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You can learn the PSoC® design model with a small project that turns an onboard LED on, blinks it with hardware PWM, and then controls it from firmware. The classic exercise uses a PSoC 4 BLE development board and PSoC Creator, but its pin numbers and menus are board- and version-specific. Check your exact device and board schematic before copying any assignment.
Choose the right PSoC toolchain first
PSoC combines a microcontroller with configurable digital and analog resources. In PSoC Creator, you place and configure hardware components in a schematic; the tool then generates configuration code and component APIs alongside your application firmware. Infineon describes Creator as a Windows IDE for schematic capture, hardware and firmware co-design, code generation, programming, and debugging (Infineon PSoC Creator documentation).
| Situation | Recommended path | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Reproducing the historical PSoC 4 BLE LED tutorial | PSoC Creator | The original menus, TopDesign workflow, components, and generated APIs are Creator-specific. |
| Newer supported PSoC 4 devices, including PSoC 4000T and PSoC 4100T Plus | ModusToolbox | Infineon identifies these newer families as ModusToolbox-supported and not supported by PSoC Creator. |
| Windows, macOS, or Linux development | ModusToolbox, when your device is supported | ModusToolbox supports all three operating systems and can integrate with Eclipse, Visual Studio Code, Arm MDK, and IAR Embedded Workbench. |
| Legacy PSoC 3, PSoC 4, PSoC 5LP, or selected PSoC 6 devices | Check the device support table; Creator may be required | ModusToolbox does not support every legacy PSoC. |
For current family-specific guidance, use Infineon’s PSoC 4 documentation. The original project remains useful for learning the schematic-and-component model, not as a universal recipe for every PSoC board.
Hardware and software checklist
To reproduce the original exercise
- A compatible PSoC 4 BLE development board with an onboard programmer/debugger.
- A USB cable and a Windows computer running PSoC Creator.
- The board schematic or user guide, to identify the onboard LED pin and polarity.
- Optional battery power for testing after programming.
The historical example routes its red LED to P2[6], with green on P3[6] and blue on P3[7]. Those values apply to the board described in the original All About Circuits project only. Another board, revision, or LED circuit can use different ports, pins, polarity, or even no onboard LED.
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- Not including the controller board.
For a current project
Choose a kit whose exact part number is supported by the intended tool. Infineon’s AN79953 and related PSoC 4 material provide device-specific first-design guidance. The PSoC 4000 product page is an entry point for that family, but its kits should not be assumed to share the PSoC 4 BLE pin map.
How a PSoC Creator project is organized
- Workspace Explorer: projects, source files, configurations, and generated output.
- TopDesign schematic: the graphical design where PSoC components are placed and connected.
- Component library: configurable pins, clocks, PWM blocks, timers, communication peripherals, and other resources.
- Design-wide resources: device-wide settings and physical pin assignments, commonly edited through the project’s
.cydwrfile. - Generated source: initialization code and APIs derived from component instance names.
- Results and output windows: build diagnostics, memory usage, and programming status.
Not every symbol visible in the schematic is compiled into the chip. In the original exercise, blue resistor, LED, and VDD symbols are off-chip documentation aids. The PSoC components define the programmable design; the external symbols explain the surrounding circuit.
Project 1: turn on the onboard LED
1. Create and verify the project
- Launch PSoC Creator and create a new project from the appropriate device or kit template.
- Open Project → Device Selector and choose the exact part number, package, and memory variant fitted to your board. Do not leave a default device selected.
- Open the TopDesign schematic.
2. Add the digital output
- From the component catalog, place a Digital Output Pin on the schematic.
- Give the instance a useful name such as
LED. That name determines the generated API, so a component calledLEDcan produceLED_Write(), while the defaultPin_1can producePin_1_Write(). - Configure the initial output level and drive mode as appropriate for your board.
- Open the design-wide resources view and assign the component to the physical onboard LED pin. For the historical PSoC 4 BLE example, that is P2[6] for red; verify your own schematic instead of copying it.
3. Account for LED polarity
Many development-board LEDs are active-low: driving the pin low turns the LED on, while driving it high turns it off. Others are active-high. If the output appears inverted, check the board schematic and the pin component’s initial state before changing firmware.
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4. Build and program
- Build the project. A successful build generates source and a programming image such as a
.hexfile, and reports flash and SRAM usage. Exact folders and panes vary by Creator version and configuration. - Connect the board through the USB connector associated with its programmer/debugger and confirm that the board is powered.
- Choose Debug → Program or the program toolbar button.
- Select the detected programming target, then wait for programming to complete.
- Verify that the LED reaches the expected steady state. In the historical active-low example, the red LED is continuously illuminated.
If programming fails, return to Project → Device Selector, correct the part selection, rebuild, and try again. A successful compile with the wrong device can still produce an image the programmer cannot use.
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PWM demonstrates PSoC’s distinctive hardware model: a configurable peripheral can generate a waveform without the CPU repeatedly toggling a GPIO.
Configure the components
- Replace the static logic source with a PWM component and a Clock component in TopDesign.
