![\"MSP430](\"http:\/\/embedded-lab.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Launchpad-Board.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nMSP430s are not seen as much as the popular 8051s, PICs and AVRs. In most of the Asian market, for example, MSP430s are rare when compared to other microcontrollers and even still rare when compared to other chips produced by TI itself. I don\u2019t know why there is such an imbalance. Perhaps one big reason is its inclination towards low power consumption and limited resources. Low-power means that these MCUs are crafted for special low power applications unlike most other micros. Secondly TI micros are a bit expensive than other micros. Despites these, TI has provided some great tools for making things simple. You can get your hands on some cool MSP430 chips through some affordable Launchpad boards and still it worth every penny learning MSP430s. Firstly, it is a family of ultra-low power high performance 16-bit (16-bit data bus) micros which are unlike the popular 8-bit platforms. Secondly MSP430s have highly rich internal hardware peripherals that are second to none. For instance, MSP430s can be operated over a wide voltage and frequency ranges. Another great feature that is less common in most 8-bit micros is the DMA controller. Fortunately, MSP430s possess this. Probably it is your first such micro family that is somewhere between 8-bit and 32-bit micros. In the end, MSP430s will surely give you a taste of absolute American technology and concepts.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The MSP430 Family<\/h1>\n
Shown below is the family tree of MSP430 series microcontrollers from TI.<\/p>\n
The most common MSP430 micros are the MSP430FR series, MSP430F series, MSP430G series and the newly introduced MSP432 series.<\/p>\n MSP430FR series micros mainly feature high reliability, high endurance, 10-year data retention non-volatile\u00a0FRAM<\/a>\u00a0(ferroelectric random-access memory) memories. This series offer 16-bit solutions for ultra-low-power sensing and system management in areas like smart building management systems, smart grids, military and industrial designs. They feature the lowest standby power consumption of about 350 nA with RTC, 100 \u00b5A\/MHz active power consumption and the unique ability to save and instantly restore system state right after power failures.<\/p>\n MSP432 series micros are the perfect combinations of MSP430 low-power portfolio with advanced mixed-signal features and the high-performance processing capabilities of 32-bit ARM M4F engine. These micros have high measurement precisions and contain high performance peripherals like high resolution differential ADCs, DMA, IOT connectivity, etc. This series fills the gap between 16-bit MSP430s and 32-bit ARM architecture and as of this moment this series is the most recent development in the MSP430 family.<\/p>\n CC430 series is a small series of MSP430s with almost all features one can find in a typical MSP430 micro and embedded sub-GHz radio transceivers. They are well-stuffed true System-on-Chip (SOC)<\/em><\/strong> solutions that remove the necessity of additional off-board wireless solutions.<\/p>\n Yet another tiny series of MSP430 micros include MSP430Cxx and MSP430Lxx micros. These micros are intended for extreme low voltage (0.9 \u2013 1.65V) operations. With just one Nickel Cadmium (NiCd) battery it is possible to run any micro of this series. They feature low resolution analogue frontends and low pin counts.<\/p>\n The only series that is left to be discussed is the general purpose MSP430s series microcontrollers. By general purpose, it is meant that these micros can be use in almost any scenario. It is this series of micros that we will be dealing here. The table below summarizes this family:<\/p>\n For now, don\u2019t struggle to understand the abbreviations of this table. You\u2019ll eventually know about them as we proceed.<\/p>\n Note that there are some other MSP430 devices that are not accounted here. These devices are either rare or subset of the mentioned families. If you want to know more about MSP430 microcontrollers then you can go through the following Wikipedia article: https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/TI_MSP430<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Launchpad boards are affordable MSP430 evaluation kits. For just few dollars, you can have your own Launchpad boards. They are so cheap that an average school-going student can afford one with his\/her own pocket money. However, this cheapness doesn\u2019t compromise quality nor performance. They are more-or-less alike Arduino boards in terms of board size and on-board resources except they don\u2019t share same pin naming conventions and board layouts. Well