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Rev1.1   

5 of 30 

www.semtech.com 

SX1211SK868/915 User Guide 

2.1 

INTRODUCTION 

This  chapter  gives  you  an  overview  of  the  SX1211SK  and  then  explains  how  to  install  the  system 
hardware and software. 

2.2 

HIGHLIGHTS 

The items discussed in this chapter include: 

 

What the SX1211SK is 

 

How SX1211SK helps you 

 

SX1211SK - Kit Components 

 

Installing SX1211SK Hardware 

 

Installing SX1211SK “Graphical User Interface” software 

2.3 

WHAT THE SX1211SK IS 

The  SX1211  Starter  Kit  is  an  environment  for  the  SEMTECH  SX1211  transceiver.  The  SX1211SK 
allows the demonstration of a two way communication between two radio boards, to perform practical 
"demonstration", "range" and "site survey" testing but also to evaluate the RF transceiver. 
SX1211SK  performs  basic  functions  such  as  modulation  schemes  selection  (FSK  /  OOK), 
configuration  in  transmitter,  receiver  or  sleep  mode,  plus  features  such  as  frequency  deviation 
selection, filter bandwidth and output power management. 
This document covers the basic setup and operation for the SX1211SK environment. 

2.4 

HOW THE STARTER KIT HELPS YOU 

SX1211SK allows you to: 

 

Demonstrate a two way communication - Ping Pong Demo with a default configuration 

 

Change the settings of the Ping Pong Demo   

 

Configure internal registers of SX1211 transceiver for Evaluation purpose. 

 

Transmit and receive a data stream 

2.5 

SX1211SK KIT COMPONENTS 

The components of the SX1211 Starter Kit are shown in Figure 2.1. 

1) 2 x Processor Board 
2) 2 x batteries 
3) 2 x SX1211  - SEMTECH RF Module 
4) 2 x antennas  

A Serial Cable to connect the Processor Board to a PC and the CD-ROM with SX1211SK software 
and on line documentation are also included in the kit. 

 

Figure 2.1: SX1211SK Components 

2.6 

INSTALLING SX1211 SK - HARDWARE 

Follow the steps in this section to install the SX1211 Starter Kit 
 

           

Summary of Contents for SX1211SK

Page 1: ...Rev1 1 1 of 30 www semtech com SX1211SK868 915 User Guide TN1211 01 SX1211 Low Power ISM Transceiver Evaluation Kit User Guide ...

Page 2: ...3 6 3 Switch On the boards 11 3 6 4 Modulation type 11 3 6 5 Slave Mode 11 3 6 6 Master Mode 11 3 6 7 Configuration Switch buttons 12 3 6 8 Ping Pong Test 12 4 Functional Overview 12 4 1 Introduction 12 4 2 Highlights 12 4 3 SX1211SK Functional flow chart 13 4 4 Default Ping Pong Test 13 4 4 1 Purpose 13 4 4 2 Equipment required 14 4 4 3 Default Ping Pong Test enabling 14 4 4 4 Read back the confi...

Page 3: ...ENU Bar and Sub Menu option 21 5 5 1 Com Port 21 5 5 2 Band 21 5 5 3 Pre defined 22 5 5 4 Ping Pong 22 5 5 5 Sync Word 23 6 Advance features 23 6 1 Introduction 23 6 2 Highlights 23 6 3 Buffered Handler Tx 23 6 4 Buffered Hanlder Rx 24 6 5 Packet Handler Tx 26 6 6 Packet Handler Rx 28 6 7 Ping Pong Test and Communication quality 29 7 Troubleshooting 29 7 1 Introduction 29 7 2 Highlights 29 7 3 Com...

Page 4: ... each application mode embedded in the kit Chapter 5 Test and Evolution A description of the basic features to evaluate the SX1211 Chapter 6 Advanced Features A description of specific SX1211 s functionalities 1 3 1 Conventions Used in this Guide This manual uses the following documentation conventions Description Represents Examples Underlined Italic text with right arrow A menu selection from th...

Page 5: ...onfiguration in transmitter receiver or sleep mode plus features such as frequency deviation selection filter bandwidth and output power management This document covers the basic setup and operation for the SX1211SK environment 2 4 HOW THE STARTER KIT HELPS YOU SX1211SK allows you to Demonstrate a two way communication Ping Pong Demo with a default configuration Change the settings of the Ping Pon...

