ERF module sleep mode

matchbox

Senior Member
Hi all,
After looking through this forum for an answer. Most of what I have found to this question is dead links. Now that Ciseco aren't around anymore.

I still use many ERF modules. But have found the power consumption awful. Even while using the CTS pin. Which I initially thought would put the ERF into low power mode. But it doesn't in stock state.

I have picked up that it needs low power mode to be enabled in the ERF configuration setup. But also noticed that the URF/ERF Picaxe configuration wizard, does not allow low power mode for the URF. It is greyed out, while the module is connected. Why is that?
And why did Rev.Ed not include functions like - low power mode, RF power level and heartbeat LED change, into the ERF wizard setup?

So I entered the LOW POWER settings in the ERF config file and then uploaded it to a test ERF module. And now it would appear to be permanently asleep.
Code:
[color=Green];*****************************************************************************
;*   Sleep pin enable
;*****************************************************************************
   [/color]
[color=Black]Sleep_pin: 

     [/color][color=Blue]Sertxd ([/color][color=Red]"Setting Sleep mode"[/color][color=Blue]) [/color][color=Green]'enter command mode
   
; Set the frequency for required transmission baud rate
  [/color][color=Blue]setfreq [/color][color=Black]baudFreq
  [/color][color=Blue]pause [/color][color=Navy][b]1[/b][/color]

[color=Green]; Send the exit command mode sequence
  [/color][color=Blue]serout [/color][color=Black]TX, baudRate, [/color][color=Blue]( [/color][color=Red]"ATSM2"[/color][color=Black], [/color][color=Blue]CR ) [/color][color=Green]'change power mode to "low to sleep"

; Wait for an OK response or timeout and go to 'Fail'
  [/color][color=Blue]serin [PLAIN][[/PLAIN][/color][color=Black]timeout,Fail[/color][color=Blue][PLAIN]][/PLAIN][/color][color=Black], RX, baudRate, [/color][color=Blue]([/color][color=Red]"O"[/color][color=Blue])[/color]

[color=Green]; OK response received - Report success
  [/color][color=Blue]goto [/color][color=Black]Okay[/color]

[color=Green]; NOT USED      = ATSM ERR or 0
; LOW TO SLEEP  = ATSM1
; HIGH TO SLEEP = ATSM2[/color]
I would be happy if anyone else knows how to work around this. Even a new upload of the settings will not wake it up again, or a factory reset config.

Some questions are.
1) Does setting ATSM 1 or 2, then allow the CTS pin to enable and disable low power mode?
2) How do I get this thing to wake up again?
 

matchbox

Senior Member
Doesn't anyone have any idea about these modules? I know they have not been manufactured for a while. But a lot of people used them.
Didn't any body pursue SLEEP MODE?
Surely Rev Ed software designers know what these modules are capable of. Its part of PE6.

Or does anyone have the Ciseco document files for the ERF/URF, saved from years back?
 

manuka

Senior Member
I was initially keen on Ciseco's products & may even still have files. However emerging rivals like the HC-12 were cheaper,easier to use & more versatile. What exactly is your "many" ? It may be best to cut your losses? Stan.
 

hippy

Technical Support
Staff member
Surely Rev Ed software designers know what these modules are capable of. Its part of PE6.
Not necessarily and not off-hand. As you note these were a third party product and developed a number of years ago. Staff who worked on those at the time may have moved on and other people's memory will have faded.

For most third party products we rely on datasheets just as any other user would though there is usually access to the development team when a product is developed for ourselves. But we may still have little knowledge of things which we do not ourselves use or require from a product.

Wizards would normally be developed for what the average PICAXE user would likely use so may not include everything. There may also be things we have not tried or used ourselves so do not provide the means to use those things within a wizard.

It may be that only certain versions of a product support particular functionality which may be why an option is there but greyed out or disabled when the wizard is used. It may be that the ERF used for PICAXE download does not implement particular functionality that other devices in the range do implement.

We would have to check to see what the status is.
 

matchbox

Senior Member
I was initially keen on Ciseco's products & may even still have files. However emerging rivals like the HC-12 were cheaper,easier to use & more versatile. What exactly is your "many" ? It may be best to cut your losses? Stan.
If you still have the files Stan, I would be grateful.
I have 5 in current operation, and have another 5 as well. Will be down to 9, though. If I can't wake this test one up.
The longest has been in operation for 3.5 years and still going fine. So I have never seen the need to use anything else so far.

Not necessarily and not off-hand. As you note these were a third party product and developed a number of years ago. Staff who worked on those at the time may have moved on and other people's memory will have faded.
For most third party products we rely on datasheets just as any other user would though there is usually access to the development team when a product is developed for ourselves. But we may still have little knowledge of things which we do not ourselves use or require from a product.
We would have to check to see what the status is.
I understand what your saying Hippy.
I have a large backup of many files from yester years. Because things that are here today, are superseded tomorrow. But I don't have this specific information on these modules.
As I said to Stan. I would be grateful if you could find the status of this information in PE6 or any related interaction with this modules other functions.

