Questions from The New SensorTag - IoT Made Easy Webinar

Transcription

1 Questions from The New SensorTag - IoT Made Easy Webinar Are there any plans to make a Windows API available (preferably portable for use in Windows 10 Universal applications) It is in our queue of projects, but unfortunately we don t have a time line yet Hi there, thanks for delivering this presentation. Regarding the hardware itself, I had few questions: 1. power efficiency-wise, not using a DCDC is a good choice for the best use of the battery? Normally yes, you will be able get 20-25% longer battery life in active mode. But the CC2650 includes an on-chip DC/DC with 90% efficiency and the most power hungry sensor(gyro) is powered from the CC2650. This means adding an external DC/DC on the SensorTag would only give marginally better battery life 2. Digital sensors such as I2C sensors are not probably the most efficient protocol for power saving, have other alternatives been explored? Yes, SPI has faster transmit rate and will reduce active time. I2C was chosen to simplify the interface and to allow us to include maximum number of sensors. We simply don t have enough I/Os for 10 SPI chip select signals 3. What is the IP stack used in the SensorTag? was it developed by TI? We are using our internally developed Bluetooth Smart stack ( This is by far the most commonly used Bluetooth Smart software stack in the industry. Bluetooth Smart is (currently) not using an IP stack Can the light sensor detect flashes? Good question, I will check with the Optical sensor team Is the BLE stack open for the cc2650? Or is the link layer already assembled? Parts of the stack is supplied as library, but you are free to modify all parts of the stack that is needed to support your own hardware or system requirements. The SensorTag application code on top of the stack is also openly available if you want to modify the SensorTag or fit it to your own sensors Could the offline data storage be used to let SensorTag acting as a data logger? The hardware is ready for supporting offline data loggers, but we have not yet implemented a user example and app for supporting it. Is there a RTC on the sensorpack? The CC2650 chip on the SensorTag includes a RTC clock on chip.

2 Can the debugger from the old Sensortag be used for the new SensorTag? No, the old debugger used a proprietary interface, the new SensorTag includes a full standard ARM JTAG interface Is it possible to use Keil with the tag? As long as Keil is using standard JTAG interface the CC2650 will be supported. You may need to get a CC2650 specific configuration file from Keil How long does it take for the magnetometer to calibrate? Not sure, Invensense does not specify calibration time Can the sensor tag work with a desktop or laptop computer? Yes, but you will need a Bluetooth Smart USB dongle: Can the tag change sensor update based upon the detection of a user specified event? Yes, but we have not yet included it in our sample code Is your client software capable of reading multiple sensortags at the same time? If so, what is max count? There is no limitations in the SensorTag app on the phone, but this will be limited by the Bluetooth Smart interface on the phone and may very from model to model What security or encryption options do you support? We use the encryption specified by the Bluetooth Smart specification Will the dev pack be available for purchase at e14? I hope so, that is a question for Element 14 Is the current ios/android app source code available for download as well? We are working on releasing the source code examples, the Android source will be released first on git.ti.com What is the name is the application, where the sensor data showed? SensorTag How long is the coin cell lifetime with the sensors active? Depends how often the sensors are reporting data. For an application that report sensor data every 1 second our target is one year. We used SensorTag 2 and build a first test ios app. We are struggling with receiving the barometer data. Its working find with SensorTag 1, but not with SensorTag 2. Community Forum wasnt able to help... Who can help us? Please upgrade to the latest firmware(1.01) from the SensorTag app, we changed the reporting format for the pressure sensor.

