Texas Instruments Chipcon Products CC2431 User manual

CC2431
CC2431DK
Development Kit
User Manual
Rev. 1.5
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CC2431
Table of contents
1. INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................4
2. ABOUT THIS MANUAL ..........................................................................................................4
3. DEFINITIONS............................................................................................................................4
4. CC2431DK CONTENT..............................................................................................................5
5. SYSTEM OVERVIEW..............................................................................................................6
5.1 G RID ..............................................................................................................................................6
5.2 N ODES ...........................................................................................................................................7
5.2.1 Reference Node..................................................................................................................................................................... 7
5.2.2 Blind Node............................................................................................................................................................................. 7
5.2.3 Dongle................................................................................................................................................................................... 7
5.3 RSSI..............................................................................................................................................7
5.4 P ROGRAM FLOW ............................................................................................................................8
5.5 C OMMUNICATION F LOW ...............................................................................................................8
5.6 T YPE DEFINITIONS .........................................................................................................................8
6. IAR EMBEDDED WORKBENCH PROJECT.....................................................................10
6.1 C ONFIGURATIONS ........................................................................................................................10
6.2 E MBEDDED S OFTWARE A RCHITECTURE ......................................................................................11
7. HARDWARE DESCRIPTION ...............................................................................................13
7.1 B ATTERY B OARD ........................................................................................................................13
7.2 P ROGRAMMING OF SOC_BB.......................................................................................................14
7.3 S MART RF04EB...........................................................................................................................16
7.4 CC2430DB.................................................................................................................................16
8. NODES......................................................................................................................................17
8.1 S ETUP / S TART - UP ........................................................................................................................17
8.2 LED S ..........................................................................................................................................17
9. LOCATION ENGINE WINDOWS GUI................................................................................17
9.1 O VERVIEW ..................................................................................................................................17
9.2 I NSTALLATION .............................................................................................................................18
9.3 C ONNECTIONS .............................................................................................................................18
9.4 I NTERACTION WITH OTHER NETWORK NODES ..............................................................................19
10. GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE........................................................................................20
10.1 M ENUS AND BUTTONS .................................................................................................................21
10.1.1 Settings...................................................................................................................................................................... 21
10.2 S ETTINGS PANELS ........................................................................................................................22
10.2.1 Setup.......................................................................................................................................................................... 22
10.2.2 Background............................................................................................................................................................... 22
10.2.3 Reference Node Setup............................................................................................................................................... 23
10.2.4 Blind Node Setup....................................................................................................................................................... 24
10.3 T HE S TATUS B AR ........................................................................................................................24
11. NODES......................................................................................................................................25
10.1 B LIND N ODE T HEORY OF O PERATION .............................................................................................25
11.1.1 Polled Mode.............................................................................................................................................................. 25
11.1.2 Auto Mode................................................................................................................................................................. 26
11.2 R EFERENCE N ODE T HEORY OF O PERATION .................................................................................26
11.3 L OCATION D ONGLE T HEORY OF O PERATION ..............................................................................26
12. MESSAGES..............................................................................................................................26
12.1 XY-RSSI R EQUEST (C LUSTER ID: 0 X 0011)................................................................................26
12.2 XY-RSSI R ESPONSE (C LUSTER ID: 0 X 0012)..............................................................................26
12.3 B LIND N ODE F IND R EQUEST (C LUSTER ID: 0 X 0013)..................................................................27
12.4 B LIND N ODE F IND R ESPONSE (C LUSTER ID: 0 X 0014) ................................................................27
12.5 R EFERENCE N ODE C ONFIGURATION (C LUSTER ID: 0 X 0015)......................................................27
12.6 B LIND N ODE C ONFIGURATION (C LUSTER ID: 0 X 0016)...............................................................28
12.7 R EFERENCE N ODE C ONFIGURATION R EQUEST (C LUSTER ID: 0 X 0017).......................................28
12.8 B LIND N ODE C ONFIGURATION R EQUEST (C LUSTER ID: 0 X 0018) ...............................................28
12.9 RSSI B LAST (C LUSTER ID: 0 X 0019)...........................................................................................28
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13. CONSTANTS IN SOFTWARE...............................................................................................29

CC2431
13.1 T IMING CONSTANTS ....................................................................................................................29
13.2 RSSI AVERAGING CONSTANTS ....................................................................................................29
14. SCHEMATICS.........................................................................................................................30
15. DOCUMENT HISTORY.........................................................................................................32
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CC2431
1. Introduction
This CC2431DK User Manual describes how to use the software and hardware included in
the CC2431 Development Kit.
