RF-Link Technology NL6000 manual

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RF Neulink NL6000 User Guide 2 Copyright Co py right © 2003 by RF Neulink. This manual may be reproduced for distribution with the NL 6000 as long as the manual remains i ntact, in its entirety , with all appropriat e Co py right, Intellectual p roperty, and Trademark not ices. This product contains intellectual p roper ty and copyrighted material[...]

RF Neulink NL6000 User Guide 3 T A BLE OF CON T EN TS 1. Product Overview ... ............................................ ........................ ................................ 6 1.1. Features ....................................... ....................... ....................................... ........ 7 2. Regulatory Inform ation ...........[...]

RF Neulink NL6000 User Guide 4 6.3. Serial Co nnection Setup  ... ... ............................................................................ 31 Setting the Baud Rate........... ........................... ............................................ ....... 31 Setting the Data Bits  ....................... ...........................[...]

RF Neulink NL6000 User Guide 5 Appen dix A  Diagnosi ng and C orrecting Perform ance Problems  .. ............................ ...... 45 Setting the Power Value... ............................ ........................................................ ........ 45 Setting the Frequency Trim (includes setting Power)  ..........................[...]

RF Neulink NL6000 User Guide 6 1. Product Overview The RF Neulink NL 6000 is an i nteg rated radio modem that provides reli able bi- d i rectional RS-232 data t rans missions on a land mobile radio channel. Configurabl e RS-232, radio, and packet data param eters p rovi de the NL 6000 with the flexibility necess a ry for use in both simple and comp[...]

RF Neulink NL6000 User Guide 7 The NL6 000  s po werful and eff ici ent pack e t com mu nications protocol provides a sol ut ion to many of the p robl ems affecting conventi onal wireless data netw orks . Burs ts of no i se, RF interference, inter-mod ul at i on, overload, and si gnal fade can corr upt and interrupt radio data links. The NL 6000[...]

RF Neulink NL6000 User Guide 8 Single a nd Multi- Point Addressing An NL 6000 can be confi gured to t rans mit to a single unit, a group of units, or to broadcast to all units within range. Acknowledgem ent The NL6000 can be confi g ured to request an a ck nowledgement (ACK) from the destinatio n modem with each t ransm ission. If it does not recei[...]

RF Neulink NL6000 User Guide 9 2. Regulatory Information Notice It is the responsi bility of the user of this equ ip ment to obtain the proper F CC license to operate this p roduct on the desired chan nel of operation. FCC Part 15 This p roduct complies with Part 15 of the F CC rules and regul at i ons (Code of Federal Regulations 4 7CFR Part 15). [...]

RF Neulink NL6000 User Guide 10 3. Specifications GENER AL SPEC IF ICAT IONS D im ensions 3.0 in L x 2.6 in W x 1.6 in H DC voltage input Nomi nal 10-15 VDC Oper a ting temperature -30° C to +60° C Num be r of Channels 64 Number of ID codes 65,525 Ov e r-the- air (Tx) data rate 12,000 bps or 22,050 bps Seria l port baud rates 1200 bps, 2400 bps, [...]

RF Neulink NL6000 User Guide 11 UHF RADIO SPECIFICATIONS Model Num bers NL6000 Transmission freque ncies 450-470 MHz & 400-420 MHz Current Drain at 12 V: IDLE radio channel 0.2 amps Receive 0.2 amps Transmit: 0.5 watts 1.0 amps Transmit: 1.0 watts 1.2 amps Transmit: 2.0 watts 1.6 amps Transmit: 3.0 watts 1.9 amps Transmit: 4.0 watts 2.2 amps Tr[...]

RF Neulink NL6000 User Guide 12 VHF RADIO SPECIFICATIONS Model Num bers NL600 0-VHF (148-174 MHz) NL600 0-V H F1 (13 6-162 MHz) Transmission freque ncies 136-162 MHz, 148-174 MHz Current Drain at 12 V: IDLE radio channel 0.2 amps Receive 0.2 amps Transmit: 0.5 watts 1.0 amps Transmit: 1.0 watts 1.3 amps Transmit: 2.0 watts 1.7 amps Transmit: 3.0 wa[...]

