CATTRON LRM2 Radio Module Instruction Manual

: June 9, 2024
: CATTRON

Table of Contents

Revision History
Introduction
Features Summary
Host Interface Definition
- Pins Assignment
- Signals Description
Functional Description
LRM2 Configuration Concept
Documents / Resources
- Read User Manual Online (PDF format)
- Download This Manual (PDF format)

Product Development
CATTRON North America Inc.
LRM2 Radio Module
Document p/n: 9S02-8969-A001 Rev. B
© 2022 Cattron North America Inc.

Revision History

Date	Revision	Description	Signature / Date
2019-02-13	A	Initial draft	Prepared
Verified
Approved
2022-05-15	B	900MHz release	Prepared
Verified
Approved
		Prepared
Verified
Approved
		Prepared
Verified
Approved

89695TRX module meets Part 15 of the FCC rules and regulations. Compliance with the labeling requirements, FCC notices is required. In order to comply with FCC Certification requirements, the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) must fulfill the following requirements.

The system integrator must place an exterior label on the outside of the final product housing the 89695TRX Module. The figure below shows the contents that must be included in this label.
89695TRX modules may only be used with the antennas that have been tested and approved for use with the module.

Labeling Requirements
The OEM must make sure that FCC labeling requirements are met. This includes a clearly visible exterior label on the outside of the final product housing that displays the contents shown in below.

WARNING: The 89695TRX modules have been tested by the FCC for use with other products without further certification (as per FCC Section 2.1091). Changes or modifications to this device not expressly approved by Catron North America Inc. could void the user’s authority to operate the equipment.
NOTICE: The 89695TRX modules have been certified for mobile and fixed radio applications. If the module will be used for portable applications, the device must undergo SAR testing.
RF Exposure WARNING: This equipment complies with FCC radiation exposure limits set forth for an uncontrolled environment. This equipment should be installed and operated with minimum distance 20 cm between the radiator and your body. This transmitter must not be co-located or operating in conjunction with any other antenna or transmitter.
NOTICE: The preceding statement must be included as a CAUTION statement in OEM product manuals in order to alert users of FCC RF Exposure compliance.
89695TRX is designed for use in countless wireless applications requiring long range communications with low energy consumption. To ensure that the final product complies with all of the regulatory requirements for the Modular Grant the following integration instructions should be followed. 89695TRX is limited to OEM installation ONLY. The OEM integrator is responsible for ensuring that the end-user has no manual instructions to remove or install the module.

FCC Part 15. 19 Warning Statement
THIS DEVICE COMPLIES WITH PART 15 OF THE FCC RULES. OPERATION IS SUBJECT TO THE FOLLOWING TWO CONDITIONS: (1) THIS DEVICE MAY NOT CAUSE HARMFUL INTERFERENCE, AND (2) THIS DEVICE MUST ACCEPT ANY INTERFERENCE RECEIVED, INCLUDING INTERFERENCE THAT MAY CAUSE UNDESIRED OPERATION.

FCC Part 15.21 Warning Statement
NOTE: THE GRANTEE IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY CHANGES OR MODIFICATIONS NOT EXPRESSLY APPROVED BY THE PARTY RESPONSIBLE FOR COMPLIANCE. SUCH MODIFICATIONS COULD VOID THE USER’S AUTHORITY TO OPERATE THE EQUIPMENT.

FCC Part 15.105(b) Warning Statement
NOTE: This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital device, pursuant to part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential installation. This equipment generates, uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in accordance with the instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio communications. However, there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation. If this equipment does cause harmful interference to radio or television reception, which can be determined by turning the equipment off and on, the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more of the following measures:

Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna.
Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver.
Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that to which the receiver is connected.
Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician for help.

IC RSS-GEN, Sec 8.4 Warning Statement- (Required for license-exempt devices)
This device complies with Industry Canada license-exempt RSS standard(s).
Operation is subject to the following two conditions: (1) this device may not cause interference, and (2) this device must accept any interference, including interference that may cause undesired operation of the device.

IC RSS-GEN, Sec 8.3 Warning Statement-
(Required for Transmitters w/ detachable antennas)
This radio transmitter (identify the device by certification number, or model number if Category II) has been approved by Industry Canada to operate with the antenna types listed below with the maximum permissible gain and required antenna impedance for each antenna type indicated. Antenna types not included in this list, having a gain greater than the maximum gain indicated for that type, are strictly prohibited for use with this device.

