ON Semiconductor DVK-SF GEVK Series User manual

©Semiconductor Components Industries, LLC, 2017
June, 2017 −Rev. 0
1Publication Order Number:
EVBUM2501/D
DVK-SFxx-y-GEVK EVBUM
AX-SFxx-y-GEVK
Evaluation Board
User'sManual
Introduction
The DVK−SFxx−y−GEVK kit is a quick start solution for the
development of Sigfox®applications using the AX−SFxx−y System
on Chip (SoC).
The xx in the part numbers in this document refer to: xx = EU, US,
JK, or AZ which correspond to Sigfox regions RCZ1, RCZ2, RCZ3,
and RCZ4, respectively. The y is for the revision.
This user manual is applicable for all four kits.
The y in the part numbers refer to the current version of the kit.
Usage
Customers can communicate with the AX−SFxx−y SoC by terminal
emulation software or with an external micro−controller to test Sigfox
connectivity and to develop their application using the
pre−programmed AT command set as documented in the
corresponding product datasheets.
Kit Contents
•1 Mini−module with AX−SFxx−x SoC and SMA Connector
•1 Debugger Interface with Ribbon Cable
•1 Mini−USB Cable
•1 SMA Antenna
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DVK−SFxx−y−GEVK EVBUM
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APPLICATIONS INFORMATION
Hardware Setup
•Attach the included antenna to the SMA connector on
the mini−module.
•Connect the ribbon cable to the debugger board which
is keyed.
•The other side of the ribbon cable connects to the
mini−module, and the ribbon cable should be connected
so that the ribbon cable points away from the
mini−module. See the picture below.
Figure 2.
Prerequisite Software
A serial console or terminal emulator will be needed to
communicate to the kit by PC over USB. Popular choices are
PuTTY and hterm, but there are many others.
The following link form sparkfun provides a lot of great
information about serial consoles and how to use them. The
link also describes many of the popular consoles you can
choose from.
https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/terminal−basics/all
Along with the serial console, the driver for the USB
virtual COM port will also be needed. On Windows,
normally you can just plug in the USB cable and Windows
will automatically download the necessary driver. Please
note that this can take several minutes but only happens the
first time the board is plugged in.
If you need to download the drivers manually, please visit
the FTDI driver website below and select the right version
for your computer.
http://www.ftdichip.com/Drivers/VCP.html
Software Setup
Before the serial console can connect with the kit the
COM port number must be found. On Windows this can be
done in the device manager. Look for the Ports (COM &
LPT) section. See below an example that shows a device
connected to COM8 as highlighted in the picture.
Figure 3.
Please note that the debugger board, which is where the
USB to serial converter is, uses USB Serial Converter B.
This is seen in the Universal Serial Bus controller sections
as highlighted in the picture above.
Please right−click on the USB serial Converter B, and
select properties. Then click the advanced tab, and ensure
that the Load VCP option is selected. This should be
automatic but sometimes needs to be selected manually. See
Figure 4.
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Figure 4.
Once a suitable serial console is available and the COM
port number is known, the connection can be established.
The serial protocol uses the following parameters.
•9600 baud
•8 bit words
•No parity bit
•One stop bit
•No flow control
Using the serial console, establish a connection to the
device through the COM port determined above and using
the settings provided. To test the connection, simply type
“AT” followed by a CR (Carriage Return) and/or LF (Line
Feed).
If the response is “OK” then the device is connected and
ready for use.
If no response is received then this indicates a bad
connection. This can be caused by the debugger ribbon cable
being plugged in backwards, the wrong COM port number
or wrong serial protocol setup is being used.
Tip: When using some serial consoles, such as PuTTY,
local echo must be enabled to see what is being typed. Please
make sure this is enabled to avoid confusion as commands
are typed. Also, some serial consoles don’t automatically
add the CR/LF when the enter key is pressed. Double check
that this is enabled if you don’t see the “OK” response.
Sigfox ID and PAC
With the serial communication working, the ID and PAC
of the kit can be read out of the device. These two pieces of
information are necessary to register the device to be used
on the Sigfox network.
To read the ID, issue the command “AT$I=10”, and the
response will be an 8 digit hex string.
To read the PAC, issue the command “AT$I=11” and the
response will be a 16 digit hex string.
Sigfox Registration
With the ID and PAC, proceed to the following website to
register the device to the Sigfox network.
https://backend.sigfox.com/activate/ON
The Sigfox backend is the primary interface for Sigfox
developers to get information out of the Sigfox network.
Sigfox has created a YouTube playlist for instructions on
how to use the backend. Below is a link to the “The Sigfox
Backend” playlist.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLcw1TnahFR
W−dpqGwxa3noSMLP_nTEhdb
For more information about the Sigfox network, please
view the “Introduction to Sigfox technology” playlist at this
link:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLcw1TnahFR
W−EuxL437_6L1RdUGJqELvw
Application Development
Once the kit is registered to the Sigfox backend, the device
can be used to transmit messages to/from the Sigfox
network. Besides the Sigfox commands, all the other AT
commands listed in the product datasheets can be used as
well.
Here are links to the datasheets:
http://www.onsemi.com/pub/Collateral/AX−SFEU−D.PDF
http://www.onsemi.com/pub/Collateral/AX−SFUS−D.PDF
http://www.onsemi.com/pub/Collateral/AX−SFJK−D.PDF
http://www.onsemi.com/pub/Collateral/AX−SFAZ−D.PDF
Sigfoxred trademarks of Sigfox is a registeSARL.
YouTube is a trademark of Google, Inc.
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