This document contains a full description of the 9602VG-D15 9602 SBD Voyager satellite transceiver controller, and how to operate and control all aspects of the device.

9602 SBD Voyager Satellite Transeiver

Controller

9602VG-D15 Manual Hardware Version 1.4

VGR-D15-15/06/11

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Table of Contents

1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 2

2 Technical Specifications ........................................................................................................ 2

3 Interface Connector ............................................................................................................... 2

3.1 Power Supply ................................................................................................................. 3

3.2 Serial Interface (RS232) ................................................................................................ 3

3.3 General Purpose Input/Output (GPIO) ........................................................................... 3

3.3.1 Special Function IO’s .............................................................................................. 5

3.3.2 Configuring IO ports ................................................................................................ 5

3.4 Analogue Inputs ............................................................................................................. 6

4 RF-Connectors ...................................................................................................................... 6

5 Configuration Parameters ..................................................................................................... 6

6 Over-the-Air Command File Format .................................................................................... 10

7 SBD Message Payload Format ........................................................................................... 11

7.1 Data Order ................................................................................................................... 12

7.2 GPS Time-stamped Data Packing ............................................................................... 12

7.3 GPS Fix Data ............................................................................................................... 12

8 RS232 Serial Interface ........................................................................................................ 13

8.1 Serial Interface Commands.......................................................................................... 13

9 Firmware Updating .............................................................................................................. 17

10 Errata ............................................................................................................................... 18

10.1 Rev 1.4 ........................................................................................................................ 18

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1 Introduction

The 9602 SBD Voyager is an ultra-low power satellite-connected tracking solution for outdoor applications including animal/asset/personnel tracking, cross-country and/or adventure activities (flying, driving, mountain biking, motor-cross, etc.), maritime applications and many others where the ability to be tracked anywhere on the surface of the earth is required. Being ultra-low power, it allows several years of use from small, low-cost battery packs, opening up a wide range of applications. For example, a typical personnel tracking application using 2 lithium 5.8Ah C-cells in series (7.2V, 5,8Ah battery pack weighing 102g), where 1 minute fix intervals are required, with a transmission occurring simultaneously with every fix, would last approximately 100 hours or approximately 6000 transmitted position fixes. The Voyager is remotely configurable using commands sent by email to the Iridium GSS which route via satellite to the Field Application (see Iridium SBD Topology for further details). A multitude of parameters allow the Voyager to be configured to meet most application requirements. In addition to sending GPS fixes, the controller is able to send I/O states, analogue readings and text messages. The DB15 interface contains all power, I/O, analogue and serial interfaces required to operate the unit. The device can operate with only power, while the remaining interfaces may be optionally used.

2 Technical Specifications

Min Nom Max Unit Absolute Min/Max Input Voltage 5.5 - 16 VDC DC-DC Converter Efficiency - - 93 % Supply Current (real-time task manager active)

- 5 10 µA

Average Supply Power (GPS Active)

420 462 500 mW

Average Supply Power (SBD Active) - - 1.5 W Peak Supply Power (<20ms) - - 12 W Active GPS Supply Current - - 50 mA Active GPS Supply Voltage 3.1 - 3.3 V Operating temperature -40 - 85 ºC

3 Interface Connector

The 9602 SBD Voyager is quipped with a DE15 female connector which contains power, RS232, I/O and analogue connections. The connector layout is as shown below (as viewed from the front):

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Pin Name Description Input/Output 1 IO6 Input/Output 6 I/O 2 IO1 Input/Output 1 I/O 3 IO4 Input/Output 4 I/O 4 TX DTE RS232 Transmit I 5 GND Ground I 6 ADC1 Analogue-to-digital 1 I 7 IO7 Input/Output 7 I/O 8 IO2 Input/Output 2 I/O 9 IO5 Input/Output 5 I/O 10 RX DTE RS232 Receive O 11 ADC2 Analogue-to-digital 2 I 12 IO8 Input/Output 8 I/O 13 IO3 Input/Output 3 I/O 14 GND Ground I 15 Vin Positive Supply Voltage (Vin) I

3.1 Power Supply

The voltage applied between pin 15 and pin 14 must be in the range 5.5VDC to 16VDC. The pulse power requirements (approximately 10ms) is 14W while the average during an SBD transaction is 1.1W. The power supply must be capable of meeting these requirements.

