AS3993 Radon Demo Reader
Contents
1. Application Note Radon Demo Reader HW Description pronn 2 ps3995 Radon AS3993 Radon Demo Reader Hardware Description www ams com Revision 1 2 21 02 2014 page 1 13 Radon Demo Reader Hardware Description Table of Contents 1 General Description iui d er ete cede en cta a o ised Lus aAa dunk d du wie ade 3 1 1 Me PLE NOOO le ctoviesnecestzed catetesdeaneedieeadte cagucuttied extetend ocabelidantiveresetiened cette NS 4 2 Getting Started imoissa niaga eaaa A 4 3 Hardware Description iuueni oto deoc ae 5 3 1 piece ii AA a AA AAA ad Ad ADA di 5 3 2 AS AAA A nested cevices div wosubed ad caheuus cadelien diet sever casuced duced sean atudes 6 3 3 MIG T 3 3 1 AAA E 8 3 4 FW Progra miming ect 8 3 5 B dM T m 9 3 6 Measurement amp Test Points eese eseeee nensem nennen nnns nnne 9 3 6 1 Bes m M 9 3 6 2 Signal Test POMS aeres date od E 10 3621 OAD S DADO sois Maiigaeetenntediatese Ta E E E 10 3 6 3 SPI Interface Signals odere ect t ettet dera 10 3 6 4 FRE ST melts EE 11 3 6 5 Antenna Connections siii ta 12 4 Software Description oaa arasan nennt nnns aa aaa Ea assa naar nnns 12 Copying Ntr a a idea deeside Gta AE ne A A A 13 Be e E A EE A E T E E A E E 13 Figure 1 Connecting the Radon Reader ue2. output impedance of 100 Ohms The default output level of the Radon reader is approx 6 dBm which is controlled by register 0x15 of AS3993 The output stage is supplied via VDD B pin 12 39 nH inductors block the RF signal from reaching VDD B while two blocking capacitors block the DC voltage towards the Balun The Balun has a balanced impedance of 100 ohms and an unbalanced impedance of 50 ohms The insertion loss of the Balun is 1dB To limit the input power for the external pre amplifier a discrete resistive attenuator is placed after the Balun The attenuator has an attenuation of 7dB and an input output impedance of 49 ohms The pre amplifier SGC2363Z increases the RF power to approx 1 8 dBm The pre amplifier has a dedicated regulated voltage AS1362 supply of 3 3V www ams com Revision 1 2 21 02 2014 page 5 13 Radon Demo Reader a nm Hardware Description The RF power is further amplified by an external PA RF6886 to 1W depending on the output frequency Radon outputs at 915 MHz per default 30 dBm For ETSI frequencies the output power is 25 dBm The amplifier stages of the PA are supplied by 3 6V from a dedicated LDO LT1764 which provides enough current for the PA stage The bias voltages for the two stages are connected to VDD PA pin 13 of AS3993 which is set to 3V register OxOB After the PA stage two filters are placed which attenuate higher frequency harmonics and spurious frequencies generated by the amplifier s
3. through the UART interface the TX and RX lines should be connected to J5 It is recommended to use a FTDI USB TTL Serial Cable TTL 232R 3V3 J5 PINZ Pin Name MCU Pin Note 1 UART_TX 4 Connect with RXD yellow square of TTL 232R 3V3 2 UART RX 5 Connect with TXD orange of TTL 232R 3V3 3 GND DIG GND Figure 6 UART Interface Pinout The UART connection settings are e Baud Rate 115 2 kbps e Data bits 8 e Parity None e Stop Bits 1 e Handshaking none 3 6 Measurement Test Points The Radon has numerous measurement points built in which allows checking various important voltages analog and digital signal lines 3 6 1 DC Voltages Important voltages can be measured at the following test points Please note that the voltages VAPC and VMIX are valid only during scanning for tags Testpoint Pin Description m J1 1 VUSB 5V from USB J1 2 5V from DC jack J17 1 VPA i J17 2 GND J11 J11 1 VEXT www ams com Revision 1 2 21 02 2014 page 9 13 Radon Demo Reader Hardware Description J11 2 GND 20 1 VAP ue ne AA J19 1 VLNA is J19 2 GND TET VMIX e m GND Figure 7 DC Testpoint Connector Pinout 3 6 2 Signal Test Points Testpoint Pin Description J21 1 OAD xcd J21 2 GND J22 1 OAD2 met J22 2 GND J16 1 SW_ANT J16 J16 2 GND J12 2 GND Figure 8 Signal Testpoint Pinout 3 6 2 1 OAD amp OAD2 The OAD and OAD2 signals are very useful for debugging purposes or subsequent signal process
