GB2588623A

GB2588623A - Radio transceiver programming method and apparatus

Info

Publication number: GB2588623A
Application number: GB1915672.8A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Fairall John
Original assignee: Rf Solutions Ltd
Current assignee: Rf Solutions Ltd
Priority date: 2019-10-29
Filing date: 2019-10-29
Publication date: 2021-05-05
Also published as: GB201915672D0

Abstract

This application relates to programming a radio transceiver suitable for use as a remote control. The radio transceiver is manufactured as a generic device, but it can operate in any one of multiple different predefined operating modes. The different operating modes may have different modulation formats such as FSK or LORA. The radio transceiver is provided with a mode switch 20 to allow the user to configure the operating mode. The transceiver also has at least one light-emitting indicator such as an LED 22-1, 22-2. To configure the operating mode of the transceiver, the user operates the mode switch, receives a visual indication (e.g. a sequence of flashes of the one or more LEDs) and then operates the mode switch again in response to the visual indication.

Description

Radio Transceiver Programming Method and Apparatus This invention relates to methods and apparatus for programming a radio transceiver.

When designing a system which incorporates radio frequency remote control, it is necessary to consider the required operating range, background interference levels and nature of the control of a function at the remote site. These factors will be understood to vary greatly between different remote control applications. Accordingly, these factors and quite possibly other factors mean that the radio frequency apparatus for the remote control system must be specified and configured at the factory specifically for the desired application. An alternative to this is to choose a sub-optimal radio frequency apparatus for the remote control system or for the manufacturer to carry a large inventory of alternative configurations in the hope that the inventory will cover all possible customer requirements. A further alternative is to produce a generic system with some configurable options and to provide the electronic components with a plurality of switches (typically in the form of miniature DIP switches) to allow some limited configuration to be carried out either in the manufacturers sight or by a skilled end user. However, this latter option is undesirable for several reasons. For example, the switches are mechanical in nature and are thus a source of unreliability, to provide a great number of options it is necessary to take up a significant area of circuit board which could more usefully be populated with other components and using small switches is prone to error as they are difficult to see and hard to manipulate.

Historically, such remote control transmitters/systems were quite rudimentary and typically comprised a hand held plastic box with some buttons and a PP3 9V battery. In operation, the user presses a button and the relay operates in the receiver, which turns on an attached device. There was no option to customise these devices. Thus, according to a first aspect of the invention there is provided a method of configuring a radio transceiver device into one of a plurality of predefined operating modes comprising the steps of operating a mode switch, then observing a light-emitting indicator, and then adapting operation of the mode switch responsive to observed flashes of the indicator.

This method allows an end user to configure the operating mode of the radio transceiver device without needing to resort to the manipulation of minute switches and with easy visual confirmation in response to operating the mode switch.

Preferably there is a plurality of light emitting devices such as light emitting diodes and one, or often two, of these are used to provide feedback to the user and optionally a third light emitting indicator may remain illuminated or flashing throughout the configuration phase.

In a second aspect, the invention provides a radio transceiver having a processor and memory for storing program code which code when executed causes the processor to carry out the method steps to configure the radio transceiver device as described above.

In a third aspect, the invention provides a computer program product comprising instructions which, when the program is executed by a computer, causes the computer to carry out the configuration method steps set out above.

This provides the ability for a user in the field to configure the modes of operation (for 15 example, the RF mode of operation from FSK to LORA, Provide Receiver acknowledgement back to the handset, Setup a watchdog, state change transmission or continuous RF transmission), The basic menu structure also allows other configuration options to easily be added.

Additionally, those options might be binary on/off or options or further sub-menus, and yet this is all achieved with minimal I/O hardware -typically, a single input and a low number of simple output indicators.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example, with reference to the drawings in which: Figure 1 is a schematic block diagram of a radio transceiver device, Figure 2 is a schematic diagram showing the location of a mode switch and a plurality of light emitting indicators on a circuit board, Figure 3 is a flow chart showing the method of resetting a radio transceiver device, Figure 4 is a flow chart showing a method of reading and/or setting an RF modulation mode, Figure 5 is a flow chart showing the steps to configure an acknowledgement request mode, Figure 6 is a flow chart showing the steps to set a watchdog mode, and Figure 7 is a flow chart showing the steps to configure a state change or continuous switching state.

