Cytron RFBEE-433MHZ User manual

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Product User’s Manual – RFBee-433MHz
RFBEE-433MHZ
RFBee 433MHz Wireless UART Module
User's Manual
V1.0
Oct 2014
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Product User’s Manual – RFBee-433MHz
INDEX
1. Introduction 3
2. Packing List 5
3. Product Specification 6
4. Dimension 7
5. Board Layout 8
6. Hardware Installation 10
7. Software 12
8. Warranty 19
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Product User’s Manual – RFBee-433MHz
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1. INTRODUCTION
This wireless UART module is a new-generation multi-channel embedded wireless data
transmission module. Its wireless working frequency band is 433.4-473.0 MHz, multiple
channels can be set, with the stepping of 400KHz, and there are 100 channels in total. The
maximum transmitting power of module is 100mW(20dBm), the receiving sensitivity is
-117dBm at baud rate of 5000bps in the air, and the communication distance is 500m in open
space.
The module is encapsulated with stamp hole, can adopt patch welding. There is a PCB
antenna pedestal ANT1 on the module, and user can use external antenna of 434 MHz
frequency band through coaxial cable; there is also an antenna solder pad ANT2 on the
module, and it is convenient for user to solder spring antenna. User could select one of these
antennas according to use requirements.
There is MCU on the module, and program is needed to utilize the module. In transparent
transmission mode, the module act like normal receiving and sending serial port data, so it is
convenient to use. The module adopts multiple serial port transparent transmission modes,
and user could select them by AT command according to user's requirements. The average
working current of three modes FU1, FU2 and FU3 in idle state is 80µa, 3.5mA an 22mA
respectively, and the maximum working current is 100mA (in transmitting state).
Features:
●Long-distance wireless transmission (500m in open space/baud rate 5,000bps in the
air)
●Working frequency range (433.4-473.0MHz, up to 100 communication channels)
●Maximum 100mW (20dBm) transmitting power (8 sets of power can be set)
●Three working modes, adapting to different application situations
●Built-in MCU, performing communication with external device through serial port
●The number of bytes transmitted unlimited to one time
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Product User’s Manual – RFBee-433MHz
Specification
●Working frequency: 433.4MHz to 473.0MHz
●Supply voltage: 3.3V
●Communication distance: 500m in the open space
●Serial baud rate: 1.2Kbps to 115.2Kbps (default 9.6Kbps)
●Receiving sensitivity: -117dBm to -100dBm
●Transmit power: -1dBm to 20dBm
●Interface protocol: UART/TTL, Half Duplex
●Operating temperature: -40℃ to +85℃
●Dimensions: 24.5 x 32.5 x 8.5 mm
Note: This is a transceiver (Transmitter and Receiver) module, you need 1 pair of this
module for wireless communication.
Note: This wireless module cannot intercommunicate with the 100 meters version (
RFBEE-434MHz ) as both is operating at different frequency, not to forget, it is not
compatible with the low cost RF transmitter and receiver too.
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Product User’s Manual – RFBee-433MHz
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2. PACKING LIST
Please check the parts and components according to the packing list. If there are any parts
missing, please contact us at [email protected] immediately.
RFBEE-433MHZ come with:
●1 x RFBEE-433MHZ board.
●1 x Spring antenna.
●1 x Xbee breakout board.
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Product User’s Manual – RFBee-433MHz
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3. PRODUCT SPECIFICATION
Electrical Characteristics
MODE
FU1
FU2
FU3
Remark
Idle current
3.6mA
80uA
16mA
Average value
Transmission time
delay
15-25ms
500ms
4-80ms
Sending one byte
Loopback test time
delay 1
31ms
Serial port baudrate 9600,
sending 1 byte
Loopback test time
delay 2
31ms
Serial port baudrate 9600,
sending 10 byte
*Loop test time delay means the duration from the time of, after conducting short circuit on TX and RX pins of one module
and sending serial port data to the other module,starting to send serial port data to the other module to the time that the
returned data appear at TX pin of the other module.
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Product User’s Manual – RFBee-433MHz
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4. DIMENSION
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5. BOARD LAYOUT
Label
Function
A
Pinout with Xbee standard
B
Antenna pad
C
Spring antenna
D
Mode slide switch
Pinout with Xbee standard
RFBee pinout follows standard Xbee pinout.
Antenna pad
User may need to solder spring antenna to this pad.
Spring antenna
User may need to solder spring antenna to ‘Antenna’ pad.
Mode slide switch
RFBee have 2 working modes which are ‘transparent’ and ‘AT command’ mode.
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Product User’s Manual – RFBee-433MHz
RFBEE PINOUT
PIN
NAME
DESCRIPTION
1
VCC
3.3V supply for RFBEE.
2
DOUT
UART data out.
3
DIN
UART data in.
4
MODE
Parameter setting control pin.
5
NC
Not connected.
6
NC
Not connected.
7
NC
Not connected.
8
NC
Not connected.
