IEEE802.15.

4
IEEE 802.15.4 / ZigBEE at sub-
sub-1 GHz

ATMEL – Microcontroller Wireless Solutions

Sascha Beyer

local communication development

An ERA Smart Metering Initiative
Content

Presentation Overview

1. Overview Frequency Assignment / Radio Propagation

2. Coexistence / Interference Scenarios
3. Propagation Environment
4. Physical Layer – Atmel ZigBee Solutions
5. Practical Investigations – Coverage, Range
6. Conclusions / Summary

September 2, 2008 2
Introduction to WPAN – The Wireless Space

The wireless space

WWAN
Range (Meters)

WMAN ti on
p
sum
n
r Co
we
t Po
WLAN wes
L o

WPAN

0.01 0.1 1 10 100 1000

Data Rate (Mbps)

September 2, 2008 3
Frequency Assignment (1)

Overview – Frequency Assignement

- IEEE802.15.4 uses only unlicensed ISM radio bands to ensure a worldwide

acceptance and applicability
1. First generation IEEE802.15.4 solutions are operating at 2.4 GHz
2. Second generation IEEE802.15.4 devices using sub-1GHz ISM bands
• 868 - 870 MHz: ITU Region 1: e.g. Europe, Middle East, …
channel #0; ERP < 25 mW (+13.9 dBm)
• 902 - 928 MHz: ITU Region 2: e.g. North/South America, also Australia, …
channel #1 … 10 ; EIRP ≤ 1.0W (+30.0 dBm)
• 950 – 956 MHz: 802.15.4d, Japan, under development
• 779 – 787 MHz: 802.15.4c, China, under development

sub-1 GHz range and limited channel capacity are the biggest BENEFIT
Lower frequency band provides extra link budget at higher sensitivity
Limited channel capacity does not attract data streaming services

September 2, 2008 4
Frequency Assignment (1)

Overview – Frequency Assignement

- IEEE802.15.4 sub-1 GHz Frequency bands and data rates

- Definitions for Japan and China are in separate specifications

Reference: IEEE802.15.4TM-2006, Table 1

September 2, 2008 5
Frequency Assignment (3)

Region 1: ERC/REC 70-3 and Harmonized Standard EN300220

- IEEE802.15.4 assigned channel 0 in 868 band, channel 1…10 in 915 band

- ERC/REC 70-03 and EN 300 220 allocating 3 bands for ISM usage

Band Power Density Max. TX Duty

Power1 Cycle
or LBT
[MHz] [dBm/100 kHz] [dBm] %
863 – 870 -4.5 -1.3 / +5.4 0.1 / y
868.0 – 868.6 +6.2 +13.9 1/y
865 - 868 +6.2 +9.4 / +13.4 1/y
865 - 870 +0.8 +4.0 / +8.0 0.1 / y

Notes
1 868 MHz band BPSK and O-QPSK 400kHz BW
No duty cycle limit applies when LBT is used

September 2, 2008 6
Frequency Assignment (4)

LBT – Listen Before Talk

- Listen Before Talk can be used to increase duty cycle

- Important Parameters are:
TX-off time: >100ms (minimum time between 2 transmissions)
Listen time: 5ms if channel is free at begin of listen interval
5..10ms if channel is busy at start of listen interval
(pseudo-random, 0.5ms step size)
TX-on time: < 1s
TX polling sequence: < 4s
LBT threshold: -87 dBm (TX power < 100 mW, BW = 200kHz)
Acknowledge: allowed w/o LBT

September 2, 2008 7
Frequency Assignment (5)

Unlicensed 2.4 GHz ISM band (1)

- IEEE802.15.4 assigned channel 11 … 26 in 2.4 GHz band

- Despite IEEE802.15.4 is a low-power standard, regional regulatory bodies
allow the usage of higher transmit powers
- Europe: up to 100 mW (+20 dBm)
- US: up to 1W (+30 dBm)
- Japan: up to 10 mW/MHz

- The wide bandwidth of 2.4 GHz ISM band is attractive for a growing number of
applications sharing this band
- Wireless LAN (WLAN, with various flavours like 802.11a|b|g|n)
- Proprietary applications (TV and audio streaming, HID, remote control, …)
- Bluetooth (BT, BT-EDR, ULP-BT), Wireless USB, RFID
- Cordless phones
- Microwave ovens