that\u2019s not a big issue. However, it would have been better if the Launchpads shared Arduino-like form factor. This would have enabled using Arduino shields with Launchpads. TI has, however, its own brand of shields called BoosterPacks<\/em><\/strong> and they seem to like promoting their own idea, owing to which there\u2019s still no official TI Launchpad that share exactly Arduino form-factor\/shape. It is a very aggressive marketing\u00a0boldness. Shown below is the BOOSTXL-EDUMKII BoosterPack<\/em><\/strong>. It is just like Arduino Esplora with lots of on-board sensors and devices except for the MCU. It is good for game development and sensor applications. There are other useful BoosterPacks dedicated for capacitive touch, displays and so on.<\/p>\n Launchpad boards are not the only development boards offered by TI. There are many other dev boards too. Shown below is the TI MSP-EXP430F5438 Bluetooth platform development board.<\/p>\n However due to cheapness and relatively good availability Launchpad boards are by far most popular, particularly the MSP-EXP430G2 Experimenter\u2019s Launchpad<\/em><\/strong> board.<\/p>\n This board comes boxed with two micros \u2013 MSP430G2452<\/em><\/strong> and MSP430G2553<\/em><\/strong>. Both of these mixed-signal MCUs come in PDIP packages. We can take them off from the board and use them in bread boards, strip boards, PCBs, etc. Shown below is the layout of a MSP-EXP430G2 Launchpad board.<\/p>\n Just like any other evaluation kit, every Launchpad comes embedded with user LEDs, buttons, I\/O port headers (also known as BoosterPack connectors), onboard power supply, USB-to-serial converter and programming interfaces.<\/p>\n MSP430s are ultra-low power 16-bit general purpose microcontrollers. A MSP430 micro consists of a 16-bit RISC CPU, wide variety of feature-rich peripherals and a flexible clock system all under the hood of a von-Neumann<\/em> architecture. Because of their ultra-low energy consumption profile, MSP430s are well-suited for battery\/solar powered\/limited or renewable energy applications.<\/p>\n MSP430G2452 and MSP430G2553 are both almost identical in terms of hardware peripherals and pin count. MSP430G2553 has some additional hardware features like more RAM-ROM memories, timers and USCI-based hardware interfaces for LIN and IrDA communications. Shown below is a comparison table of some common MSP430 chips usually found with Launchpad boards.<\/p>\n Other Launchpad boards contain other chips but fortunately they share the same pin layout and so they are fully pin compatible. The fourteen pin parts and twenty pin parts share the same pin layout as shown below:<\/p>\n Though the pin names are labelled properly on the silkscreens of the boards, it is sometimes necessary to check the schematic for details. Shown below is the basic schematic of a MSP-EXP430G2 Launchpad.<\/p>\n From the schematic, we can see what has been placed on the board by default. Parts labelled DNP<\/em><\/strong> are not placed on a fresh Launchpad board. These have been left for the users.<\/p>\n If these don\u2019t matter much and you need something simpler, then there are Arduino-like pin maps for Launchpads. Though they are made for Energia IDE, they are useful for quick overviews.<\/p>\n We will obviously need a MSP430 Launchpad board. For this tutorial, I used MSP-EXP430G2 Launchpad board with MSP430G2553 and MSP430G2452 microcontrollers.<\/p>\n Apart from the Launchpad board, we will need basic tools like a digital multimeter (DMM), wires or jumper cables, a power bank and other stuffs typically available in an Arduino starter kit like the RIASpire<\/a> one shown below.<\/p>\n An additional external or off board programmer\/debugger is not needed since MSP430 Launchpad boards come with on board Spy-Bi-Wire (SBW)<\/em><\/strong> programming\/debugging interface. This interface utilizes pins labelled TEST <\/em><\/strong>and RST<\/em><\/strong> apart from power pins and so only four wires are needed. Note reset pin should be externally pulled up. Check the diagram below.<\/p>\n Similarly, we don\u2019t need to buy\/use any external USB-serial converter for serial communication as the boards come with onboard hardware for this communication.<\/p>\n In all Launchpad boards, there are headers with jumpers as shown below to separate onboard programmer from the target. This allows us to use a Launchpad board as standalone programmer. We can also detach it. The top dotted line marks the border between the target and the programmer.