SmartRF Studio 7 beta 0.9.1
SmartRF Studio is a PC tool that can be used to evaluate and configure the Low Power RF Devices from Texas Instruments. SmartRF Studio communicates with the RF device via an Evaluation Board.
SmartRF Studio 7 is a complete redesign of existing SmartRF Studio. However, experienced users of SmartRF Studio will easily recognize the user interface. One of the main targets with version 7 was to make the user interface easier to use but without loosing any functionality.
The user interface has been divided in two user modes:
1) Easy Mode:
A simple interface with a minimum of features. This is a "one button" solution where the user can start a packet test with a simple click on a button. Exporting register settings is just as easy. More advanced options can be made available by showing additional panels if required.
2) Expert Mode:
An Advanced user interface with all the recommended RF settings available and the possibility to tune all the RF parameters.
The different panels with display of register values in the old version of SmartRF Studio have all been replaced with one Register View. All register information is available from the Register View. The register values can be updated from the Register View and the values will be synchronized with the register values on the connected RF device. The Register View can be used in both user modes mentioned above.
Color highlighting is used in the Register View to show changed register values and to indicate the reason for change. E.g. if the user changes one of the RF parameters, the changed registers will be highlighted with a green color. If the register value has been changed by the RF Device, the changed register will be highlighted with a red color. See the user guide for more details.
The register values can be exported and imported. The code export is available from the Register View and is slightly enhanced compared to previous version. The user can now select which registers to export.
The implementation of the Graphical User Interface and the device specific functionality has been divided in a front end module and a back end module. This makes it easier to reuse the device functionality by other applications. One example is the script module that is delivered together with SmartRF Studio 7. This is a module that provides an API for Perl scripting. With this module it is possible to write Perl scripts that communicate with the RF Device over the same physical connection as SmartRF Studio. This can be very useful for production testing.
There are several other changes as well, but the best way to find out is to simply install the beta version and give it a try. The Beta version can be installed in parallel to the official version of SmartRF Studio. Any feedback on the Beta version is highly appreciated and will be taken into consideration for the final release. If not in time for the first release of SmartRF Studio 7, it will be considered for any future enhancements. Send an email to
smartrfstudio7beta@list.ti.com, or simply post your comments here!
Download:
SmartRF Studio can be downloaded from the following web page:
http://ti.com/smartrfstudio
Screen shot from the startup window:
The supported Evaluation Boards and Low Power RF devices in this version:
Evaluation Boards:
SmartRF04EB, SmartRF05EB and CC Debugger.
RF devices:
Sub 1 GHz ISM band: CC1100, CC1100E, CC1101, CC1110, CC1111, CC1150
2.4 GHz: CC2530, CC2531, CC2430, CC2431, CC2520, CC2500, CC2510, CC2511, CC2550