- IEEE802.15.4 provides several mechanisms that enhance coexistence with

other wireless devices

September 2, 2008 8
Frequency Assignment (6)

Unlicensed 2.4 GHz ISM band (2)

- Previous coexistence tests investigating the 2.4 GHz interference situation

demonstrating effects between co-located systems
- Effects on IEEE802.15.4 implementations are
- Blocked channels, packet loss
- Increased latency
- Error floor

- Recommendation to overcome such situations are typically

- Increase physical distance between co-located systems
- Frequency hopping

- ZigBee Specification 2007 introduces channel selection management

- A “Network Manager” is a device which implements network management
functions … , including PAN ID conflict resolution and frequency agility
measurements …
- This function adds complexity to a 2.4 GHz, extra effort for observing and
controlling the network

September 2, 2008 9
Content

Presentation Overview

1. Overview Frequency Assignment / Radio Propagation

2. Coexistence / Interference Scenarios
3. Propagation Environment
4. Physical Layer – Atmel ZigBee Solutions
5. Practical Investigations – Coverage, Range
6. Conclusions / Summary

September 2, 2008 10
Coexistence (1)

Coexistence / Interferences (1)

- IEEE802.15.4 / ZigBee mechanisms enhancing coexistence (1):

1. CCA using CS and ED
- Collision avoidance mechanism (CSMA-CA), applied to 2.4G and sub-1 GHz
- ED and LQI are measurements used for CSMA-CA to characterize interference situations

2. Dynamic Channel Selection

- Not required for 868 MHz
- Mandatory for 2.4 GHz – requires resources and time, increase power consumption
- ChannelList parameters are to be adapted for varying interference scenarios
- Adaptive Frequency Hopping is not likely to implement due to limited channels (16)

3. Modulations schemes
- 2.4 GHz O-QPSK (sine shaped, MSK equivalent) allows a power-efficient modulation
scheme
- Sub-1 GHz bands using bandwidth limited modulation schemes
- 868 MHz is not affected by adjacent/alternate channel interferences
- 915 MHz has typically a higher selectivity due to narrowband characteristic

September 2, 2008 11
Coexistance (2)

Coexistence / Interferences (2)

- IEEE802.15.4 / ZigBee mechanisms enhancing coexistence (2):

4. Low duty cycle
- IEEE802.15.4 specification is tailored for application with low power and low data rate
- Typical applications are anticipated to run with low duty cycle as well
- A low duty cycle reduces the risk of interferences
- Battery operated devices suffer from increasing duty cycle

5. Channel alignment
- Not required for 868 MHz
- Mandatory for 2.4 GHz – requires resources and time, increase power consumption
- 2.4 GHz channel alignment reduces the number of available channels significantly
- 4 out of 16 channels in guard bands between 802.11b
- Interferences in guard bands are likely due 802.11 TX side lobes

6. Low transmit power

- Applicable to all 802.15.4 bands
- Sub-1 GHz systems are likely to operate at lower power because of
- Better propagation conditions, and
- Less interferences
September 2, 2008 12
Content

Presentation Overview

1. Overview Radio Propagation / Frequency Assignment

2. Coexistence / Interference Scenarios
3. Propagation Environment
4. Physical Layer – Atmel ZigBee Solutions
5. Practical Investigations – Coverage, Range
6. Conclusions / Summary

September 2, 2008 13
Propagation Environment

Propagation Environment

- A ZigBee network installation requires knowledge about propagation

conditions and environmental interference situations
- A link budget calculation is a first estimate to compare IEEE 802.15.4
implementations
- The link budget takes technical parameters of the system into account, like
- Receiver sensitivity
- Transmit Power
- Antenna Gain

- The calculation of a certain path loss requires further knowledge about the
operating frequency of the network
- Operating frequency sub-1 GHz vs. 2.4 GHz

September 2, 2008 14
Propagation Environment

Free Space Propagation (1)

