User's Manual

2
AVR2043
8345A-AVR-11/10
2 Disclaimer
Typical values contained in this application note are based on simulations and testing
of individual examples.
Any information about third-party materials or parts was included in this document for
convenience. The vendor may have changed the information that has been
published. Check the individual vendor information for the latest changes.
3 Overview
The radio extender board is assembled with an Atmel AT86RF231 radio transceiver
[1] and two
ceramic antennas, and demonstrates the unrivaled hardware-based
antenna diversity feature, which significantly improves radio link robustness in harsh
environments.
The radio extender board was designed to interface to Atmel’s microcontroller
development or evolution platforms. The microcontroller platform in combination with
the REB provides an ideal way to:
• Evaluate the outstanding radio transceiver performance, such as the excellent
receiver sensitivity achieved at ultra-low current consumption
• Test the radio transceiver’s comprehensive hardware support of the
IEEE 802.15.4 standard
• Test the radio transceiver’s enhanced feature set, which includes antenna
diversity, AES, high data rate modes and other functions
The photograph in Figure 3-1 shows a development and evaluation setup using the
REB controller base board (REB-CBB) [2] in combination with th
e REB231ED radio
extender board.
Figure 3-1. The REB231ED connected to an REB-CBB.