Manufacturer: Digi International, Inc.

Model: XTend OEM RF Module Source: XTend RF Module Product Manual

This review on the product manual for an RF transceiver was conducted in order to assess the viability of the RF module for our particular telemetry application. The XTend RF Module is an FHSS radio transceiver that operates in ISM 900 MHz frequency band and has an output power from 1mW to 1W (adjustable by changing settings in the transceiver). It interfaces through a Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter serial interface (UART serial) with the host. The RF data transmission can be sustained at a baud rate of 115200 (115.2 Kbps) while maintaining the UART serial data baud rate of 115200 (115.2 Kbps) without the need for flow control between the host and itself. The transmission range using a 2.1 dB di-pole antenna is up to 900m in an urban environment and up to 22km LOS (Line Of Sight) outdoor range using the same antenna. The power supply requirements are anywhere from 2.8V to 5.5V depending on the transmission power. At maximum transmit power (1W) the module requires a voltage between 4.75V to 5.5V @ 730mA. The module supports many network topologies, namely point to point, point to multi-point and mesh. The XTend RF Module can be configured using ASCII commands through the UART serial interface or by using a set of binary commands which reduces the time for configuration changes. This binary mode is especially useful when changing transmission power and other configuration settings of the module between transmissions. The UART serial interface only requires 2 connections to the host for 80% operation of the module. This simplifies circuit design and speeds up prototyping and programming. The module supports what is known as an API mode where by the destination address, message length and other information is sent in a formatted packet along with the data (maximum of 2048 kB in length). This formatted packet is then decoded by the module and the data is sent to the destination with the supplied address. The receiving module then takes the received data and formats it with the RSSI value (Received Signal Strength Indicator) as well as the source address and other information and transmits it to the host who can then process the data appropriately. The API mode is most useful because if more than one module are used and they require to send information between each other, their hosts can easily transmit to other modules without major changes to the configuration. The transmission power available, the sustained RF data throughput and the multiple network topologies enables our project to be used in long range applications that requires a reliable stream of data with multiple remote vehicles on the same frequency. Due to the long range capabilities, small form factor, ease of interface and a wide degree of control over the module we thought it to be perfect and it is a firmware change away from being used in different countries that have different RF transmission regulations.