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CC1310: NO TX power in TI 15.4 LRM only

Jakerage
Intellectual 555 points
Part Number: CC1310


Hello All,

Trying to debug a weird problem I am having on a custom board. I don't have a ton of RF experience but have managed to get our custom boards talking at a reasonable distance using the TI 15.4 Stack with FH. That being said I recently decided I wanted to try to change from 50 kbps to a LRM 5kbps. I changed the config file and loaded it on a launch pad and can see the scan on my spectrum analyzer. However on my custom board I don't see anything, its like the TX power is 0. Does anyone have any suggestion or a good place to start debugging, of why a custom board would work with  APIMAC_STD_US_915_PHY_1 and not at all with APIMAC_GENERIC_US_LRM_915_PHY_129, I have FH enabled for both.

Any advice would be appreciated!     

  • 0
    Intellectual 555 points
    I also have noticed that if I reduce the Channels to just one I had no tx either. I am guessing maybe it's a crystal calibration issue?
  • 0
    Guru 735685 points

    Try to test RF performance with SmartRF Studio first.

  • 0 in reply to YiKai Chen
    Intellectual 555 points

    SMART RF studio requires jtag which I do not have on the boards

  • 0 in reply to Jakerage
    Guru 735685 points
    Is you have LaunchPad, you can use XDS110 on LaunchPad connecting to your custom CC1310 to do SmartRF testing.
  • 0 in reply to YiKai Chen
    Intellectual 555 points
    I am not sure I understand what you are trying to tell me, the cc1310 is a QFN, it would be extremely difficult for me to access the jtag pins on the custom board. So SmartRF studio is not likely to help. Also during the intial design phase I had JTAG pins broken out in the board and used SmartRF studio during development. Now I need to find a way to debug this problem without SmartRF unless there is a way to use UART.
  • 0 in reply to Jakerage
    Guru 735685 points

    Don't you have JTag connector for downloading code or debug CC1310 on your custom board? If so, how do you download FW into yout CC1310?

  • 0 in reply to YiKai Chen
    Intellectual 555 points
    I use uart and upload code via the serial bootloader.
  • 0 in reply to Jakerage
    Guru 735685 points
    Oops! You will need JTag for SmartRF Studio to test RF performance.
  • 0 in reply to YiKai Chen
    Intellectual 555 points
    Well hopefully, someone else has some more useful advice. Because we had JTAG and had done testing before and LRM was working as we moved toward production we phased out JTAG. So i was hoping someone who may have run into this sort of problem could lend some advice. I think it maybe a problem with the 24Mhz crystal but I am not sure. I don't really have a good means to calibrate it.
  • 0 in reply to Jakerage
    TI__Genius 12415 points
    Hi,

    A good tool to have in these situations would be to set up a sniffer to monitor the over the air traffic. Another thing that I would start with when debugging this would be to make sure that the code is actually running in your custom board and that there is nothing stopping the device from actually executing the code. Maybe try toggling a GPIO in your custom board or send something through UART every time you try to send a packet over the air and then use the sniffer to see if anything was actually sent.
    You can download the packet sniffer software with instructions on how to set it up from here www.ti.com/.../PACKET-SNIFFER-2
  • 0 in reply to Hector_r
    Intellectual 555 points
    Hi hector,

    I have an led toggling so I know that the code is definitely running.. I also have a sniffer and a cheap hand held spectrum analyzer. I can definitely see that there is no transmission. If I put the board in physic mode 1, I see the scan. As soon as I switch to LRM or attempt to do anything single channel like easy link I get no attenuation in the antenna circuit. If I try to measure any voltage in the antenna circuit is basically at zero. If I leave all channel in the scan on and only enable 2 channels I can connect sometimes depending on the channels, but if I only leave one channel on no tx.
  • 0 in reply to Jakerage
    TI__Genius 12415 points
    You mentioned you tested this on a Launchpad and it worked. Was the firmware you ran in the launchpad the exact same firmware as in your custom board when you did the LRM test?
    Also, have you tried running the out of the box examples(sensor/collector) with no modifications in your custom board with LRM enabled?

