user guide small display evaluation kit pldek … revision 4.0 page 3 of 21 contents 1 about plastic...

PL-CUS-Manual-001944 Revision 4.0

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USER GUIDE

Small Display Evaluation Kit

PLDEK_BNE-HBZ6

Part-No. 700912


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Revision

Status Date Editor Reason of Modification

1.0 27/09/13 Initial Version

1.1 04/11/13 Fixed resolution for small displays

2.0 10/04/14 Software update (BN-L6)

3.0 17/04/14 Review

4.0 17/12/14

public release


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Contents

1 About Plastic Logic’s Display Evaluation Kit ............................................................. 5

2 About this document ................................................................................................... 6

3 Glossary of terms / abbreviations ............................................................................... 7

4 Safety Instructions ....................................................................................................... 8

5 Getting Started ............................................................................................................. 9

5.1 Supported Operating Systems ................................................................................ 9

5.2 Unpacking the Kit .................................................................................................... 9

5.3 Connecting the Display with the Kit ........................................................................10

5.4 System Boot and Image Display ............................................................................10

6 Controlling the Kit from a PC .....................................................................................11

6.1 Connecting the Kit to a PC via USB .......................................................................11

6.2 Stopping and Starting the Slideshow ......................................................................12

6.3 Setting the Display Type ........................................................................................13

6.4 Setting Waveform and VCOM ................................................................................12

7 Transferring Files ........................................................................................................14

7.1 Ethernet via USB ....................................................................................................14

7.2 FTP Connection .....................................................................................................15

7.3 Waveform and VCOM Upload ................................................................................15

7.4 Image Upload .........................................................................................................15

7.5 Selecting Slideshows .............................................................................................15

8 Software Overview ......................................................................................................17

8.1 Software Development Kit ......................................................................................17

8.1.1 eptest: e-paper test application .......................................................................17

8.1.2 epview: e-paper document viewer application .................................................17

8.2 Shell Scripts ...........................................................................................................17

8.2.1 slideshow-enable.sh ........................................................................................17

8.2.2 slideshow-disable.sh .......................................................................................18

8.2.3 slideshow-start.sh ...........................................................................................18

8.2.4 slideshow-stop.sh ............................................................................................18

8.2.5 slideshow-run.sh .............................................................................................18

8.2.6 slideshow-select.sh .........................................................................................18

8.2.7 list-override-files.sh .........................................................................................18

8.2.8 set-override.sh ................................................................................................18

8.3 Services .................................................................................................................19


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8.3.1 EPDC: Display driver service ..........................................................................19

8.3.2 EPUI: Slideshow service .................................................................................19

9 Troubleshooting ..........................................................................................................20

10 References ...............................................................................................................21


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1 About Plastic Logic’s Display Evaluation Kit

Plastic Logic’s Display Evaluation Kit (PLDEK, referred to as the “kit”) has been designed to

be used for a range of activities including:

1. Evaluating Plastic Logic’s display technology.

2. Evaluating the appearance of customer and 3rd party content on Plastic Logic

displays.

3. Building expertise with Plastic Logic Display systems prior to designing products or

systems that incorporate our displays.

4. Application development.


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2 About this document

This document is a user guide for the Small Display Evaluation Kit. It is only to be used for

kits containing a BeagleBone [1] and a Hummingbird Z6 board. It is intended to give

sufficient information to:

1. Safely unpack and power up the kit.

2. Start displaying images in png format.

3. Understand how to start using the Plastic Logic Software Development Kit (SDK).

This document refers to the software version BN-L6.


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3 Glossary of terms / abbreviations

COF Chip On Flex. A packaging technology used by Plastic Logic for

packaging source and gate driver chips.

Electrophoretic Display An electrophoretic display typically consists of a layer of small

capsules of fluid which also contains electrically charged dye particles.

When an electric field is applied to the capsules, the dye particles will

tend to move in a direction determined by the sign of the charge.

Display Controller This part of the display system converts a target image which is due to

be displayed into a sequence of sub-frames.

EPDC Electrophoretic Display Controller

MPWB Module Printed Wire Board.