- A simple model is used to determine the loss in a transmission link that would
be expected under Free Space Conditions (direct-ray model)
- Free space condition assumes an ideal environment without any objects that
absorb or reflect any radio energy of the transmitter or receiver
- A free space loss calculation based on Friis transmission equation calculates
the TX power flux density to determine the received power:
n
 λ 
Prx = Ptx ⋅   ; n = 2*
 4πd 
- The path loss Lpath is calculated as the relation between received and
transmitted power:
n
λ 
L path =   ⋅ f n ⋅ d n; n = 2*
c

September 2, 2008 15
Propagation Environment

Free Space Propagation (2)

- Exemplary, a comparison between IEEE802.15.4 implementations is shown

to emphasize the effect of different ISM frequency bands

AT86RF231 AT86RF212 Unit

Frequency band 2400 868 868 915 MHz
TX Power +3 +3 +5 +10 dBm
Modulation O-QPSK O-QPSK BPSK BPSK
Data Rate 250 100 20 40 kb/s
Sensitivity -101 -101 -110 -108 dBm
Link budget 104 104 115 120 dB
Free space range 1,6 4,4 15,5 26,1 km

x 2.8

Conclusion: sub-1 GHz adds to IEEE 802.15.4 systems

• Increased range due to the lower frequency band, and
• increased sensitivity by running a lower data rate

September 2, 2008 16
Propagation Environment

Free Space Propagation (3)

- A free space model does not assume any impact of reflection, diffraction or
multipath
- Multipath (multi-ray) is a typical scenario for wireless private area networks
- A 1st order multipath model assumes the impact of a ground wave as it is
expected for systems operating in conventional environments
-10
- Multipath scenarios
-20
shows partly a
868 MHz
-30 significant increase of
Path Loss [dB]

-40
2.4 GHz the path loss caused
by destructive
-50
multipath characteristic of
-60 various signal paths
LOS
-70 - 868 MHz is more
-80
robust against signal
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 degradation
Distance [m]

September 2, 2008 17
Propagation Environment

Other Propagation Effects

- Phenomena's affecting the wave propagation are:

- Multipath propagation
- Operation of WPANs in buildings is characterized by multipath
- Causes of multipath are reflections, refractions and attenuation by walls, furniture
and other equipment
- Effects of multipath are constructive or destructive, phase shift or attenuation
- Effects vary over time by changing the setup or varying operational conditions

- Absorption by liquids or gases

- H2O absorbs energy caused by the high molecular dipole moment of the water
molecules, critical for 2.4 GHz operation => “water meter operation”

Conclusion
A sub-1 GHz WPAN is less affected by
multipath propagation and absorption effects

September 2, 2008 18
Content

Presentation Overview

1. Overview Radio Propagation / Frequency Assignment

2. Coexistence / Interference Scenarios
3. Propagation Environment
4. Physical Layer – Atmel ZigBee Solutions
5. Practical Investigations – Coverage, Range
6. Conclusions / Summary

September 2, 2008 19
802.15.4 Physical Layer

PHY Implementation Details: 868 MHz vs. 2.4 GHz

AT86RF212 AT86RF231 2.4 GHz Unit
Sub-1 GHz 2.4 GHz Competition
Supported Standards
802.15.4-2003



802.15.4-2006



ISM / proprieatary


Current Consumption
SLEEP 0.1 0.02 0.03 uA
Idle 0.4 0.4 1.6 mA
RX 9 13.5 22.3 mA
TX (comparable link 11.5 (-6 dBm) 14.3 (+3 dBm) 25.8 (0 dBm) mA
budget, 1.55 km)
RX Sensitivity
BPSK-20 -110 dBm
OQPSK-100 -101 dBm
OQPSK-250 -100 -101 -98 dBm
TX Output Power
Pout, max +11 +3 +5 dBm
Pout, min -11 -17 -18 dBm

September 2, 2008 20
802.15.4 Physical Layer

Symbol Times, Frame Duration: 868 MHz vs. 2.4 GHz

868 MHz 2.4 GHz Unit
AT86RF212 AT86RF231
Symbol Period
BPSK-20 50 µs
OQPSK-100 25 µs
OQPSK-250 16 16 µs

Header Duration PSDU Duration Unit

SHR PHR 20 50 127
802.15.4 – 868 / 915 MHz
BPSK-20 2 0.4 8 20 50.8 ms
OQPSK-100 0.25 0.08 1 2.5 6.35 ms
OQPSK-250 0.16 0.032 0.64 1.6 4.064 ms
+56%
802.15.4 – 2.4 GHz
OQPSK-250 0.16 0.032 0.64 1.6 4.064 ms

