User Guide (Version 2.2) of the
SiRad Simple® Evaluation Kit
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3.2.3.3 Connection control
SER1:
connect to the UART of the sensor though a USB port or to the WiFi module.
SER2: <reserved>, no function for SiRad Simple® sensors.
Please note that, if the wrong connection option is selected, the WebGUI will appear to be
frozen because no data will be displayed. However, the sensor always listens on both serial
ports, so reconfiguring is possible at any time.
3.2.3.4 Gain settings
AGC-Mode:
activates the automatic gain control. If activated, the sensor uses two extra frequency
ramps to detect and set the optimal gain setting. When AGC-Mode is turned on, the settings of the
gain slider are overridden by the automatic gain control.
Gain:
used to manually set one of 4 gain levels. The gain control is only used when the AGC-Mode
is switched off. There are 4 gain modes, which depend on the hardware version of the sensors due
to adaptations in the attenuation network and ADC lines of the baseband amplifier. The gain
settings for the latest SiRad Simple® sensor (v2.2) are 8, 21, 43, 56 dB (left to right).
3.2.3.5 LED control
LED:
switches the LED on or off. If switched on, the LED indicates the distance to the first detected
target in rainbow colors.
3.2.4 Radar Frontend Settings (RF Parameters Tab)
The ‘RF Parameters’ tab in Figure 15 is used to control the radar frontend of the sensor. For each
radar measurement, the frontend is driven with one or more frequency ramps starting from a
defined start frequency f
1
(base-frequency) to a higher frequency f
2
with the bandwidth BW = f
2
– f
1
.
The higher the bandwidth, the smaller is the detection range of the sensor due to Nyquist
limitations. The start frequency is technically limited by the minimum frequency f
min
supported by
the frontend. The bandwidth is limited by the maximum frequency f
max
supported by the frontend.
Please note, that in most countries, the permitted bandwidth is regulated by law to 1 GHz
between 122 GHz and 123 GHz for field applications. Please check your local regulations.
Setting
Description
fmin
shows the minimum supported frequency of
the radar frontend in MHz
fmax
shows the maximum supported frequency of
the radar frontend in MHz
fscan
re-scan the minimum and maximum supported
frequencies
max BW
auto set the maximum available bandwidth for
the frequency ramps depending on the
supported min and max frequencies
Frontend
switch the presets for the used radar frontend
VCO Divider
shows the VCO divider, fixed per frontend type
Bandwidth
set the bandwidth used for the frequency
ramps in MHz
Base-frequency
set the start frequency of the frequency ramps
in MHz
Figure 15: RF Parameters tab of the Control Panel