PLDEK Plastic Logic Display Evaluation Kit

SDK Software Development Kit

HVPMIC High Voltage Power Management Integrated Circuit

CPLD Complex Programmable Logic Device


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4 Safety Instructions

Warning:

To avoid risk of electric shock or damage to the display, disconnect the

display module from its power source before handling it.

Do not touch the connections or circuits whilst the display is in operation.

Caution:

Follow ESD handling procedures to avoid circuit damage. Use a grounded wrist

strap.

Consult the document “Handling Instruction Plastic Logic Display Modules” [3]

to prevent electrical or mechanical damage of the display.

Important Notice

The Plastic Logic Display Evaluation Kit (“the kit”) is intended for use for

ENGINEERING DEVELOPMENT, DEMONSTRATION OR EVALUATION PURPOSES

ONLY and is not considered by Plastic Logic to be a finished end-product fit for

general consumer use. Persons handling the kit must have electronics training and

observe good engineering practice standards. As such, the kit being provided is not

intended to be complete in terms of required design-, marketing-, and/or

manufacturing-related protective considerations, including product safety and

environmental measures typically found in end products that incorporate such

semiconductor components or circuit boards. The kit does not fall within the scope of

the European directives regarding electromagnetic compatibility, restricted

substances (RoHS), recycling (WEEE), FCC, CE or UL, and therefore may not meet the

technical requirements of these directives or other related directives.


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5 Getting Started

Prior to unpacking the kit the user is required to take appropriate ESD and safety

precautions!

5.1 Supported Operating Systems

Windows 7 and Windows XP are the supported operating systems to control the kit remotely

via SSH, FTP or a serial connection. All described procedures are based on a Windows 7

system.

5.2 Unpacking the Kit

The kit is shipped with the items listed in the table below. Ensure that the items listed have

been included in your kit. Remove the kit from the anti-static bags and perform a visual

inspection.

No.

No.

Item Description

1 Board 1 BeagleBone Evaluation board

2 Board 2 Hummingbird Z6 board

3 Board 3 Ruddock 2.0 board

4 Flat Cable Cable to connect board 2 and 3

5 Micro - SD Card Contains operating system, slideshow images, display specific

waveforms. The Micro-SD card is mounted in the socket of board 1.

1. 6 Power supply 5.0V/2A power supply with regional adapters

7 USB cable To connect the kit via the mini USB port with a PC

Mini USB Port

Ethernet

Connector

Flat Cable BeagleBone

Board 1

Hummingbird Z6

Board 2

5V Power

Supply

Ruddock 2.0

Board 3

Micro

SD Card

Socket

Display

Connector


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5.3 Connecting the Display with the Kit

Plug the display into the display connector of the Hummingbird Z6 board first. It is important to connect the display before powering up the kit to avoid damages of any parts! Attention: Do not connect or disconnect a display during the kit is powered up!

5.4 System Boot and Image Display

After the display is plugged in use the power supply (DC 5V/2A) to power up the kit. The

image slideshow will start after a couple of seconds. Do not run the kit powered from USB

only! This will cause errors and malfunction. Though the system boots the display is not

going to operate correctly.

5V Power

Supply of

BeagleBone

Board 1


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6 Controlling the Kit from a PC

6.1 Connecting the Kit to a PC via USB

To control the kit remotely it is required to set up a connection. It is recommended to use a

serial connection over USB. Plug in the included USB cable into the PC first. Plug in the

cable into the kit afterwards.

If the connection fails by some reason it is important to remove the mini USB cable from the

kit and reconnect it. Removing the cable from the PC only might not fix the problem.

Execute the following steps to establish the connection:

Click on the Windows “Start” button and select “Devices and Printers”.

Double-Click “BeagleBone…”.

Click the “Hardware” tab.

Find out the COM port of the USB Serial Port.

Use PuTTY [2] to connect the PC to the kit. PuTTY is an open source SSH and telnet

client and can be downloaded from:

www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/download.html.

Choose connection type “Serial” and configure the COM port and the speed (115200).

http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/download.html


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Click “Open” and a terminal window will appear.

