable power to some of the peripheral components as follows to save energy when it is powered from a battery or power-bank for example:

The following peripheral components will be disabled:

USB hub
FTDI USB-to-UART adapter
Segger J-Link on-board debugger

Current Consumption Measurement🔗

You can measure the current consumption of the module independently of the peripheral components.

Note

Before any current consumption measurement, you have to cut the power supply to the module using the module power supply pin header P5 6, otherwise, the current consumption measurement will not work.

Tip

If you do not have any equipment for current consumption measurement, check out the Power Profiler Kit II from Nordic Semiconductor, which can be used both as an ammeter and source meter.

Using an Ammeter🔗

For a current consumption measurement using an ammeter you have to execute the following steps:

Remove the jumper from the module power supply pin header P5 6 to disconnect the power supply from the module:
Connect the ammeter to current measurement pin header P4 5 as follows:
Put a jumper to the peripheral disable pin header P6 21 to deactivate the peripheral components.

Now you have two choices to power the board.

Power the board regularly using the USB connector X1 1.
Power the board using a variable voltage power supply by feeding directly into GND and 3.3 V on the breakout pin header P23 10 to be able to simulate different battery voltage levels.

Using a Source Meter🔗

For a current consumption measurement using a source meter you have to execute the following steps:

Remove the jumper from the module power supply pin header P5 6 to disconnect the power supply from the module.
Connect the source meter to current measurement pin header P4 5 as follows:
Put a jumper to the peripheral disable pin header P6 21 to deactivate the peripheral components.
Power the board using the USB connector X1 1.

Warning

You have to power the board additionally using the USB connector X1 1.

The jumper put on the peripheral disable pin header P6 21 disconnects certain peripheral components from the module by switching multiple analog switches. But for this to work, the analog switches themselves must be powered using the USB connector X1 1.

Otherwise, signal lines that are connected to the analog switches may float which may result in unexpected behavior and incorrect current consumption measurements in the end.

Software Development🔗

Warning

This module is radio certified. There are conditions on hardware and software which must be met for a valid usage of the certification.

For further information please refer to the module-specific product specification at

Nordic Semiconductor provides several software development kits (SDK) with building tools and sample projects.

For further information please refer to the Software Documentation from Nordic Semiconductor.

Note

From the nRF 5 SDK only the sample projects labeled PCA10100E are compatible with the evaluation board.

nRF Connect SDK🔗

The nRF Connect SDK contains the pan1781_evb board definition which you can use when adding a build configuration to a project.

Bluetooth Device Address Safeguard🔗

Each module is pre-programmed and comes with a public Bluetooth Device Address and a random Bluetooth Device Address. Both can be easily used in applications, depending on the anticipated use case.

All applications from the nRF5 SDK and the nRF Connect SDK automatically use the built in random Bluetooth Device Address, but can easily be modified when the public Bluetooth Device Address shall be used.

Before starting development, it is necessary to read out the module specific information, so that it can be restored whenever needed.

During development it is sometimes necessary to reset the module to the factory default state (“erase all”). This will also reset all the pre-programmed information in the module.

So special care must be taken that the public Bluetooth Device Address is not accidentally erased and lost, even if the public Bluetooth Device Address is not explicitly used during evaluation of the evaluation board.

Background Information🔗

During production of the module, some module specific information is stored in the user information configuration registers (UICRs) of the module.

UICRs are non-volatile memory (NVM) registers for configuring user specific settings and can be modified by the user.

The module specific information in the UICRs include:

Public Bluetooth Device Address
Hardware Revision

Panasonic Bluetooth Device Address Ranges

The Bluetooth Device Address of the module always starts with one of these prefixes:

00:13:43 - Matsushita Electronic Components (Europe) GmbH
34:32:e6 - Panasonic Industrial Devices Europe GmbH

This module specific information is also encoded in the 2D barcode on the metal shield box on the module. The 2D barcode can only be read with a suitable barcode reader.

All module specific information is stored in the registers CUSTOMER[0] and CUSTOMER[1] of the UICR during production.

The UICRs behave like a single block of flash memory, i.e. they can only be written at once, and they can only be erased as a whole.

Whenever the module is reset to the factory default state (“erase all”), this will also reset the UICRs. Thus all module specific information is deleted that was stored during the production of the module.

Saving Production Information🔗

Warning

Please note that every module has a unique Bluetooth Device Address, so this step must be done for every module individually.

To save all module specific information that is programmed during the production of the module, it is sufficient to read out the UICR registers CUSTOMER[0] and CUSTOMER[1] .

The following requirement must be met:

nRF Command Line Tools are installed.

Execute nrfjprog.exe --memrd 0x10001080 from a command line prompt.
```
0x10001080: 43 AA BB CC  |....|
```
Execute nrfjprog.exe --memrd 0x10001084 from a command line prompt.
```
0x10001084: 01 02 00 13  |....|
```

These two values are unique and must be stored safely.

Restoring Production Information🔗

Warning

To modify already written portions of the UICR, the complete UICR area must be erased before.

To restore the previously saved module specific information, it is sufficient to write back the stored information into the UICR registers CUSTOMER[0] and CUSTOMER[1].

The following requirement must be met:

nRF Command Line Tools are installed.

Execute nrfjprog.exe --memwr 0x10001080 --val 0x43aabbcc from a command line prompt using the information that was previously saved for val.
```
Parsing parameters.
Writing.
```
Execute nrfjprog.exe --memwr 0x10001084 --val 0x01020013 from a command line prompt using the information that was previously saved for val.
```
Parsing parameters.
Writing.
```