Greetings all,
So my boss has tasked me with with making an RF tranciever that will 'do something' when a user presses something on a keyfob. This application utilizes some nonrechargeable batteries (about 4.4Wh/1200mAh capability), so the lifetime of this unit isn't very long. What I did utilizing SI labs http://www.silabs.com/products/wireless/EZRadio/Pages/Si4010.aspx was program the part to get the commands from the user (pressing one of 2 buttons) if no activity is recieved the part goes into Sleep mode. I have the unit sleeping for maybe 10 seconds, then wake back up again. This unit is taking very low power, but unfortunately the application it powers takes a bit of draw (about 300mA when running and my sleep takes about 1.5mA when enacted). What I tried explaining to my boss is that I have to poll the GPIO inputs to test see if a user is pressing a button or not. This is where it gets tricky (plus my lack of experience) he says I should be able to wake up the unit just by the user pressing a button on the keyfob but my understanding is I have to power the RF up to see if there is a signal, thus why I have this sleep mode of 10seconds and then waking up for about 1 second to wait for a signal (i.e. if the user wants to press the button during this 10second frame it won't work, he doesn't like that either). Am I the one understanding this situation wrong? I thought of some alternatives such as having a wireless harvester hooked on the same band to wake up the part (will this even work?). My main question I guess would be am I misunderstanding how RF parts operate or am I not utilizing these parts in the right way. Thanks
Chalma
So my boss has tasked me with with making an RF tranciever that will 'do something' when a user presses something on a keyfob. This application utilizes some nonrechargeable batteries (about 4.4Wh/1200mAh capability), so the lifetime of this unit isn't very long. What I did utilizing SI labs http://www.silabs.com/products/wireless/EZRadio/Pages/Si4010.aspx was program the part to get the commands from the user (pressing one of 2 buttons) if no activity is recieved the part goes into Sleep mode. I have the unit sleeping for maybe 10 seconds, then wake back up again. This unit is taking very low power, but unfortunately the application it powers takes a bit of draw (about 300mA when running and my sleep takes about 1.5mA when enacted). What I tried explaining to my boss is that I have to poll the GPIO inputs to test see if a user is pressing a button or not. This is where it gets tricky (plus my lack of experience) he says I should be able to wake up the unit just by the user pressing a button on the keyfob but my understanding is I have to power the RF up to see if there is a signal, thus why I have this sleep mode of 10seconds and then waking up for about 1 second to wait for a signal (i.e. if the user wants to press the button during this 10second frame it won't work, he doesn't like that either). Am I the one understanding this situation wrong? I thought of some alternatives such as having a wireless harvester hooked on the same band to wake up the part (will this even work?). My main question I guess would be am I misunderstanding how RF parts operate or am I not utilizing these parts in the right way. Thanks
Chalma