RF Neulink NL6000 User Guide 13 4. Hardware Inst allation and Operation 4.1. Parts Description Figure 3: Parts Description of the NL6000 Part # Description (1) Antenna Connector (2) USB Port (used by factory) (3) Tx/Rx LED (4) Power Connector (5) Pwr/USB L ED (6) Serial Port (DB9 Conn ector ) 4.2. Po we r Connections Connect a 12 VDC power supply t[...]

RF Neulink NL6000 User Guide 14 The NL6000 is a Data Comm u nications Equ ipme nt (DCE) device. Other equipment that can connect to the NL6000 via the s erial port fall into one of the following categories: DTE Data Terminal Equipme nt (c omputers, mai n frames , terminals) DCE Data Com mu nications Equipm ent (modems, printers, other peripher a l [...]

RF Neulink NL6000 User Guide 15 Connect a DCE device to the DB9 connector with a  null modem  cabl e wired as shown in F igure 6. Figure 6: DTE to DTE Connection 4.4. A nt enna Connection You must connect a suitable antenna to the RF antenna connection. This antenna is used for both transmitting and receiving over-the-air mess age s. Caution:[...]

RF Neulink NL6000 User Guide 16 The NL6000 comes factory- confi gured for the broadc ast mode of operation and tuned and tested on the default f requency of 464.550 MHz (UHF) , 154.6000 MHz (VHF) and 221.5 MHz for the 216-235 MHz band. The NL6000 operates automatic a lly after you properly i nstall the physic a l units and configure the software pa[...]

RF Neulink NL6000 User Guide 17 If a reliable path does not exis t between a remote unit and a bas e station, you can confi gure one or more NL6000 units as a repeater to reach the hidden unit. The repeater can work with both sim ple x and half duplex networks. See Section 5.5 for additional det ail on the uniqu e behavior of a repeater uni t. You [...]

RF Neulink NL6000 User Guide 18 Figure 8 shows the use of a wildcard (12 FF) to transmit data to multiple units within range of Unit #1 that have a MY ID start ing with  12  Figure 8: Addressing with Wildcards Figure 9 shows the use of a w ildc ard (FFFF) to broadcast data to all units within range of Unit #1. Figure 9: Using Wildcards to Bro[...]

RF Neulink NL6000 User Guide 19 Consider the following example of a repeater (MY ID30 00) configured to repeat pack et s transmitted from a base statio n (MY I D2000) to a hidden remote (M YID420 3). Unit MY I D3000 is configured with a repeater entry that has a Trigger = TOID and ID = 4203. This entry tells unit MYID3 00 0 to listen for pa ck ets [...]

RF Neulink NL6000 User Guide 20 Figure 12: Repeat to Multiple Remotes using Wildcard L ikewis e, it is possi b le to s e t up a single repeater entry that will repeat pack e ts rec eived from any member of a group of h idden remotes. In Fi gur e 13, a repeater entry with a Tr i gger = MY ID and ID = 42FF repeats any pack e t received from the group[...]

RF Neulink NL6000 User Guide 21 In F igure 14, the repeater unit lis tens on F A for t ransm is sions from both the base station and the rem ote. The example shows a half-duplex chan nel between the repeater and base station (F A and F B ) and a simplex channel between the repeater and remote (F A only ). If the network plan requires more than one [...]

RF Neulink NL6000 User Guide 22 • Mobile Data mode Table 2 summarizes the cha racteristics of each transmission mode Basic Telemetry Mode Enha nced Teleme try Mode Mo bile Da ta Mode Spectral Pre-coding Yes Yes Yes Random ization Yes Yes Yes CRC Yes Yes Yes FEC No Yes Yes Interleaving No No Yes Table 2: Trans mi ss ion Mode C haracteristi c s To [...]

RF Neulink NL6000 User Guide 23 it contains the least amount of over head and the highest pe rc entage of user data in each pack et . Basic Telemet ry mode provides the highest throughput on a clean chan nel. However, if there is a transmission error, you will lose the entire packet. Therefore, when using Basic Te l emetry mode, use a sm aller Max [...]

RF Neulink NL6000 User Guide 24 Best Choice: Mobile Data Mode Because you expect a corrupt chan nel, use the mode that has the greatest amount of error control. Mobile Data mo de includes three types of error control, Reed-So lom on forward e rror corr ection, error detection, and a b l ock inter l eav er. This mode provi des for maximum transmis s[...]

