Design recommendations
Heat considerations and testing
Digi XBee3 Cellular LTE-M/NB-IoT Global Smart Modem User Guide
114
Heat considerations and testing
The XBee Smart Modem may generate significant heat during sustained operation. In addition to
heavy data transfer, other factors that can contribute to heating include ambient temperature, air
flow around the device, and proximity to the nearest cellular tower (the XBee Smart Modem must
transmit at a higher power level when communicating over long distances). Overheating can cause
device malfunction and potential damage.
The XBee Smart Modem must not be operated in ambient temperatures exceeding 85 °C. Additionally,
if you expect to operate the product above 70 °C, we recommend that you perform an analysis of your
application to characterize the self-heating of the XBee device:
1. Set up the device in the typical operating scenario you plan to use it in.
2. Monitor the device temperature using
until it reaches a steady state.
3. Convert the returned value from hex format to decimal.
If the reading is greater than 5 °C above the ambient temperature, we recommend either de-rating
the maximum ambient temperature or implementing heat mitigating measures; for example, reduce
transmission frequency and duration, enter sleep mode more frequently, or improve airflow.
Addressing heat issues will help to ensure long term device reliability.
Custom configuration: Create a new factory default
You can create a custom configuration that is used as a new factory default. This feature is useful if
you need, for example, to maintain certain settings for manufacturing or want to ensure a feature is
always enabled. When you perform a factory reset on the device using the
, the custom
configuration is set on the device rather than the original factory default settings.
For example, by default Bluetooth is disabled on devices. You can create a custom configuration in
which Bluetooth is enabled by default. When you use the
RE
command to reset the device to the
factory defaults, the Bluetooth configuration is set to the custom configuration (enabled) rather than
the original factory default (disabled).
