Advantages of MikroBUS | Disadvantages of MikroBUS, Pin Out
This page covers advantages and disadvantages of MikroBUS interface pin out. It mentions benefits or advantages of MikroBUS and drawbacks or disadvantages of MikroBUS.
What is MikroBUS?
Introduction:
PCB design manufacturers across the globe develop products with different pin outs and
use different options for external connectivity. This makes it difficult to interface two boards
from different manufacturers. MikroBUS standard has been developed which is a plug and play pin out standard.
The MikroBUS specification defines specific connector with standard spacing. This connector includes
two numbers of 1x8 headers. The figure-1 below depicts MikroBUS pin out with all the details.
Each MikroBUS provides interface for three serial communication channels which include SPI, UART and I2C. Out of these, SPI interface is provided on left side and UART/I2C interfaces are provided on right side. Following table mentions complete pin details which is also shown in the figure-1.
Left side MikroBUS Pin out (Top to Bottom)
| Pin No | Designation | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | AN | Analog Pin |
| 2 | RST | Reset pin |
| 3 | CS | SPI Chip Select |
| 4 | SCK | SPI Clock |
| 5 | MISO | SPI Slave Out |
| 6 | MOSI | SPI Master Out |
| 7 | +3.3V | 3.3V Power |
| 8 | GND | Ground |
Right side MikroBUS Pin out (Top to Bottom)
| Pin No | Designation | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | PWM | PWM Output |
| 2 | INT | Interrupt |
| 3 | Rx | UART Receive pin |
| 4 | Tx | UART Transmit pin |
| 5 | SCL | I2C clock |
| 6 | SDA | I2C data |
| 7 | +5V | 5V power |
| 8 | GND | Ground |
The figure-2 depicts one such PCB with MikroBUS connector. The mikroBUS socket uses pair of 1x8 female headers on all the boards. As mentioned, it consists of three serial communication pins, six additional pins (PWM, interrupt, analog input, reset and chip select) and two power groups (3.3V and 5v).
The mikroBUS socket on PCB helps in integration of various range of clock boards, transceivers, sensors, LED displays, audio amplifiers from various manufacturers. The list of companies which use mikroBUS interface include Microchip, NXP, Infineon, Renesas, Synopsys, AVNET, Analog devices, Cypress, Farnell, Fujitsu, PHYTEC, Silicon Labs and so on.
Benefits or advantages of MikroBUS
Following are the benefits or advantages of MikroBUS:
➨It helps in easy addition of extra boards using standard mikroBUS sockets.
➨It helps to integrate additional functionality to mikroBUS based board without any hardware adjustments.
➨It is single bus which offers connections for three different types of serial communication devices.
➨It allows integration of numerous click boards which are plug and play type without any hassles. Hence customers will have wide options to enhance functionality at any time due to availability of hundreds of boards with mikroBUS.
➨It does not require much time due to no soldering and no wires.
Drawbacks or disadvantages of MikroBUS
Following are the limitations or drawbacks or disadvantages of MikroBUS:
➨It introduces too many features which increases cost while designing small IoT hardware.
➨It does not have GPIO interface. Hence it is not suitable for board design which requires GPIOs in comparison to other modular systems such as
R-Bus, M2.COM, Micro bit, PMOD, Grove system and Arduino Shield.
Advantages and Disadvantages of other Sensor Types
Advantages and Disadvantages of other wireless technologies
What is Difference between
difference between OFDM and OFDMA
Difference between SC-FDMA and OFDM
Difference between SISO and MIMO
Difference between TDD and FDD
FDMA vs TDMA vs CDMA
FDM vs TDM
CDMA vs GSM