IC RSS-102, Sec 2.6 Warning Statements
The applicant is responsible for providing proper instructions to the user of the radio device, and any usage restrictions, including limits of exposure durations.
The user manual shall provide installation and operation instructions, as well as any special usage conditions, to ensure compliance with SAR and/or RF field strength limits. For instance, compliance distance shall be clearly stated in the user manual.
Only the following authorized antennas may be used with the equipment:
Only the antenna gain less than 2.00 dBi may be used with the equipment.
900MHz Splatch patch antenna (-10 dBi)
900MHz ¼ wave whip antenna (0 dBi),
900MHz ½ wave whip Antenna (2 dBi);
900MHz mag mount Antenna (2 dBi)

Introduction

1.1 Purpose
A new family of RF module, the LRM2 family, is being developed by Catron North America Inc. This family is employing Silicon Labs EFR32FG13 Flex Gecko SoC(System On Chip),which is including a high performance Radio transceiver and a high performance Micro-Controller Unit.

1.2 Scope
This document describes the host interface signal definitions, timings, operation mode, available functionalities, and provide details about its integration to Unity products. This document does not cover RF specifications or power supply specifications.

1.3 Applicability
Applies to LRM2 family members, P/N 2PCA-8969-xxxx

1.4 Definitions, Acronyms
1.4.1 Definitions
1.4.2 Acronyms

LRM	Radio Module
MCU	Machine Control Unit
SoC	System-On-Chip
OCU	Operator Control Unit

1.5 References

“Schematic Drawing for LRM2”, Cattron P/N 9D02-8969-A001
“Unity RF Telegrams Format”, Cattron P/N 9S01-7640-A101
“LRM2 Radio Module – Configuration Registers Specifications”, Cattron P/N 9S02-8969-A002

Features Summary

The LRM2 is designed to replace LRM(2PCA-7954-xxxx) with less cost and improved performance. Its host interface is compatible with previous LRM(2PCA-7954-xxxx) series.

Direct electrical compatibility to LRM(2PCA-7954-xxxx) interface
On-board wireless SoC– The interface is controlled by an on-board Silicon Labs EFR32FG13 SoC. The EFR32FG13 Flex Gecko SoC includes both a high-performance radio transceiver and a high performance, low power Micro-Controller.
Minimum buffers/Minimum Delay – LRM2 firmware is implemented to provide a “almost transparent” operation; transmission and reception delays are kept to a minimum
Support for different Modulation modes– The LRM2 family is designed to support multiple different RF Modulations (2FSK and 4FSK), which is transparent to Host firmware.

These different aspects are covered in the rest of this document.

Host Interface Definition

Pins Assignment

Description| IO| Signal| Pin Number| Signal| IO| Description
---|---|---|---|---|---|---
| | | 49| 50| GND| | Ground
| | | 47| 48| RX_BB| O| RX Baseband signal
| | | 45| 46| | |
| | | 43| 44| | |
| | | 41| 42| | |
| | | 39| 40| | |
| | | 37| 38| | |
| | | 35| 36| | |
| | | 33| 34| | |
| | | 31| 32| | |
Data transfer Handshaking Signal| O| !READY| 29| 30| | |
3.3V DC supply| I| 3V3| 27| 28| | |
Receive data| O| RXD| 25| 26| TXD| I| Transmit Data
RX Enable| I| !RX_EN| 23| 24| !TX_EN| I| Tx Enable
Serial port Configuration mode| I| !CONFIG| 21| 22| GND| | Ground
| | | 19| 20| DCLK| O| Data Clock
| | | 17| 18| | |
| | | 15| 16| | |
| | | 13| 14| | |
| | | 11| 12| | |
| | | 9| 10| | |
Reset| I| !RESET| 7| 8| | |
CPU flash mode| I| !PGM| 5| 6| | |
Ground| | GND-PA| 3| 4| GND-PA| | Ground
Voltage Supply, RF power amplifier| I| VPA| 1| 2| VPA| I| Voltage Supply, RF power amplifier

Table 3.1 – Host Interface pins assignment

Signals Description

Pin NBA	Signal Name	I/O	Description	Category
1, 2	VPA	Input	Voltage Supply, RF power amplifier.

Table 3.2 – Host Interface signals description

Functional Description

4.1 Concepts Overview
4.1.1 Block Diagram
The figure below shows a high-level block diagram of the LRM2.

The Silicon Labs ERF32FG13 SoC is located between the host interface and the RF interface, providing decoupling between host and RF interface. The EFR32FG13 SoC has sufficient buffer space for one telegram.
As shown later, telegram processing is defined to minimize delays, so to provide a “transparent-like” behavior.

4.1.2 Data Communication Model & Definitions
The communication model defines some of the terminology used in the rest of this document.

– The LRM2 Radio Module is used to communicate telegrams between hosts. In Unity context, hosts are OCU and MCU CPU boards. The LRM2 has two interfaces: a Host Interface and a RF Interface.
– Transmit and Received Telegrams are relayed through the LRM2 Host Data Buffer. This buffer is capable to hold only one telegram at a time. The purpose of this buffer is to relax host timings requirements, and to allow decoupling between Host Interface and RF Interface data rates.
– Telegrams sent/received on the Host Interface and RF interface are encapsulated into frames to improve synchronization.
– The LRM2 does not perform any processing on the telegrams content; it controls only the frames overhead.

