UART – USART Nucleo-64 STM32F302R8 Serial Communications
In this article, we will examine examples of bidirectional serial communication.
A UART device uses asynchronous communication protocols. A USART device uses both asynchronous and synchronous communication protocols.
UART: Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter
USART: Universal Synchronous/Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter
In asynchronous mode, only one data line is used to send data from the transmitter to the receiver.
In synchronous transmission, the clock is sent separately from the data stream, and no start/stop bits are used.


The USART is a variant of the UART because an additional clock line can be used between nodes.
STM USART Configuration
As GPIO pins, Interrupts or Timers , the USARTs of STM are configured in a similar manner.
With the struct named UART_HandleTypeDef its started and configured with the struct named UART_InitTypeDef.
You will need a Windows terminal program to run on your computer for the applications that will take place.
You can use the program called Realterm at this address (link).
Select the following parameters to match those configured in the STM program:
- Baud – 9600
- Parity – None
- Data Bits – 8
- Stop Bits – 1
- Hardware Flow Control – None
- Port – 4 (virtual com port number on your PC, you can find at DeviceManager > Ports)
PA2 and PA3 pins (namely D1 and D0 pins respectively) are USART2_TX and USART2_RX pins.


Let’s Start New Project in the CubeMX for USART Transmit Example

/* USER CODE BEGIN Header */
/**
******************************************************************************
* @file : main.c
* @brief : Main program body
******************************************************************************
* @attention
*
* <h2><center>© Copyright (c) 2023 STMicroelectronics.
* All rights reserved.</center></h2>
*
* This software component is licensed by ST under BSD 3-Clause license,
* the "License"; You may not use this file except in compliance with the
* License. You may obtain a copy of the License at:
* opensource.org/licenses/BSD-3-Clause
*
******************************************************************************
*/
/* USER CODE END Header */
/* Includes ------------------------------------------------------------------*/
#include "main.h"
#include "stm32f3xx_hal.h"
/* Private includes ----------------------------------------------------------*/
/* USER CODE BEGIN Includes */
/* USER CODE END Includes */
/* Private typedef -----------------------------------------------------------*/
/* USER CODE BEGIN PTD */
/* USER CODE END PTD */
/* Private define ------------------------------------------------------------*/
/* USER CODE BEGIN PD */
/* USER CODE END PD */
/* Private macro -------------------------------------------------------------*/
/* USER CODE BEGIN PM */
/* USER CODE END PM */
/* Private variables ---------------------------------------------------------*/
UART_HandleTypeDef huart2;
/* USER CODE BEGIN PV */
double value = 1.0;
char msg[20] ;
/* USER CODE END PV */
/* Private function prototypes -----------------------------------------------*/
void SystemClock_Config(void);
static void MX_GPIO_Init(void);
static void MX_USART2_UART_Init(void);
/* USER CODE BEGIN PFP */
/* USER CODE END PFP */
/* Private user code ---------------------------------------------------------*/
/* USER CODE BEGIN 0 */
/* USER CODE END 0 */
/**
* @brief The application entry point.
* @retval int
*/
int main(void)
{
/* USER CODE BEGIN 1 */
/* USER CODE END 1 */
/* MCU Configuration--------------------------------------------------------*/
/* Reset of all peripherals, Initializes the Flash interface and the Systick. */
HAL_Init();
/* USER CODE BEGIN Init */
/* USER CODE END Init */
/* Configure the system clock */
SystemClock_Config();
/* USER CODE BEGIN SysInit */
/* USER CODE END SysInit */
/* Initialize all configured peripherals */
MX_GPIO_Init();
MX_USART2_UART_Init();
/* USER CODE BEGIN 2 */
/* USER CODE END 2 */
/* Infinite loop */
/* USER CODE BEGIN WHILE */
while (1)
{
/* USER CODE END WHILE */
sprintf(msg, "%f\r\n", value); //Print Formatted Data to Buffer
//performs the actual transmission of the data from MCU to the terminal
HAL_UART_Transmit(&huart2, (uint8_t*) msg, 10, 100);
HAL_Delay(200);
value = value + 0.01;
/*here &huart2 is the address of the USART2 object
(uint8_t*) msg - is the string to be displayed
10 is the max. string size
100 is the max. delay time in milliseconds
*/
/* USER CODE BEGIN 3 */
}
/* USER CODE END 3 */
}
/**
* @brief System Clock Configuration
* @retval None
*/
void SystemClock_Config(void)
{
RCC_OscInitTypeDef RCC_OscInitStruct = {0};
RCC_ClkInitTypeDef RCC_ClkInitStruct = {0};
/** Initializes the RCC Oscillators according to the specified parameters
* in the RCC_OscInitTypeDef structure.
