Particle Interface: Particle's CONAN Connector and the rest

Particle-to-Board P2B Interface

(for information on µParticle Interface see the µInt pages)

The Particle Connector provides interfacing between the various Particle boards or to other (e.g. your own) third party boards. It contains various standard interfaces (as serial/UART, I2C, SPI, Parallel I/O, Digital I/O, INT, Analog in, one wire bus, ...) and clearly specifies what lines has what function. It builds the basis for full interoperability between different Particle and different Add-On boards.

Board to Board connectors provide the flexiblity to combine the various modules of the Particle system such as Particle Boards and Sensor Boards or Particle Board an Serial Board. The connector used on all Particle devices is FCI's Conan 21 pin connector with a total board-to-board height of 5 mm (here is a eagle library file for this connector):

FCI part number 91931-31121 (female/Receptacle). Farnell order number 973440 (see picture below, right side). Female Connectors are used in the Particle, Breakout/Proto Board and Serial Board
FCI part number 91911-31121 (male/header). Farnell order number 973348 (see picture below, left side). Male Connectors are used in the Sensor boards (spart, ssimp), the serial board, the breakout/proto board, the serial board, the xbridge, the test board
Pin number see picture below (right: female, left: male)

Other connectors used are 2.54mm standard connectors (breakout/proto board), connectors for power supply (serial board/XBridge, power board), Ethernet (for XBridge) and serial line (for serial board)

The connector is used to

provide the connection between the particle board AND one of the sensor boards
provide the interface to program/flash the processor of: particle, sensor particle (spart) by using the programming adapter and a programmer
provide the interface between the particle board AND the (serial board OR/AND breakout board) for interconnection
provide the interface between the particle board AND the test board to test the particle
provide the interface between the sensor particle (spart) board AND the (serial board OR/AND breakout board) for interconnection

The following combinations are possible. Subsets of the below named combinations are also possible (e.g. particle AND breakout)

particle board AND serial board AND (several) breakout board(s)
particle board AND (several) breakout board(s) AND any of the sensor board
particle board AND (several) breakout board(s) AND test board
particle board AND programming adapter
sensor particle (spart) board AND programming adapter

You may also leave out one of the components in the above combinations.

The Particle Connector lines are used for communication of I/O signals (digital and analog), status and control lines (e.g. reset) and for power supply (gnd and V+). The following table gives an overview over the pin assignment for the various boards. Note: many of the lines are multiplexed:

Board

Fkt *5
mand.

Fkt.
optional

Particle 2/0x,2/1x
,2/2x, zPart (female)

Spart 2/0x (male)

SSimp 1/92 (male)

Serial 1/8x female

Serial 1/8x male

XBridge (male)

Test (male)

PartC 1/x

Particle 1/8x (female)

V+

I/O/S: V+ out: 3.3V, in: 3.3V (*1)

I/S: V+:3-3.3V

I/S: V+ (in): 3-3.3V

O/S: V+: 3.3V

O/S: V+ 3.3V

V+

I/O/S: V+ :out:3V, in: 3-3.3V (*1)

B0, INT

I/O/D: B0 Processor / Ball Switch Input (Pulled down line)

I/O/D: B0 Processor

I/D: Ball Switch (not soldered)

I/O/D: QB0, DA0 FIFO

to PIN 14

I/O/D: P1.0 + P3.2 (Interrupt (*4))

I/O/D: B0 Processor / Ball Switch Input (Pulled down line)

INT1, Actuator

I/O/D: B1 Processor

I/D: LED amber

I/O/D: QB1, DA1 FIFO

to 11, 20

P1.1

I/O/D: B1 Processor

INT2,
Pwr Sens0

I/O/D: B2 Processor

I/S: Power line for ADXL, TC74, TSL2550

I/O/D: QB2, DA2 FIFO

to 19, 12

P1.2

I/O/D: B2 Processor

INT3

I/O/D: B3 Processor

O/D: ADXL XOUT

I/O/D: QB3, DA3 FIFO

to 13

P1.3

I/O/D: B3 Processor

INT4

I/O/D: B4 Processor

O/D: ADXL YOUT

O/D:RX

I/O/D: QB4, DA4 FIFO

to 15

P1.4

I/O/D: B4 Processor

INT5

I/O/D: B5 Processor

O/D: ADXL ZOUT

i/D:TX

I/O/D: QB5, DA5 FIFO

to 16

P1.5

I/O/D: B5 Processor

INT6,
Pwr Sens1

I/O/D: B6 Processor

I/S: TSL2xx, Hygro Powerline

I/D: RTS

I/O/D: QB6, DA6 FIFO

to 17

P1.6

I/O/D: B6 Processor

INT7, I2C:SDL

I/O/D: B7 Processor

I/O/B: I2C SCL (pulled up)

