OpenThread on SAMR21 Example

This directory contains example platform drivers for the Microchip ATSAMR21G18A based on SAM R21 Xplained Pro Evaluation Kit.

The example platform drivers are intended to present the minimal code necessary to support OpenThread. See the “Run the example with SAMR21 boards” section below for an example using basic OpenThread capabilities.

Toolchain

Download and install the GNU toolchain for ARM Cortex-M.

In a Bash terminal, follow these instructions to install the GNU toolchain and other dependencies.

$ cd <path-to-openthread>
$ ./script/bootstrap

Build Examples

Download Advanced Software Framework (ASF).

Unzip it to /third_party/microchip folder

$ unzip asf-standalone-archive-3.35.1.54.zip 
$ cp xdk-asf-3.35.1 -rf  <path-to-openthread>/third_party/microchip/asf

This example can be built for other SAMR21 based modules. For example ATSAMR21G18-MR21, ATSAMR21B18-MZ21. To build for these modules set SAMR21_BOARD=USER_BOARD and SAMR21_CPU=__SAMR21XXXX__ in examples/samr21/Makefile.am. Then configure peripherals in third_party/microchip/include/user_board.h. For these modules IEEE address is stored at special address in ROM and retreived from this location if CONF_IEEE_ADDRESS macro is not set.

Build OpenThread Firmware (CLI example) on SAMR21 platform.

$ cd <path-to-openthread>
$ ./bootstrap
$ make -f examples/Makefile-samr21

After a successful build, the elf files are found in <path-to-openthread>/output/samr21/bin.

Flash Binaries

Compiled binaries may be flashed onto the SAM R21 Xplained Pro using embedded debugger EDBG.

$ openocd -f board/atmel_samr21_xplained_pro.cfg
$ cd <path-to-openthread>/output/samr21/bin
$ arm-none-eabi-gdb ot-cli-ftd
$ (gdb) target remote 127.0.0.1:3333
$ (gdb) load
$ (gdb) monitor reset
$ (gdb) c

Run the example with SAM R21 Xplained Pro boards

Flash two SAM R21 Xplained Pro boards with the CLI example firmware (as shown above).
Open terminal to first device /dev/ttyACM0 (serial port settings: 115200 8-N-1). Type help for a list of commands.

> help
help
channel
childtimeout
contextreusedelay
extaddr
extpanid
ipaddr
keysequence
leaderweight
masterkey
mode
netdataregister
networkidtimeout
networkname
panid
ping
prefix
releaserouterid
rloc16
route
routerupgradethreshold
scan
start
state
stop
whitelist

Start a Thread network as Leader.

> panid 0xface
Done
> ifconfig up
Done
> thread start
Done

wait a couple of seconds...

> state
leader
Done

Open terminal to second device /dev/ttyACM1 (serial port settings: 115200 8-N-1) and attach it to the Thread network as a Router.

> panid 0xface
Done
> routerselectionjitter 1
Done
> ifconfig up
Done
> thread start
Done

wait a couple of seconds...

> state
router
Done

List all IPv6 addresses of Leader.

> ipaddr
fdde:ad00:beef:0:0:ff:fe00:fc00
fdde:ad00:beef:0:0:ff:fe00:800
fdde:ad00:beef:0:5b:3bcd:deff:7786
fe80:0:0:0:6447:6e10:cf7:ee29
Done

Send an ICMPv6 ping to Leader's Mesh-EID IPv6 address.

> ping fdde:ad00:beef:0:5b:3bcd:deff:7786
8 bytes from fdde:ad00:beef:0:5b:3bcd:deff:7786: icmp_seq=1 hlim=64 time=24ms

The above example demonstrates basic OpenThread capabilities. Enable more features/roles (e.g. commissioner, joiner, DHCPv6 Server/Client, etc.) by assigning compile-options before compiling.

$ cd <path-to-openthread>
$ ./bootstrap
$ make -f examples/Makefile-samr21 COMMISSIONER=1 JOINER=1 DHCP6_CLIENT=1 DHCP6_SERVER=1

For a list of all available commands, visit OpenThread CLI Reference README.md.

Other boards

Verification

The following toolchain has been used for testing and verification:

gcc version 6.3.1
Advanced Software Framework (ASF) version 3.35.1