*/
RCC_OscInitStruct.OscillatorType = RCC_OSCILLATORTYPE_HSI;
RCC_OscInitStruct.HSIState = RCC_HSI_ON;
RCC_OscInitStruct.HSICalibrationValue = RCC_HSICALIBRATION_DEFAULT;
RCC_OscInitStruct.PLL.PLLState = RCC_PLL_ON;
RCC_OscInitStruct.PLL.PLLSource = RCC_PLLSOURCE_HSI;
RCC_OscInitStruct.PLL.PLLMUL = RCC_PLL_MUL16;
if (HAL_RCC_OscConfig(&RCC_OscInitStruct) != HAL_OK)
{
Error_Handler();
}
/** Initializes the CPU, AHB and APB buses clocks
*/
RCC_ClkInitStruct.ClockType = RCC_CLOCKTYPE_HCLK|RCC_CLOCKTYPE_SYSCLK
|RCC_CLOCKTYPE_PCLK1|RCC_CLOCKTYPE_PCLK2;
RCC_ClkInitStruct.SYSCLKSource = RCC_SYSCLKSOURCE_PLLCLK;
RCC_ClkInitStruct.AHBCLKDivider = RCC_SYSCLK_DIV1;
RCC_ClkInitStruct.APB1CLKDivider = RCC_HCLK_DIV2;
RCC_ClkInitStruct.APB2CLKDivider = RCC_HCLK_DIV1;
if (HAL_RCC_ClockConfig(&RCC_ClkInitStruct, FLASH_LATENCY_2) != HAL_OK)
{
Error_Handler();
}
}
/**
* @brief USART2 Initialization Function
* @param None
* @retval None
*/
static void MX_USART2_UART_Init(void)
{
/* USER CODE BEGIN USART2_Init 0 */
/* USER CODE END USART2_Init 0 */
/* USER CODE BEGIN USART2_Init 1 */
/* USER CODE END USART2_Init 1 */
huart2.Instance = USART2;
huart2.Init.BaudRate = 9600;
huart2.Init.WordLength = UART_WORDLENGTH_8B;
huart2.Init.StopBits = UART_STOPBITS_1;
huart2.Init.Parity = UART_PARITY_NONE;
huart2.Init.Mode = UART_MODE_TX_RX;
huart2.Init.HwFlowCtl = UART_HWCONTROL_NONE;
huart2.Init.OverSampling = UART_OVERSAMPLING_16;
huart2.Init.OneBitSampling = UART_ONE_BIT_SAMPLE_DISABLE;
huart2.AdvancedInit.AdvFeatureInit = UART_ADVFEATURE_NO_INIT;
if (HAL_UART_Init(&huart2) != HAL_OK)
{
Error_Handler();
}
/* USER CODE BEGIN USART2_Init 2 */
/* USER CODE END USART2_Init 2 */
}
/**
* @brief GPIO Initialization Function
* @param None
* @retval None
*/
static void MX_GPIO_Init(void)
{
/* GPIO Ports Clock Enable */
__HAL_RCC_GPIOA_CLK_ENABLE();
}
/* USER CODE BEGIN 4 */
/* USER CODE END 4 */
/**
* @brief This function is executed in case of error occurrence.
