AN655
R
ANGE
T
E S T
A
P P L IC A T IO N FOR
E ZR
ADIO ® AND
EZ R
ADIO
PRO
®
1. Introduction
The range evaluation demo provides an easy way to evaluate the link budget of EZRadio
®
and EZRadioPRO
®
devices by performing a range test between two nodes. The range test demo implements Packet Error Rate (PER)
measurement. PER is a commonly-used technique for measuring the quality of RF links in wireless systems under
particular conditions.
2. Supported Radio Types
The following RF ICs are supported by the range evaluation demo:
Si4012
Transmitter
Si4355 Receiver
Si4455 Transceiver
Si4060 Transmitter
Si4063 Transmitter
Si4362 Receiver
Si4460 Transceiver
Si4461 Transceiver
Si4463 Transceiver
Si4464 Transceiver
Si4438 Transceiver
Si4467 Transceiver
Si4468 Transceiver
Rev. 0.6
Copyright © 2014 by Silicon Laboratories
AN655
AN655
3. Development Kits
The range evaluation demo can run on the development boards described in the following subsections.
3.1. Wireless Mother Board Hardware Platform
The wireless motherboard platform is a demo, evaluation, and development platform for radio ICs. It consists of a
wireless motherboard and interchangeable MCU and RF Pico boards.
Figure 1. Wireless Motherboard Platform
2
Rev. 0.6
AN655
3.2. LCD Base Board Platform
The LCD Base Board is a development board that can be used with a connected RF Pico board.
Figure 2. LCD Base Board Platform
Rev. 0.6
3
AN655
4. Basics of the Packet Error Rate
The range test demo provides measured results regarding the quality of the RF link. The demo uses two RF nodes.
In the one-way link range test, one node is used as the “transmitter” (TX) and the other as the “receiver” (RX). The
transmitter sends packets to the receiver repeatedly. The packet includes the address of the transmitter and
number of the sent packet. The packet number increments from packet to packet. The receiver receives the packet
and checks its address. If their addresses match, the packet number is stored. In the two-way link range test, the
receiver can send an acknowledge packet (ACK) back to the transmitter. The ACK packet also includes the
address and packet number of the received packet.
Packet error rate can be calculated with the following equation:
P
TX
–
P
RX
-
Packet Error Rate (%)
= -------------------------------
100
P
TX
where P
TX
is the number of sent packets and P
RX
is the number of received packets.
4.1. Packet Structure
Figure 3. Packet Structure
5. Prerequisites for Code Development
The range test project has a unified structure and common driver set. This section provides a brief introduction of
the structure of the range test projects. This structure may be familiar to customers who have already used the
exportable example projects from WDS.
The settings in the sample project files assume that some Silicon Labs or third-party software tools are already
installed on the PC on which the sample project will be compiled. The tools that need to be installed depend on the
functionality to be used. The following list contains a complete set of such programs:
Silicon
Laboratories IDE
Used to open the preconfigured project files and manage the build process.
Keil C51 v9.0 (or higher)
Compilers to use with the Silicon Laboratories IDE to manage build process.
Silicon Labs Flash Programming Utility (optional)
Needed only if programming outside the Silicon Labs IDE is necessary.
Make (optional)
This tool is needed in case another compiler is used or the build process takes place outside of the SiLabs
IDE. The “Makefile” required by this tool is already included in the project. However, it is only
recommended for advanced users since it may require manual editing.
4
Rev. 0.6
AN655
6. Deploying Code to the Silicon Labs IDE
The Silicon Labs integrated development environment (IDE) is a standard tool for program development for any
Silicon Labs 8-bit MCUs, including the C8051F93x and C8051F91x that are used on the hardware platforms. The
Silicon Laboratories IDE integrates a project manager, source-code editor, source-level debugger, and an in-
system flash programmer. The IDE interfaces to third-party development tool chains to provide system designers a
complete embedded software development environment.
The Range Test application is intended to be built via the Keil C51 toolchain. The project deployed from WDS
comes with a predefined project file that is already configured to use the Keil C51. The Keil Demonstration Toolset
includes a compiler, linker, and assembler and easily integrates into the IDE.
6.1. Workflow for Downloading and Running a Project
Perform the following steps to download and run a project:
1. Connect the hardware platform to the PC according to the description of the platform used.
2. Start Silicon Labs IDE (IDE 4.40 or higher required) on your computer.
3. Select
Project
Open Project...
to open the Range Test project file.
4. Before connecting to the target device, several connection options may need to be set.
a. Open the
Connection Options
window by selecting
Options
Connection Options...
in the IDE menu.
b. Select
USB Debug Adapter
in the
Serial Adapter
section.
c. If more than one adapter is connected, choose the appropriate serial number from the drop-down list.
d. Check
Power target after disconnect
if the target board is currently being powered by the USB Debug
Adapter. The board will remain powered after the software is disconnected by the IDE.
e. Next, the correct
Debug Interface
must be selected. Check the C2 Debug Interface.Once all the
selections are made, click the “OK” button to close the window.
5. Click the “Connect” button in the toolbar or select
Debug
Connect
from the menu to connect to
the MCU of the platform.
6. Erase the flash of the MCU in the
Debug
Download object code
Erase all code space
menu item.
7. Download the compiled HEX file either by hitting the “Download code” (Alt+D) toolbar button or from the
Debug
Download object code
menu item.
Rev. 0.6
5