3.2 Serial Interface (RS232)

The serial interface is a 3-wire interface requiring only RX, TX and Ground. It is configured to operate at 115200 baud, 8 data bits, no parity and 1 stop bit (8-n-1). Note that the terminology is based on the Voyager being a DCE (Data Communication Equipment), meaning TX is an input from the DTE (Data Terminal Equipment) and RX is the Voyager’s output to the DTE’s input.

3.3 General Purpose Input/Output (GPIO)

There are a total of 8 IO pins available on the Voyager D15/E15. Each IO can be configured to be an input or an output. When configured for input, an optional pull-up or pull-down resistor can be enabled. When configured as an output, the pin is either driven high or low. The source/sink current capability of each pin connected to the microcontroller is 10mA. Note that any source or sink current through the pin will affect the overall power consumption of the device in low power mode. The schematic for the IO system is given in Figure 1 and Figure 2. The connection to the microcontroller’s pin is denoted with prefix ‘µC_IO’, while the connection to the DB15 interface

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connector is denoted with prefix ‘DB15_IO_’. Depending on the application and in order to cater for a wide variety of sensors, the resistor values can be changed or removed on the Printed Circuit Board (this requires solder rework of 0603 components). Any resistor value changes must ensure that the limit of 10mA is not exceeded. The position of the IO resistors is given in Figure 3. The IO levels are 3.0V.

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

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3.3.1 Special Function IO’s

Two IO have the ability to be configured for Panic Mode and High Update Mode. The flag to enable this functionality is in Parameter 23. Parameter 26 is used to determine which IO pins have the special function. In Panic Mode, the rate at which SBD messages are sent is changed (usually increased) to a configurable value set by Parameter 14. If Panic Mode is activated by pulling the chosen IO to ground, the IO state is automatically, and immediately, sent in the message payload even if disabled by setting Bit 7 of Parameter 22 to 0. Server software may monitor the selected bit(s) representing the IO state and activate the necessary emergency procedures when set. This functionality is disabled by setting Bit 0 in Parameter 23 to 0. When the High Update Mode pin is pulled to ground (eg. using a normally-open switch). In this mode, GPS positions are sent at intervals set by Parameter 14. This may be useful to increase (or decrease) the update rate under certain circumstances without there being a ‘Panic’ situation. This functionality is disabled by setting Bit 1 in Parameter 23 to 0. If either the High-Update Mode or Panic mode is enabled, the user-configurable IO settings are overridden for the selected IO. The relevant IO will be set to be an input with pull-up resistor enabled. Note that because of the resistor divider configuration (shown in Figure 1and Figure 2), the resistor connected to ground will interfere with the desired operation, and it is recommended that this resistor is removed. Equally, the resistor between the microcontrollers IO port and the DB15 connector will have an impact on sensing the DB15’s pin being pulled to ground (it creates a resistor divider) and should be replaced with a resistor no greater than 1kOhm. A zero ohm may be used in electrically quiet environments.

3.3.2 Configuring IO ports

The IO ports are controlled by parameters 23, 24 and 25 (see Table 3).

3.3.2.1 IO Pin Direction The direction (input or output) of each port is controlled by parameter 24. Each 2-bit pair controls an IO pin as shown in Table 1 below.

Table 1. IO Pin Direction Parameter 24

High Byte Low Byte b15 b14 b13 b12 b11 b10 b9 b8 b7 b6 b5 b4 b3 b2 b1 b0

IO 8 IO 7 IO 6 IO 5 IO 4 IO 3 IO 2 IO 1 The available options for each bit-pair is as follows:

00 = Input 01 = Output 10 = Reserved 11 = Reserved

3.3.2.2 IO Pin Mode Parameter 25 defines the mode of each IO pin. The mode depends on whether the pin is configured as an input or an output. Each 2-bit pair controls an IO pin as shown in Table 2 below.