* @retval None
*/
void Error_Handler(void)
{
/* USER CODE BEGIN Error_Handler_Debug */
/* User can add his own implementation to report the HAL error return state */
__disable_irq();
while (1)
{
}
/* USER CODE END Error_Handler_Debug */
}
#ifdef USE_FULL_ASSERT
/**
* @brief Reports the name of the source file and the source line number
* where the assert_param error has occurred.
* @param file: pointer to the source file name
* @param line: assert_param error line source number
* @retval None
*/
void assert_failed(uint8_t *file, uint32_t line)
{
/* USER CODE BEGIN 6 */
/* User can add his own implementation to report the file name and line number,
ex: printf("Wrong parameters value: file %s on line %d\r\n", file, line) */
/* USER CODE END 6 */
}
#endif /* USE_FULL_ASSERT */
/************************ (C) COPYRIGHT STMicroelectronics *****END OF FILE****/
In the above code we’ve only added these code lines;
/* USER CODE BEGIN PV */
double value = 1.0;
char msg[20] ;
/* USER CODE END PV */
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
while (1)
{
/* USER CODE END WHILE */
sprintf(msg, "%f\r\n", value); //Print Formatted Data to Buffer
//performs the actual transmission of the data from MCU to the terminal
HAL_UART_Transmit(&huart2, (uint8_t*) msg, 10, 100);
HAL_Delay(200);
value = value + 0.01;
/*here &huart2 is the address of the USART2 object
(uint8_t*) msg - is the string to be displayed
10 is the max. string size
100 is the max. delay time in milliseconds
*/
/* USER CODE BEGIN 3 */
}
/* USER CODE END 3 */
}
Program Output on Realterm Windows Desktop Terminal Program

USART Receive Example
This time, we will flash the user LED on our Nucleo board according to the alphanumeric characters entered through the terminal program (Realterm) we used in the previous example.
Since any received character will also trigger an interrupt, its critical that the USART2 global interrupt should be enabled.
CubeMx Settings for USART2 Receive


Edited Code on Keil IDE
/* USER CODE BEGIN Header */
/**
******************************************************************************
* @file : main.c
* @brief : Main program body
******************************************************************************
* @attention
*
* <h2><center>© Copyright (c) 2023 STMicroelectronics.
* All rights reserved.</center></h2>
*
* This software component is licensed by ST under BSD 3-Clause license,
* the "License"; You may not use this file except in compliance with the
* License. You may obtain a copy of the License at:
* opensource.org/licenses/BSD-3-Clause
*
******************************************************************************
*/
/* USER CODE END Header */
/* Includes ------------------------------------------------------------------*/
#include "main.h"
#include "stm32f3xx_hal.h"
/* Private includes ----------------------------------------------------------*/
/* USER CODE BEGIN Includes */
/* USER CODE END Includes */
/* Private typedef -----------------------------------------------------------*/
/* USER CODE BEGIN PTD */
/* USER CODE END PTD */
/* Private define ------------------------------------------------------------*/
/* USER CODE BEGIN PD */
/* USER CODE END PD */
/* Private macro -------------------------------------------------------------*/
/* USER CODE BEGIN PM */
/* USER CODE END PM */
/* Private variables ---------------------------------------------------------*/
UART_HandleTypeDef huart2;
/* USER CODE BEGIN PV */
char Rx_indx, Rx_data[2], Rx_Buffer[100], Transfer_cplt;
/* USER CODE END PV */
/* Private function prototypes -----------------------------------------------*/
void SystemClock_Config(void);
static void MX_GPIO_Init(void);
static void MX_USART2_UART_Init(void);
void HAL_UART_RxCpltXCallback(UART_HandleTypeDef *huart);
/* USER CODE BEGIN PFP */
/* USER CODE END PFP */
/* Private user code ---------------------------------------------------------*/
/* USER CODE BEGIN 0 */
/* USER CODE END 0 */
/**
* @brief The application entry point.
