Digi XLR PRO User manual

XLR PRO™
Radio Frequency (RF) Modem
User Guide

Revision history—90002202
Revision Date Description
B March
2014
Removed the data sample RX indicator frame type.
Updated descriptions for the DN, ND, and FN commands; added clarification
note to the WR command documentation.
C May 2015 Updated web configuration and Device Cloud options available with XLR PRO
firmware version 1006.
Updated Device Cloud brand name and login URLs.
D December
2015
Added certifications for Mexico and Australia.
Added USB support available with XLR PRO firmware version 1007.
E February
2016
Noted that user guide applies to all XLR PROmodels (XLR PRO and XLR PRO
INTL).
Moved source content and made miscellaneous editorial corrections.
F January
2017
Added a serial cable warning. Added Brazil and Peru certification
information. Updated ATcommands and API frames.
Trademarks and copyright
Digi, Digi International, and the Digi logo are trademarks or registered trademarks in the United
States and other countries worldwide. All other trademarks mentioned in this document are the
property of their respective owners.
© 2017 Digi International Inc. All rights reserved.
Disclaimers
Information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not represent a
commitment on the part of Digi International. Digi provides this document “as is,” without warranty of
any kind, expressed or implied, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of fitness or
merchantability for a particular purpose. Digi may make improvements and/or changes in this manual
or in the product(s) and/or the program(s) described in this manual at any time.
Warranty
To view product warranty information, go to the following website:
www.digi.com/howtobuy/terms
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[e-mail].
XLR PRO Radio Frequency (RF) Modem User Guide 2

Customer support
Digi Technical Support: Digi offers multiple technical support plans and service packages to help our
customers get the most out of their Digi product. For information on Technical Support plans and
pricing, contact us at +1 952.912.3444 or visit us at www.digi.com/support.
XLR PRO Radio Frequency (RF) Modem User Guide 3

Contents
XLR PRO Radio Frequency (RF) Modem User Guide
Operational modes 10
For more information 11
Hardware
XLR PRO front panel 13
RJ45 serial port pinout 13
Hardware interfaces 14
Power supply 14
LEDs 14
Startup 15
Data transmission 15
Reset button 15
Antenna port 16
Set up the hardware
XLR PRO kit contents 18
Connect the hardware 19
Mount the XLR PRO 20
Right-angle mount DIN rail (not to scale) 20
Flush-mount bracket (not to scale) 21
Mounting guidelines 21
Antenna placement 22
Technical specifications
General 24
RF specifications 24
Rural range line-of-sight 24
Receiver sensitivity by RF data rate 24
UART interface data rates (software selectable) 25
Networking and security 25
Power requirements 25
Power supply 26
Environmental 26
Regulatory approvals 26
Connectors 26
XLR PRO Radio Frequency (RF) Modem User Guide 4

XLR PRO Radio Frequency (RF) Modem User Guide 5
Operations
XLR PRO operational design 28
Ethernet RF bridging 28
Serial mode selection 29
USB mode 30
Serial mode 30
RS-232 30
RS-485/422 30
IP socket mode 31
Controlling parameters 31
Operational description 32
Serial communications 32
Serial buffers 32
Networking methods
MAC/PHY layers 34
Ethernet bridging 34
Ethernet packet handling 34
Bridging precautions 35
Enable bridging 35
64-bit addresses 35
Unicast 35
Broadcast 35
Serial addressing basics 36
64-bit addresses 36
Unicast 36
Broadcast 36
Delivery method 36
AT commands
Special commands 39
AC (Apply Changes) 39
FR (Software Reset) 39
RE (Restore Defaults) 39
WR (Write) 39
MAC/PHY commands 40
ID (Network ID) 40
BR (RF Data Rate) 40
PL (Power Level) 40
RR (Unicast Retries) 41
MT(Broadcast Multi-Transmits) 41
Diagnostic commands 41
DB (Received Signal Strength) 41
EA (MAC ACK Timeouts) 42
ER (Received Error Count) 42
GD (Good Packets Received) 42
TR (Transmission Failure Count) 43
UA (Unicasts Attempted) 43
%H (MAC Unicast One Hop Time) 43
%8 (MAC Broadcast One Hop Time) 43
N? (Network Discovery Timeout) 44

