Connecting LinkIt 7697 to Computer

In this chapter, we'll show you how to connect the LinkIt 7697 board to your computer so that you can program and interact with the board with Arduino IDE through the Serial Monitor. But first, you need to install CP2102N VCP driver before connecting the board.

Overview

LinkIt 7697 connects to your computer through the COM port interface. The COM port interface is provided by the onboard CP2102N USB-to-UART bridge chipset, which then connects to the UART0 port of the MT7697 SoC. The UART0 port can be used to program the flash memory attached to the MT7697 chipset. It can also be used as a communication channel for your program through the Arduino IDE Serial Monitor, or other terminal programs of your choice.

A block diagram is shown below:

Install CP2102N USB-to-UART Driver

Since the board relies on CP2102N to provide the COM port functionality, you'll need to install the driver so that your computer can recognize it. And because the board uses the default USB VID and PID of the CP2102N, you need to install the official CP2102N driver from the vendor's website. Click on the links below to install the driver.

• Windows installation steps

• OS X (macOS) installation steps