Get a Microchip ATSAMR34 Xplained Pro evaluation kit

The ATSAMR34 Xplained Pro evaluation kit is a hardware platform used to evaluate the ATSAMR34 Low Power LoRa® Sub-GHz SiP. It is supported by Atmel Studio 7.0 IDE and a collection of sample codes are available from Advanced Software Framework (ASFv3) since the 3.44.0 release. The Xplained Pro MCU series evaluation kit includes an on-board Embedded Debugger (EDBG), and no external tools are necessary to program or debug the ATSAMR34. The kit offers a set of features that enable the user to get started with the ATSAMR34 Low Power LoRa® Sub-GHz SiP peripherals right away, and to understand how to integrate the device in your own design. The ATSAMR34 Xplained Pro kit contains the following items:

• One ATSAMR34 Xplained Pro 
  
• One external antenna

https://www.microchip.com/DevelopmentTools/ProductDetails/dm320111

Get a Microchip ATWINC1500 Xplained Pro evaluation kit

The ATWINC1500-XPRO is an extension board to the Xplained Pro evaluation platform. The ATWINC1500-XPRO extension board allows you to evaluate the ATWINC1500 low cost, low power 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi network controller module. Supported by the Atmel Studio integrated development platform, the kit provides easy access to the features of the ATWINC1500 and explains how to integrate the device in a custom design.

https://www.microchip.com/DevelopmentTools/ProductDetails/ATWINC1500-XPRO

For this tutorial, the ATWINC1500 module is loaded with Firmware version 19.6.1.

Software Installation

• Download and install Atmel Studio 7.0 IDE. 
  https://www.microchip.com/mplab/avr-support/atmel-studio-7

• Open Atmel Studio 7.0 IDE. 
  

• Then, you need Advanced Software Framework (ASFv3) v3.45.0 release or upper release. 
  Install ASFv3 as an extension to Atmel Studio from the menu: Tools -> Extensions and Updates …

• Once the installation is complete, you must restart Atmel Studio. 
  

• Download and install a serial terminal program like Tera Term. 
  https://osdn.net/projects/ttssh2/releases/

Note: ASFv3 is an MCU software library providing a large collection of embedded software for AVR® and SAM flash MCUs and Wireless devices. ASFv3 is configured by the ASF Wizard in Atmel Studio 7.0 (installed as an extension to Studio). ASFv3 is also available as a standalone (.zip) with the same content as Studio extension (https://www.microchip.com/mplab/avr-support/advanced-software-framework).

Important: Until the next Atmel Studio IDE release, you have to manually install the Device Part Pack for developing with SAMR34/R35 on Atmel Studio 7.0 IDE. (all products released in between IDE releases of Atmel Studio should be manually added by user to develop applications).

• Go to Tools -> Device Pack Manager 
  
• Check for Updates 
  
• Search for SAMR34 and click install 
  
• Repeat the same for SAMR35 
  
• Restart Atmel Studio 7.0 IDE 

Hardware Setup

To demonstrate WiFi Sniffing over LoraWAN Network by connecting SAMR34-Xpro and ATWINC1500-Xpro, the connection is pretty straightforward through the EXT1 interface.

To get more information on the WINC1500 MCU Interface, follow this link: http://microchipdeveloper.com/wf:atwinc1500-mcu-interfacing

Note: If you have a ATSAMR34-Xpro Rev3 board (flip the board to check the revision), the EXT1_PIN10 marked PA23 on silkscreen is actually net to PA15. General recommandation is to double check with the schematics of the board which is available in the Chip Down Design Package: https://www.microchip.com/wwwproducts/en/ATSAMR34J18

By default on the ATSAMR34-Xpro board Rev3, the pin PA15 of the chip is not routed to EXT1 connector. However, in order to perform power down mode of the ATWINC1500, you need to made this pin available over the EXT1_PIN10 connector. With this change, the ATSAMR34 device will be able to drive the PIN10 of the WINC1500-Xro board. This pin corresponds to the CHIP_EN signal of the ATWINC1500 device. High level on CHIP_EN pin enables the ATWINC1500 module and low level places module in Power-Down mode. To be able to drive the ATWINC1500 CHIP_EN pin from the ATSAMR34 device, perform the following hardware modification on ATSAMR34-Xpro board:

• R303: Place a 0R Shunt
• J305: Cut the shunt

• In order to connect in LoRaWAN, you will need to be in range of your gateway. If you don’t have gateway, check the world map (https://www.thethingsnetwork.org/map) to see if your local community has gateway deployed around your location.
• Plug the antennas and always make sure you have the antennas plugged to your boards before powering it up. 
  
• Connect the ATWINC1500-Xpro extension board to the EXT1 connector of the ATSAMR34-Xpro board. 
  
• Connect the board to the PC through the micro-USB cables. 
  USB cable must be connected to the EDBG USB connectors of the ATSAMR34 kit.
• Wait for USB driver installation and COM ports mounting. The USB ports powers the board and enables the user to communicate with the kits. 
  
• Launch Tera Term program and configure the serial ports mounted with: 115200 bps, 8/N/1 

Adding WiFi Sniffing to an existing LoRaWAN Application

Based on LoRaWAN Mote Application generated from ASFv3, this sample code demonstrates how to transmit nearby Access Point data over the LoRaWAN network.

For more information on Microchip ATSAMR34 LoRa SiP and ATWINC1500 802.11b/g/n Network Controller devices, visit Microchip webpages: 
https://www.microchip.com/design-centers/wireless-connectivity/low-power-wide-area-networks/lora-technology/sam-r34-r35https://www.microchip.com/wwwproducts/en/ATWINC1500

Follow the tutorial here:

https://github.com/MicrochipTech/atsamr34_lorawan_wifi_ap_scan