RemoTI Developer's Guide 
 
Document Number: SWRU198 
Copyright © 2009 Texas Instruments, Inc.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2.1 
2.2 
2.3 
2.4 
3.1 
3.2 
3.3 
4.1 
4.2 
4.3 
1.4.1 
1.4.2 
1.1 
1.2 
1.3 
1.4 
3.1.1 
3.1.2 
3.2.1 
3.2.2 
Table Of Contents
1  OVERVIEW..................................................................................................................................................6 
INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................................................6 
RF4CE ARCHITECTURE ...........................................................................................................................6 
RF4CE CERTIFICATION ...........................................................................................................................7 
REMOTI...................................................................................................................................................7 
Stack architecture ...........................................................................................................................7 
Software API...................................................................................................................................8 
2  TOPOLOGY AND NODE TYPES ...........................................................................................................10 
LOGICAL NODE TYPES............................................................................................................................10 
TARGET .................................................................................................................................................10 
CONTROLLER.........................................................................................................................................10 
TOPOLOGY ............................................................................................................................................10 
3  NODE CONFIGURATION.......................................................................................................................12 
ADDRESSING .........................................................................................................................................12 
IEEE address ................................................................................................................................12 
Short address ................................................................................................................................12 
STACK INITIALIZATION..........................................................................................................................12 
Start modes ...................................................................................................................................12 
Target cold startup .......................................................................................................................12 
TYPICAL NODE STARTUP SEQUENCE USING RTI INTERFACE ..................................................................13 
4  PAIRING.....................................................................................................................................................14 
OVERVIEW.............................................................................................................................................14 
CERC “PUSH BUTTON” PAIRING............................................................................................................14 
USER CONSIDERATIONS .........................................................................................................................14 
Pairing table entry........................................................................................................................14 
Maximum number of entries .........................................................................................................14 
Matching configuration ................................................................................................................14 
Pairing with security.....................................................................................................................14 
Unpair...........................................................................................................................................15 
5  DATA TRANSMISSION ...........................................................................................................................16 
OVERVIEW.............................................................................................................................................16 
TRANSMISSION OPTIONS........................................................................................................................16 
Ack/NoAck.....................................................................................................................................16 
Unicast/Broadcast ........................................................................................................................16 
MultiChannel or SingleChannel ...................................................................................................16 
COMBINATIONS OF TRANSMISSION OPTIONS..........................................................................................16 
USER CONSIDERATIONS .........................................................................................................................17 
API................................................................................................................................................17 
Standby mode................................................................................................................................17 
6  POWER SAVINGS ....................................................................................................................................18 
OVERVIEW.............................................................................................................................................18 
RADIO CONTROL....................................................................................................................................18 
Controller .....................................................................................................................................18 
6.2.1 
Target............................................................................................................................................18 
6.2.2 
6.3  MCU POWER CONTROL .........................................................................................................................19 
Usage............................................................................................................................................19 
6.3.1 
6.3.2 
MCU sleep with RNP....................................................................................................................19 
SECURITY..................................................................................................................................................20 
OVERVIEW.............................................................................................................................................20 
CONFIGURATION OPTIONS .....................................................................................................................20 
Enabling security..........................................................................................................................20 
Key distribution ............................................................................................................................20 
4.3.1 
4.3.2 
4.3.3 
4.3.4 
4.3.5 
5.2.1 
5.2.2 
5.2.3 
5.1 
5.2 
5.3 
5.4 
5.4.1 
5.4.2 
6.1 
6.2 
7 
7.1 
7.2 
7.2.1 
7.2.2 
       
Copyright © 2009 Texas Instruments, Inc.   
 
7.3 
8.1 
8.2 
8.3 
9.1 
7.2.3 
7.3.1 
7.3.2 
7.3.3 
7.3.4 
Key................................................................................................................................................20 
USER CONSIDERATIONS .........................................................................................................................20 
Key compromise............................................................................................................................20 
Secure pairing range ....................................................................................................................20 
Payload overhead .........................................................................................................................21 
Broadcast packets.........................................................................................................................21 
8  FREQUENCY AGILITY...........................................................................................................................22 
OVERVIEW.............................................................................................................................................22 
FREQUENCY AGILITY ............................................................................................................................22 
USAGE...................................................................................................................................................22 
9  GENERAL INFORMATION....................................................................................................................23 
DOCUMENT HISTORY ............................................................................................................................23 
ADDRESS INFORMATION.................................................................................................................23 
TI WORLDWIDE TECHNICAL SUPPORT......................................................................................23 
10 
11 
       
Copyright © 2009 Texas Instruments, Inc.   
 
