8051 Based Platforms

Table of Contents Intel 8051-Based Platforms Sensinode/cc243x (cc2430 and cc2431) Texas Instruments cc2530 Development Kit cc1110 Hardware Feature Matrix Guides How you can Help Best Way to Contribute Code More Reading

Intel 8051-Based Platforms

Contiki provides CPU code for two Texas Instruments System-on-Chip (SoC) solutions, the cc253x and cc243x. All those SoCs are equipped with an enhanced Intel 8051 microcontroller core, which means that we build contiki using the Small Device C Compiler (SDCC).

Contiki platforms using this CPU code are:

• Sensinode
• TI cc2530 Development Kit

Sensinode/cc243x (cc2430 and cc2431)

The port actively supports N740 NanoSensors and N601 USB NanoRouters. Those devices are actually equipped with Radiocrafts RC230x modules, which are cc2430x equivalents. The port also contains some legacy code to support older devices (e.g. N600, N711). Unfortunately, lack of access to the actual hardware means this code is not being tested and may be bugged.

To my knowledge, this hardware is no longer available on the market.

I have received reports that this port has been successfully used with TI's cc2430 DKs with very minor modifications. If you are interested in trying this, start by changing putchar() to use UART0 (on cc2430 DKs) instead of the default UART1 (on Sensinodes).

Texas Instruments cc2530 Development Kit

The following hardware is supported:

• SmartRF Evaluation Board (SmartRF05EB rev. 1.7 & 1.8) with cc2530 Evaluation Module (EM)
• Initial support for cc2531 USB Sticks

cc1110

There is no support for the cc1110. However, similar to cc243x and cc253x, this SoC is based on the 8051 MCU. This means that the existing contiki cpu code (cpu/cc253x and cpu/cc2430) can serve as a basis for cc1110 porting efforts. Due to its RAM and Flash size, it is unlikely that a cc1110 port will support the same feature set (begging to be proven wrong here!). This thread on contiki-developers contains an exchange of ideas on how to go about porting for this SoC.

Hardware Feature Matrix

This table lists the various hardware features for the devices supported by Contiki. Unless explicitly mentioned otherwise, the features listed here have been implemented.

List of Hardware Features

	Texas Instruments cc2530 DK		Sensinode
	cc2530EMs on SmartRF05EB	cc2531 USB Dongle	N740 NanoSensor	N601 USB NanoRouter
SoC	cc2530F256	cc2531F256	RC230x (cc243xF128)
SoC Features
MCU	Enhanced Intel 8051 core, using the standard 8051 instruction set.
RAM	8 KB with data retention in all power modes		8 KB (4 KB data retention in all power modes)
Flash	256 KB		128 KB
RF	2.4 GHz IEEE 802.15.4 compliant RF transceiver		2.4 GHz IEEE 802.15.4 compliant RF transceiver, based on the cc2420 radio core
Sensors	VDD, On-Chip Temperature
Other			cc2431 Location Engine1
	Hardware AES Encryption/Decryption (AES Co-Processor)4
	Hardware Random Number Generator
Peripherals
LEDs	42	2	2	2
Buttons	12, 3	2	2	0
I/O Connectors	RS232 (UART0)	USB	MiniUSB (to UART1 over FTDI or to program)	USB (to UART1 over FTDI or to program)
	USB (to program)	Debug Connector	9-pin (to program)	Debug Connector
Serial Flash	256 KB OnBoard SPI Flash4		Numonyx Forté M25P16 (16 Mbit)
USB-UART	No	No	FTDI FT232R USB UART
Other	LCD4	Hardware USB Support	Freescale Semiconductor ±3g, ±11g Three Axis Accelerometer
	Joystick4		Vishay Semiconductors Ambient Light Sensor
			Battery Voltage Sensor

1. Only on devices with the RC2301 (cc2431F128)
2. LED 4 is mapped to the same port/pin as B1. The current implementation configures the pin as input and supports the button.
3. The board has two buttons but only B1 is connected to the SoC
4. Driver not implemented

Guides

1. Prepare your System - Requirements
2. How to Install and Use Contiki for 8051 Platforms
3. Understanding 8051 Memory Spaces (and how I learnt to avoid stack overflows)
4. Understanding Code Banking (and how I learnt to spot banking errors before programming my node with firmware that crashes left right and centre)
5. How to increase maximum available stack

How you can Help

• Testing and bug reporting is always welcome
• Experimentation with TCP and embedded webservers. Reports of success/failure and patches are very welcome
• RPL collect support needs work
• Missing SmartRF drivers:
  • SmartRF LCD
  • SmartRF Joystick
  • SmartRF Serial flash
• Patches for a combined Sensinode / cc2430DK port

Best Way to Contribute Code

If you are willing to contribute driver code, have a good read at this page. Also, due to licensing, I can't consider code directly derived from TI software examples.

More Reading

1. GitHub wiki on Contiki's 8051-based ports
2. Loughborough University's page on Contiki for Sensinode/cc243x devices. This page only serves as an archive, since the port has now been merged upstream.