Page 6: ...ick on the Program ICON c Locate and click on the SX1211SK on the sub menu bar that is displayed The Graphic User Interface software screen follows standard WINDOWS Conventions The PC GUI provides an interactive user interface for selecting and modifying SX1211 parameters A brief description of the screen layout and usage of the GUI interface can be found in the particular SX1211 Test and Evaluati...

Page 7: ... application board processor board Each antenna is connected to the SX1211 RF module Boards are not connected to the PC 3 4 SYSTEM DESCRIPTION One objective of this Starter Kit is to demonstrate a two way communication between two radio modules but also to evaluate the SEMTECH transceiver SX1211 In order to have a high flexibility the Starter Kit board has been developed in order to support all th...

Page 8: ... C0 C1 Configuration Switch buttons M S Switch button to select between Master and Slaves 3 5 DEFAULT PING PONG TEST OVERVIEW The first Ping Pong demonstration allows RF communication between two points to be achieved The communication is made between a board operating as Master and a board operating as a Slave In addition two operating modes are available Automatic and Manual With the Automatic m...

Page 9: ...ency of the receiver Slave at anytime by pushing on the Frequency Selection button Master Slave Initialization Initialization Transmitter mode Receiver mode Send Message Led Tx On Receiver mode Message Correct Led Rx On Led Rx Off Send ACK Led Tx On Message Correct Led Rx On New Frequency Change Frequency Led Rx Off Yes No Yes No No Yes ...

Page 10: ...ong Settings flowchart Refer to paragraph 3 6 2 Ping Pong Test Settings Modulation and Frequency band Selection Select the modulation type Select a Master and a Slave Power On the boards Ping Pong Test Refer to paragraph 3 6 1 Refer to paragraph 3 6 3 Refer to paragraph 3 6 4 Refer to paragraph 3 6 5 and 3 6 5 TX LED is blinking RX LED in On Auto jump mode Refer to paragraph 3 6 7 End Settings Res...

Page 11: ...Modulation type C1 1 ON OOK Modulation C1 0 OFF FSK Modulation 3 6 5 Slave Mode The Slave mode is selected if M S is set in down position the green LED is Off 3 6 6 Master Mode Push up the M S button to select the Master mode on one unit only The green LED below the push button switches ON Manual Mode The manual mode is selected if the green LED corresponding to C0 is OFF The user can choose the f...

Page 12: ...e Automatic Frequency Control At this stage the user observes that the Tx yellow LED blinks Ping The Rx yellow LED comes on when the received message is correct Pong A reliable two way radio link has been established between two modules Each module upon receipt a valid radio frame will immediately echo back keeping the Ping Pong test sequence continually active This indicates the desired state of ...

Page 13: ...not the microcontroller will assume the Default Ping Pong Test 4 4 DEFAULT PING PONG TEST 4 4 1 Purpose The Ping Pong Test provides the user a means to demonstrate practical two way radio communications between two processor boards with SX1211 RF modules attached The Ping Pong mode can be a valuable test facility when conducting on site and range tests A Default Ping Pong Test program is embedded ...

Page 14: ...Interface will display the Default Ping Pong configuration which has been saved into the microcontroller 4 5 USER PING PONG TEST 4 5 1 Purpose The User Ping Pong Test allows the user to achieve a Ping Pong Test with their own settings The User configuration will be saved in an EEPROM but will be lost after the RESET function This mode allows the user to modify all the parameters of the SX1211 Freq...

Page 15: ...211SK allows the user to read back the latest configuration saved in the EEPROM To display the registers contains the user needs to click on SX1211 Eval to have access to the control buttons Click on Load Configuration to load the latest configuration into the SX1211 transceiver followed by Get Config The Graphic Interface will display the latest configuration which has been saved into the memory ...

Page 16: ...ters presentation and set up window C Real time display window of register values New and Current value D SX1211 Operating Mode and set up window E SX1211 Status display F SX1211SK Control window G Selection of the Application 5 4 SX1211SK PC GUI SCREEN AREAS 5 4 1 Menu Bar The MENU Bar allows the user to select the Com_Port that the board is attached to Reset registers Band Pre Defined SX1211 Set...

Page 17: ... select individual bit settings for a particular SX1211 register The new settings of the register occur only when Send Config button is clicked RSSI Measurement The RSSI measurement button is available only if the RSSI is enabled and then the PC GUI displays the result of the measurement The RSSI output is available in two formats in binary and in Hexadecimal ...