The "Heart beat/RSSI LED command" and "RF power level command", work fine. I just can't work this "low power mode" out.
 

hippy

Technical Support
Staff member
The only notes I have found so far which mention sleep mode relate to the XRF which has a separate Sleep pin. Not sure how useful, pertinent or accurate those notes are and I guess I copied them from the original Ciseco documentation -

SLEEPRQ - PIN 9 Input - This pin is used to request the XRF to goto sleep and conserve power. The use of this pin is disabled by default and enabled using the ATSM command - see the document on AT commands for more details.

ON/SLEEP - PIN 13 Output - This pin is steady high whilst the XRF is awake and steady low whilst the XRF is asleep, connecting this pin to an LED via a 330R (or above) resistor is a very useful indicator that the XRF is awake or asleep. Implemented in firmware version 22 and above.

CTS - Pin 12 Output - This pin is low whenever the XRF is ready to receive serial data. Implemented in firmware version 23 and above.
ATSM

Sleep mode - controlled by the /SLEEP pin P1_4 (pin 9 of the XRF, digital 10 on the XB4X). The XRF module will not sleep in AT command mode.

0 = no sleep, the /SLEEP pin has no effect

1 = when the /SLEEP pin is set high or un-connected the XRF will run, when the sleep pin is set low the XRF will sleep (power consumption when sleeping of around 150uA)

2 = when the /SLEEP pin is set low the XRF will run, when the sleep pin is un-connected or set high the XRF will sleep. This is the sleep mode with the lowest sleeping power consumption (<0.5uA)

Any time the XRF is running (not sleeping) P0_5 (pin 13 of the XRF and analog 2 of the XB4X) will be output high. When the XRF is sleeping this pin is output low.

When the XRF is asleep all pins are input, with pullups as this gives the lowest power consumption. The exceptions to this are the three indicator pins HEALTH (PIN 6), TRANSMIT (PIN 15) and ON/SLEEP (PIN 13) which are set to output low

Implemented in XRF/ERF firmware version 0.12 and above, not implemented in URF
 

Circuit

Senior Member
I have used (and still have) a range of ERF/XRF and ARF modules. When Ciseco went out of the business I stocked up because I found the modules to be so useful, though there are now many newer modules that offer similar functions. I have both the Ciseco branded and the PICAXE branded - therein lies a difference; the firmware for the PICAXE version was different to that of the Ciseco-branded ERF. I am trying to remember the difference, I think it was mainly in the serial comms parameters. I remember that I had to change the serial parameters for use with PICAXE if using the original Ciseco modules. I appear to have TWO "wizards" still on my system. One is "ERF_Configuration_Wizard.exe". The other is "URF_XRF_ERF_Wizard.exe" - both appear in the PE 6.0.9.3 pull-down wizard menu. The latter appears to offer more options than the former and includes a sleep pin setting in the configuration tab though I have never used this. I also have the the Ciseco "XCM(XRF config manager 1.0.5730.20256" which was used with both XRF and ERF modules in their later forms but I think that this did not set things up for PICAXE protocols. Perhaps you have done a factory reset on you module for "other than PICAXE" comms; ie. Cisco default? I would try waking it up as an original Ciseco ERF module rather than as a PICAXE ERF module and see if that works. It is amazing how quickly one forgets the intricacies of these devices when one has not used them for a couple of years. How are you connecting to the ERF module? I designed a simple adaptor based on HIPPY's schematic to link ERF modules to the AXE027 cable and displayed it here; http://www.picaxeforum.co.uk/showthread.php?26188-Configuring-ERF-with-Wizards-and-Ciseco-Explorer-Plus&highlight=erf* if that is of any help to you.

Edit; and that is where the answer to my mistakes lie; when I re-read the linked post I saw the difference; PICAXE ERFs use inverted polarity and I was trying to programme them with the CISECO programmer which I why I built the programmer that I described.
 
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matchbox

Senior Member
Thank you for digging out the notes Hippy.



How are you connecting to the ERF module? I designed a simple adaptor based on HIPPY's schematic to link ERF modules to the AXE027 cable and displayed it here; http://www.picaxeforum.co.uk/showthread.php?26188-Configuring-ERF-with-Wizards-and-Ciseco-Explorer-Plus&highlight=erf* if that is of any help to you.

Edit; and that is where the answer to my mistakes lie; when I re-read the linked post I saw the difference; PICAXE ERFs use inverted polarity and I was trying to programme them with the CISECO programmer which I why I built the programmer that I described.
Thanks for the reply and link Circuit.
That is good info for me to try.
Presently, I have been connecting the ERF module through a Picaxe. And uploading the changes to it with the PE6 wizard program, using extra command subroutines.