* @retval int
*/
int main(void)
{
/* USER CODE BEGIN 1 */
/* USER CODE END 1 */
/* MCU Configuration--------------------------------------------------------*/
/* Reset of all peripherals, Initializes the Flash interface and the Systick. */
HAL_Init();
/* USER CODE BEGIN Init */
/* USER CODE END Init */
/* Configure the system clock */
SystemClock_Config();
/* USER CODE BEGIN SysInit */
/* USER CODE END SysInit */
/* Initialize all configured peripherals */
MX_GPIO_Init();
MX_USART2_UART_Init();
/* USER CODE BEGIN 2 */
HAL_UART_Receive_IT(&huart2, Rx_data,1);
/* USER CODE END 2 */
/* Infinite loop */
/* USER CODE BEGIN WHILE */
while (1)
{
/* USER CODE END WHILE */
/* USER CODE BEGIN 3 */
}
/* USER CODE END 3 */
}
/**
* @brief System Clock Configuration
* @retval None
*/
void SystemClock_Config(void)
{
RCC_OscInitTypeDef RCC_OscInitStruct = {0};
RCC_ClkInitTypeDef RCC_ClkInitStruct = {0};
/** Initializes the RCC Oscillators according to the specified parameters
* in the RCC_OscInitTypeDef structure.
*/
RCC_OscInitStruct.OscillatorType = RCC_OSCILLATORTYPE_HSI;
RCC_OscInitStruct.HSIState = RCC_HSI_ON;
RCC_OscInitStruct.HSICalibrationValue = RCC_HSICALIBRATION_DEFAULT;
RCC_OscInitStruct.PLL.PLLState = RCC_PLL_ON;
RCC_OscInitStruct.PLL.PLLSource = RCC_PLLSOURCE_HSI;
RCC_OscInitStruct.PLL.PLLMUL = RCC_PLL_MUL16;
if (HAL_RCC_OscConfig(&RCC_OscInitStruct) != HAL_OK)
{
Error_Handler();
}
/** Initializes the CPU, AHB and APB buses clocks
*/
RCC_ClkInitStruct.ClockType = RCC_CLOCKTYPE_HCLK|RCC_CLOCKTYPE_SYSCLK
|RCC_CLOCKTYPE_PCLK1|RCC_CLOCKTYPE_PCLK2;
RCC_ClkInitStruct.SYSCLKSource = RCC_SYSCLKSOURCE_PLLCLK;
RCC_ClkInitStruct.AHBCLKDivider = RCC_SYSCLK_DIV1;
RCC_ClkInitStruct.APB1CLKDivider = RCC_HCLK_DIV2;
RCC_ClkInitStruct.APB2CLKDivider = RCC_HCLK_DIV1;
if (HAL_RCC_ClockConfig(&RCC_ClkInitStruct, FLASH_LATENCY_2) != HAL_OK)
{
Error_Handler();
}
//Configure the Systick interrupt time
HAL_SYSTICK_Config(HAL_RCC_GetHCLKFreq()/1000);
}
/**
* @brief USART2 Initialization Function
* @param None
* @retval None
*/
static void MX_USART2_UART_Init(void)
{
/* USER CODE BEGIN USART2_Init 0 */
/* USER CODE END USART2_Init 0 */
/* USER CODE BEGIN USART2_Init 1 */
/* USER CODE END USART2_Init 1 */
huart2.Instance = USART2;
huart2.Init.BaudRate = 9600;
huart2.Init.WordLength = UART_WORDLENGTH_8B;
huart2.Init.StopBits = UART_STOPBITS_1;
huart2.Init.Parity = UART_PARITY_NONE;
huart2.Init.Mode = UART_MODE_TX_RX;
huart2.Init.HwFlowCtl = UART_HWCONTROL_NONE;
huart2.Init.OverSampling = UART_OVERSAMPLING_16;
huart2.Init.OneBitSampling = UART_ONE_BIT_SAMPLE_DISABLE;
huart2.AdvancedInit.AdvFeatureInit = UART_ADVFEATURE_NO_INIT;