Press “ENTER” and the Ångström [3] login screen appears.

Log in using the following credentials: login “root”, password “”.

Now you are successfully logged-in and can use the shell.

6.2 Stopping and Starting the Slideshow

To stop the slideshow use the command slideshow-stop.sh.To start the slideshow use the

command slideshow-start.sh.

6.3 Setting Waveform and VCOM

Displays of some types have an EEPROM fitted that has the waveform and vcom stored.

The kit will use that information to configure itself automatically. If the display EEPROM is not

fitted or not programmed the waveform and vcom has to be set manually.

Nevertheless it is always possible to set the waveform and vcom manually. Stop the

slideshow before updating the waveform and vcom! Each display has a specific waveform

and a vcom which have to be stored as files in the directory /mnt/data/wfl on the kit. The files

are named by the display ID. The command list-override-files.sh lists all these files.


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The command set-override.sh 1 <display-id> will apply the waveform file and the vcom file

including a restart of the epdc driver to enable the new settings. For example:

set-override.sh 1 00076451805800

6.4 Setting the VCOM

If you want to override the vcom only use the following commands.

echo 4000 > /mnt/data/override/voltage/VCOM

/etc/init.d/epdc restart

This example will set the vcom to 4V (4000mV). The epdc driver needs to be restarted to

apply the new settings.

6.5 Setting the Display Type

The kit supports multiple display types. Displays of some types have an EEPROM fitted that

has the display type stored. The kit will use that information to configure itself automatically.

If the display EEPROM is not fitted or not programmed the display type should already be set

according to the displays delivered with the kit. If displays of different types are available it

might be required to set the display type depending on which display is actually connected.

Nevertheless it is always possible to set the display type manually. Stop the slideshow before

setting the display type! Use the command set-override.sh type <Type> to do so. This

includes a restart of the epdc driver to apply the new setting. For example:

set-override.sh type Type18

Consult the Plastic Logic Software Manual [4] to get an overview of the various display

types.


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7 Transferring Files

7.1 Ethernet via USB

If the system is powered up and the slideshow is running connect the kit with the provided

mini USB cable to your PC. Ethernet over USB will be enabled automatically on the kit after

plugging in the USB cable. A USB Ethernet/RNDIS gadget will be installed on the PC

automatically. This device can be found in the “Devices and Printers” dialog.

Now your Ethernet connection is enabled. The kit runs a DHCP server so that it is not required to change the network settings of the RNDIS/Ethernet Gadget on the PC. The kit uses the IP address 192.168.7.2 and the PC uses the IP address 192.168.7.1. Check the “Network and Sharing Center” to verify the network settings on the PC. Use “Change adapter settings” to list all available network connections. Open the local area connection which belongs to the USB Ethernet/RNDIS Gadget. Open “Details” to check the IP address which is actually used. Close the dialog and open “Properties” and then open the “Internet Protocol Version 4” properties. This should have “Obtain an IP address automatically” selected.


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With the Ethernet connection enabled the kit can be accessed via FTP and SSH. The FTP connection does not require a user or a password. The SSH connection uses the same credentials as the serial connection (login “root”, password “”).

7.2 FTP Connection

If your PC is successfully connected to the kit via USB open your Windows Explorer on the

PC (do not use the Internet Explorer) and use the address ftp://192.168.7.2 to open an FTP

connection to the kit. The user data partition should be accessible now. The user data

partition is a FAT partition that is mounted in the root file system of the kit under /mnt/data.

7.3 Waveform and VCOM Upload

Waveform files and vcom files have to be located in the directory /mnt/data/wfl in order to be

applied by the set-override.sh shell script. If the files are not present on the kit they have to

be transferred via FTP to this directory.

7.4 Image Upload

The user data partition can be used to store customer specific images. All default images are

stored in subdirectories of the img directory. The img directory also contains a directory

named customer which is recommended to be used for customer content.

The images have to be of png format. Depending on the type of the display the size of the

images can vary. Typical resolutions for small displays are 400x240 or 320x240. Transfer the

images to the user data partition in preparation for displaying them.