With reference to Figure 1, an RF transceiver has an RF integrated circuit 2 which is arranged to demodulate received signals or provide a modulated signal for transmission via a low noise amplifier 4 or a power amplifier 6 respectively. An RF switch 8 is coupled between the amplifiers and an RF matching circuit 10 which provides impedance matching out to an antenna connector 12. The RF switch 8 serves to put the device into either a receive mode (in which case signals are received from the antenna through the low noise amplifier and demodulated by the RF IC 2) or a transmit mode in which case signals are transmitted from the RF IC via the air amplifier 6 to the antenna 12 for transmission. The mode of the RF switch 8 is controlled by receive and transmit inputs 14-1, 14-2. The RF IC 2 is also coupled to a crystal 16 which provides a frequency reference for the modulation functions and also carries digital 10 lines 18 and a connection to a serial parallel interface 20 for communication to other parts of the transceiver. The digital 10 18 is typically used to receive switching inputs, control output relays and/or provide visual indications using light emitting elements such as light emitting diodes.

These components are coordinated by a micro controller, MCU (not shown). The micro controller coordinates these parts, as described in more detail below.

Generally, the device is used to allow push button operation by a user in order to control the operation of relays on a remote switching device. Thus, in the system, there are two radio transceivers in radio communication. One, the switching device, has operable relays attached to it for controlling attached devices, and the other, subject of the detailed description below, has user push buttons and led indicators and is used to send control signals to the switching device. The system may be configured to, for example, operate a relay for as long as a button is pressed, it may cause a relay to change state when a button is pressed, and the device may also be configured to receive and display an RF acknowledgement once a transmitter signal has been received and acted on.

The device may also use different transmission protocols in order to operate differently in different environments. For example, the modulation scheme may use frequency modulation, or it may use a spread spectrum mode. These modulation schemes have trade-offs, for example, in terms of range and speed of response of a relay, following a button press. Other modes are also possible as described in more detail below.

With reference to Figure 2, each transceiver has a mode switch 20 and at least one LED 22-1, 22-2, 22-3. The switches and indicators can be used to configure the transceiver as described in detail below.

With reference to Figure 3, to set the transceiver to a known default configuration the operator presses the mode switch 20, this is acknowledged by a single flash of the LED 22-1 and the operator then presses the mode switch 20 for a long duration, such as for more than ten seconds. By requiring two presses of the mode switch 20, accidental resets are avoided.

To choose different configuration menus, the mode switch is pressed multiple times as described below. The first time it is pressed, LED 22-1 flashes once to indicate that menu one is selected (the reset to default to configuration menu). If a further press is made within 3 seconds, the transceiver enters configuration menu 2 which is indicated by 2 flashes of LED 22-1 after the second press of the mode switch. Menu 3 is entered by then pressing the mode switch a third time which is acknowledged with three flashes of LED22-1, and so on for further menus.

LED 22-3 flashes continually for the duration the board is in a "setup or Configuration" state to indicate to the user that the board is within this mode and not normal operation.

After the user makes their selection of the configuration, the MCU will wait for 3 secs, then accept this configuration selection and commit this to non-volatile memory such as to EEPROM, and the device then reverts to normal operation mode whereby the LED 22-3 ceases to flash and the new user configuration is set.

This the mode switch 20 operates in two ways:- 1. The user can press the switch 20 for up to (typically) 10 seconds (after which it could lead to a factory reset being initiated) 2. After release of the SET switch 20, a (typically) 3 second timer is started for a shorter period than the reset timer, and if the user presses the switch 20 within this time then this will be a valid switch press which will change menu positions etc.. After this time period (typically 3 secs) the controller will revert out of configuration mode.

With reference to Figure 4, the transceiver may thus be configured to one of a plurality of RF transmission modulation schemes. By way of example, Table 30 shows a set of possible schemes including seven LORA spread spectrum modes and an FM (FSK) scheme. The skilled person will understand that these are just example schemes and that the method described below for selecting these schemes will work equally well with different modulation schemes.

To configure the different modulation modes, the mode switch 20 is pressed and this is acknowledged by LED 22-1 providing a single flash.

The operator then waits for a predetermined duration, which in this example is three seconds, and the LEDs 22-1 and 22-2 flash simultaneously to indicate that the device has entered RF programming mode. After a further wait period, such as three seconds, the LED 22-1 flashes one or more times to indicate the current RF modulation mode. The number of flashes is shown in Table 30 with a corresponding modulation mode. For example, three flashes indicates that the transceiver is currently sent to LORA mode 2. Optionally, at this point the mode switch 20 may be operated again to cycle through the choice of eight modes to effect a change of mode.

When setting the RF mode of operation, the user presses the SET switch 20 once, LED 22-1 flashes once to indicate that the MCU is ready to enter "Select RF Transmission Mode'. The user then waits 3 secs for this to be confirmed ( the 3 sec timeout is used as a substitute for an "Enter Key" After 3 seconds LEDs 22-1 and 22-2 give a brief flash to indicate to the user that the controller has entered "RF Transmission Mode", After another 3 seconds wait the controller indicates the current RF Transmission mode selection by flashing LED 22-1 a number of times corresponding to the mode, as shown in

table 30.

