P440 Data Sheet / User Guide
DRAFT
5
1 Summary
The PulsON 440 (P440) module is an Ultra Wideband (UWB) radio transceiver operating between
3.1 and 4.8 GHz and provides the following functions:
It uses Two-Way Time-of-Flight (TW-TOF) ranging to measure the distance between two or
more P440s. These measurements have an accuracy of 2 cm and are provided at rates up to
125 Hz.
It communicates data between two or more P440s.
It can operate as a monostatic, bistatic, or multistatic radar.
It can provide all four functions (range determination, data transfer, monostatic radar, and
multistatic radar) simultaneously.
Operates with very low power transmissions (~50uW)
It is provided with a network optimized for TW-TOF measurement. This network can be
operated using either the ALOHA (randomized) or TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access)
protocols.
It supports 11 independent communications channels thus allowing operation as a CDMA
(Code Division Multiple Access) network. Many more channels can be added.
It is interoperable with Time Domain’s earlier generation equipment (P400, P410, and P412).
The hardware is designed to operate over the full industrial temperature range (-40
°
C to
+85
°
C) as well as operate in high shock and high vibration environments.
The RF emissions are compliant with both the United States Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) Part 15 regulations and the European Union ETSI EN 302 065 standard
mask.
The P440, like all of the members of the P400 family, is a coherent radio transceiver. This means that
the energy in each transmitted pulse can be summed to increase the Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) of
received transmissions. Each time the number of pulses sent is doubled, the SNR of the received
signal will double (increase by 3 dB). This comes at the cost of doubling the amount of time required
to complete a full transmission. The transmission strength is not increased, rather more energy is
summed to improve reception. This applies to all transmissions regardless of whether the
transmission is intended for ranging, radar, or communications.
The user controls and monitors the P440 through an Application Programming Interface (API) over
USB, Serial, SPI, Ethernet or CAN connections. USB driver support is provided for Windows Vista
32/64, Windows 7 32/64, Windows 8 32/64, and Windows 10 operating systems. Unix and OS X
systems do not need a special driver for USB. The P440 automatically appears as a serial device.
The API provides all the commands and capabilities required by a user to design a network tailored
for operating multiple P440s as ranging radios or radar sensors.
To assist the user in demonstrating the performance of the P440, either as a ranging radio or as a radar
sensor, Time Domain also provides PC-based Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) which exercise all of
the API commands and offer the following capabilities:
They provide programmers with a visual example of a host application which interfaces to
the P440 through the API.
They allow users to evaluate ranging and communications performance.