    I am just trying to make sure whether this might be caused by software or if it might be hardware related
  • 0 in reply to Hector_r
    Intellectual 555 points
    Yes, it is exactly the same code that worked on the launch pad. I also have tried running unmodified versions of the examples with the same result. Honestly I am pretty sure it is hardware related because I have used LRM successfully on an older revision of the board. The largest difference in the Revisions was the stack up. We went from a 2 layer board to a much thinner 4 layer board, we did this because we were having some impedence matching problems with the two layer that was causing some problems during FCC testing, since we had code that was running and working (not in LRM) I didn't notice any problem and the antenna seemed tuned fairly accurately to the center 915 frequency. I starting notice that our range had been reduced so I decided to modify the code for LRM and that is when I noticed the problem. My gut is telling me that it is a calibration issue with the 24Mhz Crystal and that is why I am unable to select a single channel or use the much more narrow bands in long range mode. I could be completely wrong, but I don't really have access to any tools to physically check the calibration of the crystal. I tried to look for software functionality I could use to test it but didn't really get any good ideas. I also removed all additional modifications to the board and tried running the same test with just the cc1310, antenna, and crystal and had the same result. I am really hoping it is a calibration problem that can be fixed by modifiing the ccfg to change the internal capacitance load on the crystal. Do you have any suggestions to easily observe crystal error?
  • 0 in reply to Jakerage
    TI__Guru**** 317180 points
    Would you be able to upload the rfcarrierwave example and monitor which frequency you are actually sending on? If you suspect hardware issues you should use as simple/ uncomplicated software as possible to get a easier overview.
  • 0 in reply to TER
    Intellectual 555 points
    I am out of the office today but I will try this first opportunity.
  • 0 in reply to TER
    Intellectual 555 points
    Hello, sorry it took me so long to get back to you I have been in transmit. I uploaded the RF Carrier wave example using , 50kpbs, 2-gsfk, 25khy at 915Mhz. I am see my signal at 915.063 MHz on my spectrum analyzer
  • 0 in reply to Jakerage
    TI__Guru**** 317180 points
    That is 68 ppm off the expected frequency which indicate that your Cload for the xtal is a bit low. See if you manage to tune it in to the correct frequency and see if you manage to connect then.
  • 0 in reply to TER
    Intellectual 555 points
    Yeah, sadly we are going to have to wait until Monday to continue. I am traveling for the holidays and I brought some hardware to test with this week, but it my over eagerness to test this week I uploaded the RFcarrierwave example and forgot to reenable the bootloader. So now I can't reupload code toy custom hardware. Sad times
  • 0 in reply to TER
    Intellectual 555 points

    Hello Again,

    Finally back in the office and have some equipment to work with. I changed the internal caps and moved the frequency over to about 915.009, honestly I am using an incredible cheap handheld spectrum analyzer so it is entirely possible that I am wasting both our time be cause i cant be sure of its accuracy. The RF carrier example appears to work at all of the default settings 50 kbps and up. I get no signal on custom board when using 625, 2.5, of 5 kbps

  • 0 in reply to Jakerage
    Intellectual 555 points
    If i start with 50kbps, 2-GFSK, 25 kHZ, IEEE 802.15.4g MR-FSK PHY mode I am able to change the settings down to 19.00024kBaud at 5kHz deviation and still see a signal, but any changes i make starting with the 5kps SimpleLink Long Range Mode has no signal on my antenna
  • 0 in reply to Jakerage
    TI__Guru**** 317180 points
    Could you confirm that you have a rev B of CC1310?
  • 0 in reply to TER
    Intellectual 555 points
    Would is say that on the chip?
  • 0 in reply to Jakerage
    Intellectual 555 points
    This chip I have says TI 6CI ARQ8 G4
  • 0 in reply to Jakerage
    TI__Guru**** 317180 points
    SmartRF Studio or Flash Programmer 2 will give you the version.
  • 0 in reply to TER
    Intellectual 555 points
    Flash Programmer 2 says chip revision unknown even after successful program
  • 0 in reply to Jakerage
    Intellectual 555 points
    my launch pad says rev 2.1
  • 0 in reply to Jakerage
    TI__Guru**** 317180 points
    OK, that is rev B hence it should not be a issue with settings. And you have managed to reduce the frequency offset delta to a minimum?
  • 0 in reply to Jakerage
    Intellectual 555 points
    Okay after a couple of connects and disconnects Flash Programmer 2 says rev for current chip is 2.1
  • 0 in reply to TER
    Intellectual 555 points
    Yes I believe I have, like i said earlier my spectrum analyzer is a cheap hand held and i barely see any difference in frequency even on the launchpad when i change the deltas
  • 0 in reply to Jakerage
    TI__Guru**** 317180 points
    "Okay after a couple of connects and disconnects Flash Programmer 2 says rev for current chip is 2.1": What does it say the first time you connect?
  • 0 in reply to Jakerage
    Intellectual 555 points