It may have been reset back to default ERF, as you stated. Ill give the download schematic of Hippy's, with the AXE027 ago. I'll try inverting the polarity, and hopefully revive this unit.

It sounds to me now.....That the XRF, is the only one of the Ciseco modules that has true sleep mode!
 

Circuit

Senior Member
Okay, I have just been digging around in my stores; I have looked at a brand new Picaxe RFA020 ERF module from 2012 and the one of the last SRF modules made by Ciseco in 2015 but marketed when they renamed themselves "Wireless Things". They are both based upon the same CC1110-F32 chip. From the Ciseco manufacturer's literature "The SRF makes use of Texas Instruments CC1110 or CC1111, a low-power System-on-Chip, which sports a micro-controller unit (MCU), memory, a sub-1GHz transceiver, an encryption engine and a USB controller (for the CC1111 based module)." The latest XRF and ARF modules were made by piggy-back mounting an SRF module onto a carrier board.

View attachment 21957

From the SRF configuration instructions;

Reset to factory default
At times it may be useful to place a device in its default settings for testing or for recovery when
an unknown configuration issue is encountered. There are two ways to get back to Factory
default settings, without removing the settings in Config Flash Memory:
1. By shorting pins 12 and 13 during power up, the SRF will power up and copy Factory
Configuration to Config Settings before entering Operational Mode.
2. When in Command Mode, issuing the ATRE command will load the content of Factory
Configuration to Config Settings.
If you wish to retain Factory default configuration then you need to use the ATWR command to apply these settings to Config Flash Memory, otherwise at next power up the previously saved configuration will be used.

Please note that the pins referred to are on the SRF module only. I think the last line may be of interest; even if the factory default condition is reset, the chip still needs an ATWR command to hold it in this state.

Also of interest may be the specification given for the SRF module;

Low Power
Low current consumption (RX: 24mA; TX: 36mA @ -10dBm output power)
123 ?A in sleep mode; 0.2 ?A in deep sleep mode
Dimensions
15.9mm wide, 26.4mm long (with chip antenna)
15.9mm wide, 16.5mm long (without chip antenna)
RFM12B footprint


This is taken from a .PDF file and as mA shows properly I guess that we can assume that the unit ?A is probably the microamp with the .PDF file not including a mu sign in its typeface.
 
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manuka

Senior Member
Matchbox: Sorry to say but I've nothing located here beyond that already mentioned...
Guess you have checked specs. for the module's TI/ChipCon CC1101 - all 246 pages in fact !

FWIW the now hugely popular HC-12 module uses a superior SiLabs Si446x RFIC. Stan.
 

matchbox

Senior Member
Matchbox: Sorry to say but I've nothing located here beyond that already mentioned...
Stan.
Thanks Stan

From the SRF configuration instructions;

Reset to factory default
At times it may be useful to place a device in its default settings for testing or for recovery when
an unknown configuration issue is encountered. There are two ways to get back to Factory
default settings, without removing the settings in Config Flash Memory:
1. By shorting pins 12 and 13 during power up, the SRF will power up and copy Factory
Configuration to Config Settings before entering Operational Mode.
2. When in Command Mode, issuing the ATRE command will load the content of Factory
Configuration to Config Settings.
If you wish to retain Factory default configuration then you need to use the ATWR command to apply these settings to Config Flash Memory, otherwise at next power up the previously saved configuration will be used.

Please note that the pins referred to are on the SRF module only. I think the last line may be of interest; even if the factory default condition is reset, the chip still needs an ATWR command to hold it in this state.
I do have 5 of the 2012 ERF units and 5 of the last version with the SRF jumper board.

I still haven't finished the interface board. I have to get some more resistors.

What I am unsure of is. Will the CTS pin on the ERF module, control Sleep mode? Or does it auto detect a serial input, then come out of sleep mode?
 

hippy

Technical Support
Staff member
What I am unsure of is. Will the CTS pin on the ERF module, control Sleep mode? Or does it auto detect a serial input, then come out of sleep mode?
As far as I can tell, CTS is used on the ERF only to tell it to deliver data received or not. I presume you have tried both CTS levels and found it hasn't worked which would confirm that it doesn't bring it out of sleep mode.

I suspect that in using ATSM you have enabled sleep mode and it is now the SLEEPRQ pin of the controller chip which is what will be what brings the ERF out of sleep mode. Unfortunately the SLEEPRQ pin is not exposed on the ERF modules.

If that is the case you will have to identify which pin is SLEEPRQ on the controller chip and force that pin to a low level to bring it out of sleep mode, or find a hardware way to factory reset the module.
 
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