YAMAR SIG60/61 Test Program
E lec tro n ics L td
Operation Manual
General
The DC-BUS Test Program provides an easy way to evaluate the performance of
Powerline communication based on Yamar's SIG60 and SIG61 devices using a PC
operating as a host with a UART port. SIG60 and SIG61 Evaluation boards (EVB) are
used for the testing purpose.
The test program controls its SIG60 device via the PC, either by a RS232 interface or
by a USB interface provided by Yamar.
The program modes of operations are:
1. Transmit and receive data in Hex or ASCII formats
2. Transmit and receive Test pattern and perform BER measurements
3. Set the SIG60 operating parameters
4. Command remote SIG61 slave devices (only with the USB-SIG60 interface)
1.
Installation
The DC-BUS Tester program is a single executable file operating under Microsoft
.NET Framework 4. The .NET Framework 4 can be downloaded directly from
Microsoft at:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=9cfb2d51-5ff4-4491b0e5-b386f32c0992&displaylang=en
Test Program
Transmit
Test Program
Receive
COMx
USB or
RS232 I/F
SIG60
EVB
USB or
RS232 I/F
8
8
ID(4)
COMy
SIG60
EVB
SIG61
EVB
Battery
Figure 1 - Test system setup example
©2012 YAMAR Electronics Ltd.
1
OM SIG60 DC-BUS Test Program
Shimon Hatarsi Tel Aviv, Israel. Tel (972) 3 5445294 Fax (972) 3 5445279
www.yamar.com
Preliminary
The test environment has one SIG60 EVB operating as a transmitter and one or more
SIG60 EVBs or SIG61 EVBs operating as receivers on the DC-BUS network.
The interface between the SIG60 EVB to its PC is performed either by a USB-SIG60
interface or by RS232 interface. Either can be supply by Yamar.
Installation process:
1. Connect the USB-SIG60 interface on top of the SIG60 EVB J1 connector. Be sure
that the USB-SIG60 drivers are installed. (See annex 1)
2. Connect the SIG60 EVBs and SIG61 EVBs to the same power supply.
3. Connect each SIG60 EVB to a PC either by using a USB-SIG60 Interface or a
RS232 interface.
4. Run the provided “DC-BUS_Tester.exe” program in all the PCs used for the
testing. (Both at the transmitting SIG60 side and receiving side).
5. At the software GUI select the appropriate COM port and press the "Open Port"
button.
6. At the RX side select the "Rx/Tx BER" tab and check the "Test mode" check box.
7. At the TX side select the "Rx/Tx BER" tab, check the "Test mode" and the
"Continuous Tx" check boxes as shown in Figure 2 and press the "TX" button.
Figure 2 - Quick TX mode
The Software will start to send "ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ" data to
the TX SIG60 device and at the RX side the software will receive the data and
analyze it do detect errors.
©2012 YAMAR Electronics Ltd.
2
OM SIG60 DC-BUS Test Program
Shimon Hatarsi Tel Aviv, Israel. Tel (972) 3 5445294 Fax (972) 3 5445279
www.yamar.com
Preliminary
2.
Operation
2.1 Set the Comm. Properties
The program automatically detects the available COM port in the computer and
displays it in the Port Num list.
Figure 3 - Comm. port setting
Port Num. - Select the COM port that the SIG60 is connected to, either a virtual COM
port (via the USB dongle) or a physical one.
Baud Rate - Choose the Baud Rate for the SIG60 operation. The software will
configure the SIG60 to work at selected Baud Rate however; it is the user
responsibility to make sure that the Baud Rate/Frequency settings are valid.
Please refer to the SIG60 data sheet for further information regarding the operating
modes of the SIG60.
Open/Close Port button - Open or close the selected COM port. If there is no
SIG60 device connected to the selected COM port, the software will switch to
DEMO mode and will remain in DEMO mode until the COM port is closed.
2.2 SIG60 Device Setting
Note: The SIG60 has its default configuration values: Bit rate = 19.2Kbps F0=5.5MHz,
F1=6.5MHz. If the SIG60 device intends to operate at these parameters, there is no
need to set further more the EVBs.
