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CC1120: In reception mode, even if there is no RF signal present, the RSSI value is still high

Part Number: CC1120
Other Parts Discussed in Thread: CC1100E,

This is the register configuration generated by SmartRF Studio.

// Address Config = No address check 
// Bit Rate = 1.2 
// Carrier Frequency = 434.000000 
// Deviation = 3.997803 
// Device Address = 0 
// Manchester Enable = false 
// Modulation Format = 2-FSK 
// PA Ramping = true 
// Packet Bit Length = 0 
// Packet Length = 255 
// Packet Length Mode = Variable 
// Performance Mode = High Performance 
// RX Filter BW = 10.000000 
// Symbol rate = 1.2 
// TX Power = 15 
// Whitening = false 
#include "stdint.h"
const uint16_t CC112X_REG_SETTING[][2]= 
{
 {0X0000,0X53},//IOCFG3            GPIO3 IO PIN CONFIGURATION
 {0X0001,0X46},//IOCFG2            GPIO2 IO PIN CONFIGURATION
 {0X0003,0X51},//IOCFG0            GPIO0 IO PIN CONFIGURATION
 {0X0008,0X0B},//SYNC_CFG1         SYNC WORD DETECTION CONFIGURATION REG. 1
 {0X000C,0X1C},//DCFILT_CFG        DIGITAL DC REMOVAL CONFIGURATION
 {0X0010,0XC6},//IQIC              DIGITAL IMAGE CHANNEL COMPENSATION CONFIGURATION
 {0X0013,0X05},//MDMCFG0           GENERAL MODEM PARAMETER CONFIGURATION REG. 0
 {0X0017,0X20},//AGC_REF           AGC REFERENCE LEVEL CONFIGURATION
 {0X0018,0X19},//AGC_CS_THR        CARRIER SENSE THRESHOLD CONFIGURATION
 {0X001C,0XA9},//AGC_CFG1          AUTOMATIC GAIN CONTROL CONFIGURATION REG. 1
 {0X001D,0XCF},//AGC_CFG0          AUTOMATIC GAIN CONTROL CONFIGURATION REG. 0
 {0X001E,0X00},//FIFO_CFG          FIFO CONFIGURATION
 {0X0021,0X14},//FS_CFG            FREQUENCY SYNTHESIZER CONFIGURATION
 {0X0028,0X20},//PKT_CFG0          PACKET CONFIGURATION REG. 0
 {0X002E,0XFF},//PKT_LEN           PACKET LENGTH CONFIGURATION
 {0X2F00,0X00},//IF_MIX_CFG        IF MIX CONFIGURATION
 {0X2F01,0X22},//FREQOFF_CFG       FREQUENCY OFFSET CORRECTION CONFIGURATION
 {0X2F0C,0X6C},//FREQ2             FREQUENCY CONFIGURATION [23:16]
 {0X2F0D,0X80},//FREQ1             FREQUENCY CONFIGURATION [15:8]
 {0X2F12,0X00},//FS_DIG1           FREQUENCY SYNTHESIZER DIGITAL REG. 1
 {0X2F13,0X5F},//FS_DIG0           FREQUENCY SYNTHESIZER DIGITAL REG. 0
 {0X2F16,0X40},//FS_CAL1           FREQUENCY SYNTHESIZER CALIBRATION REG. 1
 {0X2F17,0X0E},//FS_CAL0           FREQUENCY SYNTHESIZER CALIBRATION REG. 0
 {0X2F19,0X03},//FS_DIVTWO         FREQUENCY SYNTHESIZER DIVIDE BY 2
 {0X2F1B,0X33},//FS_DSM0           FS DIGITAL SYNTHESIZER MODULE CONFIGURATION REG. 0
 {0X2F1D,0X17},//FS_DVC0           FREQUENCY SYNTHESIZER DIVIDER CHAIN CONFIGURATION ..
 {0X2F1F,0X50},//FS_PFD            FREQUENCY SYNTHESIZER PHASE FREQUENCY DETECTOR CON..
 {0X2F20,0X6E},//FS_PRE            FREQUENCY SYNTHESIZER PRESCALER CONFIGURATION
 {0X2F21,0X14},//FS_REG_DIV_CML    FREQUENCY SYNTHESIZER DIVIDER REGULATOR CONFIGURAT..
 {0X2F22,0XAC},//FS_SPARE          FREQUENCY SYNTHESIZER SPARE
 {0X2F27,0XB4},//FS_VCO0           FS VOLTAGE CONTROLLED OSCILLATOR CONFIGURATION REG..
 {0X2F32,0X0E},//XOSC5             CRYSTAL OSCILLATOR CONFIGURATION REG. 5
 {0X2F36,0X03},//XOSC1             CRYSTAL OSCILLATOR CONFIGURATION REG. 1
 {0XFFFF,0XFF}
};

