RV-M7 Data Radio Modem Technical Manual

M7 Diagnostic Provisions

    1. Overview of Diagnostics

    Internal to the M7 radio modem, is a powerful 32-bit microprocessor.  Along with handing all aspects of radio modulation and demodulation, the microprocessor also maintains an extensive array of diagnostic information. 

    This section details the diagnostic information available, and describes how to us the information to optimize or troubleshoot a M7 radio network.   

    1. Reading the Diagnostic Information

    M7 diagnostic information is read using AT commands, while the unit is in the Command Mode.  Refer to the section “User Serial Port Commands” to learn how to put theM7 modem into the Command Mode. 

    To see a general overview of how the modem has been operating, us the ATST command (status request command), without any parameter.  The radio modem will respond with a list of certain operation statistics that it maintains.  All statistics start counting at 0.  The ATST 1 command can be used to reset all statistics back to 0, except the run-time timers.

    Other operation and configuration statistics are available using the ATST command, with a parameter to specify the desired statistic.  The following table describes the various statistics available.

    1. Status and Statistics Command
 
    AT

    Command

    		 Command Description Response
    ST General Communication Statistics – This command will cause the M7 to output a table of various operational statistics. Statistics overview screen
    ST1 GPS Statistics – Statistics related to the GPS operation, if installed. GPS Statistics overview screen
    ST2 Low-level internal statistics – Returns various low-level statistics.  These are subject to change in various firmware revisions. Low-level statistics screen
    ST3 Compile date and time – Returns the data and the time that the firmware was compiled.  Date and time
    ST4 Run Time –  Returns the amount of time that the modem has been powered up and running.   Run time display screen
    ST9 Reset all statistics counters OK
    ST10 Statistic Read –  Returns numeric values, comma separated, of all statistics as described in the ST command.     Run time display screen

     

 

    1. ATST Command

    The ATST command, will return the following information:

            STATISTICS

            Good RX Packets  :  nnn      (packets received over the air with no bit-errors and correct address)

            With Bad CRCs    :  nnn    (over-the-air packets with bit errors that were discarded)

            With Bad Noise   :  nnn    (receptions that were aborted due to noise, CW jamming, lost signal…)

            Bytes received   :  nnn    (number of bytes this modem received, and sent out its serial port)

            Bytes transmitted:  nnn    (number of bytes this modem received via the serial port, and transmitted over the air)

            Packets send     :  nnn  (number of packets this modem has transmitted over the air. Retransmissions in the ARQ mode are not counted)

            ACKs received    :  nnn    (Number of ACK packets this modem received, when ARQ was enabled)

            ACKs transmitted :  nnn    (Number of ACK packets sent over-the-air in the ARQ mode)

            Pkts last minute :  nnn    (Number of packets received during the last minute)

            UART errors      :  nnn    (serial port framing and overrun errors. Usually these are caused by incorrect serial port settings)

            OK

 

    If there is a hardware problem, there may be one ore more hardware error messages listing the error types (CPU Exceptions, OS Rebooted, or Fatal OS failures).  Consult the factory if any of these messages ever appear.)

    1. ATST2 Command

    The ATST2 command, will return additional lower-level statistics:

            RF FIFO overruns :  nnn      (number of times the modem was too busy to receive data over-the-air)

            Wrong address    :  nnn    (packets with addresses intended for some other unit.  Also will count apparent false packets due to random noise)

            Duplicate packets:  nnn    (number of packets discarded because they already were received, and subsequently re-received due to ARQ mode or a repeater)

            Missing ACKs     :  nnn    (number of transmissions in ARQ mode, where this sending M7 did not receive an ACK back as it expected to)

            TX FIFO overflows:  nnn    (number of bytes of data that came into the M7 over-the-air, and there because there was no buffer space for the data, were discarded.  If greater than 0, the serial-port baud-rate should in increased. )

            RX FIFO overflows:  nnn    (number of bytes of data came into the M7’s serial port, and there was no room in the M7 to buffer the data before transmission, so these bytes were discarded. If greater than 0, flow-control should be enabled, hardware flow-control implemented, or the serial-port baud rate reduced.)

            OS loop time     :  nnn    (number of times OS executes, per baud.  Typical 10-200.  0 or >5000 means there is a serious OS problem).

            OS Speed         :  nnn    (speed of the main Operating System, in Hz.  Typical 8000-30000. )

            VCO Bias         :  nnn    (the DAC value that biases the VCO in the radio.   0-1024 = 0-3.3V)

            Config           :  hhhh (hexadecimal representation of an internal configuration word.)

            OK

 

    1. ATST3 Command

    The ATST3 command, will return the time and date the firmware in the M7 was compiled. 

    1. ATST4 Command

    The ATST4 command will return internal timers that tell how long the modem has been powered up and running.  All of these timers restart a 0 upon power up.

    Run time:

    Years: nnn      (number of years running)

    Days : nnn      (number of days running, resets to 0 after one year)

    Hours: nnn      (number of hours running, resets to 0 after 23 hours, 59 minutes, 59 seconds)

    Min:   nnn      (number of minutes running, resets to 0 after 59 minutes, 59 seconds)

    Sec:   nnn      (number of seconds running, resets to 0 after 59 seconds)

    Uptime:nnn      (number of seconds running. Does not reset. 

    OK

    1. AutoStatus

    The auto-status feature of the M7 enables it to automatically transmit a packet of status information.  By default, this feature is disabled.

    To enable the Auto Status feature, use the ATAS xxx command, where xxx is the status interval in minutes.  The interval may be between 1minute an 65000 minutes (45 days). 

    The general format of the message that the modem will send is:

    [an ASCII STX character, 02]

    BEGIN STATUS

    ATMY=1234

    ATVR=D1

    ATDT=1234

    ATVB=12300

    UPTIME=120

    OSERR=0

    PRX=1295

    PTX=7933

    [an ASCII ETX character, 03]

 

    The first character is a Start of Text character.  This is followed by the phrase “BEGIN STATUS”.  Each line in the status transmission is terminated with an ASCII carriage return (0D) and line feed (0A). 

    As new features are added to the M7, there may be new status lines added, but all M7 modems with Revsion D or higher firmware support at a minimum, the above shown status parameters.  The status transmission will end with an ASCII 0 character, the End of Text character.

    The parameters passed in the status message are:

    ATMY  The ID of the modem sending the status.

    ATVR  The firmware version in the modem

    ATDT The ID the modem is programmed to send data to.

    ATVB DC voltage, in millivolts of the DC input to the modem.

    UPTIME Number of seconds since this modem has turned on.

    OSERR The number of Operatin System Errors. Normally this is 0.

    PRX The number of packets this modem has received.

    PTX The number of packets this modem has transmitted.

    The ID code that the status information is sent to, is set with the ATMA xxxx command.  Whenever a status transmission is sent, the “TO ID” of the transmission is the address set using the ATMAcommand.  This allows the system to be configured in a way the normal modem communications take place between the modems, and the status information only is delivered to modems that need to receive it.