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MAX86150 Evaluation System Evaluates: MAX86150

General Description Features

The MAX86150 Evaluation System (EV system) ●● Real-Time Monitoring of PPG and 1-Lead ECG
provides a proven platform to evaluate the MAX86150 ●● Data-Logging Capability
integrated photoplethysmogram (PPG) and 1-lead ●● Windows® 10 Compatible GUI Software
electrocardiogram (ECG) sensor module. The EV system
●● Integrated Dry Electrodes
consists of two boards that connect through header pins: a
MAX32630FTHR microcontroller board and a MAX86150 ●● Fully Assembled and Tested
evaluation kit (EV kit). The MAX32630FTHR houses
a microcontroller with preloaded firmware, Bluetooth EV System Contents
communication, and power management. The sensor ●● MAX86150 EV kit
board contains the MAX86150 module and two stainless ●● MAX32630FTHR
steel dry electrodes for ECG measurement. The EV kit ●● Pico programming adapter
is powered by the included lithium ion battery, which is ●● 2 x USB A to micro-USB cables
charged with a micro-USB cable.
●● 500mAh lithium polymer battery
Ordering Information appears at end of data sheet.

MAX86150 EV System Photo

MA86150 EV System Files

FILE DECRIPTION
SetupECPPG_EvKit.msi EV Software Installer
MAX86150EVSYS_Firmware.msbl EV System Firmware

Windows is a registered trademark and registered service

marks of Microsoft Corporation.

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Quick Start ●● Press and hold SW1 for 400ms. LED indicator D1
flashes red to indicate that the Bluetooth is ready
Required Equipment to pair.
Note: In the following section, text in bold refers to
3) Pair the EV kit to your Windows PC.
items directly from the install of EV software. Text in
bold with underline refers to items from the Windows ●● If your PC does not have integrated Bluetooth
operating system. hardware, a generic Windows 10 USB Bluetooth
adapter can be used. Install any necessary software
●● MAX86150 EV system
and connect the adapter before proceeding.
●● Windows 10 PC with integrated Bluetooth or
●● Open the Bluetooth settings panel on your
Bluetooth adapter (not included)
PC and click Add Bluetooth or other device.
Procedure Scan for Bluetooth devices and select
The EV kit is fully assembled and tested. Follow the steps MAX86150EVSYS#. The scanning process can
below to verify board operation: take up to one minute to recognize the EV kit.

1) Install the EV software. ●● When Windows prompts you to match the device
PIN, click Connect.
●● Download and extract the latest EV software
from the MAX86150 Design Resources page 4) Connect the EV kit to the EV software.
(MAX86150EVSYS_PcGuiWin.zip) ●● Open DeviceStudio5 and click the Scan
●● Double-click the SetupECPPG_EvKit.msi file button. The software connects to the EV kit and
to run the installer. If a message box stating “The displays hardware and software information. Once
publisher could not be verified. Are you sure you connected, the EV kit LED flashes blue.
want to run this software?” appears, select Yes. ●● In the Tools section, click Launch Tool.
●● When the installer GUI appears, read and accept 5) Click Start Monitoring to view live ECG and PPG
the License Agreement, and click Install. When data. Place one finger from each hand on the
the installation completes, click Finish. The stainless-steel electrodes to measure ECG (see the
installed software is named DeviceStudio5, and ECG Measurement section) and rest a finger over the
a shortcut is automatically added to your desktop. sensor module to measure PPG (see the PPG
Measurement section). If measuring both signals
2) Turn on the EV kit.
simultaneously, take care not to touch any metal
●● Connect the battery to the plastic connector as components or bare solder near the module because
shown in the MAX86150 EV System Photo. doing so degrades the ECG signal.

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Detailed Description of Software Device Info

The EV software provides a graphical user interface (GUI) The Device Info page, shown in Figure 1, is used to scan
to interact with the EV system hardware and visualize for connected devices and display the software, firmware,
the measurement data. There are three main GUI pages: and hardware versions. Click Scan to detect any devices
Device Info, ECG and PPG Evaluation kit, and Register using USB or Bluetooth. Once detected, click Launch Tool
Map, which can be viewed through the View menu and to open to open the PPG and ECG Evaluation Kit page.
are detailed in the following sections.

Figure 1. The Device Info Page Is Used to Connect with the EV System

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PPG and ECG Evaluation Kit

This page, shown in in Figure 2, gives control of device register settings, displays live sensor data, and allows data
logging. Each function is detailed in the subsections below. Click Start Monitoring to begin viewing live sensor data and
click Stop Monitoring to halt data collection. Settings can only be modified when monitoring is not active.

Figure 2. The ECG and PPG EV Kit Page Is Used to Control the EV System and View Live Data.

