ABSTRACT. This application note discusses the methodology to measure the
packet error rate. (PER) of the data transmission of an RF link using TRF6903
with ...
Application Report SWRA050 – September 2005
Measuring the Packet Error Rate (PER) Using the TRF6903 With MSP430 Evaluation Kit Raju Karingattil, Iboun Sylla, and Rao Shreharsha ...................................... Low Power Wireless Applications
ABSTRACT This application note discusses the methodology to measure the packet error rate (PER) of the data transmission of an RF link using TRF6903 with MSP430 Evaluation Kit in the 315, 433, 868, and 915 MHz ISM Band. A separate version of firmware has been developed for this purpose and is available for download from the website at www.ti.com/ismrf.
Contents Introduction .......................................................................................... 1 Packet Error Rate (PER) Measurement Setup ................................................. 1 References .......................................................................................... 6
1 2 3
List of Figures 1 2 3 4
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PER PER PER PER
Software Software Software Software
Setup for Setup for Setup for Setup for
315 433 868 915
MHz ................................................................ MHz ................................................................ MHz ................................................................ MHz ................................................................
3 4 5 6
Introduction This application note details the procedure for measuring packet error rate (PER) of an RF link using the TRF6903 evaluation kit with MSP430 in the 315 MHz to 915 MHz ISM band. The frequency of communication channel is automatically selected in the 315-MHz, 433-MHz, and 868-MHz bands. In the 915-MHz band, the RF frequency channel is selected using the DIP switch on the evaluation board. See the application note SWRU008 for details on the evaluation board.
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Packet Error Rate (PER) Measurement Setup The PER can be measured using a pair of TRF6903 evaluation boards. The two boards can be configured to transmit and receive the data using antennas or directly connecting them with a cable. The PER measurement using the cable eliminates any interferences and provides the best case scenario for evaluating PER with different data packet length and modulations. Note: The TRF6903 evaluation boards are by default matched for operation at 915 MHz. In order to get accurate measurements at 315-MHz, 433-MHz, and 868-MHz bands, the matching components on the evaluation board needs to be modified as per the application notes (SWRA049 and SWRA040).
SWRA050 – September 2005
Measuring the Packet Error Rate (PER) Using the TRF6903 With MSP430 Evaluation Kit
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Packet Error Rate (PER) Measurement Setup
2.1
PER Software Setup Procedure Download the PER software from the application section of the website www.ti.com/ismrf and extract it into any directory of your choice. After loading the PER software use following steps to configure the evaluation boards: 1. Choose the port parameters; port name and baud rate. Then click the Open button. (This is to set the communication between the computer and evaluation boards). 2. Set the following transceiver parameters a. Length (number) of data bytes to 32. (This is the default setting and can not be changed). b. Baud rate (data transfer rate between boards) 3. Click the Configure button. 4. Select the frequency band: a. In the 315-MHz, 433-MHz, and 868-MHz band, the software sets the frequency of transmission. b. In the 915-MHz band, the frequency can be selected using the DIP switch. See the application note SWRU008 for details on selecting the frequency using DIP switch. 5. Click the Set Frequency button. 6. You can send either one packet or multiple packets. To send multiple packets, click on the Repeat Send button. 7. The data transmission can be stopped at any time by clicking the Stop Repeat button. The send packet window displays the number of packets transmitted and the receive packet window displays the number of acknowledgements (ACKs) received. The packet success rate window shows the packet error rate (PER) of the data communication. The software provides an easy way to modify the data packet length and observe the change in packet error rate for comparison purposes. Figure 1 thru Figure 4 show the software setup screens for the PER measurement at 315 MHz, 433 MHz, 868 MHz, and 915 MHz.
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Measuring the Packet Error Rate (PER) Using the TRF6903 With MSP430 Evaluation Kit
SWRA050 – September 2005
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Packet Error Rate (PER) Measurement Setup
Figure 1. PER Software Setup for 315 MHz
SWRA050 – September 2005
Measuring the Packet Error Rate (PER) Using the TRF6903 With MSP430 Evaluation Kit
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Packet Error Rate (PER) Measurement Setup
Figure 2. PER Software Setup for 433 MHz
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Measuring the Packet Error Rate (PER) Using the TRF6903 With MSP430 Evaluation Kit
SWRA050 – September 2005
www.ti.com
Packet Error Rate (PER) Measurement Setup
Figure 3. PER Software Setup for 868 MHz
SWRA050 – September 2005
Measuring the Packet Error Rate (PER) Using the TRF6903 With MSP430 Evaluation Kit
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References
Figure 4. PER Software Setup for 915 MHz
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References 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
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TRF6903 Single-Chip Multi-Band RF Transceiver Data Sheet (SWRS022) TRF6903 Design Guide (SWRU009) TRF6903 With MSP430 Demonstration and Development Evaluation Kit User’s Guide (SWRU008) Implementing a Bidirectional, Half-Duplex FSK RF Link With TRF6903 and MSP430 (SLAA121) Operating TRF6903 With MSP430 Evaluation Kit in 868 MHz European ISM Band (SWRA040) Implementing a Bidirectional Wireless UART Application w/TRF6903 and MSP430 (SWRA039)
Measuring the Packet Error Rate (PER) Using the TRF6903 With MSP430 Evaluation Kit
SWRA050 – September 2005
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