RF Neulink NL6000 User Guide 25 5. 6. 5. Carr ier Sense Mul tiple A ccess If a uni t  s transmit and receive freque ncies are the same, it may be he lpful to enable Carrier Sense Multiple Access (CS M A). This option does not allow transmission of a pa ck et until the channel is free of conte ntion. 5.7. Serial Connection to an I /O Dev ice 5. 7[...]

RF Neulink NL6000 User Guide 26 a prog ram mi ng state. If the mode is set to DCD 23 2, certai n I/O devices can  wake up  when the DCD signal is asserted and turn off when the signal is negated. 5. 7. 4. Pre- and Po st-Data DCD Time Two ad dit i onal parameters, Pre-Data DCD Time and Pos t-Data DCD Tim e, must be set when using the DCD 232 o[...]

RF Neulink NL6000 User Guide 27 6. Procedures This section includes step-by -s tep p roc edures for configuring all the parameters that control the operation of the NL6000. The procedures a r e grouped into the following categories: • Gener a l Procedures • Radio Network Setup • Serial Co nnection Setup • Data Setup • Repeater Setup • F[...]

RF Neulink NL6000 User Guide 28 6.1. General Procedures Entering Progra mming Mode Perform this procedure when you need to reset any of the existing configuration parameters for the NL6000. N ot e: If the Programming Mode is Disabled , you must perform this p roc edure within five secon ds of po wering on the unit. 1. Open HyperTerminal or Procomm [...]

RF Neulink NL6000 User Guide 29 Returning to the Previous Menu Press the ESC key at any time to return to the previ ous menu. The changes you made up to that point are saved until you leave the Main Menu using Exit , Continue , or Restart . Displaying the Conf igu ration Summ ary Win dow Select 1 - Summary from the Main Menu . The summary w indow a[...]

RF Neulink NL6000 User Guide 30 6.2. Radio Network Setup Setting the Unit Type 1. Select Net wor k ä Unit Type . 2. Select from the following options: 1-Base Co nfigure as a base station. This unit ty pe receives the TO ID from the data packet received th ro ugh the serial port. 2-Rem ot e Co nfigure as a remote. This unit type receives the TOID f[...]

RF Neulink NL6000 User Guide 31 6.3 Serial Connection Setup Setting the Baud Rate 1. Select Serial ä Baud Rate . 2. Select a baud rate for the connection between the modem and I/O device. The options range from 1200 to 38400. Setting the Data Bits 1. Select Serial Data Bits . 2. Select the number of data bi ts per byte sent from the I/O devic e . [...]

RF Neulink NL6000 User Guide 32 3-DCD 232 In this mode, certain I/O devic es can wake up when the DCD signal is ass e rted and turn off when the signal is negated. If you select this option, the DCD 232 menu appears for you to set the Pre-Data DCD Time and Post- Data DCD Time . Setting the Pre-Data DCD Time 1. Select Serial DCD Mo de ä Pre-Data DC[...]

RF Neulink NL6000 User Guide 33 Refer to Section 5.6.1 for more inform at ion about each pack et mode Setting the Data Rate 1. Select Net wor k ä Data Rate . 2. Select the data rate you want to use depending upon the bandwidth you occupy and your licenses. The available options are 12,000 bps and 22,050 bps. Setting the Request ACKs Option 1. Sele[...]

RF Neulink NL6000 User Guide 34 6.5. Repeat e r Setup Each NL6000 unit may have up to eight repeater entries. Each repe ater entry includes a trigger , tr i gger ID, transmit channel, and transmit de l ay value. If a unit does not act as a repeat e r, do not set up any repe ater entries. For more inform ation about setting up a repeater unit, refer[...]

RF Neulink NL6000 User Guide 35 Setting the Repeate r Trigger ID 1. Select Net wor k ä Repeater ä ID . 2. Enter the value of the tr i gger ID as follows: • If the Trigger is MYID , type the MYID value of the destination remote unit. The value must be a hexadecimal value between 0001 and FFFE. • If the Trigger is TOID , ty pe the TOID value of[...]

