SmartRF®04EB + CC2520EM?

The reverse question is partially answered by: 

http://community.ti.com/forums/t/9585.aspx

That makes it sound like they MAY be generally hardware compatible with the radio EMs but that the software programs when using the SmartRF peripherials may need to be modified when switching back and forth.  Let someone else verify that this is the case. 

I too would be interested in which new radio EMs that are generally paired with SmartRF05EB's, will also work on older SmartRF04EB's? 

For example the CC2530EM. 

Thanks,

mlk

Thanks for the answer. There is another post where they are talking about SmartRF05EB + CC2430EM, this is the link: http://community.ti.com/forums/t/3062.aspx

But do you think that at hardware level the SmartRF04EB would be compatible with the CC2520EM? Because reading on the website it seems like that only the 2530 could go...

At this page there is a table with some possible combinations...but I don't know if they are the only possible or if another combinations are possible: http://focus.ti.com/docs/toolsw/folders/print/packet-sniffer.html

Thanks for the information above, the last URL for the sniffer implicitly answers my question about the CC2530. 

I dont know the answer in general to your question.  I had hoped that http://community.ti.com/members/1033109/default.aspx or someone else that has been commenting on similar questions would chime in.  It would be nice for someone to verify if all the radio modules have same "hardware interface" allowing them to be used with either SmartRF04 or 05, and that the test programs are the only compatibility issue.  I initially thought that was the case but now I am questioning that assumption. 

mlk

5657.CC2430EM_PINS.xls

Attached (I hope) is an excel sheet I made some time ago for the CC2430EM and the SRF04. I use it to check new EMs for compatiblity and also to assign pins to the custom boards I design. Nearly all of the CxxxxEMs have reference designs and it is a quick check.

The CC2520 reference design is at http://focus.ti.com/docs/toolsw/folders/print/cc2520em_refdes.html and appears to be largely compatible with the SRF04 from a pin perspective including power, grounds,  /reset, and SPI.   The exception is the GPIO pin mapping and the fact that J1-10 is connected to a pull up on the CC2520EM.

Note that the latest version (6.11.6) of RF Studio only supports the CC2520, CC2530 & CC2531  with SRF05 and not SRF04.

Thank you for your reply. I have downoloaded the excel sheet you have attached.

At the moment I'm doing some test with two SmartRF04EB with the CC2430EM. I have tryed to put on the SmartRF04EB the CC2420EM but it is not recognized. Probably from an hardware point of view the CC2420EM and the CC2520EM would be compatible with the SmartRF04EB, but then the software doesn't recognize them. I conclude that if one want to use the CC2520EM with the SmartRF Studio, he must have the SmartRF05EB and not the SmartRF04EB, can someone confirm this hypothesis?

The CC2420EM is not listed on the SmartRF04 DK window in RF Studio which suggests it is not supported.
In addition I just now plugged a CC2420EM into my SmartRF04 and it was not recognized. The firmware checks the device type and does not recognize unsupport devices.

Similarily the CC2520EM is not listed under the RF Studio SmartRF04 tab, but it is listed under the SmartRF05 tab. With a high degree of certainty I can say your hypothesis is correct.

The CC2420EM is listed under the SmartRF03 tab in RF Studio, while you can not connect to the device with SRF04 (I tried)  RF Studio  still provides the register settings and code export, the same is true for the CC2520 under the SmartRF05 tab.