3 Thank you, is the sensor tag able to connect to a wireless network directly and transmit data to the cloud? Or does it require a smartphone or pc? The Bluetooth Smart version requires a phone or tablet with the app active to send data to the cloud. If you program it as a ZigBee or 6LoWPAN device you will need a gateway to connect to the cloud. Later this year we will launch the WiFi version that can connect directly to the cloud You have now connected your Tag to that PC via debugger, right? Yes, To compile and download code it needs to be connected to a debug DevPack. Will there be a ios sensortag app availble with source? Like you have available for Android. We will launch a code example for ios, it will not be identical to the SensorTag app but we are launching everything our legal department allows us to launch Will the wifi version also have bluetooth? can I connect directly to the sensortag, or must I connect through the server? The WiFi version does not include Bluetooth Smart. It can connect directly to the phone (as WiFi gateway) but normally the phone and the SensorTag connects to a WiFi access point Is it possible to use OAD to flash say the contiki firmware that was released recently or do I need the Debug DevPack? You can compile and build a 6LoWPAN binary file that can be downloaded over the air from the app without debugger Is the I2C-Interface of the CC2640 only intended to be used in master mode or can it also be an I2C slave? It can be both master and slave BLE stack can be used only with css/iar or there are solution for gcc based environments? Currently not, but we are looking into it Any possibility to have 6LOWPAN on BLE? Currently not, but we are actively working with Bluetooth SIG for future extensions of the specification Is the bluetooth stack stored in the internal flash or on external flash? It is stored in internal flasj Sorry I might have missed this due to linux incompatibility with the webinar. Does the grove interface mean that the sensortag can act as a host for any i2c sensor? Are there other options like direct ADC or bitbanged interfaces? All options for interfacing to the Grove sensors are supported

4 Is CC2650 a better choice than CC2530 for Zigbee HA? No both are good for ZigBee. The difference is that CC2650 can support both Bluetooth Smart and ZigBee Is it possible to use some asynchronous counter while the cpu is in power down mode? Yes, the real time clock is an asynchronous counter Is the sensor tag customizable with other sensors of my own design? Yes, you can add sensor by making your own devpack, use a Grove sensor, or hook onto the pinrow connector on the Debug DevPack Is it possible to add more BLE services on top of the current stack? Yes, you can use all BLE services or make your own When will the Sensor Tag be available as Farnell currently do not have any. Check with Farnell, they are selling quickly!! Q: on the CCS cloud could we also develop firmware for the Sensortag 1 (CC2541) No, only the ARM based compiler is supported What about wi-fi connection and direct Cloud Connection? Is actually available any hardware? WiFi is launching later this year I am curious about licensing - why does the Code Composer Studio webpage show these high prices for licensing? Can you explain a little more about it? We are sponsoring the license cost for the compiler to make sure the compiler does not stop anyone from using our development kits Does TI plan to release a LaunchPad and / or a BoosterPack featuring the CC2650, like the CC3200 LP / CC3100 BP? This is one of the major issues I'm facing: finding a BLE BP I could use with the MSP432 LaunchPad. The CC3100 requires too much power. Stay tuned, we have more ideas than time! I'm interested on more information about Zigbee capabilities and the customization on that, is that possible? Yes, you can download the Z-Stack ( and modify the ZigBee code to fit your requirements Will it be possible to use CSS + Zigbee or are we tightened to IAR once again? You are free to use either CCS or IAR Are these sensortags customer-ready or for development only? The SensorTag is intended to be a tool for development and reference design for you to use in your application. It is not tested or intended to be an end-product

5 Would the CC2538 dev kit debugger boards work with the sensortag? Yes Does the Zigbee version require a precise profile at the BeagleBone? Which one? Home automation maybe? The linux based gateway running on the Beaglebone support the ZigBee home automation profile What is the relative power life of the new sensortag, compared to the one of the older sensortag. The CC2650 is significantly lower power than the CC2541. But we have added more sensors and an external flash for data storage that increases the current consumption. Overall we should get 2x the battery life Is it easy to change the UUID of the device? It can easily be done in the source code Are you planing to implement BT 4.2 stack? We are actively working with Bluetooth SIG for future extensions of the specification The sensortag supports 2.4GHz protocols, thus it should be possible to program both bluetooth and wifi functionality, and have control via the code? Nope, the WiFi and Bluetooth Smart Radio interface is very different