The SIG60 contains internal registers that configure the SIG60 operation mode.
Pressing on the Device Settings button will bring up a new window with option to
modify the SIG60 configuration.
©2012 YAMAR Electronics Ltd.
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OM SIG60 DC-BUS Test Program
Shimon Hatarsi Tel Aviv, Israel. Tel (972) 3 5445294 Fax (972) 3 5445279
www.yamar.com
Preliminary
Figure 4 - Device setting window
Control Register 0
- Set Control register 0 in the SIG60.
Control Register 1 - Set Control register 1 in the SIG60. This control register
configure the working bit rate and frequencies pair. Please note that not all
combinations are valid. Inserting none valid combination will result in bad or even no
communication at all. Refer to the SIG60 data sheet for more information.
Register 0 - Display the current status of Control register 0 of the SIG60.
Register 1 - Display the current status of Control register 1 of the SIG60.
Apply button - Writes the new settings to the SIG60. If the writing passed
successfully then the new values will be displayed in the Register 0 and Register 1
boxes.
Read button - Reads the current status of the SIG60's control registers.
OK button - Writes the new settings to the SIG60 and close the Device Settings
window resuming normal operation.
Cancel button - Closes the Device Settings window resuming normal operation.
©2012 YAMAR Electronics Ltd.
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OM SIG60 DC-BUS Test Program
Shimon Hatarsi Tel Aviv, Israel. Tel (972) 3 5445294 Fax (972) 3 5445279
www.yamar.com
Preliminary
Advanced Settings
Clicking on the Right mouse button and selecting the “Advanced View” option brings
a new check box to the GUI the Command (HDC) check box. This option allows the
user to manually lower the HDC signal of the SIG60 hence bringing the device to
Command mode. In this mode the user can write his preferred settings to the control
registers. Please note that writing improper values can lead to bad or even no
communication. This mode is for advance use only. For configuring the SIG60 please
use the Device Settings window.
Figure 5 - Advanced setting Command (HDC)
2.3 TX and Rx Data mode
To transmit custom data, at the transmitting (Tx) side, enter in the “Tx Data” section a
data message to be transmitted. The data message can be in either ASCII or Hex
format.
Press the “Tx” button. The message will be transmitted once. For continues
transmission of the same message check the “Continuous Tx”.
At the receiving (Rx) side the program will receive the data messages form its SIG60
EVB and display it in the Rx Data section. The data can be viewed either in ASCII or
Hex format.
©2012 YAMAR Electronics Ltd.
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OM SIG60 DC-BUS Test Program
Shimon Hatarsi Tel Aviv, Israel. Tel (972) 3 5445294 Fax (972) 3 5445279
www.yamar.com
Preliminary
Figure 6 - TX and Rx Data mode
Tx/Stop Tx button - Start or stop the data transfer to the SIG60. The data to be sent
depends on the current operation mode of the software and will be explained in the
next sections.
Continuous Tx - When checked, the software will send the data continuously until
the "Stop Tx" button is pressed or the check box is unchecked.
Device Settings Button - This button open a new window that gives the user a
simple access to the SIG60 configuration register. See section 2.2 for a detailed
explanation on the SIG60 configuration.
F0/F1 - These buttons provide a quick access to select between the two working
frequencies of the SIG60 device.
2.4
BER Test
During BER test, a predefined message ("ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ”) is
transmitted over the powerline. The receiving SIG60 EVB(s) analyze the received
messages and displays information regarding the quality of the message.
To operate the BER Test, at the TX side select the "Rx/Tx BER" tab, check the "Test
mode", the "Continuous Tx" check boxes and press the "TX" button. The program will
send "ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ" test data messages to the TX SIG60 EVB.
At the RX side select the "Rx/Tx BER" tab. When the "Test mode" check box is
checked, the program will start to analyze the received data messages and display
the results in the Rx/Tx BER section.
©2012 YAMAR Electronics Ltd.
6
OM SIG60 DC-BUS Test Program
Shimon Hatarsi Tel Aviv, Israel. Tel (972) 3 5445294 Fax (972) 3 5445279
www.yamar.com
Preliminary
Rx/Tx BER Test Results
Bytes Sent - Amount of bytes sent to the SIG60.
