Powercast P2110-EVAL-01 User manual

Rev A.3 – 2012/11 P2110-EVAL-01: Lifetime Power
®
Page 1
Energy Harvesting evelopment Kit for Wireless Sensors
www.powercastco.com
P2110-EVAL-01
Lifetime Power
®
Energy Harvesting Development Kit for Wireless Sensors
ser’s Manual
- featuring PIC® MCU with eXtreme Low Power (XLP) Technology
Overview
The Lifetime Power
®
Energy Harvesting evelopment Kit for Wireless Sensors is a complete
demonstration and development platform for creating battery-free wireless sensor applications
powered by RF energy (radio waves). It is designed and configured for extremely low power operation,
and the firmware is pre-installed for out-of-the-box operation.
The wireless sensor boards are powered by the P2110 Powerharvester Receiver, which converts RF
energy into C power. In this kit, the TX91501 transmitter is the source of RF energy at 915MHz, but
other sources from 850-950 MHz can also be used for power. The communications from the sensor
boards to the access point is 2.4GHz using 802.15.4-compliant radios.
No batteries are needed to power the wireless sensor board. RF energy is converted into C and stored
in a capacitor. When sufficient charge is stored the regulated output of the P2110 provides power to
the wireless sensor board until the operation is completed by the node or until the power is turned off
at the low-voltage threshold on the capacitor. The included wireless sensors measure temperature,
humidity and light, and have an interface for an external sensor.
Contents
The contents of the kit are shown in the image and table below. The kit includes an RF transmitter, RF
energy harvesting receiver boards and antennas, wireless sensor boards, a PIC® MCU-based
development board and radio, and a programming tool.

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Energy Harvesting evelopment Kit for Wireless Sensors
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Qty
Item
Description
1
Power and ata
Transmitter
(TX91501-3W-I )
3
-
wat
t
, 915
MHz transmitter for power and data
with integrated 8dBi
antenna and two power jacks. Sends a pre-programmed transmitter
I that is received by the P2110 Powerharvester component and is
decoded by the MCU on the Wireless Sensor Board
2
P2110
Evaluation Bo
ard
(P2110-EVB)
Evaluation board
(Rev. B)
for P2110 Powerharvester Receiver. This
board has an SMA connector to connect the antennas and a 10-pin
connector for the Wireless Sensor Board
2
Patch antenna
915MHz d
irectional antenna with 120
-
degree reception
pattern
(included with the P2110 evaluation board)
2
ipole antenna
915MHz o
mni
-
directional antenna with 360
-
degree reception
(included with the P2110 evaluation board)
2
Wireless Sensor Board
(WSN-EVAL-01)
Sensor for Temp/Humidity/Light and an external
input. Plugs into
P2110 evaluation board, and sends data to the access point
(Microchip 16-bit XLP evelopment Board)
1
Microchip 16
-
bit XLP
evelopment Board
( M240311)
evelopment platform
featuring Microchip’s PIC24F MCU
that is pre
-
programmed to operate as an access point for receiving data from the
Wireless Sensor Boards. USB cable included in box.
1
Mic
r
ochip MRF24
J40
PICtail/PICtail Plus
aughter Board
(AC164134-1)
2.4GHz,
IEEE
802.15.4 radio that plugs into the 16
-
bit XLP
evelopment Board for receiving data from the Wireless Sensor
Boards
1
PICkit
™
3 programmer
/
debugger
(PG164130)
Programming tool for updating code on the
Wireless Sensor Boards
and the 16-bit XLP evelopment Board. USB cable included in
package.
Set-up and Operation
Installation Overview
The following basis steps are required to operate the kit and are provided as an overview. etailed
installation instructions are provided immediately after this summary.
1. Install HyperTerminal (already installed with Windows XP) or equivalent terminal emulator program.
2. Install the USB Serial river for the Microchip 16-bit XLP evelopment Board.
3. Configure HyperTerminal or equivalent terminal emulator program.
4. Connect antennas and sensor boards to P2110 evaluation board.
5. Turn on the transmitter and point toward receivers.
Note:
The required software for steps 1 and 2 above is available for download from
http://www.powercastco.com/resources/ or the direct links provided in the next section.

