UART Communication Without the STAGE App

When the TWELITE STAGE App is Not Suitable

The Terminal of the TWELITE STAGE app is intended only for simple evaluation purposes. Therefore, for advanced UART communication such as the serial communication app’s format modes (ASCII / Binary), there are the following issues:

• When inputting a sequence to TWELITE’s RX, you must paste a pre-copied string using Alt+V / ⌘+V.
• Binary data cannot be handled in HEX (hexadecimal) notation.

Overview of CoolTerm

CoolTerm is a general-purpose software specialized for serial communication. Unlike TeraTerm, it can handle binary data without using debug mode and supports multiple platforms.

Installation

Please download the files from the author’s homepage.

Configuration

In CoolTerm, you can name the serial port and its associated settings.

Here, we introduce the necessary settings to adapt to the default TWELITE series.

Settings can be changed from the Options menu.

Serial Port

Within Options, under Serial Port, check the following settings:

• Port: The port used by the TWELITE R or MONOSTICK
• Baudrate: Set to 115200 bps

Terminal

Within Options, under Terminal, mainly check the following settings:

• Terminal Mode: Raw Mode
• Enter Key Emulation: CR+LF

Data Handling

Within Options, under Data Handling, mainly check the following settings:

• Clear Display on: Check ESC[2J] (enables screen clearing in interactive mode)
• Check Handle BS and DEL Characters (enables character deletion in interactive mode)
• Text Encoding: UTF8

Transmit

Within Options, under Transmit, mainly check the following settings:

• Send String Options: Check Terminate 'Send String' Data
  • Termination String: 0D 0A (appends CRLF at the end in the send screen)

Usage Examples

Interactive Mode

For interactive mode, it is recommended to set Options > Terminal > Terminal Mode to Raw Mode.

After clicking Connect, select the main screen and input the + character three times.

You can use interactive mode by directly typing characters just like in the TWELITE STAGE app.

Serial Communication App Format Mode (ASCII)

When handling sequences composed of ASCII strings starting with : and ending with CRLF, as in the serial communication app’s ASCII format mode, setting Options > Terminal > Terminal Mode to Line Mode is convenient.

You can input line by line using the Enter key, and press the ↑ cursor key to refer to the history.

The following figure shows an example of sending the byte sequence 0x11 0x22 0x33 0xAA 0xBB 0xCC several times from the Parent to all Children using the simplified format.

Serial Communication App Format Mode (Binary)

In the serial communication app’s binary format mode, set Options > Terminal > Terminal Mode to Raw Mode and uncheck Options > Transmit > Send String Options > Terminate 'Send String' Data.

To display received data in hexadecimal, select View > View Hex.

To send data represented in hexadecimal, select Connection > Send String... to open the send screen, and choose the Hex radio button.

The following figure shows an example of sending the byte sequence 0x11 0x22 0x33 0xAA 0xBB 0xCC from the Parent to all Children using the simplified format.