Please refer to the Quick Start Guide for a brief introduction on how to get started using the
development kit.
2. About this manual
This manual contains some of the theoretical material needed to develop a positioning system
based on CC2431 and gives a brief introduction to the software provided in the kit.
3. Definitions
Blind Node A node using CC2431 and the Location Engine to calculate its
own position.
Reference Node A node located on a static location.
GUI Graphic User Interface
Chipcon Packet Sniffer A PC tool to visualize traffic on radio
Z-location Engine A PC tool used to configure and display location engine results
RSSI Received Signal Strength Indicator
TIMAC Texas Instruments Media Access Control, a SW protocol that
handles IEEE 802.15.4 data handling
SOC_BB System on Chip Battery Board
CC243xEM CC2430/ CC2431 Evaluation Module, a small plug-in module
for SmartRF04DK, should be used as reference design for RF
layout.
CC2430-F128 CC2430 with 128 kB FLASH
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CC2431
4. CC2431DK content
The development kit contains the following:
2 x SmartRF04EB
10 x SOC_BB (Battery Board)
2 x Evaluation Modules CC2430EM
10 x Evaluation Modules CC2431EM
12 x 2.4GHz Antennas
2 x USB cables
1 x RS232 Serial cable
1 x 10-wire flat cable for using SmartRF04EB as emulator for external target systems
1 x Quick start guide
SmartRF04EB with CC2430EM Battery board with CC2431EM
The SmartRF04DK Development Kit includes a sample application for location calculation
and demonstration. The sample application allows you to:
•Evaluate the SmartRF®04 products. Apply power the boards and the plug and play kit
can be used for range testing and location engine testing
•Use SmartRF®Studio to perform RF evaluation and measurements. The radio can be
easily configured to measure sensitivity, output power and other RF parameters.
•Develop and test your own firmware. The CC2431DK includes a USB interface that
can be used as an emulator interface for the CC2430 or CC2431. All I/O ports are
available on pin connectors on the edge of the board to allow easy access for testing
or for external I/O.
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5. System overview
For an introduction to the location engine please see application note AN042,
document number SWRA095. The note is available from www.ti.com.
Referencenode
Blindnode
Figure 1: Location Estimation
The location algorithm used in CC2431 Location Engine is based on RSSI (Received Signal
Strength Indicator) values. The RSSI value will decrease with increasing distance. An
important parameter related to the performance of the location estimate is the absolute
tolerance of the RSSI measurement of the RF-transceiver. This is specific to our transceiver
and is provided in the datasheet. The main feature of the CC2431 Location Engine is that the
location estimation is performed in each Blind Node, hence the algorithm is decentralized.
This reduces the amount of data transferred on the RF interface, since only the calculated
position is transmitted.
The location engine implemented in CC2431 can use up to 16 Reference Nodes for each
calculation. The data that is necessary to do a calculation are X, Y and RSSI values for each
of the Reference Nodes used in the system setup. In addition it needs two RF transmission
parameters (A and N), please refer to application note AN042 for a description of each
parameter.
5.1 Grid
To map each location to a distinct place in the natural environment, a two dimensional grid is
used. The direction will, in the following, be named X and Y. The CC2431 Location Engine
can only handle two dimensions, but it’s possible to handle a third dimension in software (i.e.
to represent levels in a building). The point named (X, Y) = (0, 0) is located in upper left
corner of the grid.
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5.2 Nodes
The CC2431 Location Engine uses the RSSI value combined with the physical location of the
Reference Nodes to calculate its own position.
Any number of Reference Nodes can be used in the system, but a node can only calculate its
position if it is within range of at least three Reference Nodes1.
Experiments have shown that one Reference Node for each 100 m2gives good location
estimates. The nodes should be placed in a grid with one node for each 10 meters in both
directions.
5.2.1 Reference Node
A node which has static location is called a Reference Node. This node must be configured
with an X and a Y value that correspond to the physical location.
The main task for a Reference Node is to provide “reference” packets to the Blind Node.
Reference packets contain the X and Y coordinates of the Reference Node.
5.2.2 Blind Node
A Blind Node will communicate with its nearest Reference Nodes, collecting X, Y and RSSI
values for each of these nodes. Then it uses the location engine hardware to calculate its
position based on the collected parameters from several Reference Nodes.