9
NC
Not connected.
10
GND
Ground.
11
NC
Not connected.
12
NC
Not connected.
13
NC
Not connected.
14
NC
Not connected.
15
NC
Not connected.
16
NC
Not connected.
17
NC
Not connected.
18
NC
Not connected.
19
NC
Not connected.
20
NC
Not connected.
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Product User’s Manual – RFBee-433MHz
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6. HARDWARE INSTALLATION
RFBEE is a transceiver (Transmitter and Receiver) module, user will need 1 pair of this
module for wireless communication. This wireless module cannot intercommunicate with the
RFBEE-434MHZ as the frequency is not the same, not to forget, it is not compatible with the
low cost RF transmitter and receiver too.
Since RFBEE have a standard XBee pinout, user can utilize SKXBEE and SHIELD-XBEE.
Below are examples of hardware interface/connection.
6.1 RFBEE with SKXBEE
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Product User’s Manual – RFBee-433MHz
6.2 RFBEE with SHIELD-XBEE
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7. SOFTWARE
7.1 Wireless UART Transparent Transmission
Wireless point to point communication between two device
When the device on the left of the above figure sends UART data to module, and the RXD
pin of the left module receives the UART data, it will automatically sends the data over the
air by means of radio wave. The right module will automatically receives the data, restores
and send it out via its TXD pin, to the device on right. It is the same from right to left.
This module has three serial port transparent transmission modes, expressed with FU1, FU2
and FU3 respectively. In the use, all modes are only responsible for receiving and sending
UART data rather than wireless transmission. The default working mode of the module is
FU3 full speed mode, and in this mode, the baud rate in the air can be automatically adjusted
according to baud rate of serial port, and the communication distance will be the farthest at
the lowest baud rate. Different modes cannot transmit data to each other, and user could
select the optimal mode according to practical circumstances.
The modules are usually used in pairs, and transmit data by means of half duplex.
Meanwhile, the transparent transmission mode, serial port baud rate, and wireless
communication channel of two paired modules shall be set to be the same. The default setting
is FU3, 9600bps (8-bit data, no parity check, one stop bit).
It allow unlimited numbers of byte to be sent continuously on serial port of module at one
time. However, considering ambient interference and other factors, if thousands bytes of data
size is sent continuously at a time, some number of bytes may be lost. Therefore, the higher
level device shall have response and resending mechanism, to avoid information loss.
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Product User’s Manual – RFBee-433MHz
7.2 Three Serial Port Transparent transmission modes
The default serial port transparent transmission mode is FU3. The module is in full speed
state, and the idle current is about 16mA. In this mode, the module can automatically adjust
the baud rate of wireless transmission in the air according to hardware serial port baud rate,
and the corresponding relationship is as shown in the table below:
Serial Port
baud rate
1200
bps
2400
bps
4800
bps
9600
bps
19200
bps
38400
bps
57600
bps
115200
bps
Baud rate
in the air
5000
bps
5000
bps
15000
bps
15000
bps
58000
bps
58000
bps
236000
bps
236000
bps
To get the farthest communication distance, the serial port baud rate can be set to be low. For
short-time transmission of mass data, set the serial port baud rate to be high, but the
communication distance will be reduced accordingly.
The receiving sensitivity of module at different baud rates in the air is shown in the table
below:
Baud rate in the air
5000bps
15000bps
58000bps
236000bps
Wireless receiving sensitivity
-117dBm
-112dBm
-107dBm
-100dBm
Generally, every time the receiving sensitivity is reduced by 6dB, the communication
distance will be reduced by half.
When “MODE” switch is push to AT, the serial port transparent transmission mode can be
set through AT command.
FU1 mode is relatively power saving mode, and the idle working current of this mode is
about 3.6mA. In this mode, the module can also set eight types of serial port baud rate as
shown in the above table, but the baudrate in the air is uniform, 250000bps.
FU2 mode is power saving mode, and the idle working current of this mode is about 80uA. In
this mode, the module only supports baud rate of 1200bps, 2400bps and 4800bps and the
baud rate in the air is uniform 250000bps. If the module is set to be other serial port baud
rate, the module cannot perform communication normally.
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Product User’s Manual – RFBee-433MHz
Meanwhile, when the module is set to be FU2 mode from FU1 or FU3 mode, the baud rate
exceeding 4800bps will be automatically reduced to be 4800bps. In FU2 mode, the sending
time interval of data package cannot be too short; otherwise, the data will be lost. It is
suggested that the sending time interval of data package should not be less than 1sec.
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Product User’s Manual – RFBee-433MHz
7.3 AT Command
AT command is used to set the module parameters and switch the module functions.
Modification of parameters and functions will not be lost in case of power failure.
Entering command mode
They are 2 ways to enter command mode:
●1st way: In normal use (powered), set MODE switch to AT.
●2nd way: Disconnect power supply, set MODE switch to AT then power it again. 1s later
the module will enter command mode.