7.5 Selecting Slideshows

If the slideshow is running stop it first and restart it after the selection is done. Use the

following command to select the img/customer directory to be used for the slideshow.

slideshow-select.sh customer

Use the following command to go back to the default slideshow.

slideshow-select.sh default monochrome


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The command to select the slideshow always uses /mnt/data/img as the base directory. A

subdirectory containing the images to be displayed can be specified explicitly by its relative

path (e.g. customer). Alternatively the parameter default can be used. This will cause an

automatic detection of the display resolution based on the currently defined display type. The

relative path to the directory containing the images to be displayed is concatenated as

follows: default_<resolution>, e.g. default_400x320. The second parameter is used to define

a relative path which is appended to the resolution based path, e.g.

default_400x320/monochrome.


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8 Software Overview

8.1 Software Development Kit

The SDK contains several libraries and applications to control an e-paper display and

demonstrate its operation. Check the Plastic Logic Software Manual [4] and the PLSDK

documentation [5], [6] for more detailed information.

8.1.1 eptest: e-paper test application

The eptest application draws test patterns and shows the use of various e-paper features. To

clear the screen and run a basic test pattern use the following command.

eptest -c

Use the help option to get detailed usage information.

eptest --help

8.1.2 epview: e-paper document viewer application

Images can be shown on an e-paper display using epview. Only png format is supported.

The image resolution should match the display resolution, e.g. 400x240 or 320x240.

There are a number of example images on the kit. For small displays use either the images

in the directory /mnt/data/img/default_400x240/monochrome or in the directory

/mnt/data/img/default_320x240/monochrome. These images can be displayed as shown in

the following example:

epview /mnt/data/img/default_400x240/monochrome/01.png

Use the help option to get detailed usage information.

epview --help

8.2 Shell Scripts

The shell scripts are located in the directory /mnt/data/bin. This directory is included in the

“PATH” environment variable. Therefore the scripts can be executed from any location in the

file system without specifying the path they are located in.

8.2.1 slideshow-enable.sh

This script enables the slideshow. That is the slideshow can be started manually respectively

it is started automatically during the boot process.


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8.2.2 slideshow-disable.sh

This script disables the slideshow. That is the slideshow cannot be started manually

respectively it is not started automatically during the boot process.

8.2.3 slideshow-start.sh

This script starts the slideshow so that it runs in the background. It uses the epui service.

8.2.4 slideshow-stop.sh

This script stops the slideshow if it is running in the background. It uses the epui service.

8.2.5 slideshow-run.sh

This script actually runs the slideshow. The slideshow will not be started if it is disabled. The

script runs in the foreground if it is called directly. If it is called using the epui service it runs in

the background.

8.2.6 slideshow-select.sh

This script sets the directory which contains the images to be displayed by the slideshow.

8.2.7 list-override-files.sh

This script lists all available override files for waveform and vcom which are located in the

directory /mnt/data/wfl. These files can be used by the script set-override.sh.

8.2.8 set-override.sh

This script sets vcom, waveform, and display type.


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8.3 Services

8.3.1 EPDC: Display driver service

The epdc service controls the epdc driver. It is started automatically during the boot process.

To apply new settings like waveform, vcom, display type the display driver needs to be

restarted.

/etc/init.d/epdc restart

The service also supports the start and stop option. Shell scripts and applications that use

the epdc driver should be stopped before stopping or restarting the epdc driver!

8.3.2 EPUI: Slideshow service

The epui service controls the slideshow. The slideshow can be started and stopped with the

service using the start and stop option. For example:

/etc/init.d/epui start


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9 Troubleshooting

In case of any problems please email [email protected].

mailto:[email protected]


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10 References

[1] BeagleBone, http://beagleboard.org/Products/BeagleBone

[2] PyTTY, http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/download.html

[3] Ångström, http://beagleboard.org/angstrom

[4] Plastic Logic Software Manual, plswmanual-009.pdf

[5] Plastic Logic E-Paper SDK, plsdk-020.pdf

[6] Python PLSDK Manual, pyplsdk-020.pdf

http://beagleboard.org/Products/BeagleBone

http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/download.html

http://beagleboard.org/angstrom

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