5.2.3 Dongle
The Dongle will communicate with the entire network; it can request or configure the X,Y
values of all Reference Nodes and the A and N values of the Blind Nodes via the Z-location
Engine PC Application. The Z-location Engine can also configure any Blind Node to
automatically make a periodic position calculation and report (by default the Blind Node is
waiting for a command to perform a position calculation.)
5.3 RSSI
The RSSI value is typically in the range -40 dBm to -90 dBm, where -40 dBm is the highest
value. -40 dBm is approximately the measured signal strength on distance of one meter. Input
to the location engine hardware is the absolute value of the RSSI in dBm, so the range will
typically be from 40 to 90, where 40 is the highest signal strength.
1Three is a lower theoretical limit, for a good estimate three Reference Nodes may be too
few.
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5.4 Program flow
The program flow for both Reference Node and Blind Node are shown in Figure 2 and Figure
3. The figures are simplified.
Figure 2: Reference Node Figure 3: Blind Node
5.5 Communication Flow
The Z-location Engine is configured to periodically query the entire network – the X,Y of all
Reference Nodes is requested and all Blind Nodes are commanded to perform a position
calculation. When a Blind Node performs a position calculation, the Over-the-Air (OTA)
message traffic can be observed as three phases: broadcast, data collection, & position
calculation and reporting.
Broadcast Phase
The Blind Node sends out a 1-hop broadcast to learn the network address of all Reference
Nodes that are within radio range. Then the Blind Node sends out a blast of several 1-hop
broadcast messages, and any Reference Node receiving such a message shall make a
running average of the RSSI of the packets received from a particular Blind Node.
Data Collecting Phase
After the broadcast phase, the Blind Node will send a 1-hop unicast message to every
Reference Node in radio range requesting the average RSSI calculated during the broadcast
blast.
Position Calculating Phase
In this phase the Blind Node calculates the position and transmits it to the Dongle.
5.6 Type definitions
Some values are given in the notation:
UINTTotalBits_FractionalBits, this means unsigned, total TotalBits number of bits, where
FractionalBits number of bits represent the fraction part.
Example: UINT8_2 means unsigned, 8 bits with 2 fraction bits. This leaves 6 bit to the integer
part.
Both “UINT8_1”, “UINT8_2” and “UINT16_2” are used in the source code.
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Notation Max Accuracy
UINT8_1 127,5 0.5 meter
UINT8_2 63,75 0.25 meter
UINT16_2 16 383,75 0.25 meter
Table 1: Notation
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CC2431
6. IAR Embedded Workbench Project
The CC2431DK development kit is delivered with the software preprogrammed into the
CC2431 on the evaluation modules. The location demo can be started right out of the box by
following the instructions in the CC2431DK Quick Start Instructions included in the kit. The
Quick start instructions can also be downloaded from the CC2431 product web site.
The source code is described in this user manual as it gives a good understanding of how the
location demo works.
6.1 Configurations
The remainder of this chapter describes how to set up a location network with 3 or more
Reference Nodes and 1 or more Blind Nodes.
Download the from the CC2431 product page on www.ti.com
•TIMAC (Requires registration)
•Location engine example source code
•Z-location Engine PC application
Install the Z-location Engine and IAR Workbench.
The Location engine example source code is provided as a sample application in the TIMAC.
To install the location sample source code in the right directory copy the zip file with the
source code to C:\Texas Instruments\TI-MAC-1.1.0. Unzip the file and preserve file paths,
this will copy the source files to C:\Texas Instruments\TI-MAC-1.1.0\Projects\mac\Location
Navigate to the IAR_Files project directory located at:
C:\Texas Instruments\TI-MAC-1.1.0\Projects\mac\Location\cc2430\IAR Project
Launch the IAR Embedded Workshop by double clicking on the SampleApp.eww file:
Figure 4: Location Software Project Directory
In the location software workspace there exist three different project configurations:
•CC2430BB
•CC2430DB
•CC2430EB
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CC2431
The hardware platform of choice for a build should be selected from the Workspace pull-
down menu as displayed in Figure 5.
Figure 5: IAR Workbench Setup
Build the desired device application by pulling down the Project menu and clicking on
Rebuild All
6.2Embedded Software Architecture
The location logic is implemented as a simple client layer built atop of the TIMAC. Each of the
three different devices must be built individually by removing the comment from the line with
the name of the device desired in the LocationProfile.h. Here is how to build a Dongle:
From a IEEE 802.15.4 network standpoint there is no coordinator and the protocol is setup to
be a proprietary network using the TIMAC as an abstraction layer with the use of the of the
MCPS-SAP primitive MCPS-DATA. Please refer to the TIMAC documentation for further
details.