 
 RemoTI Developer’s Guide                                                                                                                                            SWRU198     
References 
 
[R1] 
[R2] 
[R3] 
ZigBee RF4CE Specification Version 1.0  ( ZigBee Alliance document 094945r00ZB ) 
ZigBee RF4CE CERC Profile Specification  ( ZigBee Alliance document 094946r00ZB ) 
IEEE Std. 802.15.4-2006, Wireless Medium Access Control (MAC) and Physical Layer 
(PHY) Specifications for Low-Rate Wireless Personal Area Networks (WPANs). 
CC2530 Users Guide, SWRU191, http://www.ti.com/lit/SWRU191 
RemoTI API document, SWRA268  
[R4] 
[R5] 
[R6]  OSAL API document, SWRA194  
[R7] 
[R8] 
[R9] 
[R10]  RemoTI SimpleApp App Note, SWRA286, http://www.ti.com/lit/SWRA286 
[R11]  RemoTI Power Consumption App Note, SWRA263, http://www.ti.com/lit/SWRA263 
[R12]  RemoTI Coexistence Testing App Note, SWRA285, http://www.ti.com/lit/SWRA285 
HAL Driver API document, SWRA193  
RemoTI Network Processor Interface Specification, SWRA271 
RemoTI Sample Applications User’s Guide, SWRU201, http://www.ti.com/lit/SWRU201 
       
Copyright © 2009 Texas Instruments, Inc.   
 
 
 RemoTI Developer’s Guide                                                                                                                                            SWRU198     
Definitions 
 
Device 
Node 
Target 
A physical object consisting of an IEEE 802.15.4 radio 
A device containing RF4CE functionality. 
A Node that implements the Target functionality as defined in the RF4CE 
specification ( for example, a TV ) 
Controller 
A Node that implements the Controller functionality as defined in the RF4CE 
specification ( for example, a remote control ) 
Consumer Electronics for Remote Controls, the standard application profile 
defined by the RF4CE consortium 
System-on-chip, an IC consisting of microcontroller as well as the radio 
transceiver like the CC2530 
Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter 
Serial Peripheral Interface 
Application Programming Interface 
RemoTI Network Processor. An application  configuration of the RemoTI stack 
that configures the CC2530 as a network processor 
Operating system ( software ) 
Physical layer ( layer 1 of a communication protocol stack ) 
Medium Access Control ( layer 2 of a communication protocol stack ) 
Personal Area Network 
Television 
Set top box 
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers 
CERC 
SoC 
UART 
SPI 
API 
RNP 
OS 
PHY 
MAC 
PAN 
TV 
STB 
IEEE  
 
 
       
Copyright © 2009 Texas Instruments, Inc.   
 
 
 RemoTI Developer’s Guide                                                                                                                                            SWRU198     
1  Overview 
Introduction 
1.1 
RF4CE (Radio Frequency for Consumer Electronics) is an industry consortium that was formed to 
create  a  new  protocol  standard  for  RF-based  remote  control  applications  in  the  consumer 
electronics  segment.  The  consortium  was  founded  by  Sony,  Philips,  Samsung  and  Panasonic 
with Texas Instruments, Freescale and OKI Semiconductor as the contributing members.  
The  first  version  of  the  network  specification  and  application  profile  was  completed  in 
December’08. Later, in March’09, the RF4CE consortium merged with the ZigBee Alliance for the 
purpose of maintaining the specification going forward and managing the certification of platforms 
and  products  that  conform  to  the  specification.  The  name  of  the  specification  is  now  ZigBee 
RF4CE. For more information, see http://www.zigbee.org/rf4ce
1.2  RF4CE architecture 
The RF4CE protocol stack architecture is illustrated in the figure below. It is based on the IEEE 
802.15.4-2006 standard [R3].  
User application
CERC
profile
Vendor-specific
profile
RF4CE network layer
IEEE 802.15.4-2006
PHY and MAC
Figure 1: RF4CE protocol stack 
 
The PHY layer is a 250kbps DSSS (direct sequence spread spectrum) radio operating in the 2.4-
GHz band. The 2.4-GHz band is an unlicensed ISM band and is available worldwide. This makes 
it an attractive choice for consumer electronics applications as they are usually targeted for global 
markets. The spread spectrum modulation scheme provides a robust wireless link that is resistant 
to fading and interference. 
There  are  16  channels  available  at  the  2.4-GHz  band  for  802.15.4  operation.  These  are 
numbered 11 through 26 and the center frequency of each channel is Fc = 2405 + 5 (k – 11) MHz, 
for k = 11, 12, …, 26. The RF4CE protocol has selected 3 of those channels (channels 15, 20 and 
25) for operation. These channels were selected to minimize interference from WiFi networks.   
The MAC layer provides a scheme for transmission and acknowledgement of packets upto 128 
bytes  in  length.  It  uses  a  CSMA-CA  (carrier  sense  multiple  access  with  collision  avoidance) 
mechanism for channel access and packet transmission. This allows multiple devices to coexist in 
the same vicinity and share the same radio spectrum.  
On top of that is the network layer that contains the core RF4CE functionality. These include  
  Node discovery mechanism  
  Pairing features to allow simple, foolproof way of connecting appropriate nodes together 
       
Copyright © 2009 Texas Instruments, Inc.   
 