XLR PRO Radio Frequency (RF) Modem User Guide 6
Network commands 44
CE (Node Messaging Options) 44
BH (Broadcast Hops) 44
NH (Network Hops) 44
NN (Network Delay Slots) 45
RF Addressing commands 45
SH (Serial Number High) 45
SL (Serial Number Low) 45
DH (Destination Address High) 45
DL (Destination Address Low) 46
TO (Transmit Options) 46
NI (Node Identifier) 46
NT (Node Discovery Timeout) 47
NO (Node Discovery Options) 47
CI (Cluster ID) 47
DE (Destination Endpoint) 48
SE (Source Endpoint) 48
Addressing discovery and configuration commands 49
DN (Discover Node) 49
ND (Network Discover) 49
FN (Find Neighbors) 50
Security commands 50
KY (AES Encryption Key) 51
Serial interfacing commands 51
BD (Baud Rate) 51
NB (Parity) 51
SB (Stop Bits) 52
RO (Packetization Timeout) 52
FT (Flow Control Threshold) 52
AP (API Mode) 52
AO (API Options) 53
4E (Serial Protocol) 53
4D (RS-485 Duplex) 53
4T (RS-485 Termination) 54
D6 (RTS Flow Control) 54
D7 (CTS Flow Control) 54
Hardware diagnostics commands 55
TP (Temperature) 55
RP(RSSI PWM Timer) 55
Ethernet and IP socket mode commands 55
ES (IP Socket Mode Enable) 55
IB (IP Socket Baud Rate) 56
IP (IP Protocol) 56
DX (Destination IP Address) 57
C0 (Source Port) 57
DY (Destination Port) 57
TM (TCP Client Connection Timeout) 57
TS (TCP Server Connection Timeout) 58
MA (IP Addressing Mode) 58
MY (XLR IP Address) 58
MK (Subnet Mask) 59
GW (Default Gateway Address) 59
NS (DNS Address) 59
%M (Ethernet MAC address) 60
Device Cloud commands 60

XLR PRO Radio Frequency (RF) Modem User Guide 7
DO (Device Cloud Enable) 60
KP (Device Description) 60
KC (Device Contact) 60
KL (Device Location) 61
LX (Latitude) 61
LY (Longitude) 61
EQ (Device Cloud FQDN) 61
DI (Device Cloud Indicator) 61
Web configuration commands 62
HE (Web Configuration Enable) 62
HU (Web Configuration User Name) 62
HW (Web Configuration Password) 62
Ethernet bridging commands 63
BE (Ethernet RF Bridging Enable) 63
BA (Bridge Destination MAC) 63
Command mode options 63
CC (Command Sequence Character) 63
CN (Exit Command mode) 64
CT (Command Mode Timeout) 64
GT (Guard Times) 64
Firmware commands 64
VB (Firmware Version) 64
VR (XLR PRO Firmware Version) 65
HV (Hardware Version) 65
VH (XLR PRO Baseboard Hardware Version) 65
*C (compatibility) 65
DD (Device Type Identifier) 65
PN (Part Number) 66
NP (Maximum Packet Payload Bytes) 66
CK (Configuration CRC) 66
Operate in API mode
API mode overview 68
Use the AP command to set the operation mode 68
API frame format 68
API operation (AP parameter = 1) 68
API operation-with escaped characters (AP parameter = 2) 69
API serial exchanges 70
AT command frames 70
Transmit and receive RF data 71
Remote AT commands 71
Code to support future API frames 71
API frame types 72
AT Command Frame - 0x08 72
AT Command - Queue Parameter Value frame - 0x09 74
Transmit Request frame - 0x10 75
Explicit Addressing Command frame - 0x11 77
Remote AT Command Request frame - 0x17 80
AT Command Response frame - 0x88 82
Modem Status frame - 0x8A 84
Transmit Status frame - 0x8B 85
Receive Packet frame - 0x90 87
Explicit Rx Indicator frame - 0x91 89
Remote Command Response frame - 0x97 91

