panStamp NRG3. Technical details
- Introduction
- Specifications
- Pin mapping
- Components
- Memory Organization
- Info memory
- Programming methods
- Links
NRG3 is panStamp's most powerful wireless module. Based on the popular CC430F5137 SoC and the CC1190 RF amplifier, this module provides precise 12-bit analog inputs, digital ports, real-time clock, USB, on-board sensors and many other useful tools for the most challenging wireless IoT projects. NRG3 is also programmable from the Arduino IDE and fully software compatible with NRG1 and NRG2. Most of the critical aspects of the NRG board (radio, power management, RTC, ...) are covered by the panStamp core functions and only generic functions like UART, SPI, I2C and I/O management are delegated to Arduino in order to guarantee compatibility with other libraries and save power.
NRG3 includes a power amplifier capable to provide over 20 dBm of transmission power and a low noise amplifier featuring an improved (+6dB) reception sensitivity. This makes NRG3 the perfect board for any IoT project, outdoors and indoors.
NRG3 is also prepared to host a list of on-board sensors and a dual AA battery pack. As result, NRG3 can be used stand-alone in many battery-powered applications requiring transmission of IoT data.
Another nice feature of NRG3 is that it includes a couple of USB connectors. The first connector is used for USB communications (programming from the Arduino IDE and as a serial modem) whilst the second connector can be used simply to power the board from 5VDC whilst leaving the on-board UART for other purposes.
NRG3 has no CE or FCC certification. This board should then be used and deployed at your own risk and always according to your local regulations in terms of maximum transmission power.
- Dimensions: 1.30 x 2.55 in (33 x 65 mm)
- MCU: CC430F5137 (MSP430 core + CC11XX radio SOC)
- PA+LNA: CC1190
- Speed: Programmable speed between 8MHz and 24MHz
- Flash: 32KB
- RAM: 4KB
- Info memory: 512 bytes
- Six 12-bit ADC inputs
- Unique MAC address
- Voltage range: from 2VDC to 3.6VDC
- Rx current: 14 mA (high gain mode disabled) / 18 mA (high gain mode enabled)
- Tx current: 36 mA max (high gain mode disabled) / 300 mA (high gain mode enabled)
- Sleep current: 2.5 uA (powered from BAT pin)
- Maximum Tx power: over +20 dBm
- RF bands: 433/868/915/918 MHz ISM bands
- Communication distance: Over 1Km at 4800 bps with high gain mode disabled and over 5Km with HGM enabled (Under good LoS conditions)
- 128-bit AES Hardware Security Encryption
- Support for FHSS (Frequency-Hopping Spread Spectrum)
- On-board USB communication
- On-board 3.3V LDO
- On-board LED's
- Programmable via SBW, serial BSL and wirelessly (SWAP)
- On-board sockets for multiple sensors
- 2xAA battery holder can be mounted on the back of the board. Recommended part: Keystone's 2xAA holder
One of the great things about the CC430 processor is that digital functions (green lines) can be moved to any P1 or P2 pin. Green text shows the default position of these functions.
Digital pins 16 to 23 (port 3) can not be interrupted by pin level changes during sleep mode. The rest of pins can be used with attachInterrupt and can wake-up the module from deep sleep mode. Also, if you use any kind of external interruption (like the counter of a sensor), you have to use a different pin. In fact, if you use a pin of the previous mentioned, the interruption will not work properly after sleep.
All GND pins are internally connected to ground (0 V).
- CC430F5137 SoC
- CC1190 Power amplifier (Tx) and low noise amplifier (Rx)
- Optional SAW filter
- User LED
- Optional 74LVC1G126 logic level sifter
- Optional MCP1640B switchable (on/off) step-up voltage regulator to power external sensors (ex: external 5V probe)
- Optional VL53L1X optical range meter
- Reset button
- Communication and power MicroUSB port
- USB LED's
- Power only MicroUSB connector
- 3.3VDC LDO
- Optional TSL2561 digital light sensor
- SI7021 Temperature + humidity sensor
- BME680 Temperature + humidity + barometric pressure + VOC sensor
- FTDI USB interface
- Step-up regulator enabling jumper
- Step-up regulator 3.3V/5.0VDC option
- Reset panStamp from XBEE enabling jumper
- Footprint for SMA connector
The following table shows how the memory of the CC430F5137 MCU is distributed:
Another interesting point about the MSP430 architecture is that Flash and RAM share a common addressing schema so that we can access address locations in the same way, regardless of the nature of the memory. This is really appreciated for example when a given constant variable needs to be permanently located in flash since this variable will never be copied into RAM by the stack.
CC430 processors do not include EEPROM space. Instead, they provide a special region in Flash to store configurations. This region is called info memory and is 512 bytes long in the CC430F5137 MCU. The panStamp library provides the necessary functions to use this info space as any other EEPROM-based region.