Sub-1 GHz specifies optional data rates (OQPSK-100) to reduce frame duration

September 2, 2008 21
802.15.4 Physical Layer

PHY Power Consumption / Life Time: 868 MHz vs. 2.4 GHz
current Nx repeated

...
t_LIFS t_SIFS t_LIFS

period = 60s time

868 MHz OQPSK100 2.4 GHz 2.4 GHz Unit

AT86RF212 AT86RF231 Competition
Relative Life Time (PSDU = 127 octets), MCU typ. 2.5mA active
CSMA-CA cycles 2 4 4
Pout -6 +3 +5 dBm
PathLoss 95 104 103 dB
Distance 1,55 1,56 1,39 km
Life Time Difference -4,7 0 -41 %

- 2.4 GHz need for channel search algorithm, increased data rate and
restrictive timing requirements will balance the difference

September 2, 2008 22
Content

Presentation Overview

1. Overview Radio Propagation / Frequency Assignment

2. Coexistence / Interference Scenarios
3. Propagation Environment
4. Physical Layer – Atmel ZigBee Solutions
5. Practical Investigations – Coverage, Range
6. Conclusions / Summary

September 2, 2008 23
Practical Investigations

IEEE802.15.4 Transceiver AT86RF212 – sub-1 GHz (1)

- Beside link budget calculations real

measurements are performed to demonstrate the
performance of low-power, high performance
IEE802.15.4 transceivers
- A typical battery operated node consist of
- The radio transceiver
- The microcontroller
- The antenna I/F
- Interfaces

September 2, 2008 24
Practical Investigations

AT86RF212 at 868 MHz – Indoor Coverage (Office)

PER [%] AT86RF212 AT86RF231

Office Building
Frequency 868 MHz 2.4 GHz
PTX = +3 dBm
Modulation BPSK-20 OQPSK-100 OQPSK-250
PSDU = 20 octets
Channel #0 #0 #11 # Frames = 10.000
P2 – P4 0 0 0
P2 – P5 0.34 0.16 9.4 Building 5 floors + garage
P2 – P6 0 0 7.6 Side view
P2 – P7 0 1.4 100 P2 4F
P2 – P8 2.9 100 100
P4 P5 3F
Building 5 floors + garage
Top view
P6 2F
P2
P7 1F
Ele.

Elevator
Staircase
13m P8
0

G
P4 P6/7 P5 P8
September 2, 2008 25
13m
Practical Investigations

AT86RF212 at 915 MHz – Range Measurement

- Line of Sight measurement to illustrate the
potential of sub-1 GHz operation

September 2, 2008 26
Practical Investigations

IEEE802.15.4 Transceiver AT86RF212 – 915 MHz (2)

- Range test measurements are based on packet-

error rate (PER 1%) measurements
- The environment chosen for this test is mainly
characterized by one direct line-of-sight and a
ground wave
- The distance achieved during this test is about

D ~ 4370 m

- Range may be extended using optimized

antennas
- Data rate: 20 kb/s, 20 octets
- Modulation: BPSK-20
- TX power: +10 dBm
- Antenna height: 1.4m

September 2, 2008 27
Practical Investigations

IEEE802.15.4 Transceiver AT86RF230/1 – 2.4 GHz (1)

- Beside link budget calculations real

measurements are performed to demonstrate the
performance of low-power, high performance
IEE802.15.4 transceivers
- A typical battery operated node consist of
- The radio transceiver
- The microcontroller
- The antenna
- Interfaces

September 2, 2008 28
Practical Investigations

IEEE802.15.4 Transceiver AT86RF230/1 – 2.4 GHz

- Range test measurements are based on packet-error rate PER (1%)

measurements
- The environment chosen for this test is mainly characterized by one direct
line-of-sight and one second ground wave
- The distance achieved during this test is about