<\/p>\n It is still nice to have one external MSP-FET programmer. FET<\/em><\/strong> stands for Flash Emulation Tool and it supports both JTAG and SWD interfaces. FETs are pretty expensive tools. Lastly, I strongly recommend having an oscilloscope or a logic analyser for checking signals and timing-related info. In many cases, informations provided by these tools become extremely necessary. <\/p>\n There are numerous ways of learning and using a new microcontroller family effectively. A number of C\/C++ compilers are available for coding MSP430 micros. Hobbyists and novice users find Arduino-like solutions easy and quick but from an engineer\u2019s perspective such solutions are inexplicably incapable of extracting the sweet fruits of a well-armed microcontroller. Rawer approaches are preferred by professionals but they too seek reduced efforts and quick solutions. The learning curve is also needed to be a smooth one. In this segment, we will checkout some common software solutions for MSP430s.<\/p>\n Firstly, there is the free open-source Energia <\/em><\/strong>IDE. This is an Arduino-like IDE that enables users to code MSP430s in the Arduino way. It supports many Launchpad boards including those which are based on ARM cores. I have used it a lot and it is fun using it for simple hobby projects. However, I wanted to harness the true power of MSP430s. As with Arduino, you can access MSP430 registers in Energia too but that doesn\u2019t make significant differences in terms of coding efficiency and memory consumptions. Energia has the same issues as with Arduino. Arduino framework on top of an AVR makes it much less robust when compared to a crude AVR. The same thing applies for Energia too. Another key limitation of Energia is the fact that not all MSP430 chips are supported by it. Energia is, however, very easy to use, quick and useful for rapid prototyping or testing. The costs are low overall efficiency and larger code size. Just like Arduino, Energia is not well-suited for highly sophisticate professional projects. It is just a rapid prototyping tool that we can use to check a proof-of-concept but not the right tool to build that concept. A smaller hammer is useful for nailing a pin but it is not the perfect tool for breaking a giant boulder.<\/p>\n Energia is available at http:\/\/energia.nu\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n Please note that Energia is not supported by the Arduino LCC which means it not developed or maintained by the guys from the Arduino team. This doesn\u2019t matter much for its users. However, the IDE is not frequently updated like the Arduino IDE.<\/p>\n Next, we have TI\u2019s own compiler \u2013 the Code Composer Studio (CCS)<\/em><\/strong>. CCS is a C\/C++ compiler based on Eclipse IDE. CCS comes with TI\u2019s proprietary compilers that are best in code optimization. Those who have used Eclipse-based IDEs before know the advantages Eclipse framework brings with it. It has an excellent code navigation system, perspective views, refactoring, etc. CCS compiler comes with all of these stuffs and many more like debugger interface and TI App Store. Apart from all these there are some helpful cloud-based tools from TI. This tutorial is based on CCS compiler. It is free for download from TI\u2019s website – http:\/\/www.ti.com\/tool\/ccstudio<\/a>. Make sure you have a TI account.<\/p>\n Then there is IAR compiler. I have never used IAR products but I have heard from many that it is very popular and widely used. However, it is expensive too.<\/p>\n Lastly, like for many other platforms we have the free open-source GCC compiler for MSP430s. MSP430 GCC can be integrated with CCS IDE.<\/p>\n We will see during coding that compilers don\u2019t make significant differences in coding style, making codes cross-platform compatible. I also intend to keep things simple and quick. This is why I focus on tools rather than other stuffs. With right set of tools, any issue can be addressed decently and rapidly.<\/p>\n Additionally, some more software tools are needed for supportive purposes. Proteus VSM<\/em><\/strong> is a good interactive simulator cum PCB design software. Luckily it supports MSP430 micros. However, it is very expensive unless you are using a pirated version of it. Frankly speaking, I have never advocated for simulations because simulations do not address the real-world challenges we encounter in a real-life real-time project. Simulations, for example, cannot simulate real-world environment conditions nor can they emulate situations which result in \u201chang<\/em>\u201d-like stuck up conditions. Simulations don\u2019t take the effect of noise and electromagnetic disturbances into account. Additionally, sometimes simulations give wrong results. I have spent many wasted hours trying to debug an issue with simulation only to find out that the simulation was incorrect. Still however, simulations are helpful in some special cases. For instance, when designing a LCD menu, simulation is a time and effort saver. Personally, I recommend and use real-world debugging over simulations. This gives me a lot of confidence.