Table 2. IO Pin Mode Parameter 25

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High Byte Low Byte b15 b14 b13 b12 b11 b10 b9 b8 b7 b6 b5 b4 b3 b2 b1 b0

IO 8 IO 7 IO 6 IO 5 IO 4 IO 3 IO 2 IO 1 When configured as an input, the bit-pair defines the following modes:

00 = Floating (no pull-up/down enabled) 01 = Reserved 10 = Pull-down resistor enabled 11 = Pull-up resistor enabled

When configured as an output, each bit-pair defines the following modes:

00 = Reserved 01 = Reserved 10 = Drive output low 11 = Drive output high

3.4 Analogue Inputs

The dedicated analogue inputs have a resolution of 12-bits (0 to 4095). The reference voltage is 1.00V. Any voltage on the “µC_ADCx” pin above 1.00V will saturate the ADC and the result will be 4095. The resistor divider network shown in Figure 4 may be modified to suit the requirements (voltage range) of the equipment being monitored. The position of these resistors on the circuit board is shown in Figure 3. The inclusion of the ADC result in the message payload is defined by Parameter 22 in Table 3.

Figure 4. ADC Circuit

4 RF-Connectors

The GPS and SBD connectors are SMA-female. The SBD connector is marked “SBD” while the GPS connector is marked “GPS” on the Printed Circuit Board (PCB). The SBD connector is routed directly to the 9602 SBD modem. The GPS connector is a designed to support active GPS antennas with an operating voltage of 3.3V nominal, and consuming no more than 30mA.

5 Configuration Parameters

A number of configuration parameters are available for the terminal. These relate to operational and informational aspects of the unit. These parameters are all configurable over the air by sending an appropriate command file (further details below) and/or using the serial (RS232)

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interface connected directly to a PC. To use the direct PC interface, connected the Voyager to a PC’s serial port and apply power. There will be a message displayed on the screen for 5 seconds while it waits for a user input. Pressing SPACE will force the unit into configuration mode. Choose the appropriate option to set the required parameter(s). The parameters with description are given in Table 3 below. Some parameters represent a bitfield, where each bit controls a certain function. Each bit in the bitfield represents the decimal number 2n, where n is the bit number (0 to 15). The total value for the parameter may be calculated adding the result of 2n for each bit that is set. Both decimal and hexadecimal values for each bit in the bitfield are given for ease of calculation, denoted with ‘d’ or ‘0x’ respectively.

Table 3. Terminal Parameters Parameter Number

Name Description Valid Range

0-3 Reserved 4 Send Mode When set to 0, this parameter will cause the device perform a single

data transaction at a defined time of day. When set to 1 (default), This parameter will cause the device to perform a data transaction at defined intervals.

0 or 1

5 Send Interval Send Mode 0: This parameter specifies the time of day (specified in minutes since 00h00) at which the unit will perform a satellite data transaction. Send Mode 1: This parameter specifies the intervals (in minutes) between each data transaction.

0 to 1440

6 Send Window Start

Send Mode 0: This parameter has no effect in this mode. Send Mode 1: Specifies the time of day (in minutes since 00h00) at which the device will enable the data transceiver.

0 to 1440

7 Send Window End Send Mode 0: This parameter has no effect in this mode. Send Mode 1: Specifies the time of day (in minutes since 00h00) at which the device will disable the data transceiver. No data will be sent or received while the transceiver is disabled.

0 to 1440

8 GPS Fix Interval Specifies the interval in minutes between attempts to obtain a GPS position.

0 to 1440

9 GPS Window Start

Specifies the time of day (in minutes since 00h00) at which the device will enable the GPS receiver. The device will only attempt to obtain GPS positions while the GPS receiver is enabled.

0 to 1440

10 GPS Window End Specifies the time of day (in minutes since 00h00) at which the terminal will disable the GPS receiver. The device will not attempt to obtain GPS positions while the GPS receiver is disabled.

0 to 1440

11 Speed Threshold Specifies a speed threshold in metres per second, where a transition will force an SBD transaction. The speed is determined by the GPS and is therefore only sampled when the GPS is active. The GPS sample rate is 1Hz.

0 to 255

12 GPS Timeout Specifies the maximum number of seconds the GPS should take to obtain a position before giving up. This parameter effects power consumption and therefore battery life so care should be taken when setting it.

