P2110-EVAL-01 Powercast

P2110-EVAL-01 Lifetime Power Energy Harvesting Development Kit for Wireless Sensors Users Manual - featuring PIC MCU with eXtreme Low Power (XLP) Technology Overview The Lifetime Power Energy Harvesting Development Kit for Wireless Sensors is a complete demonstration and development platform for creating battery-free wireless sensor applications powered by RF energy (radio waves). It is designed and configured for extremely low power operation, and the firmware is pre-installed for out-of-the-box operation. The wireless sensor boards are powered by the P2110 Powerharvester Receiver, which converts RF energy into DC power. In this kit, the TX91501 transmitter is the source of RF energy at 915MHz, but other sources from 850-950 MHz can also be used for power. The communications from the sensor boards to the access point is 2.4GHz using 802.15.4-compliant radios. No batteries are needed to power the wireless sensor board. RF energy is converted into DC and stored in a capacitor. When sufficient charge is stored the regulated output of the P2110 provides power to the wireless sensor board until the operation is completed by the node or until the power is turned off at the low-voltage threshold on the capacitor. The included wireless sensors measure temperature, humidity and light, and have an interface for an external sensor. Contents The contents of the kit are shown in the image and table below. The kit includes an RF transmitter, RF energy harvesting receiver boards and antennas, wireless sensor boards, a PIC MCU-based development board and radio, and a programming tool. Rev A.3 2012/11 P2110-EVAL-01: Lifetime Power Page 1 Energy Harvesting Development Kit for Wireless Sensors www.powercastco.com Qty Item Description 1 Power and Data 3-watt, 915 MHz transmitter for power and data with integrated 8dBi Transmitter antenna and two power jacks. Sends a pre-programmed transmitter (TX91501-3W-ID) ID that is received by the P2110 Powerharvester component and is decoded by the MCU on the Wireless Sensor Board 2 P2110 Evaluation Board Evaluation board (Rev. B) for P2110 Powerharvester Receiver. This (P2110-EVB) board has an SMA connector to connect the antennas and a 10-pin connector for the Wireless Sensor Board 2 Patch antenna 915MHz directional antenna with 120-degree reception pattern (included with the P2110 evaluation board) 2 Dipole antenna 915MHz omni-directional antenna with 360-degree reception (included with the P2110 evaluation board) 2 Wireless Sensor Board Sensor for Temp/Humidity/Light and an external input. Plugs into (WSN-EVAL-01) P2110 evaluation board, and sends data to the access point (Microchip 16-bit XLP Development Board) 1 Microchip 16-bit XLP Development platform featuring Microchips PIC24F MCU that is pre- Development Board programmed to operate as an access point for receiving data from the (DM240311) Wireless Sensor Boards. USB cable included in box. 1 Microchip MRF24J40 2.4GHz, IEEE 802.15.4 radio that plugs into the 16-bit XLP PICtail/PICtail Plus Development Board for receiving data from the Wireless Sensor Daughter Board Boards (AC164134-1) 1 PICkit 3 programmer / Programming tool for updating code on the Wireless Sensor Boards debugger and the 16-bit XLP Development Board. USB cable included in (PG164130) package. Set-up and Operation Installation Overview The following basis steps are required to operate the kit and are provided as an overview. Detailed installation instructions are provided immediately after this summary. 1. Install HyperTerminal (already installed with Windows XP) or equivalent terminal emulator program. 2. Install the USB Serial Driver for the Microchip 16-bit XLP Development Board. 3. Configure HyperTerminal or equivalent terminal emulator program. 4. Connect antennas and sensor boards to P2110 evaluation board. 5. Turn on the transmitter and point toward receivers. Note: The required software for steps 1 and 2 above is available for download from