4. Read Count 137 gt Tag Information gt Input Power 4 E gt ab 53 89 02 Read Count 4 Tag Information Input Power 54 dB 4 E 02 43 40 21 03 21 00 1a e8 53 fa 1b 45 33 43 4e 53 30 81 75 33 73 43 03 24 31 03 32 31 00 Read Count 1 Tag Information Input Power A Scan Control StartScan for 120 seconds E 120s BM Handle Actions Clear Tags f Clear Reader List d Figure 2 AS3993 Reader Suite Main Window 3 Hardware Description This section describes in detail the circuitry of the Radon reader and outlines important measurement points as well as easy modification options 3 1 RF Circuit The RF signal is generated by the integrated PLL VCO circuit inside AS3993 The reference frequency is provided by an external 20 MHz TCXO with a clipped sine wave output wave form and an amplitude of 0 8Vpp The TCXO is supplied by a regulated 3 3V voltage generated by an ultra low noise LDO AS1362 The output of the TCXO is connected to OSCO pin 30 of AS3993 via a 1 nF capacitor The output of the internal PLL charge pump is connected to LF CEXT pin 45 at which the external part of the loop filter is closely placed An additional low pass filter stage is integrated in AS3993 and is part of the loop filter circuit The loop filter output is the control voltage of the internal VCO The RF signal is output at the differential low power outputs pin 23 24 which have a differential
5. belbader Strasse 30 8141 Unterpremstaetten Austria T 43 0 3136 500 0 For Sales Offices Distributors and Representatives please visit http www ams com contact www ams com Revision 1 2 21 02 2014 page 13 13
6. citors used in the tuning circuits via the SPI The MCU is also controlling the 6 LEDs on the Radon e D10 Tag Read RA4 pin 34 Flashes upon a tag read e D9 RF ON RP4 pin 33 Illuminated if the RF power is switched ON e D8 Untuned RAS pin 32 Indicates that the reflected power is too high and tuning the reader systems is recommended e D13 MCU RP6 pin 20 MCU is idle During scanning for tags the LED remains in its current state bright or dark e D7 Antenna 1 RAS pin 35 Illuminated if the RF power is switched to the Antenna Port 1 J14 e D11 Antenna 2 RP22 pin 2 Illuminated if the RF power is switched to the Antenna Port 2 J7 During the reader start up a self check is performed In case an error occurs the LEDs D13 D8 and D9 binary encode the source of the error by being permanently active Error Active Code LED Description 1 MCU SPI Error on MISO MOSI CLK or NCS 2 Untuned EN line failed 3 MUC IRQ line failed Untuned 4 RF ON Crystal not stable 5 MCU PLL not locked RF ON Figure 3 LED Error Codes The Button accessible on the outside of the housing allows resetting the controller In case the USB is connected before the external DC supply the controller immediately starts with self check But at this point the AS3993 is not yet supplied An error message is display in the GUI www ams com Revision 1 2 21 02 2014 page 7 13 Radon Demo Reader a nm Hardware Descrip
7. d ranges The Radon is operated through a graphical user interface GUI running on a host computer which implements tag inventory and tag access routines It also facilitates full access to the AS3993 IC registers allowing the user to configure and optimize the reader for various use cases and is used for updating the firmware of the Radon reader The host computer communicates with the Radon reader via USB interface The Radon is powered by an external 5V DC supply as well as by the USB interface The USB interface supplies the MCU and all digital tunable capacitors Therefore it is possible to program the MCU without connecting the external 5V DC Supply The external 5V DC powers the AS3993 the pre amplifier the power amplifier and the LNA The AS3993 IC is controlled via the SPI interface by a PIC24 MCU which can be disconnected in order to allow other MCU types to control the AS3993 The RF signal is generated by a PLL VCO circuitry integrated in the AS3993 IC As a frequency reference a 20 MHz TCXO is used The RF signal is output at the differential low power outputs RFONX and RFOPX After the Balun 2 1 the RF signal is attenuated by a resistive discrete attenuator in order to limit the input power for the external pre amplifier to follow After the pre amplifier stage the RF signal is amplified by a power amplifier and filtered by a ceramic low pass filter and a ceramic high pass filter in order to limit harmonics and spurious frequencie
