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SiK

Firmware for SiLabs Si1000 - Si102x/3x/6x ISM radios

Gitter

SiK is a collection of firmware and tools for radios based on the cheap, versatile SiLabs Si1000 and Si1060 SoC.

Branch Build Status

Build Status

Documentation

For user documentation please see ardupilot docs

Currently, it supports the following boards:

  • HopeRF HM-TRP
  • HopeRF RF50-DEMO
  • RFD900
  • RFD900u
  • RFD900p
  • MLAB ISM01A

Adding support for additional boards should not be difficult.

Currently the firmware components include:

  • A bootloader with support for firmware upgrades over the serial interface.
  • Radio firmware with support for parsing AT commands, storing parameters and FHSS/TDM functionality

AT commands

Command Variants Function
+++ Entering bootloader mode. Could be tested by sending AT, reply should be OK
RT remote AT command - send it to the tdm, system to send to the remote radio
AT&F Restore default parameters
AT&W Write parameters to the flash memory
AT&U Erase Flash signature forcing it into reprogram mode next reset
AT&P TDM change phase
AT&T AT&T
AT&T=RSSI
AT&T=TDM
disable all test modes
display RSSI stats
display TDM debug )
AT&E AT&E?
AT&E=
Print_encryption_key
Set encryption key
AT+ AT+P=
AT+Cx=y
AT+Fx?
AT+L
AT+A
set power level pwm to x immediately
write calibration value
get calibration value
lock bootloader area if all calibrations written
RFD900 antenna diversity
ATI0 banner_string
ATI1 version_string
ATI2 BOARD_ID
ATI3 Board design frequency
ATI4 Board boot loader version
ATI5 Parameters
ATI6 TDM timing
ATI7 Show RSSI
ATP ATPx=O
ATPx=I
ATPx=R
ATPx=Cx
Set pin to output, turn mirroring off pulling pin to ground
ATO
ATS ATS?
ATS=

Set a parameter
ATZ Generate a software reset

Up to date AT command processig is located in at.c source code.

What You Will Need

  • A Mac OS X or Linux system for building. Mac users will need the Developer Tools (Xcode) installed.
  • At least two Si1000 - Si102x/3x - based radio devices (just one radio by itself is not very useful).
  • A SiLabs USB debug adapter.
  • SDCC, version 3.1.0 or later.
  • EC2Tools
  • Mono to build and run the GUI firmware updater.
  • Python to run the command-line firmware updater.

Note that at this time, building on Windows systems is not supported. If someone wants to contribute and maintain the necessary pieces that would be wonderful.

Building Things

Type make install in the Firmware directory. If all is well, this will produce a folder called dst containing bootloader and firmware images.

If you want to fine-tune the build process, make help will give you more details.

Building the SiK firmware generates bootloaders and firmware for each of the supported boards. Many boards are available tuned to specific frequencies, but have no way for software on the Si1000 to detect which frequency the board is configured for. In this case, the build will produce different versions of the bootloader for each board. It's important to select the correct bootloader version for your board if this is the case.

Flashing and Uploading

The SiLabs debug adapter can be used to flash both the bootloader and the firmware. Alternatively, once the bootloader has been flashed the updater application can be used to update the firmware (it's faster than flashing, too).

The Firmware/tools/ec2upload script can be used to flash either a bootloader or firmware to an attached board with the SiLabs USB debug adapter. Further details on the connections required to flash a specific board should be found in the Firmware/include/board_*.h header for the board in question.

To use the updater application, open the SiKUploader/SikUploader.sln Mono solution file, build and run the application. Select the serial port connected to your radio and the appropriate firmware .hex file for the firmware you wish to uploader. You will need to get the board into the bootloader; how you do this varies from board to board, but it will normally involve either holding down a button or pulling a pin high or low when the board is reset or powered on.

For the supported boards:

  • HM-TRP: hold the CONFIG pin low when applying power to the board.
  • RF50-DEMO: hold the ENTER button down and press RST.
  • RFD900x: hold the BOOT/CTS pin low when applying power to the board.

The uploader application contains a bidirectional serial console that can be used for interacting with the radio firmware.

As an alternative to the Mono uploader, there is a Python-based command-line upload tool in Firmware/tools/uploader.py.

Supporting New Boards

Take a look at Firmware/include/board_*.h for the details of what board support entails. It will help to have a schematic for your board, and in the worst case, you may need to experiment a little to determine a suitable value for EZRADIOPRO_OSC_CAP_VALUE. To set the frequency codes for your board, edit the corresponding Firmware/include/rules_*.mk file.

Resources

SiLabs have an extensive collection of documentation, application notes and sample code available online.

Start at the Si1000 product page or Si102x/3x product page

Reporting Problems

Please use the GitHub issues link at the top of the project page to report any problems with, or to make suggestions about SiK. I encourage you to fork the project and make whatever use you may of it.

What does SiK mean?

It should really be Sik, since 'K' is the SI abbreviation for Kelvin, and what I meant was 'k', i.e. 1000. Someday I might change it.