Configuring Stack

Mode Configuration

The TI 15.4-Stack offers three modes of network operations that follow (and as discussed in this chapter):

  • Beacon mode
  • Nonbeacon mode
  • Frequency-hopping mode
  • BLE Advertising Mode

The features.h file allows developers to compile-in or compile-out different 15.4-Stack features for different applications. TI 15.4-Stack allows support for all three modes or allows user to select just one desired mode of network operation. TI 15.4-Stack can be configured in four different modes of operation using the features.h file. Depending on the mode selection, considerable savings in the executable-image space can be achieved. Table 16. and Table 17. provide a summary of Flash and RAM use of the out-of-box Collector and Sensor Example Application with different compile options enabled.

  1. FEATURE_ALL_MODES: When this compile flag is defined, the image is compiled with all the three modes of operation (frequency-hopping mode, beacon-enabled mode and non-beacon mode) and the configuration file config.h can be used to select the specific mode for network operation. This feature allows flexibility to select any mode for the device. For the out-of-box collector and sensor example application, this feature is enabled.:

    /*! If defined, builds the image with all the modes of operation (frequency hopping, beacon mode and non beacon mode) */
#define FEATURE_ALL_MODES

  2. FEATURE_FREQ_HOP_MODE: Defining this compile flag will compile only the frequency hopping mode of operation in the final executable image. For out of box example application, you would need to disable the compile option FEATURE_ALL_MODES and then enable this compile option as in the following::

    /*! If defined, builds the image with all the modes of operation (frequency hopping, beacon mode and non beacon mode) */
#undef FEATURE_ALL_MODES

/*! If defined, builds the image with the frequency mode of operation */
#define FEATURE_FREQ_HOP_MODE

  3. FEATURE_BEACON_MODE: Defining this compile flag will compile only the beacon mode of operation in the final executable image. For out of box example application, you would need to disable the compile option FEATURE_ALL_MODES and then enable this compile option as in the following::

    /*! If defined, builds the image with all the modes of operation (frequency hopping, beacon mode and non beacon mode) */
#undef FEATURE_ALL_MODES

/*! If defined, builds the image with beacon mode of operation */
#define FEATURE_BEACON_MODE

  4. FEATURE_NON_BEACON_MODE: Defining this compile flag will compile only the non-beacon mode of operation in the final executable image.:

    /*! If defined, builds the image with all the modes of operation (frequency hopping, beacon mode and non beacon mode) */
#undef FEATURE_ALL_MODES

/*! If defined, builds the image with non beacon mode of operation */
#define FEATURE_NON_BEACON_MODE

  5. FEATURE_UBLE: Defining this compile flag will enable BLE operations in the stack, allowing beacons to broadcast over BLE.

Warning

FEATURE_UBLE is only supported on CC13x0 devices.

In addition to the compile flags listed previously, the FEATURE_FULL_FUNCTION_DEVICE compile flag is required for the PAN Coordinator device (see the out-of-box Collector Example Application) to perform the role as a central node in the network.

Also, the FEATURE_MAC_SECURITY compile flag is added in the features.h file to allow the ability to turn the MAC layer security on and turn off in the compile executable image. If the mac layer security is turned off, you will need the version of the stack library with no MAC security.

To build the image with no security, perform the steps that follow:

  1. Select the linker File Search Path option.

  2. Modify to include the maclib_nosecure.a instead of maclib_secure.a library file (shown in Figure 55.).

    ../_images/fig-stack-library.jpeg

    Figure 55. Changing TI 15.4 Stack library

The PREAMBLE_COMPATIBILITY compile flag allows the stack to be compatible with previous versions of TI 15.4-Stack. When this flag is not defined the stack uses a IEEE 802.15.4g compliant preamble. If this flag is enabled, a new version of the stack library is required.