8. e a LNA is placed which can increase the sensitivity of the reader in case the tag responses have a low signal level and the reflected power is optimized by the System tuner The LNA circuitry is bypassed per default but can be included by re soldering C97 and C99 3 2 Power Supply The Radon reader is externally powered by a 5V DC source The inner contact of the connector is positive From this voltage all other voltages for the analog part are generated through LDOs The MCU is supplied by a regulated voltage AS1364 derived from the USB interface which allows to programming the MCU without the DC power supply The pre amplifier and the AS3993 are supplied by a fixed output voltage 3 3V version of AS1362 The LDO output voltage for the PA is adjustable and is set to 3 6V R43 6 49 VPA 1 21V 1 x 3 107 6 49 x 10 3 6V www ams com Revision 1 2 21 02 2014 page 6 13 Radon Demo Reader a m Hardware Description i 3 3 MCU The MCU used for the Radon is a PIC24FJ64GB004 type in a 44 pin TQFP package The communication between the MCU and the host computer is done via the USB interface A UART firmware version is also available The UART interface needs to be connected to J5 The square pin indicated pin 1 of J5 and is connected to the TX pin of the controller Pin 2 corresponds to RX and pin 3 is connected to digital GND The MCU is clocked by a 12 MHz crystal The MCU controls the AS3993 IC and the digital tunable capa
9. egarding the information set forth herein or regarding the freedom of the described devices from patent infringement ams AG reserves the right to change specifications and prices at any time and without notice Therefore prior to designing this product into a system it is necessary to check with ams AG for current information This product is intended for use in normal commercial applications Applications requiring extended temperature range unusual environmental requirements or high reliability applications such as military medical life support or lifesustaining equipment are specifically not recommended without additional processing by ams AG for each application For shipments of less than 100 parts the manufacturing flow might show deviations from the standard production flow such as test flow or test location The information furnished here by ams AG is believed to be correct and accurate However ams AG shall not be liable to recipient or any third party for any damages including but not limited to personal injury property damage loss of profits loss of use interruption of business or indirect special incidental or consequential damages of any kind in connection with or arising out of the furnishing performance or use of the technical data herein No obligation or liability to recipient or any third party shall arise or flow out of ams AG rendering of technical or other services Contact Information Headquarters ams AG To
10. i ita tac s ok 4 Figure 2 AS3993 Reader Suite Main Window ssssssssssssssseseseeee entente 5 Figure 3 LED Error COGOS ia oreet er dad eed ah dl cda un cdd gc ade ERR u de daa mao uu 7 Figure 4 Connecting the ICDS3 Programmer eres tne tb di re terrae eth un tea datada 8 Fig re 5 Debug Interface PinOUt iaa temet de ere estere eese eere ia 8 Figure 6 UART Interface PIDOUE aceite la cec e EE urn 9 Figure 7 DG Testpoint Connector PinoOUt 2 tacere tend is 10 Figure 8 Signal Testpoint PIMOUt i oiii em tte tace n Leine dates cea Pe cba ad eec ra ie Ra a dure Ea Russ 10 Figure 9 Locating the SPI Interface Connector ceecceceeeeeeeeeceeneeeeeeeeceaeeeeaaeseeneeseaeeesaaeeeeaaeesnees 10 Figure 10 SPI Interface Connector PINOUt iii 11 Figure 11 RF Testpoint Adapter not included in the demo kit seeeeeeee 11 Figure 12 RF Test Point DescrIpllOn siria t fr e devas teed tete ol rete due sd 12 Figure 13 SMB Plug Female ittm iita n reed dite ba da arden 12 www ams com Revision 1 2 21 02 2014 page 2 13 Radon Demo Reader a nm Hardware Description Revision History COC Dec 2013 Initial Document 11 41 Feb 2014 bhi Corrections 1 2 Feb 2014 bhi Corrections and Information added 1 General Description The Radon is an EPC Class 1 Gen 2 UHF RFID reader system with the purpose of demonstrating the AS3993 IC in a high power reader application for long rea
11. ing Through register settings 0x10 it is possible to output e Analog or digitized Q subcarrier signals e TX modulation and selected subcarrier Observe reader commands and tag responses e Analog Mixer DC output to determine the self jamming level 3 6 3 SPI Interface Signals On J10 J26 and J27 AS3993 signal lines and the SPI signals can be monitored Figure 9 Locating the SPI Interface Connector www ams com Revision 1 2 21 02 2014 page 10 13 Radon Demo Reader Hardware Description Pin Description J10 1 square SPI CLK J10 2 GND DIG J10 3 GND DIG J10 4 GND DIG J10 5 GND DIG J26 1 AS3993 EN J26 2 AS3993 IRQ J26 3 SPI NCS J26 4 SPI MISO J26 5 SPI MOSI nar SPI_SEN Enable Antenna DTC 2 square J27 2 SPI_SEN Enable Antenna DTC 1 J27 3 SPI_SEN Enable System DTC 1 J27 4 SPI_SEN Enable System DTC 2 J27 5 SPI_SEN Enable System DTC 3 Figure 10 SPI Interface Connector Pinout If it is required to control the Radon through an external MCU it is possible to unsolder the resistors R10 R18 which disconnects the existing PIC24 MCU This is sometimes beneficial and saves time as the firmware development can start early R10 R18 are located on the backside of the Radon PCB 3 6 4 RF Test Points The Radon reader allows measuring the RF power at various points The RF tracks can be contacted through subminiature coax sockets with a built in switch It is recommended to use matching c
