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APPLICATION NOTE
AT12459: FCC Test for IEEE 802. 15 .4 Tr ansmit t ers
802.15.4
Introduction
This test suite is designed primarily for FCC testing of Atmel® IEEE® 802.15.4
transmitters. This test is initiated over-the-air with remote start. Regulatory tests of
wireless products are usually performed in retail encl osures that do not offer access to
test ports. Additionally remote start is convenient for characterizing designs with
modified I/O pin assignments. This test supports Modulated Carrier mode which is
used to demonstrate compliance with CFR 49 Part 15.247. Additional modes like
Carrier Wave (CW) and Pulsed Packet are supported for characterization. This version
of the test supports several Atmel transmitters including ATmega256RFR2,
ATSAMR21 and AT86RF212B.
Features
• Designed for FCC Testing and Transmitter Characterization
• Configure and Activate Transmitter Remotely
• Continuous Modulated Carrier Output (PRBS)
• Continuous Wave Output (CW)
• Pulsed Packet Output
• Duty Cycle Reduction Factor mode (DCRF)
• Channel and Power Configuration
• No wires to DUT required.
• Tx LED indicator
• Crystal Trim Adjustment
• Configuration Storage (P IB)
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1 Overview
Developers of wireless products need to exhibi t regulatory compliance of Radio Frequency (RF) emissions. This tool
was developed to assist i n Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and Industry Canada (IC) testing programs.
Wireless consu mer products need to be tested as they are sold to the public including antennas and enclosures.
Typically industrial designers omit external connections for conducted testing, debugging and external control on
retail enclosures.
Using this tool Test E ngineers can initiate RF emissions from the Device Under Test (DUT) using a remote
Commander (CDR) devi ce. The CDR can be built from an Atmel development board plus laptop computer. Once the
DUT transmission has started, the CDR system can be completely removed from the test chamber.
Figure 1-1. Test Set-up Diagram
Typically IEEE 802.15.4 devices are certified under CFR 49 Rule 15.247 which measures the occupied bandwidth
and power spectral density of modulated carrier signals. For testing, this is achie v ed with a continu ous
Pseudo-Random Binary Stream (PRBS) of data. Using the CDR interface, Test Engineers can adjust the frequency
and the RF output power. In addition to the PRBS mode, Continuous Wave (CW) mode is also supported. This is
commonly used to measure transmitter power and frequency with basic instruments like RF power meters. Other
modes include Pulsed Packet for use with RF Automated Test Equipment (ATE) And DCRF mode for measuring the
effects of packet size and paddi ng delays on spurious emissions.
The test suite provides controls for frequency, RF output power and antenna path. Additionally a handful of controls
are included for trimming the local oscillator and configuring the radio for extended operations. And finally
ATmega256RFR2 users can enable this part’s special band-edge filter feature that improves compliance when
Atmel-0000A-BUabbrev-Document-Title-or-Devices-Filename-ApplicationNote_052014
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operating in channels 25 and 26. Test configurations can be saved. There are four Configuration Caches (PIBs) on
the CDR. These can be used to save and recall frequently used test parameters.
2 Operation
To use thi s tool the Test Engineer will need two wireless devices; a DUT and a CDR. For the purposes of this
app-note we will use two SAMR21 Xplained Pro (ATSAMR21-XPRO) evaluation kits. In practice the DUT will most
likely be a new creation. Alternately this demo can be evaluated using the ATmega256RFR2-XPRO, or
AT86RF 212 B Extens i on + AT SAMD 20/2 1-XPRO, or AT08973 (Ramen) pl atforms. The AT86RF212B has some
special features that will be expla in ed later in this app-note.
To start the reader w ill need two ATSAMR21-XPRO evaluation kits, a windows computer with Atmel Studio 6 (AS6),
a terminal application such as PuTTY or Tera Term, a USB micro-B cable, a 3.3 VDC power source
(ATBATTERY-CASE-2AAA) and a instrument capable of measuri ng radiated RF emissions in the 2400-2480 MH z
ISM band.
Use AS6 to load fcc_test_r21.hex on the ATSAMR21-XPRO boards. Both CDR and DUT use the same binary
image. Once the XPROs are programmed connect the CDR to the terminal application and find a power source for
the DUT. The UART settings for the CDR are Baud 38400, Data 8, Stop 1, Parity N, Flow N. The Atmel EBDG
Embedded debugger allows connection to the UART and AS6 simultaneously however it i s recommended users halt
the AS6 debugger as it is not needed to run the test. Resetting the CDR should show the intro line, bui ld timestamp
and “>” prompt. Entering in “help” will summon the Help Menu. This menu outlines the available functions.
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Figure 2-2. Expanded Help Topics
3 A Basic Test
To start a basic test, follow the steps shown below. This sets the transmitter to ch 18 (2440 MHz), sets the transmitter
power to maximum and selects ant 2 (chip). We can verify the settings wi th the “show ” command. If all is well, we can
start the transmission with the “prbs” command.