XLR PRO Radio Frequency (RF) Modem User Guide 8
Advanced application features
Network commissioning and diagnostics 94
Local configuration 94
Remote configuration 94
Send a remote command 94
Apply changes on remote devices 94
Remote command response 94
Test links in a network 95
Test links between adjacent devices 96
Example 97
RSSI indicators 97
Discover devices 98
General Purpose Flash Memory 98
Access General Purpose Flash Memory 99
Work with flash memory 110
Over-the-air (OTA) firmware updates 110
Distribute the new application 111
Verify the new application 111
Install the application 112
Keep in mind 112
Configure the XLR PRO using the web configuration interface
Access the XLR PRO web configuration interface 114
Set general options 114
Set Ethernet network options 114
Set Ethernet RF bridging options 115
Set Device Cloud connectivity options 116
Set XLR radio options 116
Set XLR radio serial options 117
Set XLR radio IP socket (Ethernet) options 118
Update firmware 119
Set web configuration options 119
Configure the XLR PRO using XCTU
Download and install XCTU 122
Download and install the USB driver 122
Connect XLR PRO to your PC 122
Launch XCTU and add the XLR PRO 122
Configure parameters using XCTU 122
Determine or assign an IP address 123
Determine the assigned DHCP address 123
Assign a static IP address 123
Update firmware with XCTU 123
Configure the XLR PRO using Digi Remote Manager
Create a Remote Manager account 126
Get the XLR PRO MAC address 126
Add a Digi XLR PRO to Remote Manager 126
Update firmware with Device Cloud 127

XLR PRO Radio Frequency (RF) Modem User Guide 9
Configure Device Cloud connectivity options 127
Configure Ethernet network options 128
Configure Ethernet RF bridging options 128
Configure IP socket mode options 129
Configure serial mode options 130
Configure system options 131
Configure web configuration options 132
Configure XLR radio configuration options 132
Schedule Device Cloud configuration changes 134
Troubleshooting
Serial interface issues 136
Condition 136
Solution 136
Condition 136
Solution 136
Ethernet issues 136
Condition 136
Solution 136
General issues 136
Condition 136
Solution 136
Safety notices and certifications
RF exposure statement 138
Class 1, Division 2 (C1D2) certification—USA and Canada 138
FCC (United States) certification 139
Industry Canada (IC) certification 139
Australia certification 140
Mexico IFETEL 140
Brazil (ANATEL) 140
XLR PRO antennas
Omni-directional antennas 143
Yagi antennas 144

XLR PRO Radio Frequency (RF) Modem User Guide
The XLR PRO is a high performance, industrial grade long-range radio solution that offers serial,
Ethernet socket, and Ethernet bridging connectivity to ensure reliable wireless data communications
over long distances. There are two models:
nThe XLR PRO RF Modem for North American distribution
nThe XLR PRO INTL RF Modem for international distribution
In this documentation, the term XLR PRO refers to both models.
Packaged in a sturdy, rugged enclosure and using patent-pending Punch2™ Technology to maximize
range and significantly increase immunity to interference, the XLR PRO 900 MHz radio can connect a
variety of devices across many industrial applications.
Punch2 Technology leverages chirp spread spectrum (CSS) modulation to provide better receiver
sensitivity, multipath performance, and interference rejection than is available through commonly
used frequency hopping spread spectrum (FHSS) or direct sequence spread spectrum (DSSS) systems.
The advantages of Punch2 Technology arise from the characteristics of the chirp signal as well as
several digital-signal-processing techniques that enhance performance and reliability. With Punch2
Technology, data is spread to a higher bandwidth by multiplying each transmit modulation symbol
with a chirp signal. Operating at an expanded bandwidth provides several benefits:
nGreater receiver sensitivity
nInterference immunity
nImproved multipath performance
nAdjustable data rates
Flexible configuration and management options allow you to quickly set up and deploy one or more
XLR PRO modems, as well as apply firmware updates, get device status information, and more.
Operational modes
The XLR PRO offers the following operational modes:
XLR PRO Radio Frequency (RF) Modem User Guide 10