0 to 65535

13 Reserved 0 to 255 14 High Update Rate Specifies the number of seconds used when either panic mode and/or

high-update mode is set. 0 to 255

15 SBD Session Timeout

Specifies the maximum number of seconds the SBD session should take to do a transaction before giving up. This parameter effects power consumption and therefore battery life so care should be taken when setting it.

0 to 255

16 System Option Flags

This bit field consisting of 16-bits controls the information sent in each SBD message in addition to the GPS fix data. It can be used for fault finding, performance for general information analysis. The option flags, their value and a description of each is given below: Bit 0: reserved Bit 1: Master GPS Disable When set to 1, this bit disables the GPS completely. No GPS fixes will

0d to 65535d 0x = hex d = decimal 0x0001 1d 0x0002 2d

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be transmitted. Default: 0 Bit 2: reserved Bit 3: reserved Bit 4: Serial Interface Always-On Enable If set to 1, this bit forces the RS232 serial interface to remain powered on, eliminating any low power saving as the switch-mode regulator remains on. The current consumption is at least 5mA in this mode. Default: 1 Bit 5: Speed Threshold Enable When set to 1, the first GPS reading with a speed reading either greater or less than that defined in parameter 11 (Speed Threshold) will force an SBD transaction. Default: 0 Bit 6… 15: reserved for future use.

0x0004 4d 0x0008 8d 0x0010 16d 0x0020 32d

17 Reserved Bit 0… 15: reserved for future use.

18 Horizontal Dilution of Precision (HDOP)

This parameter determines how accurate the fix is before the controller turns off the GPS. See Appendix A for a description.

100 to 5000

19 GPS Option Flags This 16-bit bitfield controls elements of the GPS. Bit 0: GPS Power Control Power to the GPS will remain on permanently if this bit is set to 1. This will result in an acquisition time of less than 2 seconds but will consume approximately 0.5W constantly. Use this setting only when battery power is unlimited (eg in a vehicle) and when fix intervals are short. Default: 0 Bit 1: GPS Standby Control Setting this bit to 1 results in the GPS retaining its timing and ephemeris information (valid for up to 6 hours) and consuming an additional 20µA. Re-acquisition can be as short as 3 seconds. Setting this bit is recommended for any application where the GPS fix interval is less than 4 hours. Note that Bit 1 supersedes this bit (i.e. it is only useful if Bit 1 is cleared). Default: 1 Bit 2: GPS Reset-on-Timeout Disable Setting this bit to 1, disables the GPS reset feature whereby the GPS is power-cycled if a fix cannot be obtained within 150 seconds. Default: 0 Bit 3: Enable Debug Output Messages Setting this bit to 1 causes GPS debug messages to be sent out the serial port. Default: 1 Bit 4: Show GPS Status Setting this bit to 1 causes GPS status messages to be sent out the serial port. These messages generally relate to the number of satellites in view and their signal strength. Default: 1 Bit 5… 15: reserved for future use.

0x = hex d = decimal 0x0001 1d 0x0002 2d 0x0004 4d 0x0008 8d 0x0010 16d

20 Reserved Reserved for future use. 0 to 255 21 Reserved Reserved for future use. 0 to 65535 22 SBD Control

Flags This 16-bit bitfield allows control over various aspects relating to the SBD modem and what is sent via the modem. Bit 0: Show Status Messages

0x = hex d = decimal 0x0001

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Setting this bit to 1 causes SBD status messages to be sent out the serial port. Bit 1: Enable Debug Output Messages Setting this bit to 1 causes SBD debug messages to be sent out the serial port. Bit 2: SBD Power-Always-On Enable Setting this bit to 1 ensures the SBD terminal is always on (which consumes approximately 2W of power). It eliminates the need for the SBD module to initialise each time a transaction takes place. This may reduce the time to perform a transaction, at the expense of higher power consumption. Bit 3: High Timestamp Resolution If this bit is set to 0, the transmitted timestamp will exclude seconds (1 minute resolution), and has a length of 3 bytes. When set to 1, the transmitted timestamp resolution is 1 second and has a length of 4 bytes. Bit 4: Send Altitude, Speed and Course-over-ground Bit 5: Reserved Bit 6: Reserved Bit 7: Send I/O state The state of the IO port is included in the payload. Each bit represents the state of the relevant port as show below:

IO8 IO7 IO6 IO5 IO4 IO3 IO2 IO1 Bit 8: Send Log (42 bytes) This will send the entire log file – mainly used for debugging and error finding purposes. The software will reset this flag on each successful SBD session. i.e. this is a once-off flag. Bit 9: Clear Log on Send Successful Only applicable if Bit 8 is set. This will cause the entire log file to be reset upon successful SBD session. Bit 10: Send Input Voltage (1 byte) If set, this option causes the input voltage to be sent via SBD, preceding any fix data. Bit 11: Send ADC values (3 bytes) If set, this option causes the 12-bit ADC values on ADC 1 and ADC 2 to be included in the message. Bit 12… 15: reserved for future use.

1d 0x0002 2d 0x0004 4d 0x0008 8d 0x0010 16d 0x0020 32d 0x0040 64d 0x0080 128d 0x0100 256d 0x0200 512d 0x0400 1024d 0x0800 2048d

23 IO Control Flags Bit 0: Enable Panic Mode Setting this bit to 1 enables a configurable IO pin (see Parameter 26) to be used as a control for Panic Mode. When enabled, the IO pin direction and mode is overridden to be an input with pull-up resistor enabled. When the configured IO is shorted to ground (via a normally-open switch, for example), a fix is immediately sent, with further fixes sent at intervals defined in Parameter 14, until the panic state is cleared, whereby normal operation resumes. The IO state is automatically included in the payload if Panic Mode is entered. Default: 0 Bit 1: Enable High-Update Mode

0x0001 1d 0x0002

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Setting this bit to 1 enables a configurable IO pin (see Parameter 26) to be used as a control for High-Update Mode. When enabled, the IO pin direction and mode is overridden to be an input with pull-up resistor enabled. When the configured IO is shorted to ground (via a normally-open switch, for example), fixes are sent at intervals defined in Parameter 14, until the High-Update state is cleared, whereby normal operation resumes. The IO state is automatically included in the payload if High-Update Mode is entered. Default: 0

2d

24 IO Direction Control

This 16-bit parameter sets the direction (input or output) of each IO pin. Please see Paragraph 3.3.2.1 for details. Default: 0

25 IO Mode Control This 16-bit parameter sets the mode for each pin. The mode is dependent on the direction of the corresponding pin. Please see Paragraph 3.3.2.2 for details. Default: 0

26 IO Special Function Control

This 8-bit parameter defines the IO pins for Panic Mode and High-Update Mode (see Parameter 23).

b7 b6 b5 b4 b3 b2 b1 b0 Reserved Panic Mode Pin High-Update Pin

Since each pin is represented by 3-bits, the valid range is 0 to 7. This is mapped from IO1 to IO8. For example, a value of 3 (0b011) would configure IO4 as the corresponding pin. This parameter has no effect unless the corresponding bit is enabled in Parameter 23. If enabled, the IO pin is overridden to be configured as an input with pull-up resistor enabled, and the configuration defined in Parameter 23 and Parameter 24 has no effect. Further information can be found in Paragraph 3.3.1. Default: 0

6 Over-the-Air Command File Format

The parameters in the terminal can be modified over-the-air by sending an SBD message containing commands to the terminal using the standard SBD send infrastructure. The commands within the file must be in the following format: PSET,<param1>,<value1> PSET,<param2>,<value2> ; ; Etc. Comments are supported. Text wrapped in square brackets is considered a comment. If a line begins with a ‘#’ character, the entire line considered a comment and is ignored. Each command must end with at least a Line-Feed character (0x0A). Carriage Return (0x0A) is optional. An example to adjust the send mode, fix interval and window period would be the following commands: [Set param 4 to 1] PSET,4,1 PSET,5,60 PSET,6,780

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PSET,7,180 # [this line is ignored] PSET,8,10 PSET,9,420 PSET,10,60 These settings have the following results, respectively Set send mode to 1: send at specific intervals within the window period Set send interval to 60 minutes (i.e. once per hour) Set sent start window to 1pm (780 minutes since midnight) Set sent end window to 3am (180 minutes since midnight) Set sent GPS start window to 7am (420 minutes since midnight) Set sent GPS end window to 1am (60 minutes since midnight) Note: The max number of characters in a MT message is 240 bytes so make sure the .sbd file is less than this. There is no checking on thi s length.

