Binho Pulsar: Hardware reference

Ports and power domains, electrical ratings, target voltage, pinout and status LEDs of the Binho Pulsar.

Ports and Power Domains

The Pulsar has a USB Type-C port at the rear and four ports at the front for the device under test.

The four front ports.

Port	Connector	Signals
USB	USB Type-C	Host PC link and power
Multifunction Port	2 × 15 pin, 1.27 mm pitch	I2C bus B, SPI, UART, 6 GPIO, 1-Wire (Nova compatibility mode)
Dedicated I2C Port	4-pin JST SH (Qwiic compatible)	I2C bus A
RS-485 Port	4-pin JST PH, 2 mm pitch	RS-485 A and B, +5 V
CAN-FD Port	4-pin JST PH, 2 mm pitch	CAN+ and CAN−, +5 V

Note

The Dedicated I2C Port and the I2C pins of the Multifunction Port are two independent buses, each with its own SDA and SCL. They share only the target voltage rail (VTARG) and ground. In software, the Dedicated I2C Port is bus A and the Multifunction Port is bus B.

The front ports sit on two power domains. Both share ground with each other and with the host PC.

Power domain	Ports	Voltage
Multifunction Power Domain	Multifunction Port, Dedicated I2C Port	1.2 V to 3.3 V set from software, or 0 V (off); up to 200 mA
Differential Power Domain	RS-485 Port, CAN-FD Port	Fixed +5 V, always on, up to 200 mA

I2C, SPI, UART and GPIO share one rail, VTARG. Setting the voltage from any of these interfaces sets it for all four. The 1-Wire pin has its own 3.3 V or 5 V rail.

Electrical Ratings

Absolute Maximum Ratings

Danger

Stresses beyond these ratings may cause permanent damage to the device.

Parameter	Max
USB input voltage	5.5 V
USB input current	1000 mA
Operating temperature	0 to 70 °C
ESD rating	±4000 V
Multifunction and Dedicated I2C ports, any pin except 1-Wire	4.2 V
1-Wire pin	5.5 V
Multifunction Power Domain output current	250 mA
RS-485 A, B	−15 to +15 V
CAN+, CAN−	−42 to +42 V
Differential Power Domain output current	250 mA

Recommended Operating Conditions

Parameter	Min	Typ	Max
USB input voltage	4.5 V	5.0 V	5.5 V
USB input current	n/a	500 mA	1000 mA
Multifunction Power Domain voltage (input or output)	1.2 V	1.8 V	3.3 V
Multifunction Power Domain output current	n/a	100 mA	200 mA
1-Wire pin	n/a	3.3 V	5.0 V
Differential Power Domain output current	n/a	100 mA	200 mA
RS-485 A, B	−7 V	n/a	12 V
CAN+, CAN−	−12 V	n/a	12 V

Target Voltage (VTARG)

If the board has its own supply

Do not set a voltage. Tell the Pulsar the rail comes from outside, then read back what it measures:

i2c.use_external_voltage()           # stop driving VTARG, follow the target
print(i2c.get_bus_voltage(), "mV")   # the voltage measured on VTARG

Danger

On firmware 4.6.x and earlier, a voltage Set connects the Pulsar’s supply to VTARG even when the board already powers it. Two supplies then fight on the rail. With a self-powered target, use use_external_voltage() and never Set a voltage.

On those versions, if a voltage was stored with persist=True and later set 0 V, the rail can come up at about 3.3 V after a reboot, firmware update or DFU. Disconnect 1.8 V parts before rebooting or updating.

Mission Control 3 does not store the voltage across power cycles. Only the SDKs can (persist=True).

Pinout Guide

Multifunction Port (2 × 15)

Pin	Name	Function	Pin	Name	Function
1	SCL	I2C clock (bus B)	2	GND	Ground
3	SDA	I2C data (bus B)	4	GND	Ground
5	RX	UART receive	6	GND	Ground
7	TX	UART transmit	8	GND	Ground
9	RTS	UART ready to send	10	GND	Ground
11	CTS	UART clear to send	12	GND	Ground
13	MOSI	SPI data out (SDO)	14	GND	Ground
15	MISO	SPI data in (SDI)	16	GND	Ground
17	CLK	SPI clock	18	GND	Ground
19	CS0	SPI chip select 0 or GPIO	20	CS1	SPI chip select 1 or GPIO
21	CS2	SPI chip select 2 or GPIO	22	CS3	SPI chip select 3 or GPIO
23	GPIO1	General-purpose I/O	24	GPIO2	General-purpose I/O
25	GPIO3	General-purpose I/O	26	GPIO4	General-purpose I/O
27	GPIO5	General-purpose I/O	28	GPIO6	General-purpose I/O
29	VTARG	Target voltage (Multifunction Power Domain)	30	1WIRE	1-Wire bus

Dedicated I2C Port (Qwiic)

1 - GND	2 - VTARG	3 - SDA (bus A)	4 - SCL (bus A)

RS-485 Port

1 - A (non-inverting)	2 - B (inverting)	3 - +5 V	4 - GND

CAN-FD Port

1 - CAN−	2 - CAN+	3 - +5 V	4 - GND

The RS-485 and CAN-FD ports use the same 2 mm JST PH connector, so their cables are interchangeable. For custom fixtures: the Multifunction Port is a standard 2 × 15, 1.27 mm IDC header, and the enclosure has two M3 mounting holes.

Status LEDs

The Pulsar has 5 RGB status LEDs. They show the device mode, its state and bus traffic.