Particle Hardware

Hardware Overview

The Boron/Argon main processor is the Nordic Semiconductor nRF52840 SoC. It consists of a ARM Cortex-M4F 32-bit processor @ 64MHz, and has 1MB flash, 256KB RAM, ARM TrustZone CryptoCell-310 Cryptographic and security module low energy bluetooth (BLE), and a NFC-A radio. The Boron LTE has a LTE Cat M1 module for cellular communications. The Argon's Wi-Fi is an ESP32 with 801.11 b/g/n support.

Usefull Direct Links

Particle Apps (online IDE)
Particle Console
Hardware pin reference table diagram
Particle WorkBench (Visual Studio Code) tutorial
Documentation

Hardware

Put your Xenon/Agron/Boron into DFU mode

The DFU mode is identified by the LED on the Xenon blinking yellow. Put the Xenon into DFU mode by holding down the MODE button, then press the RESET button briefly while continuing to hold the MODE button until the LED begins blinking yellow. The LED will blink magenta (red & blue) at first, then only yellow.


particle usb dfu

Put your Xenon/Agron/Boron into Listening mode

Pinout Diagram

The pinout diagram below is organized to lay over the physical footprint of the devices when they are oriented with the USB connector at the top, and looking from the top of the devices (header pins pointing downward).

Pinout Diagram
Boron Argon Xenon	Feather Spec.	\|	Boron Argon Xenon	Feather Spec.
RST	RST	\|	---	---
3V3	3V3	\|	---	---
D20	ARf	\|	---	---
GND	GND	\|	---	---
A0 D19	A0	\|	Li+	Li+
A1 D18	A1	\|	EN	EN
A2 D17	A2	\|	Vusb	Vusb
A3 D16	A3	\|	D8 UART2 RTS	D13
A4 D15	A4 or D24 (2)	\|	D7 LED	D12
A5 D14 SS	A5 or D25 (2)	\|	D6 UART2 CTS	D11
D13 SCK	SCK	\|	D5 UART2 RX	D10
D12 MOSI	MOSI	\|	D4 UART2 TX MISO	D9
D11 MISO	MISO	\|	D3 SCL1 MOSI UART1_CTS	D6
D10 UART1 Tx	Rx	\|	D2 SDA1 SCK UART1_RTS	D5
D9 UART1 Rx	Tx	\|	D1 SCL	SCL
NC	(1)	\|	D0 SDA	SDA

Color Key: SPI SPI1 I2C

(1) free pin that varies in use

2(2 D24 and D25 can be used in place of A4 and A5 when the pins to not feature any analog capabilities.

The battery pin is on pin #24 or "BATT". The charge LED is on pin #26 or "CHG".

Feather pins in the IDE are referenced as "A0" or "14". Digital output should be limited to 7 mA per pin, so use a 680 ohm or higher resistor with an LED. Max 130 mA for total package.

Argon / Boron pins in the IDE are referenced as "A0" or "D14". Digital output should be limited to 9 mA per pin. Digital input HIGH when > 2.31 V, LOW < 0.99 V. Pull-up / pull-down resistance 13 kΩ.

LED built-in LED

3V3 is the primary power from Feathers to Wings. Regulator output is 1000 mA minus the Boron LTE (490 mA) and Argon (240 mA peak).

RST pulled low to reset the Feather.

Vusb power input to device. Should be 4.5 to 5.5V @ 500 mA

VBAT is power from the optional LiPoly battery. 3.0 to 3.7 V

EN pin enables the switch/regulator. The EN pin is pulled to ground during shutdown. The EN pin is connected to SYS_PWR_EN which is pulled high via a 100k resistor (~ 3.8V). The Boron will charge the LiPo while the EN pin is pulled low (shutdown), HOWEVER - if the charge current is applied while the Boron is shutdown (i.e. prior to shutdown it was not charging), then it will NOT charge.

Pin assignments on GitHub

Feather & FeatherWing Overview

Feather 32u4 Basic pinout

Input power to the Argon / Boron/ Xenon

USB port The USB port with at least 500 mA supply is the primary power connection. The USB port input power is regulated down to 3.3 VDC by the Argon / Boron / Xenon and is available on pin '3V3'. It also charges any connected 3.7 V LiPoly battery (LiPo battery output is 4.2 V fully charged).

Vusb You may provide at least 500 mA @ 4.5 to 5.0 VDC directly to the Vusb pin, rather than using the USB port (don't use both!). When Vusb is is supplied power, it will provide power to the device, and charge any connected LiPo battery.

3V3 pin You can provide at least 500 mA @ 3.3 VDC directly to the '3V3' pin (max 3.6 V), provided you disable the XC9258A on board regulator by connecting the 'EN' pin #25 to ground, and then never connect power to the USB port or the LiPo connector. When you disable the on board regulator (EN to gnd), the output drops to about ~0.8 V (not 0).

Li+ pin You may provide at least 500 mA @ 3.6 to 4.2 VDC directly to the Li+ pin, rather than using the LiPo connector. This will charge the LiPo battery and provide power to the Argon / Boron / Xenon. Do not disable the on board regulator XC9258A).

Argon / Boron / Xenon Power Requirements

Device		Max [mA]
Xenon	32 mW
Boron LTE	70 mW	120 to 480
Argon	150+ mW

The Gen 3 (Argon, Boron, Xenon) devices have 4096 bytes of emulated EEPROM.

Low Energy Bluetooth

Bluetooth LE (BLE)5 is built into the Nordic Semiconductor nRF52840 SoC main processor. Code written for the nRF51 will not work on the nRF52.

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