O/D: CTS

I/O/D: QB7, DA7 FIFO

to 18

P1.7

I/O/D: B7 Processor

/RESET

I/C: MCLR (Reset) Processor (Pulled up line)

/Reset

I/C: MCLR (Reset) Processor (Pulled up line)

A0,I/O00

I/O/A/D: A2 Processor (Analog Input 2)

O/A: Audio out

I/O/D: QB8, DA8 FIFO

to 3, 20

P2.6; connected to AD0 if P3.0=0(*3)

I/O/A/D: A1 Processor (Analog Input 1)

A1,I/O01

I/O/A/D: A3 Processor (Analog Input 3)

O/A: Pressure,force out

I/O: /EFB FIFO

to 4, 19

P2.5; connected to AD0 if P3.0=1(*3)

I/O/A/D: A2 Processor (Analog Input 2)

I/O02

A3, I2C:SDA

I/O/A/D:F0 Processor (Analog Input 5)

I/O/B: I2C SDA (pulled up)

I/D: /RB FIFO

to 5

P2.4; connected to AD1 if P3.0=0(*3)

I/O/A/D:A3 Processor (Analog Input 3)

I/O03

I/O/A/D:A5 Processor (Analog Input 4)

O/A: TSL2xx or Hygro out

I/D: /WA FIFO

to 2

P2.3; connected to AD1 if P3.0=1(*3)

I/O/A/D:A5 Processor (Analog Input 4)

Resvd.

PRG,I/O10

D/B: D6 Processor / SDA I2C Memory, Pulled-Up, 2/29: E4

to 6

/PROG

D/B: D4 Processor / SDA I2C Memory, Pulled-Up

I/O04

1-wire
data

D/B: D3 Processor/ SCL I2C Memory, Pulled-up line, 2/29: E5

I/O/D: B7 Processor

to 7

P0.0 / SCK_SPI

D/B: D5 Processor/ SCL I2C Memory, Pulled-up line

I/O05

Pwr Sens2 + 1wire

I/O/D: D4 Processor

I/S: Audio, Pressure/force Power Supply

I/O/D: B6 Processor

to 8

P0.1 / MOSI_SPI

I/O/D: D6 Processor

I/O06

I/O/D: D5 Processor

O/D: /FFA FIFO

to 9

P0.2 / MISO_SPI

O/C: D7 Processor / Power I2C and Memory

I/O11

I/O/D: C6 Processor / TX1

I/O/D: C7 Processor / RX

O/D:RX

to 4,12

P2.1 / RX1

I/O/D: C6 Processor / TX

I/O12

I/O/D: C7 Processor / RX1

I/O/D: C6 Processor / TX

i/D:TX

to 3,11

P2.2 / TX1

(I/O/D,*2): C7 Processor / RX, parallel to RF Transceiver out

GND

I: Input line
O: Output line
S: Supply line
C: Control line
D: Digital line
A: Analog line
B: Bus line

Bx: Parallel Bus (8-bit)
INTx: Interrupt lines (1 mandatory, 7 optional)
I/O0x: mandatory I/O lines (7 I/O lines)
I/O1x: optional I/O lines (3 I/O lines)
Ax: Analog lines (2 mandatory + 2 optional Analog lines)
/RESET: System reset line (1 line)
Resvd: Special functions only (1 line)
TX,RX: Serial Interface line (2 lines)
PwrSens: Power lines for sensors attached to the Particle Connector (3 lines)
I2C: I2C bus lines (2 lines)
Actuator: Actuator line (1 line)

*1: Do not power the particle board via the attached battery or plugged in battery AND the Particle Connector
*2: Restricted access. See programming documentation
*3: P2.3-P.6 should be set input if associated Analog In port is used
*4: P3.2 should always be set input
*5: Mandatory functions for that line. Must be provided by all core boards