Similar to the steps above, to change the stack library for compatibility:

  1. Select the linker File Search Path option.
  2. Modify to include the maclib_nosecureLegacy.a or maclib_secureLegacy.a library file depending on whether or not security is enabled or disabled.
Table 16. Out-of-Box Collector Example Application Flash and RAM Usage Summary With Various Compile-Option Combinations
Compile Option Enabled FLASH (KB) RAM (KB)
FEATURE_ALL_MODES 103 15
FEATURE_FREQ_HOP_MODE 98.1 14.6
FEATURE_NON_BEACON_MODE 84.6 13.9
FEATURE_BEACON_MODE 88.8 14.2
Table 17. Out-of-Box Sensor Example Application Flash and RAM Usage Summary With Various Compile-Option Combinations
Compile Option Enabled FLASH (KB) RAM (KB)
FEATURE_ALL_MODES 103 13
FEATURE_FREQ_HOP_MODE 104.3 12.7
FEATURE_NON_BEACON_MODE 89.6 12.1
FEATURE_BEACON_MODE 92.1 12.1

Note

FEATURE_BLE_SUPPORT will add around 6KB of flash and 1.2KB of RAM to any of the modes described above except for FEATURE_ALL_MODES.

CC1190 PA/LNA Support

CC1190 PA/LNA can be used to enhance the transmit power of the device using the external Power Amplifier. If the system uses an external CC1190 external PA/LNA, the stack should be configured to use the appropriate power tables. This can be achieved by setting the PIB attribute ApiMac_attribute_rangeExtender to 1. It is required to set this attribute first before setting the PIB attribute ApiMac_attribute_phyTransmitPowerSigned to set the required power level. When CC1190 is enable the following output power values will only be supported: 18, 23, 25, 26 and 27 dbm. When other values are requested, a status of ApiMac_status_invalidParameter will be returned. For the OOB TI 15.4-Stack applications, CC1190 PA/LNA support can be enabled by setting the configuration option CONFIG_RANG_EXT_MODE to APIMAC_HIGH_GAIN_MODE.

CC1352P1 and CC1352P2 Support

The CC1352P1 and CC1352P2 have an integrated power amplifier that can be used to increase transmit power of the device.

The CC1352P1 device adds a power amplifier to the Sub1-GHz RF path. This will increase the maximum transmit power of the device from +14 dBm to +20 dBm. For the OOB TI 15.4-Stack applications, power amplifier support can be enabled by setting the configuration option CONFIG_PA_TYPE to APIMAC_HIGH_PA.

The CC1352P2 device adds a power amplifier to the 2.4 GHz RF path. This will increase the maximum transmit power from +5 dBm to +20 dBm. For the OOB TI 15.4-Stack applications, power amplifier support can be enabled by setting the configuration option CONFIG_PA_TYPE to APIMAC_HIGH_PA.

Note

The CC1352P2 will only increase transmit power for projects configured for operation in 2.4 GHz. The symbol FREQ_2_4G should be defined in the projects predefined symbols for operation in 2.4 GHz.

Bluetooth Low Energy Advertiser

The TI 15.4-Stack supports Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) advertisements, specifically, non-connectable undirected advertisements in simultaneous operation with the TI 15.4 stack. Such simultaneous operation is available only on the dual-band devices such as the CC1350.

The TI 15.4 stack uses uBLE (pronounced micro BLE) stack subsystem which is a tiny light-weight non-connection based protocol stack module that supports only BLE Broadcaster role. It does not operate using a separate TI-RTOS stack but is integrated in the application. This saves memory and overhead required to maintain a separate RTOS task. Since uBLE supports only BLE Broadcaster role, there is no strict timing constraint. Therefore uBLE radio operation have lower priority compared to 15.4 radio operations. This implies that 15.4 radio operations will preempt uBLE operations.

Note

The BLE advertisement payload is fully modifiable. Any of the out-of-box example sensor applications can be configured to enable BLE advertisements.

Configuring uBLE Stack

FEATURE_UBLE: Defining this compile flag in features.h will compile the BLE advertisement feature.

The BLE advertisement interval can be modified as follows in bleAdv.c::

#define DEFAULT_ADVERTISING_INTERVAL            160

Note

The units are in terms of 0.625 milliseconds. Hence setting it to 160 will result in BLE advertisements being sent out every 100ms seconds.

Security

The TI 15.4-Stack supports AES encryption as defined by the IEEE 802.15.4 Specification. The application is responsible for management of the keys. The out-of-box example application of the TI 15.4-Stack demonstrates how to use security with the TI 15.4-Stack.

Note

TI 15.4-Stack supports pair wise keys.