SILICON LABS QSG184 Z Wave 800 Thunderboard Radio Board User Guide

: June 3, 2024
: SILICON LABS

Table of Contents

QSG184 Z Wave 800 Thunderboard Radio Board
Introduction
Getting Started
About Example Applications and Demos
Programming and Executing the Demos, Connecting them in a Z-Wave Network
Next Steps
Revision History
Documents / Resources

QSG184 Z Wave 800
Thunderboard Radio Board
**User Guide

**

QSG184 Z Wave 800 Thunderboard Radio Board

A Z-Wave 800 Thunderboard BRD2603A Radio Board is an excellent starting point to get familiar with the ZGM230S Z-Wave® 800 SiP Module. It also provides the necessary tools for developing a Silicon Labs wireless application.
The board is a small and cost-effective, feature-rich prototype and development platform based on the ZGM230S SiP Module.
A built in SEGGER J-Link debugger ensures easy customization and development.

KEY FEATURES OR KEY POINTS

ZGM230S Z-Wave SiP Module with 512 kB Flash, 64 kB RAM. Integrated RF matching network, crystals, and decoupling capacitors
+14 dBm TX power
SMA antenna connector (863-925 MHz)
Advanced Energy Monitor
Virtual COM port
SEGGER J-Link on-board debugger
RGB LED, two single color LEDs and two push buttons
CR2032 coin cell battery support
20-pin 2.54 mm breakout pads
Mini Simplicity connector for connection to an external Silicon Labs debugger

ON-BOARD SENSORS

Relative humidity and temperature sensor
Passive Infrared sensor
Hall effect sensor
Ambient light sensor
Pressure Sensor
LESENSE LC-Sensor
6-axis Inertial Sensor

SOFTWARE SUPPORT

Simplicity Studio™

Introduction

The ZGM230S Dev Kit (OPN: ZGM230-DK2603A) has been designed to inspire customers to make battery-operated IoT devices with the Silicon Labs ZGM230S Z-Wave SiP Module System-in-Package Module. The highlights of the board include six different environmental sensors accessible to the ZGM230S wireless MCU. The peripherals have been grouped into power domains that can be turned on and off by the application code as needed.
Programming the ZGM230S Dev Kit is easily done using a USB Type-C cable and the on-board J-Link debugger. A USB virtual COM port provides a serial connection to the target application, and the Packet Trace Interface (PTI) offers invaluable debug information about transmitted and received packets in wireless links. Included on the board is an 8 Mbit serial flash that can be used for Over-The Air (OTA) firmware upgrade or as a general purpose non- volatile memory. The ZGM230S Dev Kit is supported in Simplicity Studio™, and a Board Support Package (BSP) is provided to give application developers a flying start.
Energy profiling and advanced wireless network analysis and debugging tools are available through the provided Mini Simplicity Connector using an external Silicon Labs debugger.
Connecting external hardware to the ZGM230S Dev Kit can be done using the 20 breakout pads which present peripherals from the ZGM230S Z-Wave SiP Module such as I C, SPI, UART, and GPIOs. The breakout pads follow the same pinout as the expansion headers (EXP) on other Silicon Labs Starter Kits. The board also features a Qwiic connector which can be used to connect hardware from the Qwiic Connect System through I 2 C.
If you would like to know more about the HW features of the ZWave 800 Thunderboard, please refer to UG532: ZGM230S Dev Kit User’s Guide document.
Please note that a Z-Wave 800 Thunderboard is just an extension kit. If you would like to use it in a Z-Wave network, you need to acquire an additional Thunderboard kit or Z-Wave PK800 kit. 2

1.1 Kit Contents
The following items are included in the box:

1x ZGM230S Dev Kit board (BRD2603A)
1x 868-915 MHz antenna (LPRS ANT-SS900)

1.2 Hardware Content

The following key hardware elements are included on the ZGM230S Dev Kit:

ZGM230S SiP Module with 39 MHz operating frequency, 512 kB kB flash, and 64 kB RAM
SMA antenna connector for wireless transmission
Silicon Labs Si7021 relative humidity and temperature sensor
Silicon Labs Si7210 hall effect sensor
Vishay VEML6035 ambient light sensor
TDK InvenSense ICM-20689 6-axis inertial sensor
Bosch Sensortec BMP384 pressure sensor
Macronix ultra low power 8 Mbit SPI flash (MX25R8035F)
LESENSE metal detector LC-sensor
Two single color LEDs and two push buttons
RGB LED
Power enable signals and isolation switches for ultra-low power operation
On-board SEGGER J-Link debugger for easy programming and debugging, which includes a USB virtual COM port and Packet
Trace Interface (PTI)
Mini Simplicity connector for access to energy profiling and advanced wireless network debugging
Qwiic connector for connecting external hardware from the Qwiic Connect System
Breakout pads for GPIO access and connection to external hardware
Reset button
Automatic switchover between USB and battery power
CR2032 coin cell holder and external battery connector

1.3 Kit Hardware Layout

Getting Started

2.1 About Simplicity Studio

Silicon Labs has enhanced Z-Wave to work with Silicon Labs hardware. The Z-Wave stack library is available as a software development kit (SDK) installed as part of the Gecko SDK (GSDK), the suite of Silicon Labs SDKs. To quickly get started with the GSDK, start by installing Simplicity Studio 5 (SSv5), which will set up your development environment and walk you through the GSDK installation. Simplicity Studio 5 includes everything needed for IoT product development with Silicon Labs devices, including a resource and project launcher, software configuration tools, full IDE with GNU toolchain, and analysis tools. Installation instructions are provided in the Simplicity Studio 5 Online User’s Guide.
SSv5 is the core development environment designed to support the Silicon Labs IoT portfolio of system-on-chips (SoCs) and modules. It provides access to target device-specific web and SDK resources; software and hardware configuration tools; an integrated development environment (IDE) featuring industry-standard code editors, compilers and debuggers; and advanced, value- add tools for network analysis and code-correlated energy profiling.
SSv5 is designed to simplify developer workflow. It intelligently recognizes all Silicon Labs evaluation and development kit parts and, based on the selected development target, presents appropriate software development kits (SDKs) and other development resources.

2.2 About the Silicon Labs Z-Wave SDK

The Silicon Labs Z-Wave SDK is composed of the Z-Wave stack and example applications as well as the addition of metadata to allow for the seamless integration into Simplicity Studio 5.
The Silicon Labs Z-Wave SDK is based on the Gecko Platform component-based design, where each component provides a specific function. Components are made up of a collection of source files and properties. The component-based design enables customization by adding, configuring, and removing components. The application developer can use SSv5’s Project Configurator and Component Editor to easily assemble the desired features by including those components that match the required functionality and
by configuring the various properties associated with those components.
The Silicon Labs Z-Wave SDK contains the Z-Wave stack in a library format.
For details on the Z-Wave stack version included within the Silicon Labs Z-Wave SDK, refer to the Z-Wave SDK release notes.

2.2.1 Gecko Bootloader

A bootloader is a program stored in reserved flash memory that can initialize a device, update firmware images, and possibly perform some integrity checks. Silicon Labs networking devices use bootloaders that perform firmware updates in two different modes: standalone (also called standalone bootloaders) and application (also called application bootloaders). An application bootloader performs a firmware image update by reprogramming the flash with an update image stored in internal or external memory. The Gecko Bootloader is a code library configurable through Simplicity Studio’s IDE to generate bootloaders that can be used with a variety of Silicon Labs protocol stacks. For more information about bootloaders see UG103.6: Bootloader Fundamentals.

2.2.2 Gecko Platform
The Gecko Platform is a set of drivers and other lower layer features that interact directly with Silicon Labs chips and modules. Gecko Platform components include EMLIB, EMDRV, RAIL Library, NVM3, etc. For more information about Gecko Platform, see release notes that can be found in SSv5’s Documentation tab, as well as online API documentation in https://docs.silabs.com/.

2.3 Connecting to Z-Wave 800 Thunderboard in Simplicity Studio
In just a few click in Simplicity Studio, the board is ready to use. Please follow the steps below:

Start Simplicity Studio and connect the device via USB to the PC.
Install the required packages by clicking YES on the popup dialog in Studio.
When it’s finished, select the board from the connected devices and click on Start.

