Texas Instruments 1101EM900 Users Manual

SWRU261A

1. Kit Contents

2 x CC1101EM-868-915
2 x W5017 Pulse Antennas

The hardware in this kit is FCC/IC certified
and complies with ETSI/R&TTE over
temperature from 0 to +35°C.

The W5017 whip antenna from Pulse has a
gain of 2 dBi.

2. How to use the modules

The CC1101EM boards can be plugged
into several development boards from
Texas Instruments. Most notably, you can
use SmartRF04EB, which is included in the
CC1101DK, or the SmartRF TrxEB
(included in CC1120DK). These boards let
you run a packet error rate (PER) test,

control the device from SmartRF™ Studio

and it can be used as a general purpose
development platform.

The board can also be plugged into the

MSP430 Experimenter’s Boards, both the

MSP-EXP430F4618 and MSP­EXP430F5438.

For prototyping with other microcontrollers,

plug the EM into the “SoC Battery Board”

(www.ti.com/tool/soc-bb).
This guide will show how to use the

modules together with SmartRF04EB.

3. Plug EM into SmartRF04EB

Insert a CC1101EM (EM) with an antenna
into the SmartRF04EB (EB). The
connectors will only fit in one position, so
that the EM cannot be inserted the wrong
way.

Caution! The kit contains ESD sensitive
components. Handle with care to prevent
permanent damage. To minimize risk of
injury, avoid touching components during
operation if symbolized as hot.

4a. Power: Battery

There are three different ways of applying
power to the EB:

The first method involves using a battery,
for instance a 9V battery (not included in
the kit) connected to the connector on the
bottom side of the board.

Warning! To minimize risk of personal
injury or property damage, never use
rechargeable batteries to power the board.
Do not leave the EVM powered when
unattended.

4b. Power: DC/External

The second method applies DC power
(max 10 V, min 4 V, 1500 mA) using the
DC input jack (right in picture, centre is +,
sleeve is ground), or by connecting a 4 - 10
V voltage source between the 4 - 10 V and
0 V terminals of the power connector (left
in picture). It is also possible to connect a

3.3 V voltage source between the 3.3 V
and 0 V terminals. The on-board voltage
regulators will be bypassed if the 3.3 V
input terminal is used.

4c. Power: USB

The EB can also be powered from the USB
bus.

Note that there should only
be one active power source
at any one time

5. Set Power Switch

If a 3.3 V source is used as described in 4b
above, the switch should be set to the
leftmost position. For all other cases, the
switch should be set to the rightmost
position. This switch can be used to turn off
the EB by switching it to the opposite
position of that used to turn it on.

6. Packet Error Rate Test

When power is applied to the board, the
PER test program will start. You should
see the text shown above on the LCD
display on both evaluation boards.

Press the button marked S1 (lower right
corner) to continue.

7. Set Frequency Band

Select the desired frequency band of
operation by using the joystick. The
frequency should match the evaluation
module and antenna you are using.

Note that the value shown in the display is
also the selected value. There is no need
to press a button to select or activate the
selection.

December 2012

CC1101EMK 868/915 MHz Quick Start Guide

Opening the box and using the modules with SmartRF04EB

8. Set Network ID

Push the joystick down to display the
screen shown above. This lets you set the
ID of the node in case you need to run
several PER tests simultaneously and you
have multiple development kits. Leave this
set to 1 for now.

9. Packet Length

Push the joystick down to display the
screen shown above. This lets you set the
length of the packets to be transmitted.
The packet length will affect the measured
packet error rate. Push the joystick left or
right to select the packet length you want
to use.

10. Number of Packets

Push the joystick down to display the
screen shown above. This lets you set the
number of packets to be transmitted. Set
this to the desired value using the joystick.

11. Select RF Settings

Push the joystick down to display the
screen shown above. This lets you select
preset RF configurations, including
modulation and data rate
Preset 0: GFSK, 1.2 kBaud
Preset 1: GFSK, 10 kBaud
Preset 2: GFSK, 38.4 kBaud
Preset 3: GFSK, 250 kBaud

12. Select Mode

Push the joystick down to display the
screen shown above. Use the joystick to
select master mode. The EB you have
configured now will be the master in the
PER test.

13. Configure 2nd EB

Perform steps 3 through 11 on the second
EB. Push the joystick down until you get
the display shown above. Leave this EB in
slave mode.

14. Start PER

Push the joystick down on both EBs, and
the screen shown above is displayed. Push
the joystick right on the slave EB first, and
then push the joystick right on the master
EB. The PER test will start when the two
nodes have successfully connected.

Note that the PER test uses 10 dBm as
default output power, so the EBs should be
placed at least 1m apart to avoid saturation
of the receiver.

15. Run PER Test

The uppermost line of the LCD will show
the PER for packets transmitted from the
slave to the master, while the second line
will show the PER for packets transmitted
from the master to the slave.

The PER test will end when the number of
packets you selected in step 10 is reached
or if 100 consecutive packets are lost.

16. References

Please visit www.ti.com and

www.ti.com/tool/cc1101emk433
www.ti.com/tool/cc1101emk868-915

Download the CC1101DK User Manual,

the SmartRF™ Studio software, examples,

as well as datasheets, reference designs
and application notes.

You will also find a lot of information on the
TI E2E forum at http://e2e.ti.com

We hope that you will enjoy working
with the CC1101 device.

1. Download and Install

Before connecting the EB to your
PC, download SmartRF™ Studio
from www.ti.com/smartrfstudio.
Install the program and follow the
instructions in the wizard.

Connect the EB with a CC1101EM
to the PC using the USB cable and
install the USB driver as described
in the manual.

2. Launch SmartRF Studio

Launch SmartRF Studio and double
click on the highlighted CC1101 device
icon to get complete control of the
device from the PC.

3. Configure the Radio

You can now configure the radio, run tests, export
register settings and run link tests with another
CC1101 on a SmartRF04EB connected to the PC.

SmartRF™ Studio