Page 18: ...he primary SX1211 configuration currently set up This window is updated in real time when the user sets and clears various parameters on the PC GUI screen Synthesizer Registers Sets The start up local oscillator frequency of the SX1211 RF module when the frequency offset is zero will vary from device to device due to external components tolerance i e Crystal The RF Frequency can be adjusted thanks...

Page 19: ...ill be able to read the values of the SX1211 registers This operation is very useful to find out what the previous programmed configuration was in the transceiver Save Config This operation will save the configuration into an EEPROM placed on the preocessor board In this case the user will be able to read back the latest configuration after clicking on the Load Config Load Config This operation is...

Page 20: ...Frequency 3 910 000 MHz or 870 000 MHz Data rate 2 kbps Frequency deviation 50 kHz Rx filter fc 100kHz Passive filter 378kHz Interpolartor filter fc 196kHz User Ping Pong This mode is used by the user to achieve a Ping Pong test with their own parameters in order to be closer to the final application test Before switching on this mode the user needs to define or modify parameters in this case the ...

Page 21: ...ng the board 5 5 2 Band The SX1211 Band set sub menus will allow the user to select the operating radio spectrum or the band that the SX1211 RF module being tested is designed for Note The 915MHz band is subdivided in two bands 902 915MHz and 915 928MHz but can be address with the same hardware RF module Note The actual PC GUI presentation may differ from the illustrations as new features and upda...

Page 22: ...10dBm see SX1211 Datasheet TXParam Address 26 bit 3 1 Frequency Deviation Low Intermediate Frequency The frequency deviation Low IF sub menu allows the user to set a pre defined Transmit frequency deviation see SX1211 MCParam Address 2 bit 7 0 General The General sub menu will allow the user to set selected parameters Bit Sync and Buffered mode The Bit Synchronizer is enabled by default 5 5 4 Ping...

Page 23: ...ent environment For that Advanced Features have been built into this development tool A general description of these features is provided here 6 2 HIGHLIGHTS The items discussed in this chapter include Buffered Handler Tx Buffered Handler Rx Packet Handler Tx Packet Handler Rx 6 3 BUFFERED HANDLER TX The GUI interface for the SX1211SK offers the advantage to program a pattern generator Transmitter...

Page 24: ...om 16 bytes to 64 bytes E Handler Control The number of transmissions can be programmed If a 0 is set the pattern content and the Pattern Preamble if enabled are sent continuously 6 4 BUFFERED HANLDER RX The SX1211 FIFO used in receiver mode can be displayed by the GUI interface The Receiver FIFO is accessible only if the SX1211SK is in receiver mode and if the Buffered mode has been selected The ...

Page 25: ... will not be stored in the FIFO s registers 3 Pattern followed by Write Byte the FIFO registers are filled after each byte received and only after the pattern detection As Pattern and Write bytes are using the same interrupt IRQ0 the IRQ configuration register will be modified during the RF communication 4 Write byte the FIFO register is filled after each byte received C IRQ Configuration display ...

Page 26: ...de useful to reduce the software complexity and microcontroller tasks For more information please refer to SX1211 Datasheet The SX1211 Starter Kit from Y Lynx allows the user to play with the packet handler in transmitter as well as in receiver A Preamble size Used to set the length of the preamble from 1 byte to 4 bytes B A E D C F G b c ...

Page 27: ...age c Payload length Length of the payload must be entered manually if the Fixed option is selected for the Pkt Format D Address Field If enabled the transmitter address is added manually by the user in the pload E CRC The CRC is used for checking the integrity of the message The two byte CRC checksum is calculated on the payload part of the packet and appended to the end of the message F DC Free ...

Page 28: ...mented Node_adrs Received address filed is compared with Node_adrs register d if they match the packet is accepted and processed else it is discarded Node_adrs 0x00 Received address filed is compared with Node_adrs register d and the constant 0x00 If any of the two matches the received packet is accepted and processed else it is discarded Node_adrs 0x00 0xFF Received address filed is compared with...

Page 29: ...On the picture of the board click on button ON OFF A following by MS in On position B An additional window appears The frequency and the output power can also be modified by clicking on the two push buttons C and D The additional window displays the number of packet lost the ratio of packet send packet lost Packet error Rate on the last 1 000 packets sent the Acquisition State switches on when the...

Page 30: ...supply Verify that the SX1211SK is powered the LED power indicator is ON Verify that the SX1211 RF module is well powered If the SX1211SK is battery operated a jumper must be placed on module default configuration Verify that the voltage of the battery or of the external source is between 2 4V and 3 6V Data Handler menu not enabled An error message is displayed at the bottom right of the screen Da...

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