RF Neulink NL6000 User Guide 36 in i tiate the download at this tim e, p res s ESC . There is a delay while the system e ras es the flash to prepare for the download. 4. When the system p rom pts you to send the DSP build, i n i tiate the download from the termi nal emulator. • If you use Procomm, use the Send ASCII Text opti o n. • If you use [...]

RF Neulink NL6000 User Guide 37 to restore parameters at this t im e, press ESC . When you p res s Y , the system erases the current parameter file in flash memory. 4. When the system p rom pts you to send the param eter file, i n i tiate the restore using the terminal em u l ator. • If you use Procomm, use the Send ASCII Text opti o n. • If yo[...]

RF Neulink NL6000 User Guide 38 7. Menu Quick Reference 7 .1. Ma in Menu 7.2. Summary Wind o w[...]

RF Neulink NL6000 User Guide 39 7.3. Serial Menu 7.4. DCD RS-232 S ubMenu[...]

RF Neulink NL6000 User Guide 40 7.5. Network Menu 7.6. Repeat e r SubMe nu[...]

RF Neulink NL6000 User Guide 41 7.7. Radio Menu 7.8. Diagnostics Menu[...]

RF Neulink NL6000 User Guide 42 7.9. Save/Restore Parameters Menu[...]

RF Neulink NL6000 User Guide 43 8. Other Considerations 8.1. Duty Cy cle When the NL6000 transmits data, it g ener ates heat and the case gets wa rm . If the N L60 00 is forced to transmit la rge amo unts of data without a cooling-off period, damage due to excessi ve temperature can result. There are two consi derat ions : first, limit data transmi[...]

RF Neulink NL6000 User Guide 44 8. 2. 4. Use a Full y-Wired RS-232 Cab le Some RS-232 cables, especially those hand-m ade, may not have all of the flow contr ol w ires conn ected. If your app lication supp orts hardwar e flow cont rol (RTS/CTS), then ensure that the cable con necting the NL6000 to the host device has all of the wires connected. Ref[...]

RF Neulink NL6000 User Guide 45 Appendix A – Diagnosing and Correcting Performance Problems Factory technicians use the p roc edures in this section for i nitial modem alignme nt. After i nstallation, a qualified electronic technician can use these procedures to d i agnose and correc t perfo rm ance problems. Only an electronic technician with tr[...]

RF Neulink NL6000 User Guide 46 • Enter the act i ve channel assi gnment for the radio. The value must be a number in the ra nge 01  64. • Press ESC to return to the Main Menu . 4. Select D iagnost ics ä Transmit Continuous Rand om Data . 5. Set the power value as follows: • Select Power from the D iagnostics menu. • While watching the [...]

RF Neulink NL6000 User Guide 47 8. Set the deviation value as follows: • Select Deviation from the Diag nosti cs menu. • While watching the devi ation g auge on the I FR, enter 1-Increase Deviation 0.25 dB or 2-Decrease Deviation 0.25 dB until the deviation gauge measures 2.5 kHz for a low data rate or 4 kHz for a high data ra te. • Press Ctr[...]

RF Neulink NL6000 User Guide 48 • Press ESC twice to return to the Main Menu . • Select Exit to save the Receive Diagnostic Mode setting and enter operating mode. Appendix B - Factory Default Parameters The following chart lists the default values s et for each pa ram eter at the factory. Use the last co lumn to record any custom values you nee[...]

RF Neulink NL6000 User Guide 49 Index A a ck nowledg em ents, 26 Active Channel, 32 addres sing, source and destination, 18 antenna connection, 15 B Ba l ance, 48 base station unique requirements, 18 C carrier sense multiple access. See CSMA configuration prepar a tion, 17 prerequisites, 17 procedures, 29 Contenti on, 35 Co ntinue, 30 CSMA, 26 D Da[...]

RF Neulink NL6000 User Guide 50 Power value, 47 Pre-Data DCD Time, 34 procedures, 29 Program Mode, 30 R Radio Menu, 43 Receive Frequency for Act iv e Channel, 32 Receive Gain, 49 regulatory inform at i on, 9 Repeater Submenu, 42 repeater units behavi o r, 19 frequenc y planning, 21 setup, 36 Request ACKs, 35 Restart, 30 Restore Default Parameters, [...]