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ECG and Filter Settings

The ECG Settings, shown in Figure 3, control registers corresponding to the ECG analog front end. See Table 1 for
details. The Filter Settings, shown in Figure 3, control software filters that are applied to the Filtered ECG signal. The
Filtered ECG signal is delayed 17 samples from the Raw ECG signal. See Table 2 for details.

Figure 3. ECG and Filter Settings

Table 1. ECG Settings Details

ECG SETTING REGISTER [BITS] ADDR DESCRIPTION
Differential input chopping instrumentation amplifier
IA Gain ECG Configuration 3 [1:0] 0x3E
gain setting (mV/mV)
ECG Gain ECG Configuration 3 [3:2] 0x3E PGA gain (mV/mV)
Sample Rate ECG Configuration 1 [2:0] 0x3C Delta sigma ADC output data rate (sps)

Table 2. Filter Settings Details

FILTER SETTING DESCRIPTION
Adaptive Filter Enables the adaptive hybrid-time-domain software filter.
Sets the frequency of the software notch filter. Set to the AC main frequency in
Notch Freq
your region for best performance.
Cutoff Freq Sets the cutoff frequency for the software low-pass filter.

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PPG and FIFO Settings

The PPG Settings tabs, shown in Figure 4, control configuration registers for the PPG analog front end. The FIFO
Settings tab, shown in Figure 4, controls FIFO configuration register in the digital interface. See Table 3 for details.

Figure 4. PPG and FIFO Settings

Table 3. PPG and FIFO Settings Details

PPG SETTING REGISTER [BITS] ADDR DESCRIPTION
Enables automatic gain control, which allows the EV software
AGC N/A N/A
to dynamically adjust the LED current and ADC range.
Adjusts the IR LED current amplitude in conjunction with
IR PA LED2 PA [7:0] 0x12
IR Range
Adjusts the Red LED current amplitude in conjunction with
Red PA LED1 PA [7:0] 0x11
Red Range
IR Range LED Range [3:2] 0x14 IR LED current range
Red Range LED Range [1:0] 0x14 Red LED current range
ALC + FDM PPG Configuration 1 [7] 0x0F Enables ambient light cancellation
Sample Rate PPG Configuration 1 [5:2] 0x0E PPG sample rate
Pulse Width PPG Configuration 1 [1:0] 0x0E LED current pulse width
ADC Range PPG Configuration 1 [7:6] 0x0E Photodiode ADC full-scale range
When the FIFO is full, new samples overwrite existing
FIFO Rolls on Full FIFO Configuration [4] 0x1F
unread samples.
Controls the number of unread samples in the FIFO that
FIFO Almost Full FIFO Configuration [3:0] 0x1F
causes an alert.
Controls the PPG averaging filter width. Only available
Sample Averaging PPG Configuration 2 [1:0] 0x19
when AGC is disabled.

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Plot Controls Data Logging

Each plot can hold two data series on the same Y-axis Enable Log to File to record the desired data to a CSV
or two Y-axes. Click on the value box for a data type to file. Enable Write Header to include a row of data labels
cycle between the primary Y-axis, secondary Y-axis, and and enable Write Settings to include a list of GUI settings
hidden. By default, the two axes auto-scale independently. at the top of the log file. Click Browse to designate a file
If Sync Y Scales is enabled, the vertical axes have location and click Select Data to choose which data to
the same vertical scale, but the vertical offsets remain include in the log file, as shown in Figure 5.
independent.

Figure 5. Data Log Selection Window

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Register Map
This page, shown in Figure 6, shows the contents of each register in the MAX86150 and allows them to be written to
user values. Clicking on the fields for each register allows you to change the decimal value, the hexadecimal value, or
individual bits. For changes to take effect, change the Update Registers option to Selected, and click Set Reg. Registers
can be manually read and set using the Manual Update section.

Figure 6. The Register Map Page Allows the User to Read and Write the MAX86150 Registers

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Updating the EV System Firmware ●● Open the EV software and connect the EV system
The EV software allows firmware updates to be flashed to as outlined in the Quick Start section. On the
the microcontroller via the included programming adapter. Device Info page, the EV system should connect
Follow the steps below to update the firmware: as “Bootloader_MX3263X”. If it connects as the
Pegasus_V1 instead, power cycle the EV system
1) Connect the programming adapter. and remove the MAX86150EVSYS# from the
●● Unplug the MAX32630FTHR board from the EV Bluetooth settings of your PC.
kit board. ●● Open the Device menu, hover over the Update
●● Connect the programming adapter to the Pegasus_V1 Software, and click Update Firmware.
MAX32630FTHR with the 10-pin JTAG connector ●● Navigate to the extracted folder and open the .msbl
as shown in Figure 7. file. Click OK on the subsequent warning page.
●● Connect a micro-USB cable between the HDK port 3) When the update is complete, reassemble the
on the programming adapter and your PC. EV system and unplug the programming adapter.
●● Connect a battery or a micro-USB cable to the Power cycle the EV system and follow the Quick Start
MAX32630FTHR to supply power. Power is not section to reconnect it.
supplied via the 10-pin JTAG connector.
2) Flash the new firmware.
●● Download and extract the latest EV system
firmware from the MAX86150’s Design Resources
page (MAX86150EVSYS_PcGuiWin.zip)

