How to use the SPI ports

Pinout of SPI ports

The SPI bus lines are located on the following pins:

Not all the signales are available by default and not all SPI lines are listed on this table class='acmetable' or muxed in this way.

Refer to the MCU datasheets to find other lines.

Enable the Linux Kernel SPI modules

Follow this tutorial: to know how to cross compile the Linux Kernel and how to configure the drivers to enable inside it.

Enable the SPIDEV user interface and the Microchip SPI device driver as shown below:

Device Drivers  --->
  [*] SPI support  ---> 
    <*>   Atmel SPI Controller 
    <*>   User mode SPI device driver support

Configure the device tree

Edit the device tree source of your board adding these lines:

Acqua

spi0: spi@f0004000 {
    status = "okay";
    cs-gpios = <&pioD 13 0>, <&pioD 14 0>, <&pioD 15>, <&pioD 16>;

    device@0 {
        compatible = "spidev";
        spi-max-frequency = <50000000>;     // 50 MHz
        reg = <0>;
    };
    device@1 {
        compatible = "spidev";
        spi-max-frequency = <5000000>;      // 5 MHz
        reg = <1>;
    };
    device@2 {
        compatible = "spidev";
        spi-max-frequency = <5000000>;      // 5 MHz
        reg = <2>;
    };
    device@3 {
        compatible = "spidev";
        spi-max-frequency = <5000000>;      // 5 MHz
        reg = <3>;
    };
};

spi1: spi@f8008000 {
    status = "disabled";
    cs-gpios = <&pioC 25 0>, <&pioC 26 0>, <&pioC 27 0>, <&pioC 28 0>;
};

Aria

spi0: spi@f0000000 {
    status = "okay";
    interrupts = <13 4 5>;
    cs-gpios = <&pioA 14 0>, <&pioA 7 0>, <&pioA 1 0>, <&pioB 3 0>;

    device@0 {
        compatible = "spidev";
        spi-max-frequency = <5000000>;
        reg = <0>;
    };

    device@1 {
        compatible = "spidev";
        spi-max-frequency = <5000000>;
        reg = <1>;
    };

    device@2 {
        compatible = "spidev";
        spi-max-frequency = <5000000>;
        reg = <2>;
    };

    device@3 {
        compatible = "spidev";
        spi-max-frequency = <5000000>;
        reg = <3>;
    };
};

Credits: Many thanks to Marcelo Roberto Jimenez for his contribute on this section

Arietta

spi1: spi@f0004000 {
    status = "okay";
    cs-gpios = <&pioA 8 0>, <&pioA 0 0>, <&pioA 31 0>, <&pioA 30 0>;
    device@0 {
        compatible = "spidev";
        spi-max-frequency = <50000000>;     // 50 MHz
        reg = <0>;
    };
    device@1 {
        compatible = "spidev";
        spi-max-frequency = <5000000>;      // 5 MHz
        reg = <1>;
    };
    device@2 {
        compatible = "spidev";
        spi-max-frequency = <5000000>;      // 5 MHz
        reg = <2>;
    };
    device@3 {
        compatible = "spidev";
        spi-max-frequency = <5000000>;      // 5 MHz
        reg = <3>;
    };
};

Check the system log

When you reboot the board you should see a message like this:

[    0.820312] atmel_spi f0000000.spi: version: 0x212
[    0.820312] atmel_spi f0000000.spi: Using dma0chan2 (tx) and dma0chan3 (rx) for DMA transfers
[    0.828125] atmel_spi f0000000.spi: Atmel SPI Controller at 0xf0000000 (irq 29)

by typing the command:

dmesg

Check that exist the device inside the /dev directory:

ls /dev/spi*
/dev/spidev32766.0

In this case the name /dev/spidev32766.0 is the filename to use to manage the communication with the SPI device

Use the SPI from user space

This is an example on how to use the SPI interface from user space using the device file /dev/spidev32766.0 created by the spidev driver.

We will use a Microchip SPI DAC model MCP4822

wired to the Aria G25 SOM in this way:

| MCP4822 | ARIA   | SAM9G20      |
|---------|--------|--------------|
| 1 VDD   | 3V3    |              |
| 2 CS    | S9     | PA14 - NPCS0 |
| 3 SCK   | S10    | PA13 - SPCK  |
| 4 SDI   | S11    | PA12 - MOSI  |
| 5 LDAC  | GND    |              |
| 6 VOUTB | OUT B  |              |
| 7 VSS   | GND    |              |
| 8 VOUTA | OUT A  |              |

with this C program we can set the VOUT A and VOUT B voltage in a range od 0 to 2 volt.

• mcp4822.c

Save this program on Aria and compile it by typing

 gcc mcp4822.c -std=c99 -o mcp4822

If the C compiler gcc is not found install it by typing:

apt-get install gcc

To set for example the VOUT A at 1.1 volt and the VOUT B at 1.5 volt type:

./mcp4822 1.1 1.7

Datasheets

• AT91SAM9G20 datasheet used on FOX Board G20 and Netus G20
• AT91SAM9G25 datasheet used on Aria G25 and Terra Board
• SAMA5D3 ARM Cortex-A5 Microprocessors datasheet used on Acqua A5
• Microchip MCP4822 device overview
• Microchip MCP4822 datasheet

Related links

• Kernel documentation of spidev
• Kernel documentation of SPI
• Working with SPI bus under Linux Kernel 2.6.x

Sergio Tanzilli
Systems designer, webmaster of www.acmesystems.it and founder of Acme Systems srl

Personal email: tanzilli@acmesystems.it
Web pages: https://www.acmesystems.it --- https://www.acmestudio.it
Github repositories: https://github.com/tanzilli --- https://github.com/acmesystems
Telegram group dedicated to the Acme Systems boards: https://t.me/acmesystemssrl