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Figure 3-1. Basic Test Command Sequence
Figure 3-2. Output from Basic Test, PRBS on Ch 18 (2440 MHz)
When the transmitter is active, LED0 on the DUT will be lit. LED0 is amber. When the DUT is continuously
transmitting it is not able to receive any commands over-the-air. Therefore when the measurement is complete, we
must reset the DUT by either asserting the reset signal, or power cycling it.
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4 Using the Conf iguration Cac he s
There are four Configuration Caches (PIBs). These can be used to save and load frequently used test parameters. In
remote mode the caches are saved on the CDR device in flash memory . When a test is initiated, the CDR copies PIB
0 to the DUT and then starts the DUT transmitter.
As an example, we will create and save transmitter settings for High, Middle and Low channels in the ISM band.
These three settings are commonly used to exhibit compliance with FCC rule 15.247. Using the sequence below, we
program caches for High, Middle and Low channels. The original PIB 0 is modified using the “ch” command and
stored using the “save” command. For the highest channel we will also attenuate power to meet the regulatory limits.
The Low Channel configuration is stored in PIB1. The Middle is in PIB2. PIB3 has the High channel with full-power.
PIB4 is the highest channel, but with attenuated power to meet the band-edge restrictions. The content of the
caches can be displayed using the “list” command.
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Figure 4-2. Loading and Sta rting Modulated Carrier Transmission on 2405 MHz.
To halt transmission we must reset, or power cy cle the DUT. The CDR is still active, after resetting the DUT, we can
use “load 2” to load the Middle channel configuration and take another measurement. The spectrograph below
shows all four settings superimposed with the MAX_HOLD feature of the spectrum analyzer. The PIB Caches are
handy to save commonly used test configurations.
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Figure 4-3. Low-Middle-High signals
5 Transm itter Pow er
The transmitter RF power level can be adjusted using the “pwr” function. Arguments for the “pwr” function are
identical to the v alues used i n the TX_P WR register of the device. For the 2.4 GHz products the values range from 0
to 15 (0x0F). The value is really an attenuation coefficient: 0 is maximu m pow er output and 15 is the minimum. The
UHF products have additional values to cover a broader range of settings. Note; either decimal values or
hexadecimal values can be used. Hexadecimal values must be preceded with the classic 0x prefix. Please review
the PHY_TX_PWR table in your transmitter’s datasheet for complete details.
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Table 5-1. TX_PWR Settings
TX_PWR ATSAMR21 AT86RF233 ATmega256xRFR2
Value dBm dBm dBm
044 3.5
13.7 3.7 3.3
23.4 3.4 2.8
333 2.3
42.5 2.5 1.8
522 1.2
611 0.5
700 -0.5
8-1 -1 -1.5
9-2 -2 -2.5
10 -3 -3 -3.5
11 -4 -4 -4.5
12 -6 -6 -6.5
13 -8 -8 -8.5
14 -12 -12 -11.5
15 -17 -17 -16.5
6 CW mode and Crystal trim
This tool also supports Carrier Wave (C W) mode. This is not included in the IEEE802.15.4 specification however it is
commonly used to verify transmitter power and carrier frequency using low-cost test instruments like RF Power
meters. Atmel IEEE 802.15.4 transmitters are designed for O-QPSK modulation and achieve CW mode by moving
all the sy mbols to one sideband. The Test Engineer will have to select a sideband and factor the ± 500 kHz offset into
their carrier frequency measurements.
A related feature is the Crystal Trim adjust ment. Atmel IEEE802.15.4 transmitters have on board trim capacitors that
can slightly pull the carrier. For complete details read the XOSC_CTRL and XTAL_TRIM sections in the transmitter
datasheets. The trim function has a small range of approximately 60 kHz and is provided to correct for
manufacturing tolerances in the PCB, cry stals and bias components. See Atmel Application Note AVR2067 for more
details.
7 Transmission Outside t he I SM Band
CC_BAND and CC_NUMBER registers are exposed in this tool .These can be used to configure the Transmitter for
frequencies outside the ISM band. This is useful for laboratory work and licensed bands. As an example the
command sequence below shows the R21 configured to transmit CW at 2360 MHz. This could be useful as an
intermediate frequency (IF) or Local Oscillator (LO) in a licensed radio system.
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8 Pulsed Packets
This mode provides the ability for the DUT to generate repetitive pulses of modulated carrier signal. This is a
non-linked transmission, the modulated data is not packetized and AACK i s disabled. The Test Engineer can control
the pulse and gap periods. This is handy for use with Automated RF Test Equipment (ATE) that need wave-fronts to
trigger. The measurement below shows the time-domain (zero span) output of a “>pulse 10 40” setting followed by a
“prbs” command. The results are 10 mS wide pulses of pseudorandom O-QPSK sym b ols int er lea ved w ith 40 mS
gaps.
