
Explore the STM32Fx microcontroller custom bootloader development, covering memory architecture, boot sequences, host communication, and building a project with peripherals like UART and flash commands.
Explain what a bootloader is and why it’s needed, illustrating how it loads and updates applications in flash with examples from Arduino and STM32 boards.
Explore the memory organization of the stm32f446xx, including 512 kilobytes of on-chip flash, 112 and 16 kilobytes of sram, the system memory that stores the bootloader, and flash sector layout.
Choose a beginner-friendly STM32F4 board like the Nucleo F446RE for affordable learning and code compatibility with the discovery board, while checking on-board debugger and RAM and flash needs.
Install keil mdk on windows, explore mdk core with microvision ide, arm compiler, cmsis drivers, and middleware; use mdk-lite with a 32 kb limit or switch to eclipse on mac/linux.
Learn to talk to the STM32 bootloader over usart using the correct interface (not USART2), wiring PC10/PC11 to a USB-to-UART adapter, and using the STM32 Flash Loader Demonstrator.
Witness a hands-on demo of ST's native bootloader over USB-to-UART, flashing a hex file to an STM32F4 board, with boot mode checks, erase options, and jumping to the user program.
Explore the transport protocol for a custom bootloader on the Nucleo board, using USART2 for commands and replies via a virtual COM port, with USART3 for debug prints.
Get started with Micro-controller Bootloader Development.
This course will be suitable for beginners in the domain of embedded systems and programming.
This course is all about learning to develop a custom BootLoader for ARM CORTEX Mx powered STM32Fx microcontroller.
In this course, I will guide you through a step-by-step procedures to develop your own BootLoader and we will explore many things related to BootLoader programming.
The BootLoader we are going to develop in this course will have the following features
1) It can do in-application programming(IAP). You can use the BootLoader to flash a given application binary
2) Read microcontroller-specific data
3) Flash related configurations like setting up read and write protections for different sectors
4) Flash sector erase
5) Mass erase of the user flash
6) Read and display the protection status of the flash memory
7) Jump to the specified address to execute the code
Along with custom BootLoader development, you will also understand
1) The different memory organization of a microcontroller
2) Memory aliasing and different boot modes of STM32
3) How MCU boots after power-up
4) Vector table mapping and vector table relocation use case of arm cortex mx processor.
5) Difference between In-system programming(ISP) and in-application programming(IAP)
6) Custom boot loader design flow chart
7) Host and Boot loader communication method
8) Implementation of different boot loader commands
You can also extend this BootLoader by giving the following features once you complete the course
1) Encrypt and Decrypt the firmware sent by the host using AES
2) Over-the-air programming by interfacing WIFI or Zigbee Modules
Hardware used in this course:
In this course, STM32F446RE Nucleo board is used.
If you have any other board based on the STM32 microcontroller then also you can use the codes developed in the course with no or minor changes.
Software used:
1) KEIL-MDK-5 for WINDOWS
2) OpenSTM32 SystemWorkbench for (WINDOWS/LINUX/MAC OS)
Learning order of FastBit Embedded Brain Academy Courses,
If you are a beginner in the field of embedded systems, then you can take our courses in the below-mentioned order.
This is just a recommendation from the instructor for beginners.
1) Microcontroller Embedded C Programming: absolute beginners(Embedded C)
2) Embedded Systems Programming on ARM Cortex-M3/M4 Processor(ARM Cortex M4 Processor specific)
3) Mastering Microcontroller with Embedded Driver Development(MCU1)
4) Mastering Microcontroller: TIMERS, PWM, CAN, RTC,LOW POWER(MCU2)
5) Mastering Microcontroller: STM32-LTDC, LCD-TFT, LVGL(MCU3)
6) Embedded System Design using UML State Machines(State machine)
7) Mastering RTOS: Hands-on FreeRTOS and STM32Fx with Debugging(RTOS)
8) ARM Cortex M Microcontroller DMA Programming Demystified(DMA)
9) STM32Fx Microcontroller Custom Bootloader Development(Bootloader)
10) Embedded Linux Step by Step using Beaglebone Black(Linux)
11) Linux device driver programming using Beaglebone Black(LDD1)
Other programming courses
1) Master The Rust Programming Language : Beginner To Advanced