12. onnection adapters which are available from Hirose For example a SMA conversion adapter MS 156 HRMJ 2 E gt gt Figure 11 RF Testpoint Adapter not included in the demo kit If the adapter is connected to the coax socket the RF track on the PCB is disconnected Please note that the coax sockets have limited plug unplug cycles of 500 times Pin Description P6 Single ended AS3993 output power after the external attenuator P5 Pre amplifier output power www ams com Revision 1 2 21 02 2014 page 11 13 Radon Demo Reader Hardware Description P8 PA output power P11 Impedance of system tuning circuit RF power at the receiver single P3 ended for measuring the tag responses and self jammer level P4 LNA output Figure 12 RF Test Point Description 3 6 5 Antenna Connections Radon reader has two antenna connection ports while the antenna ports slightly differ For Antenna Port 1 an antenna tuning circuit is available which allows tuning the connected antenna independently from the tuning of the system tuner The draw back of this antenna port is the additional insertion loss introduced by the antenna tuning circuit Antenna Port 2 does not have an antenna tuning circuit The antenna socket is of SMB type Note Some SMB cables when plugged in for the first time might be slightly difficult to mate with the connector on the Radon board Place the SMB plug absolutely straight above the jack and try to connect wi
13. s introduced by the various gain stages To isolate the TX signal from the differential mixer input of the AS3993 IC a directional 10 dB coupler is used At the input coupled port of the directional coupler a tuning circuitry is placed which allows controlled impedance adjustments in order to suppress TX leakage reaching the AS3993 receiver At the direct output of the directional coupler a RF switch is placed which allows routing the RF signal to one of the two antenna ports For antenna port 1 only an additional tuning circuit is placed which allows adaptive impedance matching in case the antenna properties S11 are poor for a given frequency The incoming RX signal is coupled to the differential RX mixer input of AS3993 via a 2 1 balun The optional LNA stage on the receive side is bypassed per default but is otherwise fully operational and can be connect through a solder change The Radon reader PCB is placed inside an enclosure with a metallic base which is acting as a heat sink and a plastic cover The plastic cover is held by magnets and can be lifted to allow access the PCB The PCB is mounted by four screws to the metallic base Underneath the PA an adhesive By desoldering zero ohm resistors www ams com Revision 1 2 21 02 2014 page 3 13 Radon Demo Reader a nn Hardware Description heat conducting tape is placed In case the PCB needs to be removed from the metallic base it is recommend to heat up the metallic base first in order
14. tages The high pass filter stage shows at 860 MHz an insertion loss of approx 1dB At 740 MHz the filter has 3dB of attenuation The low pass filter has at 1 GHz an insertion loss below 1dB The low pass filter has 45dB attenuation a 1 8GHz and 2 4GHz The filtered RF signal is then connected to the directional coupler which isolates the TX signal from the differential mixer inputs of the AS3993 IC The directional coupler has a coupling factor of 10dB and an isolation of 25 dB typically At the input coupled port a tuning circuit system tuner with variable impedance is connected This allows adaptively improving the virtual directivity of the coupling device The tuning circuitry comprises of three digitally adjustable capacitors PE64904 and discrete components The digital capacitors are controlled via SPI by the MCU To the output of the directional coupler a RF switch is connected which routes the RF signal to one of the two antenna ports Between the RF switch and the antenna port 1 an additional antenna tuning circuit is available which allows matching the antenna impedance to the reader system The antenna matching circuit comprises of two digitally adjustable capacitors and discrete components To the isolated output of the directional coupler a Balun is connected which transforms the singled ended RF signal to a differential one The differential RF signal is connected to the mixer inputs pin 4 6 of AS3993 For experimental us