<\/p>\n The coolest stuffs for MSP430s are TI\u2019s MSP430Ware driver libraries (driverlib)<\/em><\/strong> and GRACE<\/em><\/strong>. Driver libraries remove the pain of traditionally coding MSP430s using registers. Driver libraries provide easy-to-use API functions for configuring MSP430 peripherals just like the Standard Peripheral Libraries (SPL) of STM8 micros. However, these libraries are only supported for the newest and resource-rich MSP430 microcontrollers like the MSP430F5529LP. This idea of driver libraries is quickly gaining mass popularity and is becoming standard day-by-day for all modern era micros. MSP430Ware can be downloaded for free from http:\/\/www.ti.com\/tool\/mspware<\/a>.<\/p>\n You can use TI\u2019s Resource Explorer to check out what\u2019s in driverlib <\/em><\/strong>and if your target MCU is supported.<\/p>\n GRACE,<\/strong> on the other hand, is intended for relatively less-resourceful micros like the MSP430G2231 that are mostly well-suited for lower level assembly language environments. GRACE is basically a graphical code generator tool, much like the STM32CubeMX that can be used to generate setup configuration codes for MSP430F2xx, MSP430G2xx and some FR series micros. However, GRACE only generates register values for small MSP430 micros. For large and advanced MSP430 micros driverlib-based codes are generated instead of register-level codes. The rest is just like coding any other microcontroller. Throughout this tutorial, GRACE has been used for all demos.<\/p>\n As we can see the generated code snippet sets appropriate registers as per our setup in GRACE GUI.<\/p>\n GRACE can be downloaded without any charge from TI\u2019s website: http:\/\/www.ti.com\/tool\/GRACE?keyMatch=grace%203&tisearch=Search-EN-Products<\/a>.<\/p>\n We will also need a separate standalone programmer GUI tool. Why? Because it looks totally stupid to open the heavy CCS software every time to upload a code to a new target after having built the final code for it. For this purpose, we will need UniFlash<\/em><\/strong> programmer GUI.<\/p>\n UniFlash can be downloaded from http:\/\/www.ti.com\/tool\/uniflash<\/a> or can be accessed via TI cloud.<\/p>\n Additionally, I recommend using Sublime Text<\/em><\/strong> (https:\/\/www.sublimetext.com\/3<\/a>) or Notepad++<\/em><\/strong> (https:\/\/notepad-plus-plus.org\/download\/v7.4.2.html<\/a>) as a code viewer\/editor.<\/p>\n Make sure you also downloaded Launchpad board drivers from here: http:\/\/www.ti.com\/lit\/sw\/slac524\/slac524.zip<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The following documents must be acquired:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n There are some important websites, online communities and forums that are very helpful. Some of the most popular ones are:<\/p>\n http:\/\/www.43oh.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n http:\/\/forum.43oh.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n https:\/\/e2e.ti.com\/support\/microcontrollers\/msp430\/<\/a><\/p>\n http:\/\/processors.wiki.ti.com\/index.php\/Main_Page<\/a><\/p>\n http:\/\/www.ti.com\/lsds\/ti\/microcontrollers-16-bit-32-bit\/msp\/overview.page<\/a><\/p>\n http:\/\/www.ti.com\/lsds\/ti\/tools-software\/launchpads\/overview\/overview.page<\/a><\/p>\n Beginning a new CCS project is not too complicated. Provided that CCS is installed in your PC, simply run it.<\/p>\n In just a few seconds, CCS\u2019s logo splashes.<\/p>\n You\u2019ll be asked for workspace location. Either select an existing workspace if you have one or create a new one.<\/p>\n Next click File >> New >> CCS Project<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n The following window will show up then:<\/p>\n Here we just need to setup target MCU, name of the project, compiler version and project type. Keep other options unchanged unless you are sure of your actions.<\/p>\n The following window appears after hitting the finish and we are good to go for coding. It is just that simple.<\/p>\n One advice I would like to give here, never delete any workspace file or folder unless you created it. It is possible to rename and remove projects from CCS IDE.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n As stated earlier, GRACE is a graphical configuration tool. It reduces the effort of thoroughly reading datasheets and reference manuals. I highly recommend using it no matter if you are novice or expert.<\/p>\n First run GRACE.<\/p>\n Wait for it to launch.<\/p>\n TI\u2019s Resource Explorer kicks in on first start up. It may not do so every time though.<\/p>\n Click File >> New<\/em><\/strong> to begin a new GRACE project.