VN310 Hardware Integration Application Note 08-00041-01 Revision 1.0 December 18, 2012 www.nivis.com
Contents 1. INTRODUCTION... 3 2. PIN-OUT AND INTERFACE SUMMARY... 3 3. INTERFACING WITH VN310-I FOR ISA100.11A APPLICATIONS... 7 3.1 VN310-I HARDWARE INTERFACING VIA UART... 8 3.2 VN310-I HARDWARE INTERFACING VIA SPI... 9 4. INTERFACING WITH VN310-H FOR WIRELESS HART APPLICATIONS... 10 4.1 VN310-H HARDWARE INTERFACING VIA UART... 10 4.2 VN310-H HARDWARE INTERFACING VIA SPI... 11 4.3 VN310-H HARDWARE INTERFACING WITH THE WIRED HART MAINTENANCE PORT CIRCUITRY... 11 5. VN310 KEY SPECIFICATIONS... 12 5.1 EXTERNAL ANTENNA SPECIFICATIONS AND INSTALLATION REQUIREMENTS... 12 6. VN310 MECHANICAL SPECIFICATIONS... 13 7. VN310 COMPLIANCE WITH RADIO LAWS... 15 Page 2 of 15
1. Introduction The purpose of this document is to provide the necessary data to achieve hardware integration of the VN310 with a customer s eternal application processor. By definition the VN310 is essentially a radio module, approimately 1.1 W 1.4 L, that is pre-loaded with the Nivis wireless communications stack. The small form factor enables the radio to be used in a variety of applications. There are two variants of the VN310 radio module that are identical from hardware perspective, the only difference being the wireless communications stack firmware loaded: VN310-I pre-loaded with Nivis ISA100.11a stack as factory firmware VN310-H pre-loaded with Nivis Wireless Hart stack as factory firmware. The VN310 module employs two TTL serial ports, UART1 and UART2. The UART1 port is reserved for factory configuration however in the case of VN310-H it is also used to interface with a wired HART modem for the required HART maintenance port. An eternal processing entity can communicate with the VN310 using either a UART interface (UART2) or an SPI interface. 2. Pin-out and Interface Summary The VN310 radio module uses a Freescale 32-bit ARM7 microcontroller as its core. The transmit path utilizes a PA (power amplifier) to increase the power output of the integrated 2.4 GHz, 802.15.4 radio transmitter to a maimum output power at the antenna connector of +15 dbm, and with a nominal operating power level of +10 dbm. The transmit power variation vs. temperature is no greater than +/- 3 db over the industrial temperature range of -40 +85. A digital-to-analog converter (DAC) is used to vary the bias voltage on the power amplifier to adjust the radio output power, and also to maintain the optimum output power vs. current consumption. The advantages of a radio module with adjustable power output are the following: Ability to adjust radio output power in steps of 1 dbm, from 0 dbm to +15 dbm, for maimum fleibility and range. Energy consumption can be reduced by using lower radio output power setting, while communication range can be increased by using higher radio output power. Provides greater power level consistency, for systems where symmetrical links are more critical. The normalized radio output power means that the radio will transmit with the same outout power on all radio Page 3 of 15
channels and its communications range is consistent. Country code (CC) support enables the unit to be configured for different regulatory certification needs, especially locations that require reduced transmit power, such as Europe, Japan, and China. By simply configuring the CC into the VN310, the module self-adjustes so that its radio transmit power is compliant with the country regulations. Once CC set, the application processor can only configure the radio s transmit output power from 0 dbm to the maimum allowed by the CC. Some software protocol stacks such as the Wireless Hart and ISA100.11a standards require a very high stability time base. The VN310 module is by design optimized for such needs by using a temperature compensated (DTCXO) real time clock. The DTCXO s maimum drift is 5 ppm over the entire temperature range of -40 +85. To improve reliability, a separate onboard hardware watchdog timer is used to reset the radio if the core stops communicating with the watchdog for a predefined time interval. UART2_RTS/EXTRTS UART2_CTS/EXTCTS UART2_RX UART2_TX UART1_RTS/HART_MODEM_RTS GND UART1_CTS