The NXP i.MX8QXP Cortex A35 has four LPUART interfaces that can be used for serial communication with devices either directly or through level adapters.

On LPUART0, LPUART1, and LPUART3 you can use the RTS and CTS hardware flow-control lines, while LPUART2 is only two-wires (RX/TX).

The NXP i.MX8QXP Cortex M4 has one additional UART interface for general purpose.

LPUART interfaces don’t support 7-bit transfers with no parity; so 7-bit transfers have to be done using odd or even parity.

On the ConnectCore 8X system-on-module:

  • LPUART1 is connected to the Bluetooth chip (on modules with Bluetooth).

  • LPUART0, LPUART2, and LPUART3 are available for peripheral use.

  • M4 UART0 is available for peripheral use.

The MCA in the ConnectCore 8X system-on-module also supports one or more UARTs depending on the firmware version.

See MCA UART serial port for additional information on MCA UARTs.

On the ConnectCore 8X SBC Pro:

  • LPUART0 is routed to the expansion connector (four wires: RX/TX/RTS/CTS), multiplexed with CAN0.

  • LPUART2 is routed to the console connector (two wires: RX/TX).

  • LPUART3 is routed to the expansion connector through an RS-485 transceiver with A and B differential lines and is multiplexed with CAN2.

    See RS-485 support for details on RS-485 configuration.

Kernel configuration

You can manage the LPUART support through the kernel configuration options:

  • Freescale lpuart serial port support (CONFIG_SERIAL_FSL_LPUART)

  • Console on Freescale lpuart serial port (CONFIG_SERIAL_FSL_LPUART_CONSOLE)

Kernel driver

File Description

drivers/tty/serial/fsl_lpuart.c

LPUART driver

Device tree bindings and customization

The i.MX8QXP Cortex A35 LPUART interface device tree binding is documented at Documentation/devicetree/bindings/serial/fsl-lpuart.txt

RS-485 support

RS-485 is a standard defining the electrical characteristics of drivers and receivers in balanced digital multipoint systems. RS-485 only specifies electrical characteristics of the generator and the receiver; it does not specify or recommend a communications protocol.

The i.MX8QXP serial driver includes support for the RS-485 standard. No specific kernel configuration is necessary to support RS-485 over the serial interface. The device tree bindings are documented at Documentation/devicetree/bindings/serial/rs485.txt

RS-485 half-duplex needs the RX and TX lines for data communication and the RTS line to control the RS-485 transceiver to either drive output or receive input from outside the chip.

To enable RS-485 mode on an LPUART port, apply the following changes to the device tree node:

  • Add property linux,rs485-enabled-at-boot-time.

  • If using the native RTS line of the UART:

    • Add property rs485-rts-active-low to configure the native RTS line polarity as ACTIVE LOW during transmission.

  • If using a standard GPIO as RTS line:

    • Add property digi,rts-gpio to use a standard GPIO as RTS line. Use macros GPIO_ACTIVE_LOW or GPIO_ACTIVE_HIGH on this property to define the polarity of this GPIO.

Limitations

The following list contains LPUART driver limitations for RS-485:

  • rs485-rts-delay and rs485-rx-during-tx device tree properties are not supported.

  • When using a standard GPIO as RTS line, DMA is disabled.

Example: RS-485 on ConnectCore 8X SBC Pro

By default, only LPUART3 on the ConnectCore 8X SBC Pro device tree is configured in RS-485 mode:

  • LPUART3 is routed to the expansion connector through an RS-485 transceiver with A and B differential lines.

    LPUART3 port is multiplexed with CAN2 port.

    Only one of lpuart3 and flexcan2 nodes should be enabled at a time. lpuart3 is disabled by default.

    CAN/RS485# signal selects between the CAN and RS-485 transceivers. To select the RS-485 transceiver, CAN/RS485# signal needs to be driven low. This is handled automatically through the pinctrl-assert-gpios device tree entry.

  • LPUART3 native RTS line is routed to the microSD card so a different GPIO (RS485_RE#/DE = GPIO3_IO24) is routed to the RS485 transceiver instead. Define this GPIO as the RS-485 RTS line with ACTIVE HIGH polarity in the digi,rts-gpio device tree property.

    ConnectCore 8X SBC Pro device tree
    /*
 * LPUART3 on expansion header.
 * Conflicts with CAN2.
 * Requires signal CAN/RS485# (GPIO3_IO23) to be driven low
 */
&lpuart3 {
	pinctrl-names = "default";
	pinctrl-0 = <&pinctrl_lpuart3>,
		    <&pinctrl_flexcan3_lpuart3_gpios>;
	pinctrl-assert-gpios = <&gpio3 23 GPIO_ACTIVE_LOW>;
	/* Enable RS-485 mode */
	linux,rs485-enabled-at-boot-time;
	digi,rts-gpio = <&gpio3 24 GPIO_ACTIVE_HIGH>;
};

Using the UART interface

You can access the UART interfaces from your Android application. See Serial API for more information about the Serial APIx.

Sample application

The Serial Port Sample Application demonstrates the usage of the serial port API. In this example, you can list all the available serial ports, configure them, and send and receive data.

Go to GitHub to see the application instructions and source code.