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Energy Harvesting evelopment Kit for Wireless Sensors
Step-by-Step Installation
1. Install a termina
l emulator program on your PC.
HyperTerminal is included with Windows XP and earlier version
Windows Vista and Windows 7 users can download
http://www.powercastco.com/zip/HyperTerminal.zip
The download file is also found on the following page:
http://www.powercastco.com/resources/
There are only two files in this ZIP package:
hypertrm.dll
hypertrm.exe
Unzip the files to a location of your choice and click on
program (not yet)
. Be sure to keep
2. Verify
the settings on the Microchip 16
S4: PIC24FK
S7: ON
J12 Jumper set
to EXT PS/USB
JP6 Jumper on
JP9 Jumper on
JP10 Jumper on
Plug the Microchip MRF24J40 daughter board i
daughter board should hang
off the side of the XLP board
the XLP board, as shown in the
picture on page 1
S2
S1
J12
P2110-EVAL-01: Lifetime Power
®
Energy Harvesting evelopment Kit for Wireless Sensors
www.powercastco.com
l emulator program on your PC.
HyperTerminal is included with Windows XP and earlier version
s and no installation is required.
Windows Vista and Windows 7 users can download
HyperTer
minal from the following link
http://www.powercastco.com/zip/HyperTerminal.zip
The download file is also found on the following page:
http://www.powercastco.com/resources/
There are only two files in this ZIP package:
Unzip the files to a location of your choice and click on
hypertrm.exe
when you are ready to operate the
. Be sure to keep
these files in the same directory.
the settings on the Microchip 16
-bit XLP Development Board as follows:
to EXT PS/USB
Plug the Microchip MRF24J40 daughter board i
nto the PICtail™
Connector, J7, of the XLP board. The
off the side of the XLP board
, with the components facing
picture on page 1
.
Jumpers JP6, JP9, JP10
S4
S7
S1
–
System Reset
S2 – isplay
last packet w/ timer update
J7
3
Page 3
s and no installation is required.
minal from the following link
when you are ready to operate the
Connector, J7, of the XLP board. The
, with the components facing
inward/toward
Jumpers JP6, JP9, JP10
last packet w/ timer update

Rev A.3 – 2012/11 P2110-EVAL-01: Lifetime Power
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Energy Harvesting evelopment Kit for Wireless Sensors
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3. Download and install the SB-to-Serial driver file
The following driver file is needed to communicate with the Microchip 16-bit evelopment Board:
http://www.powercastco.com/zip/USB-Serial- river.zip
The file is also found on the following page:
http://www.powercastco.com/resources/
USB-to-Serial driver file installation
a. ownload the file and unzip to a preferred location.
b. Connect the Microchip 16-bit evelopment Board to the PC using the USB cable
c. Manually install the driver as shown below. O NOT use Windows automatic driver search.
Note – the installation example below is based on Windows XP
3.1 Connect the USB cable to the Microchip 16-bit XLP evelopment Board using min-USB connector J9.
When the following screen appears select “No, not at this time” and then click “Next”.
Select for
MANUAL
installation

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Energy Harvesting evelopment Kit for Wireless Sensors
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3.2 Select “Install from a list of specific location” and then click “Next” to continue.
3.3 Select the specific directory where you unzipped the USB-to-Serial driver files and then click “Next”.

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Energy Harvesting evelopment Kit for Wireless Sensors
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3.4 Click “Continue Anyway” to proceed.
3.5 When completed you should see this screen. Click “Finish” to proceed.

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Energy Harvesting evelopment Kit for Wireless Sensors
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4. Configure HyperTerminal to see data on the PC
The data can be displayed through a PC using any terminal emulator program. This manual will show
how to configure HyperTerminal, but the following settings are needed with any terminal emulator that
is used:
Baud rate: 19200 bps
ata bits: 8 bits
Parity: None
Stop bits: 1 bit
Emulation: ANSI or Auto etect
Windows XP or Windows 2000
HyperTerminal is provided with Windows XP and earlier versions. To access the program use the
following menu options:
Start Menu > All Programs > Accessories > Communications > HyperTerminal
Windows Vista or Windows 7
Go to the directory where HyperTerminal was installed from Step 1 and double click on hypertrm.exe to
launch the program.
4.1 Upon starting the program the dialog box may ask you if you would like to make HyperTerminal your
default telnet program. Select Yes or No to proceed.
4.2 Next, you will be shown the following dialog box in which to enter a name for the connection. You
can choose any name, “Powercast” is used in this manual. Enter “Powercast” into the dialog box and
select “OK” to continue

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Energy Harvesting evelopment Kit for Wireless Sensors
www.powercastco.com
4.3 The following dialog box will appear. Select the COM port which is being used for the access point
and click “OK”. (COM16 is used in this example).
Note:
If more than one COM port is shown you may need to use System Properties through Windows Control
Panel to determine which is the correct COM port. To access System Properties on your PC (using
Windows XP) select the following menu options:
1. Start Menu > Control Panel > System
2. Click on the “Hardware” tab and then “ evice Manager”
3. Scroll down until you see “Ports (COM & LPT)” and click the “+” sign to expand the list.

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Energy Harvesting evelopment Kit for Wireless Sensors
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4.4 Set the baud rate (Bits per second) to 19200 (19.2kbps) and click “OK”.
4.5 The following blank screen will appear.
Packets are displayed automatically when the TX91501 transmitter or other RF energy source is
providing power to a P2110 evaluation board with the sensor board attached.
Use these default settings

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Energy Harvesting evelopment Kit for Wireless Sensors
www.powercastco.com
4.6 Press switch S1 (see page 3) on the Microchip 16-bit XLP evelopment Board to reset the system
software and validate proper installation. If everything has been installed properly you will see the
following message displayed on the screen:
“Lifetime Power(R) Energy Harvesting evelopment Kit for Wireless Sensors”
“Powercast Corporation”
“Version X.X”
Switch Functions
Switches S1 and S2 on the Microchip 16-bit XLP evelopment Board function as defined below:
Switch S1
Resets the system software and all data buffers, including time counter and dT counter. Pressing S1 is
not required to start receiving packets and displaying sensor data.
Switch S2
Outputs data to the screen from the last packet received with an updated elapsed time and time
differential (dT).