Texas Instruments 110LEM900 Users Manual

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1. Kit Contents

2 x SmartRF™ Transciever EB (TrxEB)
2 x CC110LEM 868/915 MHz
1 x CC113LEM 868/915 MHz
1 x CC115LEM 868/915 MHz
1 x MSP430 Debug Probe (FET)
2 x Micro USB Cables
1 x Standard USB Cable
1 x 14-pin Flat Cable

The 868/915 MHz RF boards in this kit are FCC and IC certified
and tested to comply with ETSI/R&TTE over temperatures from
0 to +35°C.

FCC/IC Regulatory Compliance
FCC Part 15 Class A Compliant
IC ICES-003 Class A Compliant

(* picture may deviate)

2. TrxEB Overview

Caution! The kit contains ESD sensitive

components. Handle with care to
prevent permanent damage.

3. Plug the EM into the TrxEB

Insert a CC110LEM into the TrxEB. Do not use
excessive force on the EM.

The EM has a PCB antenna, so there is no need
for an external antenna.

You can also use CC113L and CC115L for the Per
test, but note that CC113L is a receiver only and
CC115L is a transmitter only.

4. Select Board Mode

Use the switches S1 and S2 to select the operating
mode of the board. For the sake of this quick start
guide, please select “Enable” and “UART”. This
configuration will make it possible to communicate
directly with the MSP430 over a virtual COM port
on the PC.

5. Power Options

There are several ways of applying power to the
TrxEB.

 2 x 1.5V AA Non-Rechargeable Alkaline

Batteries

 USB (5V through USB plug)
 External Power Supply (requirements below)
 MSP430 Debugger

When the power source is batteries or USB, the
voltage regulators on the TrxEB will set the on­board supply voltage to 3.3VDC.

External Power Supply1 Requirements:
Nom Voltage: 3.3VDC
Max Current: 800 mA
Efficiency Level V

Warning! To minimize risk of personal injury or
property damage, never use rechargeable
batteries to power the board.

6. Select Power Source

Depending on the power source, make sure you
connect jumpers to the appropriate pins on the

“Power Source” header. For instance, if you use

batteries, use a jumper to short-circuit pin 1 and 2
on the header. The last jumper in the row (pin 9-

10) should always be mounted, unless the
MSP430 FET is used as the power source.

Note that there should only be one active
power source at any one time. Do not leave the
board powered when unattended.

7. Welcome Screen

Turn on power with the Main Power switch. You
should now see the Texas Instruments logo and a
short description of the buttons on the LCD.
Pushing any of the five buttons on the board will
take you to the main menu.

NB! If you don’t see anything on the screen
make sure the mode switches are in the correct
positions (see step 4 above).

8. Packet Error Rate Test

Select the PER (Packet Error Rate) test by
highlighting the selection using the up/down
buttons. Confirm your selection by pressing Enter
(right button).

9. Select Test Mode

The PER test can be run is several modes. Easy
Mode sets up a one-way test and uses default
settings. This test is convenient for practical range
testing.

The other test modes are described in the “TrxEB
RF PER Test Software Example User’s Guide”,
available on the kit web page.

To proceed, highlight “Easy Mode” and press Enter

(right button).

1

EM

Connectors

MSP430

Breakout

USB

EM

Breakout

Main

Power

Switch

Power

Selection

Board Mode

Switches

LCD

Buttons

LEDs

MSP430

Debug

Interface

CC11xL 868/915 MHz Development Kit Quick Start Guide

Opening the Box and Running the Packet Error Rate Test

SWRU292B

October 2013

When using an external power supply, make sure it meets the listed requirements in addition to complying with applicable regional product regulatory and

safety certification requirements such as UL, CSA, VDE, CCC, and PSE.

10. Select Frequency

Select which frequency to use for the test. Make
sure that the evaluation modules you have match
the selected frequency.

11. Select Mode

One of the boards must operate as the slave
(transmitter) and the other as master (receiver).
Select Slave on one board…

…and Master on the other board.

12. Establish Link

The slave node will now wait for a configuration
package from the Master. The configuration
contains the parameters used for the PER test.

The configuration package will be sent when you
select “link devices” on the master node.

13. Link Established

When the initial linking has completed, the slave
node will start the test by continuously transmitting
packets to the master.

14. Start the Receiver (master)

On the master node, you can select the number of
packets you want to receive in order to calculate
the packet error.

When selecting “Start PER Test”, the master

(receiver) will begin to count the number of
received packets and provide some statistics.

15. PER Test Results

The master will display a window that plots the
received signal strength (RSSI) for each packet.

Press the “Up” button to go to the detailed

statistical window.

16. PER Test Results

The statistics window will show the error rate
based on the number of lost or erroneous packets
divided by the total number of packets that should
have been received.

17. Troubleshooting

It you are experiencing problems with this test,
please check the following:

 Nothing is shown in the display! Make sure the

mode switches are in the correct positions (see
step 4 above).

 Please visit the kit web page and check for

updated SW and documentation. Updated SW
can be downloaded to the device using IAR
EW430 or SmartRF Flash Programmer.

 If you get poor PER results at short distances,

try to move the transmitter and receiver further
apart. The CC11xL receiver may experience
saturation if it is too close to the other CC11xL
transmitting at full output power.

18. References

Please visit www.ti.com and

http://www.ti.com/tool/cc11xldk-868-915

On the kit product page, you will find additional
documentation, links to updated software
examples and software tools like SmartRF Studio.

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
CC110L, CC113L and CC115L devices.

1. Download and Install

Before connecting SmartRF Trx EB to your PC,
download and install SmartRF Studio from

www.ti.com/smartrfstudio.

2. Launch SmartRF Studio

After installing the tool, connect the EB to the PC
using the USB cable and start SmartRF Studio.

Select the “Sub 1 GHz” tab and double click the

highlighted device icon (CC110L, CC113L or
CC115L).

3. Test the Radio

You can now configure the radio, export register
settings and run performance tests of the radio.

SmartRF™ Studio