ccRF3 Click

How does it work?

ccRF 3 Click is based on the CC1120, a high-performance RF transceiver for narrowband systems from Texas Instruments. At the center of the CC1120 is a fully integrated fractional-N ultra-high-performance frequency synthesizer, which brings excellent phase noise performance, providing very high selectivity and blocking performance. This flexible receiver is amplified by a low noise amplifier (LNA) and converted in quadrature (I/Q) to the intermediate frequency (IF), after which high dynamic range ADCs digitize the signals. The transmitter is based on direct synthesis of the RF frequency, so to use the spectrum effectively, the CC1120 has extensive data filtering and shaping in TX mode to support high throughput data communication in narrowband channels. The CC1120 also brings down other techniques like eWOR, sniff mode, antenna diversity, WaveMatch, and more.

Antenna diversity can increase performance if enabled in a multipath environment, while the CC1120 automatically controls the required onboard antenna switch. The AGC module of the CC1120 returns an estimate of the signal strength (RSSI) received by the antenna. In addition, an integrated temperature sensor for FS calibration is also available. One of the supported modulations (2-FSK, 2-GFSK, 4-FSK, MSK, and OOK) does the transmission. Besides the support for retransmissions and automatic acknowledgment of received packages, the CC1120 also has TCXO, power modes, built-in coding gain support for increased range and robustness, and many more.

The CC1120 uses an SPI serial interface to communicate with the host MCU. In addition, this Click board™ features an RST pin for resetting the CC1120 and a few user-configurable pins labeled GP0, GP2, and GP3 that can monitor different signals or setting modes. The Clear Channel Assessment (CCA) indicates if the current channel is free or busy with two flags available on GP2 and GP0 while the current CCA state is viewable on GP3. In synchronous serial operation mode, GP0 is explicitly used for serial data input for TX operation.

The ccRF 3 Click uses u.Fl connector for adding the appropriate u.Fl Sub-GHz antenna, offered by MIKROE, and it shouldn’t be powered up without one according to the used frequency. Also, this Click board™ features a 433MHz impedance-matched, multi-function, integrated ceramic passive component switch for the Texas Instruments CC1120 chipset.

CC1120 can be configured using the SmartRF™ Studio software. SmartRF™ Studio is highly recommended for obtaining optimum register settings and evaluating performance and functionality.

This Click board™ can be operated only with a 3.3V logic voltage level. The board must perform appropriate logic voltage level conversion before using MCUs with different logic levels. However, the Click board™ comes equipped with a library containing functions and an example code that can be used as a reference for further development.

Specifications

Pinout diagram

This table shows how the pinout on ccRF3 Click corresponds to the pinout on the mikroBUS™ socket (the latter shown in the two middle columns).

Notes	Pin					Pin	Notes
General-Purpose I/O	GP0	1	AN	PWM	16	GP2	General-Purpose I/O
Reset	RST	2	RST	INT	15	GP3	General-Purpose I/O
SPI Chip Select	CS	3	CS	RX	14	NC
SPI Clock	SCK	4	SCK	TX	13	NC
SPI Data OUT	SDO	5	MISO	SCL	12	NC
SPI Data IN	SDI	6	MOSI	SDA	11	NC
Power Supply	3.3V	7	3.3V	5V	10	NC
Ground	GND	8	GND	GND	9	GND	Ground

Onboard settings and indicators

ccRF3 Click electrical specifications

Software Support

We provide a library for the ccRF 3 Click as well as a demo application (example), developed using MIKROE compilers. The demo can run on all the main MIKROE development boards.

Package can be downloaded/installed directly from NECTO Studio Package Manager(recommended), downloaded from our LibStock™ or found on Mikroe github account.

Library Description

This library contains API for ccRF 3 Click driver.

Key functions

• ccrf3_cmd_strobe Set command strobe function.

• ccrf3_send_tx_data Send TX data function.

• ccrf3_receive_rx_data Receive RX data function.

Example Description

This example demonstrates the use of ccRF 3 click board.

 void application_task ( void ) 
 { 
 #ifdef DEMO_APP_TRANSMITTER 
     ccrf3_send_tx_data( &ccrf3, TEXT_TO_SEND, strlen( TEXT_TO_SEND ) ); 
     log_printf( &logger, " Sent message: MikroErn" ); 
     log_printf( &logger, " Packet number: %urn", ccrf3.packet_counter ); 
     log_printf( &logger, "----------------------rn" ); 
     Delay_ms ( 1000 );
     Delay_ms ( 1000 ); 
 #else 
     uint8_t num_bytes = ccrf3_receive_rx_data( &ccrf3, &rx_buffer[ 0 ] ); 
     if ( num_bytes ) 
     { 
         log_printf( &logger, " Received message: " ); 
         for ( uint8_t cnt = 3; cnt < rx_buffer[ 0 ]; cnt++ ) 
         { 
             log_printf( &logger, "%c", rx_buffer[ cnt ] ); 
         } 
         log_printf( &logger, " Packet number: %u", ccrf3.packet_counter ); 
         log_printf( &logger, "rn----------------------rn" ); 
     } 
 #endif 
 }

The full application code, and ready to use projects can be installed directly from NECTO Studio Package Manager(recommended), downloaded from our LibStock™ or found on Mikroe github account.

Other Mikroe Libraries used in the example:

• MikroSDK.Board
• MikroSDK.Log
• Click.ccRF3

Additional notes and informations

Depending on the development board you are using, you may need USB UART click, USB UART 2 Click or RS232 Click to connect to your PC, for development systems with no UART to USB interface available on the board. UART terminal is available in all MIKROE compilers.

mikroSDK

This Click board™ is supported with mikroSDK - MIKROE Software Development Kit. To ensure proper operation of mikroSDK compliant Click board™ demo applications, mikroSDK should be downloaded from the LibStock and installed for the compiler you are using.

For more information about mikroSDK, visit the official page.