15. th a fair amount of pressure Excessive pressure might damage the GND cage inside the cable plug Y L4 Figure 13 SMB Plug Female 4 Software Description Please refer to the User Manual for a more information on the AS3993 Reader Suite Caution e The Radon reader is intended for engineering usage to demonstrate the AS3993 e Before turning the Radon reader ON please check your local RF regulations and configure the reader accordingly e Always connect a RF load to the antenna port in use www ams com Revision 1 2 21 02 2014 page 12 13 Radon Demo Reader a m Hardware Description E e The Radon demo reader PCB is mounted into a metallic enclosure which acts as a heat sink and therefore tends to get hot e Do not touch the hot metallic enclosure after prolonged operation of the reader with the RF field set to high power Copyright Copyright O 1997 2014 ams AG Tobelbader Strasse 30 8141 Unterpremstaetten Austria Europe Trademarks Registered G All rights reserved The material herein may not be reproduced adapted merged translated stored or used without the prior written consent of the copyright owner All products and companies mentioned are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies Disclaimer Devices sold by ams AG are covered by the warranty and patent indemnification provisions appearing in its Term of Sale ams AG makes no warranty express statutory implied or by description r
16. tion To recover from this state click OK to remove the error message an press the reset button or reconnect the USB connector 3 3 1 Bootloader The bootloader is already programmed and does not need to be programmed by the user In any case this is still needed the bootloader can be programmed using an ICD3 Debugger from Microchip The connection to be made is shown in the image below Figure 4 Connecting the ICD3 Programmer The bootloader mode can also be forced which allows for instance to re program the FW with the USB interface again if previously the UART version was loaded To force the bootloader mode simply short the pins PGED1 or PGEC1 to GND DIG The bootloader is programmed via the debug interface of the MCU The pin out of the debug interface is shown below J6 PIN Pin Name MCU Pin Description 1 MCLR 18 Master Clear device Reset Input 2 VCMU Power supply 3 GND DIG Ground 4 PGED1 22 Data Line 5 PGEC1 21 Clock Line 6 UART TX 4 Used for UART logging in RP24 the bootloader Figure 5 Debug Interface Pinout www ams com Revision 1 2 21 02 2014 page 8 13 Radon Demo Reader a m Hardware Description i 3 4 FW Programming A new firmware version can be programmed using AS3993 Reader Suite via the Help menu For more instruction please refer to the User Manual of the AS3993 Reader Suite For programming only the USB interface needs to be connected 3 5 UART In order to operate the reader
17. to prevent any damages to the PCB by bending the PCB 1 1 Kit Content Every AS3993 Radon Demo Kit contains e 1xAS3993 Radon Reader e 1x5V power supply without IEC 60320 C13 cable e ixMicro USB cable e 2x SMA SMB coax antenna cable e 1x USB thumb drive with documentation e 1x Tag demo bag 2 Getting Started The following step by step instructions describe how to connect the hardware correctly and how to operate the GUI to scan for tags Connect the antenna to antenna port 2 J7 2 Connect the 5V DC power cable to the DC jack P1 3 Connect the Radon reader to the host computer using the Micro USB cable 4 Atthis point the MCU LED D13 is flashing and the Antenna 2 LED D11 is permanently on www ams com Figure 1 Connecting the Radon Reader 5 Start the AS3993 Reader Suite on the host computer 6 The Radon reader is listed in the main window and the state shows Online in green letters 7 To scan for tag click on the Start Scan button in the lower left corner of the main window Adhere to local RF regulations www ams com Revision 1 2 21 02 2014 page 4 13 Radon Demo Reader Hardware Description r iawn EE T a E 3 Control View Help All Readers RADON 1 j Reader Hardware Software Action State 4 me RADON 1 AS3993 RADON Reader Hardware AS3993 Reader Firmware 2 2 3 Idle Reader Information 4 C ad 12 15 00 10 bd 5b 95 3d 00 00 c2 i
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