Bytes Received - Amount of bytes received from the SIG60.
Error Bytes - Number of error bytes received. Example: 'ABC$EFG...' has one error
byte
Miss Bytes - Number of missed bytes. Example: 'ABCEFG...' has one miss byte
Noise Bytes - Number of noise bytes received. Example: 'ABC%DEFG...' has one
noise byte
Re-Sync Events - Number of Re-Sync events. Three consecutive errors are causing
a Re-Sync event. Example: 'ABCXXX...LMNOP...' is a Re-Sync event.
2.5 SIG61 Commands (Valid with Yamar’s USB-SIG60 Interface only)
The SIG61 mode assists to construct SIG61 commands as set in the SIG61 data
sheet. Each SIG61 command contains a Break, Sync, SIG61 ID address, Command
type, Data and Check-sum. For further information regarding the structure of the
SIG61 command, see the SIG61 data sheet.
(http://www.yamar.com/datasheet/DS-SIG61.pdf).
Figure 7 - SIG61 commands
The program automatically calculates the SIG61 message check-sum and parity bits
allowing the user to select only the command type and ID. The full command is
displayed in the Rx Data window once it was sent.
©2012 YAMAR Electronics Ltd.
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OM SIG60 DC-BUS Test Program
Shimon Hatarsi Tel Aviv, Israel. Tel (972) 3 5445294 Fax (972) 3 5445279
www.yamar.com
Preliminary
There are five fields of commands, each field contain the following items:
ID - Select the ID to send the command to.
Command - Select the command type to be sent. Refer for the SIG61 for additional
information regarding the available commands.
Data -The command data window. On Write command, the data byte entered to this
window will be written to the output port of SIG61 having same ID. On Read and
Read Change commands the window will display the received data from the input
port of SIG61 having same ID.
Each command can be selected to add it to the commands loop. When the Tx button
is pressed the program starts to send all the selected commands. If the Continuous
Tx is also checked the program repeats sending the commands in a loop.
Delay Between Commands - This field adds additional delay between each
command sent. It allows monitoring the commands activity. The actual delay is the
DELAY VALUE * 10mSec.
Application example; is writing commands with different data to turn on /off LEDs
controlled by a SIG61 EVB.
3. Software updates
The Program can check if a new version is available (require an internet access). By
clicking on the right mouse button and selecting the “Check for update” the program
will look for updates in Yamar’s web site and inform the user when new update found.
©2012 YAMAR Electronics Ltd.
8
OM SIG60 DC-BUS Test Program
Shimon Hatarsi Tel Aviv, Israel. Tel (972) 3 5445294 Fax (972) 3 5445279
www.yamar.com
Preliminary
Annex 1 - USB-SIG60 Driver installation
When the USB-SIG60 serial Interface is plugged to the PC’s USB connector, a
new device founded message will appear.
Select 'No, not this time' and click on Next
After a new window will appear, click con "Install from a list or specific location
(Advanced)" and then click on Next
©2012 YAMAR Electronics Ltd.
9
OM SIG60 DC-BUS Test Program
Shimon Hatarsi Tel Aviv, Israel. Tel (972) 3 5445294 Fax (972) 3 5445279
www.yamar.com
Preliminary
Search for the location of the Driver directory with the .inf file provided by Yamar
and then click on Next
The driver will be installed.
©2012 YAMAR Electronics Ltd.
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OM SIG60 DC-BUS Test Program
Shimon Hatarsi Tel Aviv, Israel. Tel (972) 3 5445294 Fax (972) 3 5445279
www.yamar.com
Preliminary
At the end, click on finish and the device is ready for use.
Note: if the USB to Serial module is plugged in another USB connector of the PC, the driver must
be installed again.
©2012 YAMAR Electronics Ltd.
11
OM SIG60 DC-BUS Test Program
Shimon Hatarsi Tel Aviv, Israel. Tel (972) 3 5445294 Fax (972) 3 5445279
www.yamar.com