About Example Applications and Demos

Because starting application development from scratch is difficult, the Silicon Labs Z-Wave SDK comes with several built-in example applications and demos covering the most frequent use cases designed to illustrate common application functions. Silicon Labs strongly recommends starting development from one of the example applications. Like everything in SSv5, the examples and the demos shown on the EXAMPLE PROJECTS & DEMOS tab are filtered based on the part you have connected or selected.
This guide will demonstrate how to use two Z-Wave 800 Thunderboards together to connect them in a Z-Wave network, one as a ZWave controller and one as a Z-Wave end-device
3.1 Demos
Demos are prebuilt firmware images that are ready to download to a compatible device. The quickest way to find if a demo is available for your part is by adding the part or board information in the My Products view and then navigating to the EXAMPLE PROJECTS & DEMOS tab in the Launcher Perspective. Disable the Example Projects filter. Available demos provided by the Z-Wave SDK for Z-Wave 800 Thunderboard are:

Z-Wave – NCP Serial API Controller: The Serial Applications Programming Interface (Serial API) allows a host to communicate with a Z-Wave chip.
Z-Wave – SoC Switch On/Off: Shows a switch implementation to turn on any device that is connected to power.
Z-Wave – SoC Multilevel Sensor: Shows the ability to advertise numerical sensor readings, such as temperature, and humidity.

If you would like to know more about the sample applications, please refer to INS14278 – How to Use Z-Wave Certified Apps or about the Serial API in INS12350-Serial-API-Host-Appl. Prg.Guide.

Programming and Executing the Demos, Connecting them in a Z-Wave Network

4.1 Programming the Controller Device

The Z-Wave PC Controller is an application for communicating with Z-Wave and Z-Wave Long Range nodes, like switches and sensors, through a device running Serial API connected to a USB port on the PC.
The PC Controller is often used in the development of a new Z-Wave end-device. The device can be included in the PC Controller, which can then be used to test its functionality by sending it various commands.
This quick start guide will only cover the very basics of this tool. Refer to the manual, INS13114 – Instruction, Z-Wave PC Based Controller v5 User Guide, to learn about all the features of this tool.
To program one of the Thunderboards with the Serial API demo application:

Start by connecting the Thunderboard via the USB port to your computer.
Start Simplicity Studio and in the Launcher landing page wait until Simplicity Studio detects your device.
When it is finished, select the board from the connected devices and click Start. (See Section 2.3 Connecting to Z-Wave 800 Thunderboard in Simplicity Studio.)
In the device overview page click on the Example Projects & Demos tab, unfilter Examples and Soltions, look for the Z-Wave NCP Serial API Controller demo application, and program the one which corresponds to your region using the RUN button.
Run the Z-Wave PC Controller by clicking on the icon on the toolbar, and in the Tools Dialog click on Z-Wave PC Con- troller.
To connect to the device, open PC Controller and click on the ‘Settings-wheel’ and select the correct COM port. Use the Detect button if you are unsure about the correct port.
In the PC Controller’s Network Management menu, you should see the device detected as controller and added to the network.

4.2 Programming the End-Device
Now that we have a working Z-Wave controller device, we can program a second Thunderboard as an end-device.

4.2.1 Programming the Bootloader
The Z-Wave example applications require the presence of the Gecko Bootloader on the end-device. To program the demo bootloader, look for the Z-Wave OTA Bootloader in the Simplicity Studio device overview Example Projects & Demos tab, and click on RUN.

4.2.2 Programming SwitchOnOff Demo
After programming the Bootloader, using the same user interface in Studio device overview Example Projects & Demos tab, program the SwitchOnOff demo by clicking on RUN. Make sure to use the same region variant as the Serial API you selected previously.

4.3 Network Inclusion
To be able to control the end-device remotely, you have to include it into a Z-Wave network first.

Connect both programmed boards to the PC via USB.
Using the controller device in the PC Controller application, on the Network Management view click on Add.
Press BTN1 on the end-device board to enable Learn Mode.
In the Preparing Inclusion dialog, click OK.
All the demo applications implement Z-Wave S2 security. The S2 DSK (Device Specific Key) is used to authenticate the includeddevice before exchanging the network keys. The PC Controller will require you the enter first five digits of the Device Specific Key.
To find the DSK right click on the device in Simplicity Studio Debug Adapters list and select Device Configuration. Then in the dialog click on the Z-Wave Device Settings tab. Enter the DSK and click OK.

