USB

The XBee Grove Development Board includes a micro USB connector and an FT232RL USB to RS-232 converter to communicate with the serial port of the XBee.

A green LED and a yellow LED show the status of the TX and RX lines.

The hardware flow control signals of the XBee (XBee_RTS and XBee_CTS) connect to the FT232RL device. Two serial or resistors disconnect the flow control of the chip if this functionality is not needed.

The XBEE_DTR_N signal is also connected to the FT232 chip. XCTU uses this signal to enter in the boot loader and recover the module from incorrect firmware. A configurable OR resistor disconnects this signal if the functionality is not needed.

A three-pin jumper configures the serial port in a loopback mode, connecting the RX and TX lines together. When you close positions 1 and 2, the serial port is configured in normal mode and the serial port of the XBee is connected to the micro USB connector. If you close positions 2 and 3, the serial port works in loopback mode and the data transmitted by the XBee connects to the RX pin.

The USB connector also powers the board through the VBUS line.