D ~ 1000 m

Data rate: 250 kb/s

PSDU: 20 octets
Modul.: OPSK-250
Pout: +3 dBm
Antenna : 1.4m

September 2, 2008 29
Content

Presentation Overview

1. Overview Radio Propagation / Frequency Assignment

2. Coexistence / Interference Scenarios
3. Propagation Environment
4. Physical Layer – Atmel ZigBee Solutions
5. Practical Investigations – Coverage, Range
6. Conclusions / Summary

September 2, 2008 30
Conclusions / Summary

With IEEE 802.15.4 consider BOTH sides of the medal

sub-1 GHz AND 2.4 GHz

ATMEL’s sub-1 GHz 802.15.4 / ZigBee solutions provide

• Longest Range due to low frequency bands
• Up to 16 dB improved Link Budget
• Leading edge Sensitivity values for all rates
• Lowest Power Consumption
• MAC features implemented in hardware
• Ensures robust and reliable network performance
• Pin and functional compatible to 2.4 GHz solutions
• No need for amplification

September 2, 2008 31
Wide Selection of Wireless Solutions

IEEE 802.15.4 Leading-Edge Solutions from

ATMEL Microcontroller Wireless Solutions

 Choice of various PHY Implementations

 Supported frequency bands
- IEEE 802.15.4 at 2.4 GHz
- IEEE 802.15.4 at 868 MHz
- IEEE 802.15.4 at 915 MHz
- Other sub-1 GHz in design

 Pin and feature compatible family

 2.4 GHz / sub-1 GHz Single Chip Solutions

 Wireless Family will grow in various directions!

AT86RF230  AT86RF231  AT86RF212  ATmega128RFA1  ...

September 2, 2008 32
Wide Selection of Microcontrollers

 Choice of 100+ AVRs

 Devices range from 1 to 512 kB
 Pin count range from 8 to 100
 Full code compatibility
 Pin/feature compatible families
 One set of development tools

 Supports simple point – point -> Fullblown ZigBee

mesh networks on one PCB
- Example: ATmega164P, ATmega324P, ATmega644P
and ATmega1284P

= microcontroller optimized for ANY wireless applications

September 2, 2008 33
Conclusions / Summary

Software Support

• Transceiver adaption layer, access toolbox

• IEEE802.15.4 MAC and security
• ZigBee stack, ZigBee profiles (e.g. SmartEnergy)
• Implementations are for all frequency bands
• Implementations available for various MCU’s
• Other stacks are available too, e.g. 6LoWPAN

September 2, 2008 34
Conclusions

Thank you for your attention!

September 2, 2008 35
Resources

Technical Support Center

 support.atmel.no

Datasheets and application notes

 www.atmel.com/products/ZigBee

Other resources
 www.avrfreaks.net
 www.zigbee.org
 www.6lowpan.net

News and online trainings

 www.avrtv.com

Support by MCU and RF experts

 AVR@atmel.com

September 2, 2008 36
Contacts

Marketing & Technical Contacts

Marketing Contact Engineering Contact

Magnus Pedersen Sascha Beyer
Director Marketing System Design
Microcontroller Wireless Solutions Microcontroller Wireless Solutions

Atmel Norway A/S Atmel Germany GmbH

Vestre Rosten 78 Design Center Dresden
Tiller N-7075 Königsbrücker Strasse 61
Norway 01099 Dresden

Phone: +47 7289 7647 Phone: +49 351 6523-410

Cell: +47 928 84579 Fax: +49 351 6523-5410
mailto: magnus.pedersen@atmel.com mailto: sascha.beyer@atmel.com

September 2, 2008 37
September 2, 2008 38
Backup

Backup

September 2, 2008 39
Range / Coverage Test Setup

AT86RF212 – Range- and Coverage Test Setup

Antenna

Software RES
Radio Evaluation Suite (PER)

RCB Radio Controller

Display Board
Board September 2, 2008 40
Range / Coverage Test Setup

AT86RF231 – Range- and Coverage Test Setup

Software RES
Antenna
Radio Evaluation Suite (PER)

RCB Radio Controller

Display Board
Board

September 2, 2008 41