3.
Curiosity Nano
Curiosity Nano is an evaluation platform of small boards with access to most of the microcontrollers I/Os.
The platform consists of a series of low pin-count microcontroller (MCU) boards with on-board debuggers,
which are integrated with Atmel Studio/Microchip MPLAB
®
X. Each board is identified in the IDE, and
relevant user guides, application notes, data sheets, and example code are easy to find. The on-board
debugger features a Virtual COM port (CDC) for serial communication to a host PC, and a Data Gateway
Interface (DGI) GPIO logic analyzer pin.
3.1
On-board Debugger
ATtiny1607 Curiosity Nano contains an on-board debugger for programming and debugging. The on-
board debugger is a composite USB device of several interfaces: A debugger, a mass storage device, a
data gateway, and a Virtual COM port (CDC).
Together with Atmel Studio/Microchip MPLAB
®
X, the on-board debugger can program and debug the
ATtiny1607.
A Data Gateway Interface (DGI) is available for use with the logic analyzer channels for code
instrumentation, to visualize the program flow. DGI GPIOs can be graphed using the
The Virtual COM port is connected to a UART on the ATtiny1607 and provides an easy way to
communicate with the target application through terminal software.
The on-board debugger controls a Power and Status LED (marked PS) on ATtiny1607 Curiosity Nano.
The table below shows how the LED is controlled in different operation modes.
Table 3-1. On-Board Debugger LED Control
Operation Mode
Status LED
Boot Loader mode
LED blink at 1 Hz during power-up.
Power-up
LED is ON.
Normal operation
LED is ON.
Programming
Activity indicator: The LED flashes slowly during programming/debugging.
Fault
The LED flashes fast if a power fault is detected.
Sleep/Off
LED is off. The on-board debugger is either in Sleep mode or powered down.
This can occur if the kit is externally powered.
3.1.1
Virtual COM Port
The Virtual COM Port is a general purpose serial bridge between a host PC and a target device.
3.1.1.1
Overview
The on-board debugger implements a composite USB device that includes a standard Communications
Device Class (CDC) interface, which appears on the host as a Virtual COM Port. The CDC can be used
to stream arbitrary data in both directions between the host and the target: All characters sent from the
host will be sent through a UART on the CDC TX pin, and UART characters sent into the CDC RX pin will
be sent back to the host through the Virtual COM Port.
On Windows machines, the CDC will enumerate as
Curiosity Virtual COM Port
and appear in the Ports
section of the device manager. The COM port number is shown here.
ATtiny1607 Curiosity Nano
Curiosity Nano
©
2019 Microchip Technology Inc.
User Guide
DS50002897A-page 6