Figure 7. Programming Adapter Connections

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Detailed Description of Hardware ECG Analog Filter

The MAX86150 EV system hardware provides a platform The EV kit has a passive first-order common-mode and
to evaluate the PPG and ECG measurement capabilities of differential filter at the ECG inputs to the MAX86150. The
the MAX86150. The EV kit board contains the MAX86150 board comes populated with components that implement
module with supporting components, stainless steel a common-mode lowpass filter with a corner frequency
dry electrodes for ECG measurement, a passive ECG of 319kHz (R2, R3, C2, and C4). The differential-mode
filter, and a header pin socket for the MAX32630FTHR. capacitor is not populated as it is not needed in most
The MAX32630FTHR Cortex-M4F Microcontroller for applications. The purpose of this analog filter is to reject
Wearables provides an interface between the MAX86150 high-frequency EMI; low-frequency filtering is done by the
and the EV kit software as well as power for the system. internal filters of the MAX86150. The filter components
were chosen as a tradeoff between input impedance and
Powering the EV System component size, and the corner frequency is not critical.
The EV system is powered by a lithium ion or lithium
polymer battery and the MAX14690 power management ECG Measurement
IC (PMIC) included on the MAX32630FTHR. The PMIC After following the steps in the Quick Start section,
turns on power to the system when SW1 is pressed for measure ECG lead I by firmly placing a right-hand finger
at least 400ms and turn off power when SW1 is held for on the ECG_N electrode (TP1) and a left-hand finger
12s. When powered on, the PMIC supplies the rest of the on the ECG_P electrode (TP2), as shown in Figure 8.
MAX32630FTHR with power and supplies 3.3V to VLED Alternately, an ECG signal generator can be connected to
on the EV kit board via an internal LDO. The EV kit has the ECG_N and ECG_P test loops to simulate contact. To
a MAX8511 ultra-low-noise linear regulator to step VLED achieve the best ECG signal performance, be careful not
down to 1.8V for the VDD analog supply. The PMIC also to touch any other conductive points on the EV kit board
has an integrated battery charger and is configured to or conductive surfaces in the environment. The micro-
automatically charge the battery at 100mA when a micro- USB cable should be detached to isolate the board from
USB cable is connected. Note: The micro-USB cable EMI transmitted through the cable.
should not be connected when measuring ECG, as the
noise introduced by the cable will obscure the sensitive
ECG signal.

Figure 8. Finger Placement for ECG Measurement

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PPG Measurement to detect a finger, so the red LED will not turn on until a
After following the steps in the Quick Start section, finger is near the module. To measure ECG and PPG
measure PPG by lightly resting a finger from either hand simultaneously, place fingers as shown in Figure 10 being
on the MAX86150 module, as shown in Figure 9. When careful not to touch any nearby components or test points.
monitoring is active, the module uses IR proximity mode

Figure 9. Finger Placement for PPG Measurement

Figure 10. Finger Placement for ECG and PPG Measurement

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Ordering Information
PART TYPE
MAX86150EVSYS# EV SYSTEM
#Denotes RoHS compliant.

MAX86150 EV System Bill of Materials (BOM)

ITEM QTY REF DES MFG PART # MANUFACTURER VALUE DESCRIPTION

CAPACITOR; SMT (0201); CERAMIC CHIP; 1UF; 6.3V; TOL = 20%;

1 1 C1 JMK063ABJ105MP TAIYO YUDEN 1UF
MODEL = ; TG = -25°C TO +85°C; TC = X5R

CAPACITOR; SMT (0402); CERAMIC CHIP; 10PF; 16V; TOL = 10%;

2 2 C2, C4 C0402C100K4GACTU KEMET 10PF
TG = -55°C TO +125°C; TC = C0G

CAPACITOR; SMT; 0402; CERAMIC; 1uF; 6.3V; 5%; X5R;

3 2 C5, C7 C0402X5R6R3-105JNP VENKEL LTD. 1UF -55°C to + 85°C; 0 ±15%°C MAX.,
USE 20-0001u-B8 FOR NEW DESIGN

CAPACITOR; SMT (0402); CERAMIC CHIP; 10UF; 10V;

4 2 C6, C8 CL05A106MP5NUNC SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS 10UF
TG = -55°C TO +85°C; TC = X5R