7 SBD Message Payload Format

This message structure is valid for firmware version 2.x and greater. Each message sent by the terminal has the following format:

Table 4. Message Payload Format 1 Byte variable variable Variable 11 - 18

bytes 11 - 18 bytes

11 - 18 bytes

Header Optional data 1

Optional data 2

Optional data n

GPS Fix 1 GPS Fix 2 GPS Fix n

Each bit in the header byte indicates what information is included in the message payload.

8-bit Header b7 b6 b5 b4 b3 b2 b1 b0

b0…b2: Fix type. This 3-bit field indicates the type of fix data the message contains. The

available types are (x means “don’t care”):

000: Fix excludes seconds, altitude, speed and COG (fix length: 11 bytes) x01: Legacy compressed (no longer supported) 010: Fix includes seconds (fix length: 12 bytes) 100: Fix includes speed, altitude and course over ground (fix length: 17 bytes) 110: Fix includes seconds, speed, altitude and course over ground (fix length: 18

bytes)

b3: When set to 1, this bit indicates that the 12-bit ADC 1 and ADC 2 values are included in the message.

ADC Byte 2 ADC Byte 1 ADC Byte 0

12-bit ADC 2 Result (b12 is LSB, b23 is MSB) 12-bit ADC 1 Result (b0 is LSB, b11 is MSB) b23 b22 b21 b20 b19 b18 b17 b16 b15 b14 B13 b12 b11 b10 b9 b8 b7 b6 b5 b4 b3 b2 b1 b0

b4: This bit indicates a text message is included in the payload. The first byte of the

optional data contains the message length. b5: This bit indicates that the I/O state byte is included. Bit b0 of the I/O status byte is

the panic state. If ‘1’, the panic mode is active otherwise inactive.

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b6: Reserved. b7: If this bit is set to 1, the 8-bit input voltage field is included in the message. It is the

first optional data field and immediately follows the header. This field is controlled by Bit 10 in Parameter 22. The input voltage field represents the voltage in 50mV increments above 4.5V. The formula for calculating the voltage is:

Voltage = (VAL * 0.05) + 4.5

where VAL is the 1 byte value of the field (max value is 255 decimal).

7.1 Data Order

The optional data is presented in order as each bit-flag is set in the header byte (i.e. if b7 and b5 are set, the voltage byte will precede the I/O status byte). An example is:

header voltage I/O Status Byte

GPS Fix1 B10

GPS Fix1 B9

A0 DB 01 xx xx

7.2 GPS Time-stamped Data Packing

The bits contained in b0..b2 of the header byte show whether speed, altitude, COD and seconds are contained within each fix. These parameters are controlled with parameter number 16 – which are editable remotely. Each fix contains a timestamp representing year, month, day, hour, minute and GPS position, and optionally speed, altitude, course-over-ground (COG) and timestamp seconds. The data is packed to minimise the number of bytes transmitted.

Date/time B2

Date/time B1

Date/time B0

GPS Fix 1 B0

GPS Fix 1 B1

GPS Fix 1 B17

GPS Fix n B17

The first received byte of the date/time field represents the year and month as shown below:

Date/Time B2 Year (0 – 15) Month (1 – 12)

b7 b6 b5 b4 b3 b2 b1 b0

The year is represented as a 4-bit number having a value of 0 to 15. The year 2007 must be added to this value to get the actual year. The second and third received bytes of the date/time field represent the day, hour and minute. The byte order of this 2 byte field should be carefully noted as it is non-standard (B1 and B0 are reversed).

