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2014 Microchip Technology Inc. DS50002265A-page 1
OVERVIEW
The RN4020 PICtail Plus Daughter Board is a
Bluetooth
®
Low Energy demonstration board that
showcases the Microchip RN4020 Certified Bluetooth
Low Energy (BTLE) module. The RN4020 module is a
single-mode Bluetooth Smart module that complies
with Bluetooth Core Specification 4.0. The high-speed
UART interface and the General Purpose Input Output
(GPIO) Ports are available on the RN4020 module to
configure, control and transfer data.
The RN4020 PICtail Plus Daughter Board has PICtail
Plus and PICtail connectors to interface with a PIC
®
microcontroller (MCU) on the development boards that
support PICtail Plus or PICtail interface with the
required pin mapping. The PICtail board also has a
PIC18 USB-to-UART serial bridge on the board to
enable easy serial connection to a PC over USB. The
PIC18 also exposes a command shell to control its
GPIO ports.
FEATURES
• Microchip RN4020 Certified Bluetooth Low
Energy (BTLE) module
• PICtail Plus Daughter Board or PICtail Daughter
Board connection interfaces
• PIC18 USB-to-UART serial bridge/converter with
a command shell for IO control
• Status LEDs and utility button
BOARD CONFIGURATION
The jumper JP1 on the board can be used to select
between PICtail mode or USB-to-UART bridge mode.
When JP1 is shorted, the board operates in PICtail
mode. In this mode, the UART, control signals, and
digital inputs/outputs can be accessed over the stan-
dard PICtail Plus or PICtail connection interfaces to be
driven by a PIC MCU. The USB-to-UART serial bridge
over J5 is turned off.
When JP1 is open, the board operates in USB-to-
UART bridge mode. In this mode, the PIC18 USB-to-
UART serial bridge over J5 is turned on, and the PICtail
interface should not be used.
FIGURE 1: Microchip RN4020 Certified Bluetooth
Low Energy (BTLE) Module
GETTING STARTED
The RN4020 module on the RN4020 PICtail Plus
Daughter Board exposes a high speed UART interface
which can be used to issue ASCII commands to config-
ure and control the RN4020 module. For more informa-
tion on the RN4020 commands, configuration and
examples, refer to the user’s guide for the RN4020
module.
While in PICtail mode, the board can be plugged into
any standard Microchip development board that
supports the PICtail Plus, or PICtail, connection
interface.
The firmware running on the Microchip 8/16/32-bit PIC
MCU can be used to interface over UART and IO ports
with the RN4020 on the PICtail board. Refer to the
Other Information section for information about
downloading PIC workspaces for PICtail mode.
Note: Ensure that the USB mini-B cable is
detached when operating in PICtail mode.
Note: Ensure that the PICtail connector pin-out on
the host MCU development platform sup
-
ports the pin-out on the PICtail interface on
the RN4020 PICtail Plus Daughter Board.
RN4020 PICtail™/PICtail Plus Board User’s Guide
