atsamr34_radio_performance_testing

ATSAMR34_RADIO_TESTING

"Wireless Made Easy!" - Enable Simple RF Performance Testing of SAM R34 IC and WLR089U0 Module using Reference Design Package Software Tools and Macro files

Devices: | ATSAMR34 | WLR089U0

Disclaimer

THE SOFTWARE ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND GIVE A PATH FOR SELF-SUPPORT AND SELF-MAINTENANCE.

This repository contains unsupported example code intended to help accelerate client product development. It is not validated for production nor audited for security best-practices.

Note that while this repository is unsupported, Microchip welcome community contributions, and all pull-requests will be considered for inclusion into the repository.

Interact with peers in the community at LoRa Forum.

Resources

• SAMR34/35 and WLR089U Landing page
• SAMR34 Device page
• SAMR34 Xplained Pro Evaluation Kit
• WLR089U0 Module page
• WLR089U0 Module Xplained Pro Evaluation Kit
• Microchip Studio 7.0 IDE

Clone/Download the current repo to get the package.

A la carte

1. Introduction
2. Hardware Platforms
3. Software Requirements
4. Prerequisites
5. Sample Tera Term Macros
6. Radio Performance Testing
   1. Continuous Wave Test
   2. Continuous Packets Transmission Test
   3. Packet Error Rate Test
   4. Peer to Peer Test

Introduction

This repo provides the basic steps to enable simple RF Performance Testing of SAM R34 IC and WLR089U0 Module using Tera Term Macro Files and the tools included in the Reference Design Package.

Refer to SAMR34 IC Reference Design Package to get the full set of documentation and guidelines for performing RF testing and validation.

Checkout the AN1631 - Simple Link Budget Estimation and Performance Measurements to learn measurement and techniques to evaluate the range and performance of wireless transmission.

Hardware Platforms

• Purchase the SAM R34 Xplained Pro Evaluation Kit
  
  

• Purchase the WLR089U0 Xplained Pro Evaluation Kit
  
  

• Purchase material to perform RF measurement

Software Requirements

• Microchip Studio 7.0.2542 IDE

• Download SAMR34 IC Reference Design Package

• Download Tera Term

Tera Term 4.102 has been tested to validate the Tera Term Macros

Prerequisites

To enable the SAM R34/R35 or WLR089U0 devices for RF testing, the devices need to be programmed with the device specific SAM R34/R35 or WLR089U0 Radio Utility Firmware Project.

• Using Microchip Studio IDE, compile and program Radio Utility Program from the SAMR34 IC Reference Design Package into SAM R34 Xpro or WLR089 Xpro

Checkout the Radio Utility Commands Reference Manual to get details on the ASCII-format Radio commands over UART interface.

• Configure Tera Term as following and make sure to enable 'Local echo'

• Reset the board and make sure the following message is displayed

Last reset cause: External Reset
LoRaWAN Stack UP
WLR089 Xpro MLS_SDK_1_0_P_5 Mar 17 2021 18:46:17

Sample Tera Term Macros

To enable RF performance testing, several macros are provided in the present repository using the Tera Term language (TTL) to support European and North America bands.

Macro name	Description
FSK_Peer_to_peer	Enable Peer to peer communication using FSK modulation
LoRa_Peer_to_peer	Enable Peer to peer communication using LoRa modulation
Receiver_Continuous_Rx_mode	Setup a device in continuous receiver mode
Receiver_NarrowBand	Setup a device in receiver mode for Packet Error Rate testing
Transmitter_Continuous_Packets_mode	Setup a device in transmitter mode for continuous packets mode
Transmitter_CW_mode	Enable Continuous wave transmission
Transmitter_Packets_mode	Setup a device in transmitter mode for Packet Error Rate testing

To execute a Tera Term macro, select: Control -> Macro -> Load .ttl file

RF Performance Testing

Continuous Wave Test

• Connect a DUT to Tera Term
  • Open Transmitter_CW_mode.ttl macro
  • Select Output power index
  • Select the Frequency in Hz
  • Set the Power Amplifier state
  • Click Ok to stop CW test

Continuous Packet Transmission Test

• Connect a DUT #1 to Tera Term
  • Open Receiver_Continuous_Rx_mode.ttl macro
  • Select Output power index
  • Select the Frequency in Hz
  • Set the Power Amplifier state
• Connect a DUT #2 to another Tera Term window
  • Open Tranmistter_Continuous_Packets_mode.ttl macro
  • Select Output power index
  • Select the Frequency in Hz
  • Set the Power Amplifier state
  • Set the number of packets to send continuously

Packet Error Rate Test

• Connect a DUT #1 to Tera Term
  • Open Receiver_narrowBand.ttl macro
  • Select Output power index
  • Select the Frequency in Hz
  • Set the Power Amplifier state
  • Set the number of expected packets to receive
• Connect a DUT #2 to another Tera Term window
  • Open Tranmistter_Continuous_Packets_mode.ttl macro
  • Select Output power index
  • Select the Frequency in Hz
  • Set the Power Amplifier state
  • Set the number of packets to be transmitted
  • Set the delay between consecutive packets transmission in ms

Peer to Peer

• Connect a DUT #1 to Tera Term
  • Open Peer_to_peer.ttl macro
  • Select Receiver role
• Connect a DUT #2 to another Tera Term window
  • Open Peer_to_peer.ttl macro
  • Select Transmitter role
  • Hit Ok to transmit a packet