Date/time B0 Date/time B1 Day (1 – 31) Hour (0 – 23) Minute (0 – 59)

b15 b14 B13 b12 b11 b10 b9 b8 b7 b6 b5 b4 b3 b2 b1 b0

7.3 GPS Fix Data

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The first 4 bytes of the GPS fix is the latitude value in fractional degrees, represented in IEEE 4 floating-point format. The second 4 bytes is the longitude in fractional degrees, represented in IEEE 4 floating-point format. If b2 in the header byte is set, the next 6 bytes contain the Altitude in meters above sea level (represented by a signed 16-bit integer), Speed in km/h multiplied by 10 (represented by an unsigned 16-bit integer) and Course Over Ground (multiplied by 10 and represented by an unsigned 16-bit integer). To get the actual speed, the 16-bit value must be divided by 10, giving speed in 0.1 km/h resolution. The COG field must be divided by 10 to get the actual COG in degrees (0.0 to 359.9).

Additional GPS Position Fields Altitude Speed COG

B5 B4 B3 B2 B1 B0 If b1 in the header byte is set to 1, the byte following the GPS position (which may also include altitude, speed and course over ground), shall contain the seconds portion of the timestamp.

8 RS232 Serial Interface

The terminal is equipped with a 3-wire RS232 serial interface which can be used to send text messages using SBD, and supports a number of commands to control the terminal’s behaviour. The interface operates at 115200 baud, 8 data bits, no parity and 1 stop bit (8-n-1). In order for the serial interface to be permanently active, the Bit 6 parameter must be set. This will cause the relevant power circuitry to remain active while the SBD and GPS are inactive. Ultra-low power operation is not achievable with this function enabled. When Bit 6 is set, 3 unsolicited messages will be sent from the controller on start-up to indicate that the 3 main peripherals/modules are ready for use. These messages are: READY-SIF<CRLF> READY-GPS<CRLF> READY-SBD<CRLF> They relate to the Serial Interface (SIF), GPS and Short Burst Data (SBD) modules. Access to these modules, or the functions they perform, through the serial interface is not possible until the controller has reported them ready. Since the serial interface is the interface through which functions to the other peripherals are accessed, no commands may be issued until the READY-SIF message is received. Typically, this will occur within 15 seconds of power being applied.

8.1 Serial Interface Commands

When enabled and ready, the terminal is able to accept the following commands: ECHO=n<CRLF> Where n is 0 or 1, for ECHO off and on respectively. On start-up, ECHO is off by default. When ECHO is on, characters received by the terminal will be echoed on the RS232 port. CRC=n<CR><LF>

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Where n is 0 or 1, for CRC disabled and enabled, respectively. On start-up, CRC is enabled by default. Messages sent to the terminal with CRC enabled must have the CRC appended in the last 2 bytes of the message. The 16-bit CRC is made up of two 8-bit CRC bytes, CRCA and CRCB and is calculated on the contents of the message only (i.e. CRC bytes are not included). The CRC bytes are initialised to zero at the start of the message. Each CRC byte is updated on reception of each byte in the message as the following example shows: //Calculate CRC bytes CRCA = CRCA + MsgByte; CRCB = CRCB + CRCA; The 16-bit CRC is transmitted in the order CRCA then CRCB.

16-bit CRC 8-bit CRCA 8-bit CRCB

DAT<CRLF> The date and time can be queried by the terminal using this command. The response format is as follows: DAT<yy/dd/mm/hh/mm/ss><CRLF> MSG<space><length><CRLF> This command is used to send a satellite text message. The Length parameter is the number of characters (bytes) of the message (excluding the CRC, if enabled). If the terminal responds with OK<CRLF>, the message can be streamed into the device, optionally followed by the CRC bytes. If the response to the command is ERROR<CRLF>, the message will not be accepted. This error is given if the message length is longer than 256 bytes (the maximum size of the transmit buffer) or if the terminal is busy sending another message. After the last byte of the message or last CRC byte (if enabled) is received by the terminal, it will respond with OK<CRLF> and will immediately attempt to send the message, giving status updates as the process advances. Possible responses are TOUT<CRLF> or ERROR<CRLF>, denoting a timeout and receive error respectively. The ERROR message is usually due to a CRC computation mismatch. A TOUT message will be generated if no characters have been received for 5 seconds (inter-character timeout). The result of the transmission will be one of the following: RETRY<CRLF> This message is sent if the terminal fails to transmit and the retry count is less than 3. FAIL<CRLF> This message is sent if the terminal fails to send after retries. The terminal will not attempt to send again. SUCCESS<CRLF> The message has been sent successfully. An escape character (0x1B) will terminate the process and will be acknowledged by OK<CRLF>. Once the terminal is ready to accept another text message, the following string will be sent out the serial port: READY-SBD<CRLF>