The Chipcon CC2431 SoC includes hardware functionality implementing the PHY layer and
parts of the TIMAC layer. E.g., the FCS (IEEE 802.15.4 term for CRC) generation and
verification is implemented in CC2431 hardware. The physical layer is not implemented as a
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separate layer within the source code, but is merged with the TIMAC sub-layer for
performance and code-size purposes.
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7. Hardware description
7.1 Battery Board
Button S1
LED
SoC Debug
connector
Power Switch
I/O Connector
A
I/O Connector B
Figure 6: System on Chip Battery Board with CC2430EM
Figure 6 is showing the system on chip battery board. The main function for this board is to
power the CC2430 or CC2431EM with use of two AA batteries.
The System on Chip battery board should be powered by two AA batteries. It can in addition
be powered by a lab power connected directly to GND and VDD on the board. The user
should notice that no voltage converter is used; the lab power voltage is connected directly to
the chip.
Figure 7: Bottom side of SoC Battery Board
I/O connector A and B gives access to all I/O on the SoC and to some additional pins. I/O
connector A and B have the same pin out as P10 and P11 on the SmartRF04EB. Details can
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be found in the schematic in Figure 26 and in the CC1110DK, CC2430DK, CC2510DK
Development Kit User Manual (SWRU039).
The SoC Debug connector can be used both for downloading firmware to the flash and for
debugging of the chip. For both actions use of SmartRF04EB as an In Circuit Emulator is
required.
This board exists in two different versions, PCB version 1.0 and 1.1. The only noticeable
difference between these two versions is the option for disconnection Button S1.
The most important pins on P4 are pin 3-4 for enabling the LED, and pin 5-6 to enable the
button S1. Pin 1 is P1.6 (TD) and pin 2 is P1.7 (RD) for easy access to UART. Pin 7 is VDD
and pin 8 is GND.
P4
I/O Connector
CC2430/
EM
connector
Figure 8: Battery board Signal flow
Power to the board can be switched on and off by using power switch P3.
7.2 Programming of SOC_BB
CC2431EM can be programmed / debugged when mounted on SOC_BB. Connect a 10-wire
ribbon cable between P14 on SmartRF04EB and P5 on SOC_BB as shown in Figure 9.
SOC_BB most be powered from batteries and turned on when programming is performed.
NOTE:
The voltage on SOC_BB must be above 2.7 V when debugged from SmartRF04EB.
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CC2431
Figure 9: SmartRF04EB to program SOC_BB
The SmartRF04EB is used as ICE for external target hardware such as the SOC_BB. To use
the SmartRF04EB as ICE, the IAR Embedded Workbench software must be installed. The
Embedded Workbench is a C-Compiler, Simulator, and ICE debugger. When the
SmartRF04EB is connected to a PC with the USB port, the debugger will connect to the
SmartRF04EB. The CC2431EM is plugged into the SOC_BB board when running the
SmartRF04EB in this mode.
When designing applications with CC2430 or CC2431 it is recommended to include a pin
header or test points to allow in-circuit emulation or programming using SmartRF04EB or
other programming tools.
The pin-out used on the SmartRF04EB and the CC2430DB is explained in Table 2 and Figure
10. The connector includes 4 SPI control signals. These are currently not used, but they are
included for flexibility.
The SmartRF04EB includes a voltage converter to support programming and debugging of
external systems with different operating voltage than the SmartRF04EB. The debug
connector (P14, “SoC debug/ flash”) includes two VDD connections on pin 2 and pin 9. The
function is different for these connections.
Pin 2 VDD supplies voltage to the voltage converter. This pin should be connected to VDD on
the external board to assure that the correct supply voltage is used for the voltage converter.
This pin must always be connected. The voltage on the target system must be above 2.7 V
when debugged from SmartRF04EB.
Pin 9 VDD supplies VDD (3.3 V) from the SmartRF04EB. If the target application is powered
from the SmartRF04EB supply during programming and debugging this pin should be
connected. If the target voltage differs from 3.3V, this pin should not be connected.
The pin out used on the SmartRF04EB and the CC2430DB is explained in Table 2 and Figure
10. All signals in bold in the table are required for the programming and debugging
functionality. Figure 10 shows the required signal for a minimum connector layout.
