What's Node.IOT

Node.IOT is a brand new embedded prototype board. It consists of a Cortex-m3 MCU, a Cortex-m0 MCU, a low-power FPGA, a USB-HUB with Ethernet PHY, a CODEC chip and a 9-axis sensor. It helps us easily buildup MCU&FPGA-based single-board computer and IOT development platform.

For different user needs, Node.IOT supports two board types, TYPE A(left figure) and TYPE C(right figure). Type C contains a dedicated RJ45 connector for Ethernet and audio connector for headphone, while Type A uses the upper 25*2 (2.54mm) connector as pinouts.

How does it work

The board supports two working mode. In system mode, the Cortex-m0 is a boot-loader as a master role, which communicates with a PC via a micro-USB to download BIN file to the Cortex-m3 and FPGA, so you could program/debug new code to the board without the use of an external hardware tool. You also can access/write the files of the micro-SD card in this mode.

In user mode, the Cortex-m3 is a master role, which controls all the peripheral chips and RPi-style pinouts. The Cortex-m3 will parse the USB-HOST stack, MP3 codec library and communicates with FPGA/micro-SD. You can bypass the boot-loader Cortex-m0 and program the Cortex-m3 through the JTAG/SWD pinouts. In user mode, the Cortex-m0 just checks the state of key button to switch working mode.

Which features does it support

The board could be connected to a TV or LCD monitor as a single-board computer (the FPGA implements the VGA protocol). It also features multiple sensors, including accelerator, gyroscope and magnetometer. So it can be used in many scenarios and for many applications.

It has two rows of 25*2 pinouts(2.54mm) and two rows of 10*2 pinouts(2mm). The pinouts are compatible with RPi and XBee. You can simply connect it to a PC via a micro-USB cable or power it with an AC-DC adapter to get started.

BLE module

The Bluetooth low-energy module contains a TI CC26XX chip and a ceramic SMD antenna.

The module features include

•ARM Cortex-M3 32-bit MCU for application

-48 MHZ clock speed

-128 KB ISP flash/8 KB cache SRAM/20 KB ultralight-leakage SRAM

-supports OTA

-UART/SSI*2/I2C/I2S

•ARM Cortex-M0 processor for RF core

-autonomously handling BLE radio protocols

-4 KB SRAM

-separated ROM memory

-Can't programmable by users

•2.4 GHZ analog RF front-end

•Sensor controller

-Can run autonomous from the rest of the system

-16-bit architecture

-2 KB ultra low-power SRAM for code and data

LORA module

The Lora module contains a Semtech ultra-long range spread spectrum communication chip SX127X.

 The module features include

•Frequency range 137 MHz-1020 MHz

•168 dB max link budget

•127 dB dynamic range RSSI

•20 dBm-100 mw constant RF output

•bit rate up to 300 kbps

•package up to 256 bytes with CRC