- Connect the clock to the PWM and the PWM output to the LED pin.
- Choose a frequency slow enough to see the LED change. Higher frequencies may look continuously lit because of human persistence of vision.
- Set the duty cycle, the percentage of each period for which the signal is high. With an active-low LED, the visible on-time is inverted relative to the logic waveform.
- Name the instances clearly, for example
LED_PWMandPWM_Clock.
Start the hardware in firmware
Generated peripherals normally require startup calls in main.c. With instances named Clock and PWM, the historical example uses:
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Clock_Start();
PWM_Start();If you rename the instances, use the generated names instead:
PWM_Clock_Start();
LED_PWM_Start();Build and program again. If the debugger stops before the application runs, resume execution; a debug session can begin under debugger control at main.c rather than running immediately as a standalone programmed board.
Project 3: blink with software GPIO control
Software control is useful for learning generated APIs and timing, although a blocking delay occupies the CPU. A representative loop is:
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- The Breadboard Power Supply come with a USB Power Cables,which is hard to find.
- Datasheet is available to download from our official website or you can contact our customer service.
- Not including the controller board.
for (;;)
{
Pin_1_Write(1);
CyDelay(500);
Pin_1_Write(0);
CyDelay(500);
}CyDelay(500) is a 500 ms blocking delay used by the original demonstration. Replace Pin_1_Write() with the function generated for your component name, such as LED_Write(). For production firmware, hardware PWM, a timer interrupt, or an RTOS task is usually preferable when other work must continue during the blink interval.
Build outputs and configurations
The build system combines the schematic configuration and application source into generated code and a programmable image. Useful outputs commonly include:
- Generated component and initialization source files.
- A
.heximage for programming. - ELF and map files when enabled by the project configuration.
- Flash and SRAM utilization reports.
- Separate Debug and Release artifacts.
Build errors appear in the output window and stop image generation. Fix the first reported error before interpreting later messages; a missing generated header or API often means the component name, device, or build configuration is wrong.
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Debug the design
- Select the Debug configuration and build it.
- Start debugging from the Debug menu or toolbar.
- Click the source margin to set a breakpoint.
- Use resume, halt, step over, step into, and step out to control execution.
- Inspect locals, registers, and memory when a signal or variable does not behave as expected.
Compiler optimization can remove or transform variables, so a variable may not appear in the locals view even though the program is correct. Timing-sensitive behavior also changes when the CPU is halted: PWM, interrupts, and delay-based blinking will not look normal while stopped at a breakpoint.
Troubleshooting by symptom
The board is not detected or programming fails
- Verify the USB cable, the correct USB connector, board power switch, and jumpers.
- Confirm that the onboard programmer/debugger is enabled and its driver is installed.
- Check the exact device, package, and memory variant in the project.
- Rebuild after correcting the device, then run Debug → Program again.
The build succeeds but no LED lights
- Recheck the board schematic, LED pin, and board revision.
- Determine whether the LED is active-low or active-high.
- Confirm that the intended target was actually programmed.
- Check that the board is powered and that the LED is not controlled by another jumper or switch.
The wrong LED responds
The physical assignment is wrong for the selected board. Reassign the pin in the design-wide resources file and rebuild. P2[6], P3[6], and P3[7] are historical PSoC 4 BLE example mappings, not universal PSoC assignments.
PWM does not blink
- Confirm that both the clock and PWM startup functions execute.
- Check PWM routing to the LED pin.
- Choose a visible frequency and a nonzero compare value.
- Account for active-low polarity.
- Resume the debug session if it is halted at a breakpoint.
The generated function name is different
Use the component instance name shown in TopDesign. Renaming a pin from Pin_1 to LED changes calls such as Pin_1_Write() to LED_Write() after regeneration.
What changes when you use another board?
- The device part number and package.
- The LED’s port and pin assignment.
- LED polarity and drive circuitry.
- The required USB connector and programmer/debugger.
- Available PWM, clock, analog, and communication resources.
- Project templates, menu labels, generated files, and supported IDEs.
- Whether the board is supported by PSoC Creator or requires ModusToolbox.
Read the board schematic and the device-specific Infineon guide before changing the design. For PSoC 6 first-project examples, see Infineon’s PSoC 6 documentation; it includes kit prerequisites, firmware, building, programming, and testing, but does not make its hardware requirements universal to PSoC 4.
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Where to go next
After the LED works, add a push button, UART logging, an ADC measurement, a timer interrupt, CapSense, or a low-power mode. Wireless projects require a device and kit that support the relevant BLE or Wi-Fi stack. If you want to evaluate hardware before buying, Infineon lists a cloud-based Dev Kit Experience and Infineon Live Lab at its PSoC developer evaluation page.
The practical lesson is the separation between configurable hardware and firmware: a pin, clock, and PWM block can be assembled graphically, while C code starts those blocks and adds application behavior. Use PSoC Creator when your legacy device and the historical tutorial require it; use ModusToolbox for supported newer devices and cross-platform, current development.
Quick Recap
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