CP2102N USB-to-Serial Adapter Carrier Pololu

DESCRIPTION

This USB-to-serial adapter is a breakout board for the Silicon Labs CP2102N USBXpress USB-to-UART bridge, and it is a great solution for connecting microcontroller projects and other logic-level serial devices to a personal computer. The tiny unit measures only 0.6″ × 0.95″ including its Micro-USB connector. It offers several options for accessing the data, control, and GPIO pins on the CP2102N, all of which are made available on a 0.1″ spacing.

It uses 3.3 V signal levels by default, but the signal pins can tolerate higher voltages, allowing the adapter to be used with 5 V systems that see 3.3 V as a logic high. The green LED on the SUSPEND line indicates an active USB connection when lit.

The adapter looks like a standard virtual serial port (COM port) to the computer’s operating system, which means it can be used with any software designed to work with a serial port (even a legacy RS-232 port). The CP2102N is a full-speed USB 2.0 device and allows baud rates of up to 3 Mbps. Drivers are available from Silicon Labs for Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10, Linux, and Mac OS X.

Connections

All of the adapter’s pins are available in two rows spaced 0.5″ apart along the sides of the board. This allows any pin to be accessed easily while the adapter is plugged into a solderless breadboard, alternatively, a 1×6 header can be soldered to the end of the board, as shown in the right picture below. This gives access to six signals (RTS, RX, TX, VBUS, CTS, and GND) that are commonly found on FTDI cables and other similar USB-to-serial adapters. As a result, this CP2102N adapter board can be used as a drop-in replacement for an FTDI cable in many applications, such as programming Arduino-compatible boards. The carrier board ships with a 1×25 straight male header strip, a 1×6 right-angle male header strip, and a 1×6 right-angle female header, you can also solder wires directly to the pads for the smallest installation.

Using a different VIO

This carrier board connects the VIO pin of the CP2102N to VDD by default, setting its logic voltage level to the 3.3 V provided by the IC’s built-in voltage regulator. If you want to use a lower logic voltage, you can disconnect VIO from VDD by cutting the thin trace between the two pads of the surface-mount jumper shown to the right. You can then solder a thin wire to the exposed via labelled “VIO” and connect it to a separate voltage supply (as low as 1.71 V).

FEATURES

• Dimensions: 0.6″ × 0.95″ × 0.17(W x L x H)
• Weight: 1.4g
• Supported baud rates: 300 bps to 3 Mbps
• USB standard: USB 2.0 (full speed)
• Connector: USB Micro-B
• Logic voltage level: 3.3 V (5 V tolerant)
• Supply current: 15 mA

RESOURCES

• CP2102N datasheet
• Schematic diagram of the CP2102N USB-to-serial adapter carrier
• Dimension diagram of the CP2102N USB-to-Serial Adapter Carrier
• 3D model of the CP2102N USB-to-Serial Adapter Carrier
• Drill guide for the CP2102N USB-to-Serial Adapter Carrier
• CP210x USB-to-UART bridge drivers
• Silicon Labs CP2102N USBXpress USB bridge product page