4.4 Using the SwitchOnOff Demo Application
The Z-Wave certified Switch On/Off application shows a switch implementation that turns on any device that is connected to power.
Examples include lights, appliances, etc.
Usage of the application:

Press BTN0 to toggle LED0 On or OFF
Press BTN1 to enable LEARN mode

You can control the device’s Switch functionality from the PC Controller, which will toggle LED0, by using Basic Set ON and Basic Set OFF buttons.

Next Steps

Congratulations! You successfully completed the first steps of your Z-Wave journey using Z-Wave 800 Thunderboard!
This Quick Start Guide only teaches you the basics. Learn more about the Z-Wave 800 Thunderboard and Z-Wave, refer to the documents below:

Table 5.1. Additional Documentation

Document number	Title
BRD2603A Z-Wave 800 Thunderboard

UG532
Z-Wave
INS14280
INS13114
INS10249
INS14278
INS12350
Bootloader
UG489| ZGM230S Dev Kit User’s Guide
Z-Wave Getting Started for End Devices
Z-Wave PC Based Controller v5 User Guide
Z-Wave Zniffer User Guide
How to Use Certified Apps in Z-Wave
Serial API Host Appl. Prg. Guide
Silicon Labs Gecko Bootloader User’s Guide for GSDK 4.0 and Higher

Revision History

Revision 0.1
June 2022

Initial Release

Simplicity Studio
One-click access to MCU and wireless tools, documentation, software, source code libraries & more. Available for Windows, Mac and Linux!

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Disclaimer

Silicon Labs intends to provide customers with the latest, accurate, and in- depth documentation of all peripherals and modules available for system and software implementers using or intending to use the Silicon Labs products. Characterization data, available modules and peripherals, memory sizes and memory addresses refer to each specific device, and “Typical” parameters provided can and do vary in different applications. Application examples described herein are for illustrative purposes only. Silicon Labs reserves the right to make changes without further notice to the product information, specifications, and descriptions herein, and does not give warranties as to the accuracy or completeness of the included information. Without prior notification, Silicon Labs may update product firmware during the manufacturing process for security or reliabilit y reasons. Such changes will not alter the specifications or the per formance of the product. Silicon Labs shall have no liabilit y for the consequences of use of the information supplied in this document. This document does not imply or expressly grant any license to design or fabricate any integrated circuits. The products are not designed or authorized to be used within any FDA Class III devices, applications for which FDA premarket approval is required or Life Support Systems without the specific written consent of Silicon Labs. A “Life Support System” is any product or system intended to support or sustain life and/or health, which, if it fails, can be reasonably expected to result in significant personal injury or death. Silicon Labs products are not designed or authorized for military applications. Silicon Labs products shall under no circumstances be used in weapons of mass destruction including (but not limited to) nuclear, biological or chemical weapons, or missiles capable of delivering such weapons. Silicon Labs disclaims all express and implied warranties and shall not be responsible or liable for any injuries or damages related to use of a Silicon Labs product in such unauthorized applications.
Note : This content may contain offensive terminolog y that is now obsolete. Silicon Labs is replacing these terms with inclusive language wherever possible. For more information, visit www.silabs.com/about-us /inclusive-lexicon-project

Trademark Information Silicon Laboratories Inc. ® , Silicon Laboratories ® , Silicon Labs ® , SiLabs ® and the Silicon Labs logo ® , Bluegiga ® , Bluegiga Logo ® , EFM ® , EFM32 ® , EFR, Ember ® , Energy Micro, Energy Micro logo and combinations thereof, “the world’s most energy friendly microcontrollers”, Redpine Signals ® , WiSeConnect , n-Link, ThreadArch ® , EZLink ® , EZRadio ® , EZRadioPRO ® , Gecko ® , Gecko OS, Gecko OS Studio, Precision32 ® , Simplicity Studio ® , Telegesis, the Telegesis Logo ® , USBXpress ® , Zentri, the Zentri logo and Zentri DMS, Z-Wave ® , and others are trademarks or registered trademarks of Silicon Labs. ARM, CORTEX, Cortex-M3 and THUMB are trademarks or registered trademarks of ARM Holdings. Keil is a registered trademark of ARM Limited. Wi-Fi is a registered trademark of the Wi-Fi Alliance. All other products or brand names mentioned herein are trademarks of their respective holders.

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Documents / Resources

| SILICON LABS QSG184 Z Wave 800 Thunderboard Radio Board [pdf] User Guide
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