At this time the user can change the RF Transmission mode by repeat pressing of the set switch 20, whereby on each press the controller acknowledges by flashing LED 22-1 the corresponding number of times to the potential current RF mode. When the user has selected the desired RF Transmission mode he waits 3 seconds for the controller to accept this configuration selection and commit to EEPROM, and the device then reverts to normal operation mode whereby the LED 22-3 ceases to flash and the new user configuration is now set.

With reference to Figure 5, in a second programming mode, the transceiver may be set to provide a visual acknowledgement of a received signal. In this mode, the transceiver flashes either LED 22-2 or 22-3 once a signal has been received from the remote switch device. Thus, the transceiver transmits a signal, the signal is acted upon and the remote switching device sends a signal back to the transceiver and when this is received the LED acknowledgement is indicated to the user.

To set this mode, the mode switch 20 is pressed once as above, and then a second press of the mode switch enters acknowledgement programming mode and is acknowledged by a double flash of LED 22-1.

To indicate that this mode has been successfully entered, the LED 22-1 flashes twice. The user then waits for a period such as three seconds, and LED 22-1 and 22-2 flash once simultaneously to indicate entry of the programming mode. After a further wait period, typically of three seconds, LED 22-1 is either on or off to indicate current status of the acknowledgement request mode. If the LED is on, then acknowledgement request mode is activated. If the LED remains off, then acknowledgement request mode is off. To change modes, the mode switch 20 is activated to toggle between the modes with LED 22-1 indicating the currently selected mode. Once the desired mode has been selected, the user ceases pressing the mode switch 20 and the device times out, after a predetermined period, thus locking in the chosen mode.

With reference to Figure 6, a third programming mode allows the device to send watchdog transmissions. In this mode, the transceiver transmits a background watchdog RF signal periodically, typically between every thirty to forty five seconds. This allows the remote switching device to hold a relay contact energised as long as the watchdog is regularly received, thus confirming that the transmitter is in range and the system is operating correctly. This allows, for example, an error condition to be indicated at the remote site, if the transceiver moves out of range.

To select this mode, steps similar to that shown in Figure 5 are carried out, but to indicate and select the different mode, the mode set switch 20 is operated three times in quick succession and the LED 22-1 flashes three times in return, to confirm that mode three programming is in progress. In other respects, the operation is similar to Figure 5 with LED 22-1 being on, indicating that the watchdog mode is on and after the wait period, LED 22-1 being off, indicating that watchdog mode is not enabled.

With reference to Figure 7, a fourth mode of operation allows the transceiver to be configured to cause the remote switching device to operate as a continuous mode or a toggle mode. In a continuous mode, when a button on the transceiver is held down, the remote relay is continuously energised. In the toggle mode the state of the relay reverses every time a button is pressed on the transceiver.

To select this mode, the operation progresses similarly to Figures 5 and 6 except that the mode switch 20 is operated four times and LED 22-1 flashes four times, to indicate that the mode has successfully been entered. The current status is read by observing the status of LED 22-1 and the mode is changed by operating mode switch 20.

In this way, the device is readily configurable by an end user or an installer. Typically, the mode switch is mounted on the internal PCB of the transceiver and is accessed by removing a cover or part of the casing. Thus, the device is easily configurable but can be rendered difficult to change configuration by replacing the cover. This means that an installer can set the device up, without an end user accidentally changing the configuration.

The device may also be a generic device with this easy configuration so that the inventory requirements of a manufacturer are reduced and the specifier or installer can use an optimal RF acknowledgement and modulation scheme for any particular application. This provides a neat technical solution to the prior art problems of configuring devices using mechanical switches of very small size and also of building many bespoke customised devices.