After my actual testing, even if there is no RF signal source present when the antenna is connected, the RSSI value read is as high as -75dbm, fluctuating around this value. When I unplug the antenna, the RSSI value drops back to around -100dBm, which is clearly the normal value when there is no signal. I have compensated for the RSSI value using software. When I input RF signals of different intensities with the instrument, the RSSI values read are normal, and the error between the RSSI value and the output intensity of the instrument is within 3dBm. This should indicate that there is no problem with the RSSI indicating register. The question is: why does the RSSI value read so high when there is no RF signal? May I ask what caused this and how to improve it? This issue has a significant impact on reception performance

To add, I have tried using different RF parameter settings in SmartRF Studio without any changes or improvements.

  • Customers customize their own development boards;

    The customer said:

    I also try to touch the components on the board with my hands, hoping to see that the RSSI value can change, even if it is worse. But there was no response; I also compared the boards and didn't find any problems. I copied the reference design provided by TI, section 433, for the design schematic of the board. For the testing of transmission and reception sensitivity, the performance is still acceptable, with a transmitted power of 14.5dBm. Observing the reception through RSSI values, a sensitivity change of -100dBm can be achieved. Of course, the development board designed by TI is not as good as it is, but it is sufficient for the project requirements. The only problem is that when the antenna is connected, even if there is no RF signal present, the RSSI value is relatively high, fluctuating between approximately 68-75dBm. After unplugging the antenna, the value will be normal. I used the originally designed CC1100E board to read RSSI for comparison, and at the same frequency, I did not find this issue with the RSSI values read by CC1100E. I don't know exactly where the problem lies, is it because CC1120 has higher reception sensitivity than CC1100E? Or is there something wrong with the settings?

    When I input a higher RF signal to CC1120, I found that its RSSI can only display up to -9dBm, which means that for signal inputs above this strength, the RSSI is frozen at -9dBm and will not change. The change only resumes when the signal decreases. Is this normal?

    what‘s more, I debugged for a day and repeatedly set different values for the AGC related registers. The only one that can affect the RSSI value is the AGC maximum gain register. When I set the maximum gain register to the same value as the minimum gain register, the RSSI value actually increased by 10dBm when there was no RF signal. In addition, changing other registers did not show any significant changes. Anyway, when the antenna is connected and unplugged, the RSSI values between them will differ by approximately 30dBm. I feel that this is clearly not right. Normally, in the absence of obvious interference, the RSSI increase of the antenna connected should not exceed 10dBm. This is still based on a high gain receiver. If the receiver gain is low, this difference should be lower. Can you please test this difference with TI's development board over there?? What is the difference in RSSI between connecting an antenna and not connecting an antenna?? I have tested a lot of frequencies, ranging from 450M to 480M. For frequencies above 470M, the difference is slightly lower, about 25dBm, while for frequencies below 450M, it is close to 30dBm. Overall, everything is not quite right

  • My first thought is background noise. Have they tried to measure the background noise where they are using a spectrum analyzer (or similar) with an antenna connected to see what they measure in this case? 

  • Hi Alex,

    To follow up on this - has the customer followed up on TheGhostOf's suggestion? Have there been developments on this issue in the meantime?


    Regards,

    Zack