Figure 8-1. Pulses of Modulat ed Carr ier Sign als
9 Dut y Cycle Reduc t ion Factor
Many users are interested in measuring the effects of Duty Cycle on spurious emissions and determining the Duty
Cycle Reduction Factor (DCRF). DCRF can be used to give a more accurate estimate of a transmitters radiated
energy in real-world operation. DCRF can be calculated, or empi rically measured. In IEEE 802.15.4 networks the
DCRF is a product of MAC/PHY and Network interaction. Network activity is unpredictable and makes calculation
virtually impossible. This tool provides control of the MAC/PHY layer so it can be used to measure baseline DCRF
and the effects of payload size and delay intervals.
Arguably one of the worst cases of transmitter chatter is the IEEE 802.15.4 retry mechanism. When
Auto-Acknowledgement (AACK) is enabled the transmitter will automatically re-send a packet if it does not receive
an Acknowledgement (ACK) from the intended recipient. Usual ly the burst of retries is limited to four attempts in rapid
succession. If all four attempts fail the MAC returns a fault flag in the data confirmation callback. The number of
retries and interval between retries is set when the netw ork is initialized and are im m utable. For the pur poses of
adjustment at the application-level, programmers can delay the initiation of subsequent data transmission requests
to pad the transmitter activity and thereby reduce the duty cycle. This can be implemented with a temporary
transmitter-busy flag set in the data confirmation callback.
The zero-span time domain capture below shows this ty pe of activity. This transmission is a result of a “data 20 100”
command. The data packet is 20 bytes and the delay between packets is 100 mS. The AACK i s enable and we can
see the retry activity. The scale is 20 mS per division. By visual i nspecti on, the Duty Cy cle is roughly 5 mS on-time in
100 mS. This results in a Duty Cycle of 5% or DCRF -13 dB.
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Figure 9-1. Measurement of -13 dB DCRF within 100 mS window
10 AT86RF212 B S upport
This tool supports the AT86RF212B and ATSAMD20/21 combination. Several modulation modes are available for
this chipset. The commonly used modes are visible using the help function.
Figure 10-1. Modulation Modes for AT86RF212B
11 BPSK-40-ALT m ode
The BPSK-40 mode is desirable for long-range applications. Unfortunately, implementation of BP SK-40 per the IEEE
802.15.4 specification does not meet the 500 kHz Occupied Bandwidth requirement of the FCC “wideband” rule
(15.247). Users can certi fy under the FCC ‘narrowband’ rule (15.249) however the narrowband rule has significantly
lower power limits. Atmel has developed an alternate BPSK modulation scheme with more spreading to satisfy the
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FCC wideband rule. The BPSK-ALT mode is compatible with the legacy IEEE BPSK-40 mode with minor losses in
process ing gain.
12 Antenna Pa t h
The ATSAMR21 XPRO and ATMEGA256RFR2 XPRO demo boards have two antennas to evaluate diversity. One is
an SMA connector for an external antenna and the other is a Chip antenna. The table below shows the mapping
between the physical antennas and the “ant” command arguments.
Table 12-1. Antenna Selections for XPRO Evaluation Boards
ANT R21 XPRO PA12/RFCTRL2 PA09/RFCTRL1 ATMEGA XPRO DIG1 DIG2
ant 0 DISABLED 0 0 DISABLED 0 0
ant 1 SMA 0 1 SMA 0 1
ant 2 Chip 1 0 Chip 1 0
ant 3 Auto 0 1 Auto 0 1
13 Limitations and Caveats
• This test cannot be used in a conducted set-up. A conducted connection between the DUT and test
instrument will attenuate signals from the CDR. Test Engineers will either have to start the DUT transmitter
before connecting or use the ‘local’ mode.
• This test does not measure receiver sensitivity . Use the Performance Analyzer in Atmel Studio, or the
Performance Test to characterize receiver sensitivity.
• When using the ATSAMD20/21-XPRO and ZigBit® Extension boards, local reset is not connected to the
transmitter. Users will have to power cycle the system to halt transmission.
• The antenna is disabled by default. Be sure to select a functional antenna path.
14 Conclusion
This test is handy for ev aluating new IEEE 802.15.4 designs and regulatory testing. The user interface i s human
readable and does not take in-depth software knowledge to use. Common transmitter functions li ke modulated
carrier, CW, channel and power are supported. The Remote Start feature allows in-the-enclosure testing required to
exhibit regulatory compliance. Advanced features like Pulsed Packet, Crystal Trim and DCRF can be qui ckly
evaluated on the RF test bench. This tool will simpl ify test programs and accelerate time-to-market during one of the
most critical phases of wireless product development.
15 Bibliography
AVR®2067 crystal Characterization for AVR RF
IEEE 802.15.4 Specification
FCC CFR 49 Part 15
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