Skip to content

Hardware Architecture

Roman Kuraev edited this page Jul 10, 2026 · 3 revisions

Hardware Architecture

The Awair Element contains three STM32 microcontrollers plus a separate Bluetooth module. Rewair replaces firmware only on the STM32F411 inside the EMW3165; both STM32F103s keep their stock firmware.

Controllers

Device Role
STM32F103VET6 Sensor-board controller. Reads the T6703 CO₂, GP2Y10 dust, QS-01 VOC, and SHT30 temperature/humidity sensors. This is the F103 that communicates with Rewair.
STM32F103RBT6 Display-board controller. Drives the LED matrix; the luminance sensor is also located on this board.
STM32F411 in the MXCHIP EMW3165 Runs Rewair, Broadcom Wi-Fi, the web UI/API, MQTT, OTA, and the bridges to the original hardware.
TI CC2540 in the Glead ZYM-BI201 Provides Bluetooth through a transparent UART/GATT bridge.

The EMW3165 also carries a Macronix MX25L1606E 2 MiB SPI flash used for WLAN assets, OTA staging, and rollback.

In the sections below, sensor-board F103 means the STM32F103VET6. The display-board STM32F103RBT6 is a separate controller and is not the endpoint of the Rewair USART2 link.

F411 ↔ sensor-board F103

The F411 communicates with the STM32F103VET6 over USART2 at 115200 8N1 with RTS/CTS hardware flow control.

F411 signal Sensor F103 signal Direction
PA2 / USART2 TX PA3 / USART2 RX F411 → F103
PA3 / USART2 RX PA2 / USART2 TX F103 → F411
PA1 / USART2 RTS PA0 / USART2 CTS F411 → F103
PA0 / USART2 CTS PA1 / USART2 RTS F103 → F411
PB12 / sensor reset F103 reset F411 → F103

RTS and CTS are active low. Rewair drives F411 PA1 low before releasing the sensor controller from reset, then wiced_uart_init switches the pin to its USART2 alternate function and keeps FLOW_CONTROL_CTS_RTS enabled. This makes the F411 ready to receive before the F103 begins its boot-time UART traffic.

The frame format and command vocabulary are documented in UART Protocol.

F411 ↔ BI201

The BI201 uses USART1 at 115200 8N1.

F411 signal BI201 function Direction
PB6 / USART1 TX UART RX F411 → BI201
PA10 / USART1 RX UART TX BI201 → F411
PB13 Module enable/reset control F411 → BI201

This UART has no hardware flow control. The framed Rewair transport handles the BI201's limited buffering in software; see Bluetooth Transport.

F411 ↔ external SPI flash

The EMW3165 datasheet specifies this SPI1 connection:

F411 signal Flash function
PA15 Chip select, software-controlled and active low
PB3 / SPI1 SCK Clock
PB4 / SPI1 MISO Flash → F411 data
PA7 / SPI1 MOSI F411 → flash data

PA15, PB3, and PB4 also carry full-JTAG functions. Normal debugging uses SWD on PA13/PA14, so the SPI assignment does not conflict with the debug probe.

For the external-flash address map, backup, and recovery procedures, see SPI Flash and Recovery.

Clone this wiki locally