UART1_RX/HART_MODEM_RX UART1_TX/HART_MODEM_TX RDY_RADIO GND SPI_SCK/CLK SPI_MOSI/MOSI SPI_MISO/MISO SPI_SS/SS GPIO/VN_LED1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 55 54 53 52 51 50 49 48 47 46 45 44 43 42 41 40 39 38 37 36 RESET GND VIN GPIO/VN_LED2 GPIO/HART_MODEM_CD_IC GND WKU_RADIO GPIO/HART_MODEM_PWR GPIO/VN_LED3 BOOT_SWITCH GPIO/HART_MODEM_CD 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 VN_STATUS GND GND Figure 1: VN310 Pin-out and signals direction (top view) Note 1: All pins marked as must be left unconnected. Note 2: To minimize energy consumption, all unused pins should be left unconnected. Page 4 of 15
Table 1: VN310 Pin Definitions No. Name Description Type Dir Comments 1 UART2-RTS UART2 Request to Send DIG In UART communication between VN310 and application processor (AP). This signal is active low and is used by the AP to indicate a ready-toreceive state. 2 UART2-CTS UART2 Clear to Send DIG Out UART communication between VN310 and application processor. This signal is active low and is used by VN310 to indicate a want-to-send state. 3 UART2-RXD UART2 Receive Data DIG In UART communication between VN310 and application processor. 4 UART2-TXD UART2 Transmit Data DIG Out UART communication between VN310 and application processor. 5 UART1-RTS UART1 Request to Send DIG I/O Input on VN310-I. Output on VN310-H. 6 GND Ground N/A N/A 7 UART1-CTS UART1 Clear to Send DIG Out Standard UART communication with flow control. Not used on VN310-H. 8 UART1-RXD UART1 Receive Data DIG In Standard UART communication with flow control. 9 UART1-TXD UART1 Transmit Data DIG Out Standard UART communication with flow control. 10 N/A N/A Not Used. Do not connect. 11 N/A N/A Not Used. Do not connect. 12 RDY_RADIO RDY_RADIO DIG Out READY signal used by VN310 to wake up the application processor. This signal is active low and is used by VN310 to indicate a ready-toreceive state. It will be generated as a response to the application CPU WKU signal. 13 N/A N/A Not Used. Do not connect. 14 GND Ground N/A N/A 15 SPI-SCK SPI Clock DIG Out Standard SPI Communication. 16 SPI-MOSI SPI Data Out DIG Out Standard SPI Communication. 17 SPI-MISO SPI Data In DIG In Standard SPI Communication. 18 SPI-SS SPI Slave Select DIG Out Standard SPI Communication. 19 GPIO GPIO/VN_LED1 N/A N/A GPIO used to control VN310 s LED1. Do not connect if not needed. 20 N/A N/A Not Used. Do not connect. 21 VN_STATUS VN_STATUS DIG In VN310 wakeup/status/reset_to_provisioning_default, usually connected to a push-button. Holding this pin low for 2 seconds wakes-up the VN310 and LEDs signaling. On VN310-I, holding this pin low for 10 seconds causes the radio to reset its provisioning information to the factory defaults state and unjoin the network. 22 N/A N/A Not Used. Do not connect. 23 GND Ground N/A N/A 24 N/A N/A Not Used. Do not connect. Page 5 of 15
No. Name Description Type Dir Comments 25 N/A N/A Not Used. Do not connect. 26 N/A N/A Not Used. Do not connect. 27 N/A N/A Not Used. Do not connect. 28 N/A N/A Not Used. Do not connect. 29 N/A N/A Not Used. Do not connect. 30 N/A N/A Not Used. Do not connect. 31 GND Ground N/A N/A 32 DIG I/O Not Used. Do not connect. 33 DIG I/O Not Used. Do not connect. 34 DIG I/O Not Used. Do not connect. 35 DIG I/O Not Used. Do not connect. 36 DIG I/O Not Used. Do not connect. 37 DIG I/O Not Used. Do not connect. 38 GPIO GPIO HART_MODEM_CD DIG In GPIO not used in VN310-I. Do not connect. HART_MODEM_CD pin used by VN310-H to detect the carrier (CD) from eternal wired HART maintenance port s modem. This signal is required for lower power consumption. 39 BOOT_SWITCH GPIO BOOT_SWITCH DIG In VN310 s bootloader reads this GPIO s state at startup and decides what firmware image to boot. Usually connected to a switch in multi-boot configuration (VN310-I & VN310-H), or pulled-high for VN310-I configuration, or pulled-low for VN310-H configuration. 40 GPIO GPIO/VN_LED3 DIG Out GPIO used to control VN310 s LED3. Do not connect if not needed. Not used on VN310-H. 41 GPIO GPIO HART_MODEM_PWR DIG Out GPIO not used in VN310-I. Do not connect. HART_MODEM_PWR pin used by VN310-H to power ON/OFF the eternal wired HART maintenance port (energy saving). 