if (HAL_UART_Init(&huart2) != HAL_OK)
{
Error_Handler();
}
}
/* USER CODE BEGIN USART2_Init 2 */
//The Interrupt Callback Method
void HAL_UART_RxCpltCallback(UART_HandleTypeDef *huart)
{
uint8_t i;
if(huart->Instance == USART2)
{
if(Rx_indx == 0)
{
for(i=0; i<100; i++)
Rx_Buffer[i] = 0; //clear Rx_Buffer
//reset user LED
HAL_GPIO_WritePin(LD2_GPIO_Port, LD2_Pin,GPIO_PIN_RESET);
}
if(Rx_data[0]!= 13)
{
Rx_Buffer[Rx_indx++] = Rx_data[0]; //add data to Rx_Buffer
}
else //if received data different from ascii 13 (enter)
{
Rx_indx = 0;
Transfer_cplt = 1; //transfer complate, data is ready to read
HAL_UART_Transmit(&huart2, "\n\r",2,100);
HAL_UART_Transmit(&huart2, Rx_Buffer, strlen(Rx_Buffer), 100);
HAL_UART_Transmit(&huart2, "\n\r",2,100);
if(!strcmp(Rx_Buffer,"LD2 on")) // LED trigger
{
HAL_GPIO_WritePin(LD2_GPIO_Port, LD2_Pin, GPIO_PIN_SET);
}
}
}
HAL_UART_Receive_IT(&huart2, Rx_data,1); //activate UART receive interrupt every time
HAL_UART_Transmit(&huart2, Rx_data, strlen(Rx_data),100);
}
/* USER CODE END USART2_Init 2 */
/**
* @brief GPIO Initialization Function
* @param None
* @retval None
*/
static void MX_GPIO_Init(void)
{
GPIO_InitTypeDef GPIO_InitStruct = {0};
/* GPIO Ports Clock Enable */
__HAL_RCC_GPIOF_CLK_ENABLE();
__HAL_RCC_GPIOA_CLK_ENABLE();
__HAL_RCC_GPIOB_CLK_ENABLE();
/*Configure GPIO pin Output Level */
HAL_GPIO_WritePin(LD2_GPIO_Port, LD2_Pin, GPIO_PIN_RESET);
/*Configure GPIO pin : LD2_Pin */
GPIO_InitStruct.Pin = LD2_Pin;
GPIO_InitStruct.Mode = GPIO_MODE_OUTPUT_PP;
GPIO_InitStruct.Pull = GPIO_NOPULL;
GPIO_InitStruct.Speed = GPIO_SPEED_FREQ_LOW;
HAL_GPIO_Init(LD2_GPIO_Port, &GPIO_InitStruct);
}
/* USER CODE BEGIN 4 */
/* USER CODE END 4 */
/**
* @brief This function is executed in case of error occurrence.
* @retval None
*/
void Error_Handler(void)
{
/* USER CODE BEGIN Error_Handler_Debug */
/* User can add his own implementation to report the HAL error return state */
__disable_irq();
while (1)
{
}
/* USER CODE END Error_Handler_Debug */
}
#ifdef USE_FULL_ASSERT
/**
* @brief Reports the name of the source file and the source line number
* where the assert_param error has occurred.
* @param file: pointer to the source file name
* @param line: assert_param error line source number
* @retval None
*/
void assert_failed(uint8_t *file, uint32_t line)
{
/* USER CODE BEGIN 6 */
/* User can add his own implementation to report the file name and line number,
ex: printf("Wrong parameters value: file %s on line %d\r\n", file, line) */
/* USER CODE END 6 */
}
#endif /* USE_FULL_ASSERT */
/************************ (C) COPYRIGHT STMicroelectronics *****END OF FILE****/
Rx_Buffer is the array that stores received data.

