Product category:
Wireless Communications
News Release from: Aerocomm | Subject: AC5124
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial
Team on 28 May 2003
Radio module goes to extremes
AeroComm has upgraded its AC5124 spread spectrum, frequency hopping RF module with improved operating temperature performance and improved range.
AeroComm has upgraded its AC5124 spread spectrum, frequency hopping RF module with improved operating temperature performance and improved range With the upgraded specification now becoming standard, the module will be useful to a wider range of OEMs seeking to include wireless connectivity to their products for industrial applications
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 13 Dec 2001 at 8.00am (UK)
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The AC5124 is a digital RF transceiver employing frequency hopping, spread spectrum (FHSS) technology for high resistance to interference.
The module provides reliable wireless communication across hundreds of feet indoors and over miles line-of-site, and is ideal for a wide variety of commercial applications.
Operating in the 2.4GHz band, the AC5124 replaces costly, bulky wiring in applications such as signs and POS (point-of-sale) including scoreboards, parking and traffic signs, remote displays, wireless printing and kiosks.
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AeroComm's ASA spectrum analyser is a compact, cost-effective, PC-based instrument covering the entire 2.4GHz ISM band.
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Despite the generally poor trading conditions in the areas of wireless and communications, AeroComm reports a strong growth in the industrial sector for its wireless products.
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AeroComm has published a range of informative - if slightly controversial - brochures based on "wireless myths".
Equally the modules can be deployed in automotive and fleet management applications, and in gaming devices to provide reliable data transfer across short distances.
The AC5124's operating temperature range now covers a very versatile -40 to +80C, giving it the ability to be deployed in the most hostile of environments, from deep freezers to deserts.
The module contains sophisticated temperature compensating hardware and software to adapt across the entire industrial temp range.
Unlike many so-called ET (extended temperature) radios that contain external temperature parts, the AC5124 senses ambient temperature and compensates each radio according to its unique temperature profile.
The result is a highly reliable system whereby radios operating at any temperature within the range -40 to +80C will maintain communication 24/7.
The device's sensitivity has been improved from -90 to -93dB to detect lower signal levels.
As a result the AC5124 has a 50% increase in line of sight range, drastically improving its range performance.
Simple to deploy, a particular benefit of the AC5124 is its unique embedded protocol RF-232, making it a 'plug and play' transceiver.
The OEM sends the radio raw serial data and the radio manages 'over the air' protocol to assure successful communication.
Such protocol includes gaining acknowledgements and sending retries, error checking, and other items unique to RF that newcomers to the discipline typically forget about.
This simplifies integration for fast time to market.
The transceiver supports point-to-point, point-to-multipoint, and multipoint-to-multipoint configurations.
Accordingly it is able to broadcast data to all transceivers, or it can 'address' packets to specific destinations using unique MAC addresses embedded in each radio.
The AC5124 employs a user selectable identification number that is embedded in the radio's firmware.
A company can protect the integrity of its network by assigning a unique ID to its radios; only radios with identical ID numbers will synchronise.
No other off-the-shelf radio can eavesdrop on an AeroComm radio, and other AeroComm radios cannot even establish synchronisation - a precursor of successful communication - unless the ID numbers of the radios are identical.
The module is completely assembled and importantly, agency approved, making it ready for integration into large volume OEM applications.
Data rates up to 115.2Kbit/s provide ample speed for most commercial applications, and at a diminutive 67 x 42 x 5mm, it is perfect for integration into portable devices and stationary applications.
OEMs can choose from a short range, power efficient 10mW version for battery-powered products, or a higher-powered 200mW version for miles of line-of-sight range.
A version with an integral strip dipole antenna is available and all AC5124C variants share the same size footprint, connectors and software interfaces for interchangeability.
The modules can operate in non-condensing humidity situations from 10 to 90%.
By using the 2.4GHz frequency band, AC5124C modules are accepted virtually worldwide; the family is approved under FCC, IC (Canada) and ETSI (Europe) agencies.
For ease of integration, all modules are backed by an RF design suite and full engineering support from AeroComm.
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