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PGT=<parameter><CRLF> This command allows terminal parameters (see Table 3) to be read. The response is OK<CRLF><Value>OK<CRLF>, where Value is the parameter value in decimal format. If the Parameter is incorrect, the response will be ERROR<CRLF>. If parameter is 0, a full list of parameters (starting with parameter 4) will be retrieved in the format: 4: <param 4 value><CRLF> 5: <param 5 value><CRLF> Etc. <CRLF>OK PSET,<parameter>,<value><CRLF> This command allows terminal parameters to be set (see Table 3). The value must be provided in decimal format. If the parameter was correctly set, the response is <CRLF>OK<CRLF>. If the Parameter is incorrect, the response is <CRLF>ERROR<CRLF>. DFLT=<parameter><CRLF> This command sets the factory default value for the specified parameter. If parameter is 0, all parameters are set to their factory default values. GFIX<CRLF> This command will cause the terminal to respond with the last known fix. The response format is: <CRLF>OK<CRLF> <Latitude>,<Longitude>,<Altitude>,<Course>,<Speed>,<YY>,<MM>,<DD>,<HH>,<mm>,<ss> <CRLF>OK<CRLF> The elements of the GFIX response are: Latitude: 11 byte fixed length field with the following format: hddmm.mmmmm, where h is

hemisphere (N or S), dd is the latitude degrees, mm.mmmmm is the degree minutes. Eg: S3357.49483.

Longitude: 12 byte fixed length field with the following format: hdddmm.mmmmm, where h is hemisphere (E or W), dd is the longitude degrees, mm.mmmmm is the degree minutes. Eg: E01822.93438.

Altitude: The altitude in meters above sea level, in decimal. Course: The course over ground in degrees, in decimal. Speed: Speed in Km/h, in decimal. YY: Year in 2 digits. 2000 must be added to get the current year. MM: Month. DD: Day. HH: Hour. mm: Minutes. ss: Seconds. A full fix example is: 3357.49483,E01822.93438,98,0,0,09,05,16,08,31,36 GREV<CRLF> Retrieves the hardware and software revision HUR=<state><CRLF> When state is set to 1, the High Update Rate (HUR) mode is set. The terminal will perform SBD transactions at the rate set in parameter 14. HUR is cleared when state is set to 0. PNC=<state><CRLF>

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When state is set to 1, the Panic mode is forced on. This will only be effective if Bit 10 in Parameter 17 is set, otherwise this command will have no effect. Force-Panic mode is cleared when state is set to 0. DFLT=<parameter><CRLF> This command sets the specified parameter to the default value. If the parameter is 0, all parameters are reset to their factory default value. Message Reception When a satellite message is received by the terminal, it is streamed out the serial port immediately (unsolicited). The format is: MSG<space><length><CRLF><message><CRC><CRLF>

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9 Firmware Updating

The controller facilitates a simple software upgrade procedure through the RS232 serial port, connected to a Windows-based PC running the Firmware Updater application. Firmware files (.bin) will be made available via the website from

www.intricode.com/downloads/9602voyager/. Firmware Updater Instructions:

1. Open the application and use the Browse button to navigate to the firmware file (.bin extension) and click Open.

2. Use the drop-down list to select the correct COM port. 3. Click the Update button. 4. Make sure the controller’s power is disconnected. In ultra-low power mode, the energy

stored in the capacitors will supply power to the microprocessor for a significant period of time. In this case, short the input leads across a low value resistor for a few seconds to discharge the capacitors.

5. Apply power to the controller. The update will begin automatically with the progress being shown in the progress bar.

6. Wait for the “Upload Successful” message to be displayed before removing the connector from the auxiliary port.

The new software will immediately become active once it has been uploaded successfully.

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10 Errata

10.1 Rev 1.4

1. The input voltage detection circuitry is limited to detecting up to 11.5V. Fix/Workaround: Use a supply below 11.5V if it is important to be able to accurately report the supply voltage.