3.
Curiosity Nano
Curiosity Nano is an evaluation platform that provides a set 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,
which are integrated with MPLAB
®
X to present relevant user guides, application notes, data sheets, and
example code. The platform features a Virtual COM port (CDC) for serial communication to a host PC
and a Data Gateway Interface (DGI) GPIO.
3.1
On-Board Debugger
The PIC18F47Q10 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 MPLAB
®
X, the on-board debugger interface can program and debug the PIC18F47Q10.
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 PIC18F47Q10 and provides an easy way to
communicate with the target application through terminal software.
The on-board debugger controls one Power and Status LED (marked PS) on the PIC18F47Q10 Curiosity
Nano board. 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 lit - constant.
Normal operation
LED is lit - constant.
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
A general purpose bridge between a host PC and a target device.
3.1.1.1
Overview
The 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: the characters sent from the host
will appear in the UART form on the CDC TX pin, and the UART characters sent into the CDC RX pin will
be sent back to the host.
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 usually shown here.
Info:
On older Windows systems, a USB driver is required for CDC. This driver is included in Atmel
®
Studio and MPLAB X installations.
PIC18F47Q10 Curiosity Nano
Curiosity Nano
©
2019 Microchip Technology Inc.
User Guide
DS40002103A-page 5