<\/p>\n You\u2019ll be prompted for project location, MCU part number and project name as shown below:<\/p>\n Once all the parameter fields are filled, we are ready to configure our target MCU. A welcome screen shows up next.<\/p>\n From the welcome screen, we have to click on Device Overview<\/em><\/strong> and get an insight of the device\u2019s peripherals as peripheral blocks.<\/p>\n We can now click desired hardware peripheral block (blue blocks) to check what features and code examples it offers and set it up as required. There are two types of setups for all modules – Basic<\/em><\/strong> and Power<\/em><\/strong> users. Basic User<\/em><\/strong> setup is for simple setup when you don\u2019t know everything of a peripheral in details and don\u2019t want to mess things up. Power User<\/em><\/strong> setup is for expert users with more advanced options. Shown below are the Power User options for setting up the clock system:<\/p>\n After setting up everything, just hit the hammer or Build<\/em><\/strong> button and the configuration codes are generated in the preset folder. It may take some time to complete the process. Next, we just need to open the generated files and copy them in our main CCS code.<\/p>\n How to create a new CCS project and use Grace is well documented in this video: https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=QCYMbsKwRfY<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Most of the times during development, a separate standalone programmer software is not a compulsory necessity as CCS IDE provides an inbuilt programmer\/debugger interface. However, at times long after final application development, it becomes completely unnecessary to reopen CCS just to load a firmware to a new micro. UniFlash comes in aid at that time.<\/p>\n Run Uniflash by clicking its icon.<\/p>\n \u00a0The following window appears:<\/p>\n From here we need to select either target board or target microcontroller. No need to type the whole part number of a micro, just few digits\/letters are enough to find the correct micro:<\/p>\n Similarly, we need to setup connection to target too. USB1<\/em><\/strong> – the first option is what we need to select.<\/p>\n Now we are ready to begin firmware upload. Click the Start<\/em><\/strong> button.<\/p>\n Browse the firmware you wish to upload.<\/p>\n You can optionally set some more parameters for the target as shown:<\/p>\n To flash new firmware, just hit the Load Image<\/em><\/strong> button.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\nLaunchpad Boards and BoosterPacks<\/h1>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n
\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>
\n<\/p>\nHardware<\/h1>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n
\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n
\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\nSoftware<\/h1>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\nDocuments, Pages and Forums<\/h1>\n
\n
\n<\/em><\/strong>This write up covers MSP430G2452 and MSP430G2553 microcontrollers and so we will be needing the datasheet of these microcontroller for technical specs and characteristics. These can be found in the following links:
\nhttp:\/\/www.ti.com\/lit\/ds\/symlink\/msp430g2452.pdf
\n<\/a>http:\/\/www.ti.com\/lit\/ds\/symlink\/msp430g2553.pdf
\n<\/a>If you are using some other microcontroller then you must acquire its datasheet first.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n
\n<\/em><\/strong>MSP430x2xx reference manual covers the details of all the hardware available in this family of microcontrollers. Unlike other microcontrollers, datasheet of a MSP430 micro, only says about technical specs and characteristics. Reference manuals say about internal hardware, how to use them and about internal registers. This is the most important document of all.
\nhttp:\/\/www.ti.com\/lit\/ug\/slau144j\/slau144j.pdf<\/a>\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n
\n<\/em><\/strong>Visit the following link for Launchpad board user manual and other docs:
\nhttp:\/\/www.ti.com\/tool\/msp-exp430g2<\/a>. This document not just introduces the Launchpad board, it also contains schematics, layouts and other stuffs. Off all the stuffs in the user manual, Launchpad board\u2019s schematic is the most valuable thing.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n
\n<\/em><\/strong>Though not mandatory, having a collection of MSP430 application notes is a surplus. These show various ideas and design concepts. Visit TI\u2019s website for these docs.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nStarting a New CCS\u00a0Project<\/h1>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\nGRACE<\/h1>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\nUniFlash<\/h1>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n