Wireless RSSI circuit

Hi,

I am working on a system where I need a Receive Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) for a range of 0-50ft ( 50ft is the absolute maximum and 20ft would be more acceptable). The idea is to have three or more fixed receivers, and one mobile beacon. The receivers will all output the rssi value, say 0-7, to a microcontroller.

I cannot seem to find any simple ICs that accomplish this task. Is there a certain type of wireless I should be looking at for indoor use? I need no data transfer at all, so the RF chips, although they have RSSI outputs, seem like overkill for my application.

Please provide advice and previous experience. I am especially interested in demo boards I can purchase directly.

Thanks in advance,

Studie

studie:
Hi,

I am working on a system where I need a Receive Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) for a range of 0-50ft ( 50ft is the absolute maximum and 20ft would be more acceptable). The idea is to have three or more fixed receivers, and one mobile beacon. The receivers will all output the rssi value, say 0-7, to a microcontroller.

I cannot seem to find any simple ICs that accomplish this task. Is there a certain type of wireless I should be looking at for indoor use? I need no data transfer at all, so the RF chips, although they have RSSI outputs, seem like overkill for my application.

Please provide advice and previous experience. I am especially interested in demo boards I can purchase directly.

Thanks in advance,

Studie

Even though they’re overkill, I don’t know any chips that ONLY do RSSI.

How about this

http://www.linxtechnologies.com/Product … n-Modules/

Linx LR transmitter out in the field and Linx LR receivers as your beacons. They run around 400 MHz so they will cut through those interior spaces beautifully compared to 2.4GHz and they are small and low cost. Seems pretty ideal to me.

As a double benefit, if you want to toss some data around on them they’re capable of that too.