6.3 RF Core

The RF core is a highly flexible and capable radio system that interfaces the analog RF and baseband circuits, handles data to and from the system side, and assembles the information bits in a given packet structure.

The RF core can autonomously handle the time-critical aspects of the radio protocols, thus offloading the main CPU and leaving more resources for the user application. The RF core offers a high-level, command-based API to the main CPU.

The RF core supports a wide range of modulation formats, frequency bands, and accelerator features, which include the following:

• Wide range of data rates:
  • From 625 bps (offering long range and high robustness) to as high as 4 Mbps
• Wide range of modulation formats:
  • Multilevel (G) FSK and MSK
  • On-Off Keying (OOK) with optimized shaping to minimize adjacent channel leakage
  • Coding-gain support for long range
• Dedicated packet handling accelerators:
  • Forward error correction
  • Data whitening
  • 802.15.4g mode-switch support
  • Automatic CRC
• Automatic listen-before-talk (LBT) and clear channel assist (CCA)
• Digital RSSI
• Highly configurable channel filtering, supporting channel spacing schemes from 40 kHz to 4 MHz
• High degree of flexibility, offering a future-proof solution

The RF core interfaces a highly flexible radio, with a high-performance synthesizer that can support a wide range of frequency bands.