Anaren Air Module

Wireless & IoT
1

The Anaren Air module is a small form factor RF Radio module with approx 6mm x 16mm footprint. They are SMT and impossible to solder leads directly to (I tried). They can be had with an on board trace antenna or a ufl connector.

They are based around the TI CC1101 chip and are available in 433,868,915 or 2.4. They communicate via SPI and have separate on board 64byte TX and RX buffers. They handle all packetization for you including preamble and checksum. They also have a Wake on Radio function.

The module can be had for $12.50 through Arrow. Digikey has them but they are much more expensive over there.

I had almost convinced myself that I was going to have to make a breakout board when I came across what TI calls a booster pack. You can only get these directly through TI but you get 2 Air modules mounted on what is essentially a protoboard with places for a switch, a uprocessor and a blank pad area in the middle for other components. These are designed to be used with one of TI’s development kits but they will work standalone. The beauty of this arrangement is that you get two modules on boards for $19.00. Plus the documentation has all of the register settings needed to get this thing up and running quickly. The kit actually comes with two uprocessors but they are MSP and I don’t want to use them personally. The boosters are based around the CC110 instead of the CC1101. The only difference I have been able to discern is the lack of Wake on Radio.

I ordered one of these last night. I will use this thread to keep up with my progress. I am hoping that this might encourage the hobby community to consider these as a low cost, tiny form factor alternative to the Xbee. They are not quite as plug and play but I needed the form factor more than anything else for my project.

I am also hoping that Sparkfun will consider picking these up and selling them on a breakout!

Here is a link to the booster pack https://estore.ti.com/430BOOST-CC110L-C … P2734.aspx If you follow the link back to Anaren, there is more detail about the board itself.

2

wouldn’t that add up to more than, say, a Digi XBee module with all of its included protocols and sensor interfaces?

On the cheap and small, you could go with Hope RF’s RFM12B modules. Lotta protocol code to write, or reused from Arduino or JeeLab libraries.

3

Would it?

Assuming you are supporting Sparkfun, meaning I know you can get Xbee’s cheaper elsewhere.

Xbee 1mW : $22.95

Breakout: $2.95

Headers: 2 @ $1.00

Cheap Male Header: $1.50

Total: $29.40 for one Xbee module. Times two this is $58.80 to have two devices talking to each other.

Throw in one shield which you don’t need but most people buy at least one: $19.95 each. If you got two, you are out $98.70 for two Arduino’s to speak to each other. WOW!

So along comes Anaren Air. Using the Booster Pack, I get two breadboard ready radios in one of 4 freq ranges of my choice for $19.00. Add in a few headers and I am in business. The only thing missing is the shield. But if you actually look at the board it comes mounted on, there is a space for a 20 pin uProcessor as well as a blank padded area for additional components. This could be a finished board if you wanted it to be.

If I can get a bare module for $12.50 retail, then Sparkfun should be able to get these on a breakout for $15.00 ish.

The Xbee is the mainstay of the hobbiest market and I get that. There is a lot of community support and they are easy to use. So here is where I think the Anaren Air module provides an edge:

SPI comms - does not tie up the serial port or require you to use software serial if you are trying to use a serial display or other components.

Packetization - The Air module automatically adds a preamble, sync bit, optional address, whitening, and a CRC. All you have to do is tell it what you want to send. The radio on the other end decodes and provides the data in an on board 64byte buffer just waiting for you to come get it.

On board Rx and Tx buffer - Separate 64byte buffers

Support - There is good support unlike the RF12B. While it does require configuration, the configuration is very well documented.

Freq range - 433, 868, 915, 2.4

Certified - like the Xbee, as long as you follow the standard restrictions it is legal to use out of the box in any of the available range in both Europe and the US.

Power Amp - There is an available PA chip (CC1190) made by TI that is designed to work with this device with minimal external components.

Form Factor - I can’t stress how small this thing is.

IMG_0307.jpg764×1023 128 KB
http://i963.photobucket.com/albums/ae11 … G_0307.jpg

So as you can see I have all three. The Anaren is the ufl version as is slightly shorter than the onboard antenna version.

I like the RF12B but it is clunky and hard to use. Wish it had a breakout. Plus, it takes a day of googling to make it work. Plus the RF12B operates in the most crowded band in the world 433mHz. Xbee works only in one band (from a hobbyist perspective) the Anaren is available in 4 bands.

I just can’t see a negative at all.

4

Not an issue for a hobbyist, but the XBee and many other products from vendors interoperate via the IEEE 802.15.4 protocol standard. So you can mix and match, now and later. That IEEE standard also exists for use in the 902-928MHz and 868MHz bands (EU). Another XBee consideration is that many remote data access and control applications can be done with the standard XBee applications firmware atop 802.15.4. No added micro needed in these cases. There are surface mount versions of the XBee (smaller), but may cost more.

The RFM12B has a nice Arduino libraray but yes, its low cost and thus spartan. But not bare naked like the $4 on/off keying modules.

I live in a dense urban area and the RFM12Bs work just fine - my own protocols.