I was planning on flashing my mini os onto my NXP – LPC1313FBD48 (here is a link to where I bought it) but I wasn't really sure how. So I asked but I was told that I would need a serial to usb connector. I wasn't sure if they meant something like This or something like this. So my questions are
- Which connector do I use and how do I pick the connector?
- How do I use the connector with my MCU (ex. Plug one end into my usb connector and put Jumper wires onto certain ports of my MCU inorder to send the data)?
Best Answer
I'll assume you have a bare LPC1313 chip (presumably on a PCB that exposes the pins) and want to program it. If you have a complete board it will likely contain an RS232 interface, in which case your first link points to a suitable usb-rs232-serial converter.
You will need an usb-to-3v3-ttl-serial converter. Your first link is an usb-to-rs232-serial converter, you would need to add an rs232-to-3v3-ttl conversion, which can be done (for instace) with a few transistors. Your second link is a power cable, which is not relevant at all.
If you don't object to pressing a few buttons when downloading (to get the chip into bootload mode) you should check one of the various usb-to-ttl-serial converters, for instance one of these by FTDICHIP.
When you want hands-off loading of your application you need a converter that provides the RTS and DTR signals. I sell a small board that does just this, you could clone the design but it note that it contains an SMD chip.
An alternative could be to switch to an LPC1343, that chip adds an USB bootloader: just connect it to your PC, it will appear as a mass storage device. Copy the executable to it, disconnect, and you can start your applications. This sounds great, but in practice it is more tedious than serial bootloading.