42 WKU_RADIO WKU_RADIO DIG In Eternal wake-up signal used by the AP to wake up the VN310 module. This signal is active high and is used by the AP to wake up the VN310 from sleep mode, and to signal the intention to communicate with the VN310. Keeping this line active will block the VN310 from entering low power mode (sleep). 43 GND Ground N/A N/A 44 GPIO GPIO HART_MODEM_CD_IC N/A N/A GPIO not used in VN310-I. Do not connect. HART_MODEM_CD_IC pin used by VN310-H to detect the carrier (CD) from eternal wired HART maintenance port s modem. HART_MODEM_CD_IC is usually a CD signal provided by a SoC HART modem, while the HART_MODEM_CD signal is generated by a lower power consumption circuitry thus allowing powering off the HART Page 6 of 15
No. Name Description Type Dir Comments modem during sleep mode. 45 N/A N/A Not Used. Do not connect. 46 GPIO GPIO/VN_LED2 DIG Out GPIO used to control VN310 s LED2. Do not connect if not needed. Not used on VN310-H. 47 N/A N/A Not Used. Do not connect. 48 Vin Supply Voltage N/A In See Note 3. 49 GND Ground N/A N/A 50 RESET RESET pin DIG In Reset pin of the VN310. LOW to reset and HIGH to run. 51 N/A N/A Not Used. Do not connect. 52 N/A N/A Not Used. Do not connect. 53 N/A N/A Not Used. Do not connect. 54 N/A N/A Not Used. Do not connect. 55 N/A N/A Not Used. Do not connect. Note 3: In the default configuration, the radio is powered directly from an eternal power source which should have a range of 3.3 to 10.0 volts for standard operation. The radio has an internal LDO regulator that provides a constant 3.0 volts in order to maintain a narrow output power range and to comply with regulatory requirements. Contact Nivis engineering for more information. 3. Interfacing with VN310-I for ISA100.11a applications An application processor (AP) can communicate with the VN310 radio module using either UART or SPI hardware interfacing. The supported communication protocols between AP and VN310-I are described in the following documents: Full API: 08-00011-01_Nivis_ISA100.11a_FULL_API_Integration_Manual.pdf Simple API: 08-00014-01_Nivis_ISA100.11a_SIMPLE_ API Integration_Manual.pdf Page 7 of 15
3.1 VN310-I hardware interfacing via UART Figure 2: VN310-I hardware interfacing via UART Page 8 of 15
3.2 VN310-I hardware interfacing via SPI Figure 3: VN310-I hardware interfacing via SPI Page 9 of 15
4. Interfacing with VN310-H for Wireless HART applications An application processor (AP) can communicate with the VN310 radio module using either UART or SPI hardware interfacing. The supported communication protocols between AP and VN310-H are described in the following documents: Full API: 08-00029-01_Nivis_WirelessHART_Full_API_Integration_Manual.pdf Simple API: 08-00026-01_Nivis_WirelessHART_Simple_API_Integration_Manual.pdf 4.1 VN310-H hardware interfacing via UART Figure 4: VN310-H hardware interfacing via UART Page 10 of 15
4.2 VN310-H hardware interfacing via SPI Figure 5: VN310-H hardware interfacing via SPI 4.3 VN310-H hardware interfacing with the Wired HART Maintenance Port circuitry Figure 6: VN310-H hardware interfacing with HART Maintenance Port Page 11 of 15
5. VN310 Key Specifications For detailed information please consult the following documents: VN310 Datasheet: Nivis_VersaNode_310_Datasheet.pdf 5.1 Eternal antenna specifications and installation requirements Figure 7: Antenna specifications Antenna Installation requirements The antenna(s) used for this transmitter must be installed to provide a separation distance of at least 20 cm from all persons and must not be co-located or operating in conjunction with any other antenna or transmitter. Page 12 of 15
6. VN310 Mechanical Specifications Figure 8: VN310 mechanical dimensions Figure 9: VN310 s RF Shield Page 13 of 15
Figure 10: VN310 Additional Drawings Page 14 of 15
Figure 11: VN310 Recommended Footprint 7. VN310 compliance with Radio Laws EN 300-328 v1.7.1 (Europe) FCC ID: SQB-VN3104034R5 (USA) IC ID: 6546A-VN3104034R5 (Canada) MIC 204-280014 (MIC Notice No. 88 Appendi No. 43, Japan) For detailed information please consult Nibis website and the following documents: VN310 Datasheet: Nivis_VersaNode_310_Datasheet.pdf Page 15 of 15