Claims

SClaims 1. A method of configuring a radio transceiver device into one of a plurality of predefined operating modes comprising the steps of operating a mode switch, then observing a light-emitting indicator, and then adapting operation of the mode switch responsive to observed flashes of the indicator.
2. A method as claimed in claim 1, including resetting the transceiver to a predetermined default configuration comprising the steps of operating the mode switch, then observing a single flash of the light-emitting indicator, and then operating the mode switch for a continuous extended period, such as for 10 seconds.
3. A method as claimed in any preceding claim, including reading the status of a desired programming mode of the transceiver comprising the steps of operating the mode switch a predetermined number of times with a maximum predetermined delay between, then observing a number of flashes of the light-emitting indicator which corresponds to the number of times the mode switch has been operated, thus confirming that the desired programming mode has been successfully selected, then taking no action for a predetermined wait period such as 3 seconds, then observing expiry of the predetermined wait period by observing a flash from the light emitting indicator and also a flash from a second light-emitting indicator, then taking no action for a predetermined wait period such as 3 seconds, and then observing the said status by observing whether the light emitting indicator is on or off, whereby the on/off state of the light emitting indicator indicates the on/off state of the status of the watchdog mode.
4. A method as claimed in claim 3, including setting the state of the desired programming mode, comprising the steps of observing the said status, operating the mode switch to toggle the status at each operation of the switch, observing the light-emitting indicator change state as the status is toggled ceasing to operate the mode switch when the desired state is indicated by the light-emitting indicator.
5. A method as claimed in any preceding claim, including reading the currently configured RF modulation mode comprising the steps of operating the mode switch, then observing a single flash of the light-emitting indicator, then taking no action for a predetermined wait period such as 3 seconds, then observing expiry of the predetermined wait period by observing a flash from the light emitting indicator and also a flash from a second light-emitting indicator, then taking no action for a predetermined wait period such as 3 seconds, and then observing expiry of the predetermined wait period by observing at least one flash from the light emitting indicator and counting the total number of flashes from the light emitting indicator, whereby the counted number of flashes is indicative of the currently configured RF modulation mode.
6. A method as claimed in claim 5, including setting the transceiver to a predetermined RF transmission format such as frequency modulation or one of a plurality of spread-spectrum modulation LORA modes comprising the steps of after the step of counting the number of flashes, taking no action for a predetermined wait period such as 3 seconds, then operating the mode button a predetermined number of times, the predetermined number mapping uniquely to one of the predetermined RF transmission formats.
7. A method as claimed in any preceding claim, including reading the state of an acknowledgment request mode comprising the steps of operating the mode switch twice with a maximum predetermined delay between operations, then observing a double flash of the light-emitting indicator, then taking no action for a predetermined wait period such as 3 seconds, then observing expiry of the predetermined wait period by observing a flash from the light emitting indicator and also a flash from a second light-emitting indicator, then taking no action for a predetermined wait period such as 3 seconds, and then observing the said status by observing whether the light emitting indicator is on or off, whereby the on/off state of the light emitting indicator indicates the on/off state of the status of the acknowledgment request mode.
8. A method as claimed in claim 7, including setting the transceiver acknowledgment request mode on or off, comprising the steps of observing the said status, operating the mode switch to toggle the status at each operation of the switch, observing the light-emitting indicator change state as the status is toggled ceasing to operate the mode switch when the desired state is indicated by the light-emitting indicator.
9. A method as claimed in any preceding claim, including reading the status of a watchdog mode comprising the steps of operating the mode switch three times with a maximum predetermined delay between operations, then observing a triple flash of the light-emitting indicator, then taking no action for a predetermined wait period such as 3 seconds, then observing expiry of the predetermined wait period by observing a flash from the light emitting indicator and also a flash from a second light-emitting indicator, then taking no action for a predetermined wait period such as 3 seconds, and then observing the said status by observing whether the light emitting indicator is on or off, whereby the on/off state of the light emitting indicator indicates the on/off state of the status of the watchdog mode.
10. A method as claimed in claim 9, including setting the watchdog mode on or off, comprising the steps of observing the said watchdog status, operating the mode switch to toggle the status at each operation of the switch, observing the light-emitting indicator change state as the status is toggled ceasing to operate the mode switch when the desired state is indicated by the light-emitting indicator.
11. A method as claimed in any preceding claim, including reading the status of a state change or continuous switching mode comprising the steps of operating the mode switch four times with a maximum predetermined delay between operations, then observing a quadruple flash of the light-emitting indicator, then taking no action for a predetermined wait period such as 3 seconds, then 12. 13. 14.observing expiry of the predetermined wait period by observing a flash from the light emitting indicator and also a flash from a second light-emitting indicator, then taking no action for a predetermined wait period such as 3 seconds, and then observing the said status by observing whether the light emitting indicator is on or off, whereby the on/off state of the light emitting indicator indicates the on/off state of the status of the watchdog mode.A method as claimed in claim 10, including setting the state change or continuous switching mode on or off, comprising the steps of observing the said watchdog status, operating the mode switch to toggle the status at each operation of the switch, observing the light-emitting indicator change state as the status is toggled ceasing to operate the mode switch when the desired state is indicated by the light-emitting indicator.A radio transceiver having a processor and memory for storing program code, which code when executed causes the processor to carry out the steps of any of method claims 1 to
12.A computer program product comprising instructions which, when the program is executed by a computer, cause the computer to carry out the steps of the method of any of claims 1 to 12.