GRM155R71A104KA01; CAPACITOR; SMT (0402); CERAMIC CHIP; 0.1UF; 10V; TOL = 10%;
5 2 C10, C12 C1005X7R1A104K; MURATA;TDK;KEMET 0.1UF MODEL = GRM SERIES; TG = -55°C TO +125°C; TC = X7R;
C0402C104K8RAC NOT RECOMMENDED FOR NEW DESIGN-USE 20-000u1-04A

CAPACITOR; SMT (0402); CERAMIC; 2.2UF; 10V; TOL=10%;

6 1 C13 CL05A225KP5NSN SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS 2.2UF
TG = -55°C TO +85°C; TC = X5R

TEST POINT; PIN DIA = 0.125IN; TOTAL LENGTH = 0.35IN;

ECG_N, ECG_P, BOARD HOLE = 0.063IN;
7 9 GND_ANA, INTB, PGND, 5006 KEYSTONE N/A BLACK; PHOSPHOR BRONZE WIRE SILVER PLATE FINISH;
SCL, SDA, VDD, VLED RECOMMENDED FOR BOARD THICKNESS = 0.062IN;
NOT FOR COLD TEST

CONNECTOR; MALE; THROUGH HOLE; BREAKAWAY; STRAIGHT;

8 1 J1 PBC12SAAN SULLINS ELECTRONICS CORP. PBC12SAAN
12PINS; -65°C TO +125°C

CONNECTOR; MALE; THROUGH HOLE; BREAKAWAY; STRAIGHT;

9 1 J2 PBC16SAAN SULLINS ELECTRONICS CORP. PBC16SAAN
16PINS; -65°C TO +125°C
10 1 R1 CRCW04024K70FK VISHAY DALE 4.7K RESISTOR, 0402, 4.7KΩ, 1%, 100PPM, 0.0625W, THICK FILM
11 2 R2, R3 288-0603-49.9K-RC XICON 49.9K RESISTOR, 0603, 49.9KΩ, 0.1%, 10PPM, 1/16W, THIN FILM
EVKIT PART-IC; MAX86150EFF+;
12 1 U1 MAX86150EFF+ MAXIM MAX86150EFF+
OLGA22 3.3X5.6X1.3; 0.5MM PITCH

IC; VREG; ULTRA-LOW-NOISE; HIGH PSRR; LOW = DROPOUT;

13 1 U2 MAX8511EXK18+ MAXIM MAX8511EXK18+
LINEAR REGULATOR; SC70-5
14 1 PCB MAX86150FTHR MAXIM PCB PCB:MAX86150FTHR

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U1

22
MAX86150EFF+

NC
ECG_N ECG_P 1 NC C1_P 21
C7
1UF
2 NC C1_N 20 5%
R2 49.9K
ECG_N 3 NC VREF 19 VLED VLED PEGASUS CONNECTOR
R3 49.9K C2
ECG_P 10PF C5
MAX86150 Evaluation System

VDD 4 ECG_N GND_ANA 18 1UF J1 J2

C4 5%
MAX86150 EV System Schematic

C14 PBC12SAAN VLED PBC16SAAN

10PF OPEN C12 C6
GND_ANA 5 ECG_P GND_DIG 17 0.1UF 10UF 1 1
R1 GND_ANA 2 2
3 3
4.7K R5 R6 SCL SDA INTB 6 NC PGND 16 4 C8 4
OPEN OPEN GND_ANA 5 10UF 5
PGND 6 6
7 15 PGND VDD INTB 7 7
INTB INTB VLED
8 PGND 8
9 SDA 9
SDA 8 SDA VDD_ANA 14 10 SCL 10
11 11
C10 C13 12 12
9 SCL VDD_DIG 13 0.1UF 2.2UF 13
SCL 14
15
10 NC NC 12 16
GND_ANA

NC
11
PGND

VLED VDD VDD

U2
PGND GND_ANA MAX8511EXK18+
1 IN OUT 5
R4
C1
SHORT 1UF 3 SHDN N.C. 4
GND
PGND GND_ANA
2

PGND
Evaluates: MAX86150

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MAX86150 EV System PCB Layout Diagrams

1.0’’

MAX86150 EV System—Top Silkscreen

1.0’’

MAX86150 EV System—Top Layer

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MAX86150 EV System PCB Layout Diagrams (continued)

1.0’’

MAX86150 EV System—Layer 2

1.0’’

MAX86150 EV System—Layer 3

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MAX86150 EV System PCB Layout Diagrams (continued)

1.0’’

MAX86150 EV System—Bottom Layer

1.0’’

MAX86150 EV System—Bottom Silkscreen

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Revision History
REVISION REVISION PAGES
DESCRIPTION
NUMBER DATE CHANGED
0 4/17 Initial release —
1 11/17 Updated Ordering Information and General Description 1, 12
2 11/18 Replaced all figures and sections to reflect updated hardware and software updates 1–17

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are implied. Maxim Integrated reserves the right to change the circuitry and specifications without notice at any time.

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