    What is the difference between these settings:
    #ifndef SET_CCFG_SIZE_AND_DIS_FLAGS_DIS_XOSC_OVR
    // #define SET_CCFG_SIZE_AND_DIS_FLAGS_DIS_XOSC_OVR 0x0 // Enable override
    #define SET_CCFG_SIZE_AND_DIS_FLAGS_DIS_XOSC_OVR 0x1 // Disable override

    #endif

    #ifndef SET_CCFG_MODE_CONF_1_DELTA_IBIAS_INIT
    #define SET_CCFG_MODE_CONF_1_DELTA_IBIAS_INIT 0x0 // Delta = 0

    #endif

    #ifndef SET_CCFG_MODE_CONF_1_DELTA_IBIAS_OFFSET
    #define SET_CCFG_MODE_CONF_1_DELTA_IBIAS_OFFSET 0x0 // Delta = 0

    #endif

    #ifndef SET_CCFG_MODE_CONF_1_XOSC_MAX_START
    #define SET_CCFG_MODE_CONF_1_XOSC_MAX_START 0x10 // 1600us

    #endif

    and these settings:

    #ifndef SET_CCFG_MODE_CONF_XOSC_CAP_MOD
    // #define SET_CCFG_MODE_CONF_XOSC_CAP_MOD 0x0 // Apply cap-array delta
    #define SET_CCFG_MODE_CONF_XOSC_CAP_MOD 0x1 // Don't apply cap-array delta

    #endif

    #ifndef SET_CCFG_MODE_CONF_XOSC_CAPARRAY_DELTA
    #define SET_CCFG_MODE_CONF_XOSC_CAPARRAY_DELTA 0xFF // Signed 8-bit value, directly modifying trimmed XOSC cap-array value

    #endif

    #ifndef SET_CCFG_EXT_LF_CLK_DIO
    #define SET_CCFG_EXT_LF_CLK_DIO 0x01 // DIO number if using external LF clock

    #endif

    #ifndef SET_CCFG_EXT_LF_CLK_RTC_INCREMENT
    #define SET_CCFG_EXT_LF_CLK_RTC_INCREMENT 0x800000 // RTC increment representing the external LF clock frequency

    #endif

  • 0 in reply to TER
    Intellectual 555 points
    Any more ideas? Or should I contact our FAE and try to arrange a time to come and visit yall in person?
  • 0 in reply to Jakerage
    TI__Genius 12415 points
    Hi,

    Just out of curiosity could you try running an older version of the TI 15.4 stack(www.ti.com/.../1.60.00.21 ) on your custom board to see if you see this same no TX issue there.

    The reason why I am asking is because I am seeing a similar problem as the one you are having when I use a Rev A chip with the latest TI 15.4 Stack but LRM mode works just fine with the older versions of the stack.
  • 0 in reply to Hector_r
    Intellectual 555 points

    Good news, I found the problem, our manufacturer was given permission to change passives in the circuit. It looks like on of the passives they changed was an inductor in the antenna cirucit. I believe that the SRF was way to low and it was causing some major problems in the TX. After swapping the part i am now seeing the TX even in LRM. That being said, it is still looking like there may be some deviation in our crystal, if possible i would really like to utilize some of TI's resources to try to get the crystal calibrated. would that be possible?

    Regards,

    Jake Umbrage

  • 0 in reply to Jakerage
    TI__Guru**** 317180 points
    That would depend on the potential volume for your project. If you can give me some more details about the project and I can look into it. Send me a friend request if you don't want this to be public on the forum.
  • 0 in reply to TER
    Intellectual 555 points
    Okay I will do that. I will mark this as resolved now. Thanks for your help, it was very helpful.
  • 0 in reply to Hector_r
    Intellectual 555 points
    Hey Hector,

    I just confirmed this, after i made the changes to the antenna circuit I tested in SDK 1.5 it worked fine. However when I moved up to 2.2 I am no longer able to use LRM.
  • 0 in reply to Jakerage
    TI__Genius 12415 points

    If this is the case then you are probably using Rev A chips in your custom board.

    To solve this issue in the latest SDK please look at my last post in this thread