Pin Function Note
1 GND
2 VDD Used to set correct voltage for the
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CC2431
voltage level converter
3 Debug Clock (DC)
4 Debug Data (DD)
5 CSn
6 SCLK
7 Reset_N
8 MOSI
9 3.3V VDD, alt. NC Delivers VDD from SmartRF04EB
10 MISO
Table 2: P14 SoC debug connector pin-out
1 2
Figure 10: Recommended debug connector layout (Top view)
7.3 SmartRF04EB
Please refer to the user manual available for CC2430DK (Ti document number SWRU039) for
a description of the SmartRF04EB (Figure 11).
7.4 CC2430DB
CC2430DB (Figure 12) is only included in the CC2430ZDK, please refer to CC2430ZDK User
Manual for a description of the board.
Figure 11: SmartRF04EB Figure 12: CC2430DB
1. GND 2. VDD
3. DC 4. DD
7. Reset_N
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CC2431
8. Nodes
All Blind Nodes must be CC2431 evaluation modules. Reference Nodes and packet sniffer
nodes may be equipped with either CC2430 or CC2431. If a CC2430 is used as a Blind Node,
an LED on the board used will start blinking.
8.1 Setup/ Start-up
The SmartRF04EB and CC2430DB boards have a 5-position joystick, designated U400,
which provides these switch inputs as shown in the table below. Moving the joystick toward
the U400 label (up position) activates the SW1 input. Switch inputs SW2 – SW4 result from
moving the joystick to the right, down (away from U400), and left respectively. SW5 occurs
when the joystick is pressed straight down when in the center position.
Figure 13: SmartRF04EB, joystick Figure 14: CC2430DB, joystick
Upwards
Upwards
Refer to chapter 9 for how to configure the nodes from the provided PC application.
8.2 LEDs
In each project there is a header file that is customized for the hardware named
hal_board_cfg.h and it contains the following:
#define HAL_LED TRUE
When this symbol is defined to TRUE, the LED’s available on the platform will blink to signal
different states for the node. It is recommended to define HAL_LED to FALSE in order to
increase battery lifetime.
9. Z-Location Engine PC application
9.1 Overview
The Z-Location Engine communicates with a ZigBee node through a UART/serial cable. The
node connected to the PC will in the following be called the “Location Dongle”. The location
dongle is a complete ZigBee node and will participate in the ZigBee network. It is up to the
user to decide if this node should be a coordinator, a router, or an end device. This node is
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used to issue messages into the network, and the other nodes in the network are using the
dongle for addressing packets to the PC application.
Figure 15: Overview
It’s recommended to use a SmartRF04EB for the location dongle, since this board gives easy
access to a UART connection. The dongle node can use either a CC2430 or a CC2431 RF
chip
The Z-Location Engine includes a flash download function, which makes it possible to
download an already generated hex file to a connected development board. Please note that
flash programming can only be done with use of a USB cable. How to perform flash
programming is described later in this manual.
9.2 Installation
The Z-Location Engine is distributed as an executable installation file. This file can be
downloaded from the CC2431 product page on www.ti.com. The installation file will add an
item to the start menu. The Z-Location Engine application can be started by clicking [Start] ->
[Programs] -> [Chipcon] – [Z-Location Engine].
9.3 Connections
Figure 16: Connections, USB is optional
The SmartRF04EB should be powered either from a power supply or from USB. The PC must
be connected to the SmartRF04EB using a UART cable2. All communication when the system
is operating is over the UART. If a USB cable is connected, this makes it possible to
download firmware directly from the Z-Location Engine PC application. The USB can in
addition be used for downloading and debugging the dongle node from e.g. the IAR
embedded workbench development environment.
2A UART cable is often called RS-232 cable, serial cable, or null-modem cable. It connects to
a serial port on the PC and to the D-SUB connector (P200) on the SmartRF04EB.
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9.4Interaction with other network nodes
The PC application will from time to time issue two different broadcast messages into the
network. This is done through the location dongle, which is a complete node that participates
in the network. All nodes associated to the network will show up as either reference nodes or
blind nodes in the Z-Location Engine PC application.
Below is a highly simplified version of the algorithm used.
Broadcast request for blind nodes
Wait for broadcast reply
Broadcast request for reference nodes
Wait for broadcast reply
Iterate the list of received blind nodes
Unicast request for calculated position
Wait for reply
Repeat from start
Some of the timer intervals in the algorithm can be changed by the user. Please notice that
the actual implementation is not sequential, even if the pseudo code looks that way.
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10. Graphical User Interface
Interaction with the Z-Location Engine is done through graphical user interface shown below.
The user interface and menus are described in the following sections.
Figure 17: Z-Location Screenshot
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