Either of the above two ways can make the module enter AT command mode. If MODE
switch is set to transparent, the module will exit command mode. If the module function is
changed, it will be switched to corresponding functional status.
For 2nd method, the module enters AT in the serial port format of 9600, N, 1.
Command Instruction
1. AT
Test command
Example:
Send “AT” to module
Return: “OK”
2. AT+B
Change the serial port baud rate, and it will be valid after exiting from AT mode. The baud
rate can be set to: 1200, 2400, 4800, 9600, 19200, 38400, 57600, and 115200. The default
value is 9600.
Example:
Send “AT+B19200” to module to set the serial port baud rate to be 19200.
Return: “OK+B19200”
3. AT+C
Change the wireless communication channel of module, optional from 001 to 127, and the
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Product User’s Manual – RFBee-433MHz
default value is 001, and the working frequency is 433.4MHz. The channel stepping is
400KHz, and the working frequency of Channel 100 is 473.0MHz.
Example:
Send “AT+C021” to module to set module channel to be 021 working frequency is
441.4MHz
Return: “COK+C021”
Note: As the wireless receiving sensitivity of module is relatively high, when the serial port
baud rate is greater than 9600bps, five adjacent channels shall be staggered to use. When the
serial port baud rate is not greater than 9600bps, in short-distance (within 10m)
communication, again, five adjacent channels shall be staggered to use.
4. AT+FUx
Set module to wireless UART function. The value of x is optional within 1~ 3. The default
mode of module is FU3, and only when serial port function mode of two modules is set to be
the same the communication can be realized.
F means function, and U means UART
Example:
Send “AT+FU1” to module configuring module to be come UART FU1.
Return: “AT+OK”
5. AT+Px
Set transmitting power of module, x is optional from 1 to 8, and the corresponding
transmitting power of module is as shown below:
x value
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Transmitting power of module (dBm)
-1
2
5
8
11
14
17
20
The default value is 8, and the higher the transmitting power is, the farther the
communication distance is. When the transmitting power level is set to be 1, the transmitting
power is the minimum. everytime the transmitting power is reduced by 6dB,the
communication distance will be reduced by half.
Example:
Send “AT+P5” to module configuring the transmitting power to level 5 which is 11dBm.
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Product User’s Manual – RFBee-433MHz
Return: “OK+P5”
6. AT+Ry
Obtain module parameters, y is any letter among B, C, F and P, respectively representing:
baud rate, channel, serial port transparent transmission function mode and transmitting
power.
Example1:
Send “AT+RB” to module
Return: “OK+B9600”
Example2:
Send “AT+RC” to module
Return: “OK+RC001”
7. AT+RX
Obtain all common parameters of module. Return serial port transparent transmission
function mode, baud rate, channel, and transmitting power in order.
Example:
Send “AT+RX” to module
Return: “OK+FU3\r\n OK+B9600\r\n OK+C001\r\n OK+RP:+20dBm\r\n”
8. 12. AT+Uxyz
Set data bits, check bit and stop bit of serial port communication. Where x is data bit, y is
parity check, z is stop bit.
Option for parity check:
N: No check
O: odd
E: even
Option for stop bit
1: one stop bit
2: two stop bits
3: 1.5 stop bits
Example:
To send serial port format to be eight data bits,odd parity check, and one stop bit
Send “AT+U8O1” to module
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Product User’s Manual – RFBee-433MHz
Return: “OK+U8O1”
9. AT+V
Inquire firmware version information of module
Example:
Send “AT+V” to module
Return: “HC-12_V1.1”
10. AT+SLEEP
After receiving the command, the module enters sleep mode after exiting from AT mode, and
this mode doesn’t allow serial port data transmission. When the module enter AT mode
again, the module will exit from sleep mode automatically.
Example
Send “AT+SLEEP” to module when it’s not needed to transmit data, to save power.
Return: “OK+SLEEP”
11. AT+DEFAULT
Set serial port baud rate, communication channel, and serial port transparent transmission
mode to default value.
Example
Send “AT+DEFAULT” to module
Returns: “OK+DEFAULT” and the default value is restored.
12. AT+UPDATE
Put the module in the status of waiting for software update.
After sending the command, the module will not respond to command anymore until it is
re-energized.
After serial port assistant sends this command,close the serial port,select file in HC11 updater
and open the serial port. Then the module can update software version.
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8. WARRANTY
●Product warranty is valid for 12 months.
●Warranty only applies to manufacturing defect.
●Damaged caused by misuse is not covered under warranty
●Warranty does not cover freight cost for both ways.
Prepared by:
Cytron Technologies Sdn. Bhd.
No. 16, Jalan Industri Ringan Permatang Tinggi 2,
Kawasan Industri Ringan Permatang Tinggi,
14100 Simpang Ampat,
Penang, Malaysia.
Tel: +604 - 504 1878
Fax: +604 - 504 0138
URL: www.cytron.com.my
Email:  [email protected]
[email protected]
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