FIRST STEPS

1.1 REQUIREMENTS

  1. One border router module

  2. One router node module

  3. Radius server

  4. Ioterm (Windows/Linux)

  5. A valid configuration

The radio module either the border router or the router node, has to be initially programmed with the appropriate firmware. The very first time, a node is programmed using the tool provided by the chip manufacturer. For example, for the Renesas MCU, the Renesas flash programmer has to be used. Subsequent flash updates can be performed using the UART bootloader embedded within the firmware. For all the flash updates using the UART bootloader, ioterm utility has to be used.

1.1.1 Ioterm Utility

Ioterm utility is provided in all software distributions and is available for both Linux and Windows platforms. It is similar to UART communication utilities like, teraterm or screen; but with additional functionality specific to the PAN control and configuration. For example, when used with the gateway, Ioterm communicates with the remote Radius server for authentication and also provides WAN connectivity to the PAN. The Ioterm is also capable of uploading a binary firmware for UART bootloader, digital certificate transfer or updating a license to the radio module and so on.

Normally characters entered/typed are transferred to the selected serial port as is. To control the Ioterm, the <tab> character is used. For example, typing <tab>help will make Ioterm print out the help information about the Ioterm commands. To send a tab character to the device on the serial port, 2 tab characters have to be used in succession.


1.1.2 UART bootloader using the Ioterm utility

A radio module firmware can be re-flashed using the bootloader built into the firmware. Normally the HEX file output is used through the MCU flash programmer. The UART bootloader uses a proprietary binary format file. A firmware distribution contains both the HEX file and the binary firmware file. The binary firmware file is additionally used for over the air updates (OTA) as explained later.

Uart flash update example,

<tab> otc

Enter the binary firmware file name at the prompt.

Select (Y) option to boot the firmware immediately after receiving the firmware file.

The (N), No option is used for special purposes as explained later.

1.2 CONFIGURATION

1.2.1 Configuration parameters

The firmware is always shipped with a default configuration. The configuration includes several parameters like, the radio operation band, UART configuration, network related parameters, like the unicast and broadcast slot times, network-name etc. The build includes all these parameters as part of the firmware to help the production process.


1.2.2 Applying configuration

A configuration on the node can be updated, in addition to the factory default embedded in the firmware. Ioterm utility can be used to transfer the configuration to a node as below.

<tab>devcfg config-file-name

This procedure is rarely required as it is a cumbersome process to update the configuration on all the modules for a deployment; but provides an option to change some parameters based on the requirements. Also, with a properly managed production process, the configuration can be applied as a part of the initial provisioning of the radio module, even for large deployments.


In addition to the above processes, the RNCI (Radio Module Control Interface, as explained later), can be used to transfer the configuration to a radio module in the field, over the air, without using the UART.


1.3 Setup a simple PAN


  1. Flash the router node modules and at least one border router with the provided firmware.

  2. The radio modules, require a proper 8 byte MAC address (EUI64) to function. Access the CLI of the module at the configured bit rate. Set a valid MAC address using the command, set addr value. For example, set addr 0102030405060708. The MAC address thus set is not from an IANA/IEEE allocated block. For testing you can using simple 2 byte addresses. But it is absolutely necessary to maintain uniqueness. Duplicate addresses results in network breakdown. Additionally, when the modules are actually licensed by the Firmware Licensing Protocol, an address block can be specified to automatically assign incremental addresses for the node. However, for evaluation, they can be set manually.

  3. To save the parameters, use save command.

  4. Repeat the procedure on all the modules.

  5. Now reset the modules and the PAN will form automatically. (Refer to the Radio Reference manual for more details)

  6. The router nodes perform network join process and registers on the border router. The routing table on the border router is continuously updated. To check/display the registered routes, use the command show routes on the LBR.

  7. To check connectivity between the router nodes and the LBR, use the command, ping destination. The destination is the IPV6 address. To check the IPV6 address of the node, you can use the show ip command.

  8. There are more methods to check the connectivity and efficiency of the network. For example, using rtr command as explained in the reference manual.