4.2 System States
The LRM2 supports five operational states

State	Control Signals	Functions permitted	Remarks
! RESET	!TX_EN	!RX_EN	!CONFIG
Telegram**	Receive Telegram	Write Config Registers	**Read
Registers**
RESET	0	X	X
IDLE	1	1	1
CONFIG	1	1	1

are retained
TX| 1| 0| 1| 1| √|
RX| 1| 1| 0| 1| √|

Table 4.1 – LRM2 States Definition
All possible transitions are allowed. The internal configuration registers can be written in CONFIG state only.
Attempt to write registers in any other state result in no action / no response.

4.3 Telegram Transmission
Transmit frames have two fields:
– Telegram length (number of bytes). The length is used by the CPU to control the transmission process.
– Telegram (maximum 254 bytes). The content of the telegram is defined by the application. For Unity application, this is the Unity Telegram beginning with the Scrambling byte, the TID and terminated with the 16bits CRC, as defined in ref [2].

1 byte	“Length” bytes
Length	Telegram

Figure 4.3 – Transmit Telegram frame format

4.4 Telegram Reception
Each RF packet received by the LRM2 is sent to the host interface, followed by its RSSI. Also, in order to ensure receive telegram frame synchronization (i.e. unambiguous detection of the start of the frame), the frame is encapsulated according to SLIP framing. SLIP framing is very simple to decode. It is described in section Error!
Reference source not found..
Receive frame fields are:
– SOF (Start-of-Frame character). This is part of SLIP encapsulation.
– Length of the Telegram field (number of bytes), not counting RSSI fields and any additional control characters introduced for SLIP encapsulation.
– Telegram (maximum 254 bytes). The content of the telegram is defined by the application.
– RSSI: Received signal strength for this frame. RSSI is an 8 bits integer value, expressed in dBm. Range;-128 to +127 dBm.

1 byte	1 byte	“Length” bytes	1 byte
SOF	Length	Telegram	RSSI

Figure 4.4 – Receive Telegram frame format

LRM2 Configuration Concept

All LRM2 configuration and status parameters are accessible through addressable registers.
– All parameters can be read and written only in CONFIG mode.
The definition of the configuration registers is given in reference [3]. This section addresses the basic description of all these three methods.

5.1 Console Interface
The serial interface configuration port is enabled by asserting !CONFIG signal; the serial interface is automatically reconfigured in asynchronous mode, running at 38400bps, 8N1. All ASCII strings received are interpreted as configuration commands. This mode is particularly useful for stand-alone testing, when the unit can be controlled from a PC or by an operator/tester using a terminal emulation program.

5.1.1 “Write” command
worked register value , where:
worked = write command. “w” or “we” can be used and are equivalent
register = register identification. Can use the register name or register address
value = value to be written, in decimal or hexadecimal format. Hexadecimal values are preceded by ‘0x’

Examples:
wry tax 915000000 :Write 915000000 to register tax (Tx frequency)
wry 0x80 18 :Write 18 to register address 0x80
wry tax 915000000 0x80 18 :Concatenate the two writes above in a single instruction

Here is the command to set the transmit output power level in range 0dBm to 20dBm
wr txp 20 :the radio transmit power is 20+/-1.0dBm (maximum)
wr txp 10 : the radio transmit power is 10+/-1.0dBm (mid power level)
wr txp 0 : the radio transmit power is 0+/-1.0dBm (minimum)

5.1.2 “Read” command
dram rig where: dram= read command. r or rd can be used and are equivalent
rig = register identification. Can use the register name or register address

Examples:
rd txf : Reads register txp (Tx frequency)
rd 0x80 : Reads register address 0x80
rd txf 0x80 : Reads registers txp and 0x80 in a single instruction

5.1.3 “Help” command
helmed where: helmed= help command. h, help or ? can be used and are equivalent.
The LRM2 responds with the list off all available configuration registers.

5.2 Stand-Alone Test Mode
The LRM2 can be operated in stand-alone mode for production/service tests. In this case, only a 3.3VDC supply is needed, and a RS232/TTL transceiver (like Cattron FLASHBOX) to connect to a PC serial port.

The LRM2 will support several built-in test modes to ease testing from a PC. For example a. Transmission Tests
– Generation of different type of carrier: unmodulated (CW), or modulated with “101010..” or pseudo-random sequence
– Automatic generation of test RF frames with predefined content
b. Reception Tests
– Measure PER (packet error rate) when receiving the predefined test RF frames
– Measure RF input level

LRM2 Radio Module
Document p/n: 9S02-8969-A001 Rev. B
CATTRON North America Inc.