 
 RemoTI Developer’s Guide                                                                                                                                            SWRU198     
  Power savings features to maximize battery life on remote controls and minimize standby 
power consumption on appliances 
  Frequency agility mechanism to dynamically detect and avoid interference   
  Security features 
  Reliable  packet  transfer  with  multiple  options  and  ability  to  carry  standard  and  vendor-
specific profile commands 
The application framework contains a standard application profile called CERC that defines most of 
the  commands  used  in  simple  remote  control  applications  and  is  also  extensible  with  vendor-
specific  commands.  It  is  also  possible  for  users  to  define  their  own  private  profile  with  fully 
proprietary commands.  
1.3  RF4CE certification 
The ZigBee Alliance has put in place a test and certification program for RF4CE products. There 
are two kinds of certifications available – Platform certification and Product certification. 
The platform certification is for suppliers of RF4CE hardware and software. It includes testing of the 
network layer and below for compliance to the specification as well as interoperability with other 
implementations.  It  is  intended  so  that  developers  who  use  or  evaluate  RF4CE  platforms  from 
various suppliers can be assured of the technical features supported by the platform and over-air 
interoperability with platforms from other suppliers.  
The  product  certification  is  an  optional  step  for  manufacturers  of  end  products  incorporating 
RF4CE  functionality.  The  purpose  of  this  certification  is  to  ensure  that  end  products  made  by 
different vendors will interoperate with each other. It is necessary to start with a certified platform 
and use a standard application profile in order to achieve this certification. More details on the 
certification program can be ZigBee website.  
1.4  RemoTI 
RemoTI  is  a  complete  hardware  and  software  development  kit  from  Texas  Instruments  for 
developing RF4CE-compliant applications. It is based on the CC2530, a true SoC (System-On-
Chip)  solution  for  2.4-GHz  802.15.4  applications  [R4].  The  CC2530  combines  an  802.15.4  RF 
transceiver, microcontroller, upto 256-KB of in-system programmable flash memory, 8-KB of RAM 
and a full range of peripherals. 
The  RemoTI  software  package  includes  an  RF4CE-compliant  protocol  stack,  the  CERC  profile, 
sample application code and PC tools. 
The  RemoTI  hardware  and  software  package  is  undergoing  final  tests  as  an  RF4CE  Certified 
Platform. It is also a Golden Unit for compliance testing and certification, which means that other 
implementations of the RF4CE stack have to be tested against it before being issued compliance 
certification. 
1.4.1  Stack architecture 
The  RemoTI  software  architecture  is  illustrated  in  the  figure  below.  It  consists  of  the  following 
software components. 
1.4.1.1 
OSAL 
This  is  a  simple  operation  system  environment  for  the  SoC.  It  includes  features  for  task 
management, message passing, queuing, memory management, timers etc. This component is 
included as source code. The API and additional details are available in the OSAL API document 
[R6].  
 
       
Copyright © 2009 Texas Instruments, Inc.   
 
 
 RemoTI Developer’s Guide                                                                                                                                            SWRU198     
HAL ( hardware abstraction layer )
OSAL ( OS abstraction layer )
Sample applications 
( BasicRemote, 
Network processor )
RTI profile 
( CERC profile layer, 
test mode )
RCN library 
( RF4CE network layer, 
802.15.4 MAC )
Figure 2: RemoTI software architecture 
 
RTI profile 
RCN library 
Hardware abstraction layer 
 
1.4.1.2 
This  component  provides  an  abstract  interface  to  the  hardware  available  on  chip  and  on  the 
board.  It  includes  firmware  for  the  UART  and  SPI  communication  interfaces,  Keypad  on  the 
remote  control,  LED’s  and  IR  generation.  This  code  is  included  in  source  to  allow  the  user  to 
modify to suit the hardware available on their product. The API and additional details are available 
in the HAL Driver API document [R7].  
1.4.1.3 
This is the core RF4CE stack and includes the RF4CE network layer, the IEEE 802.15.4 MAC 
layer and the radio firmware. This component in included as an object code library. More details 
including the API are available in the RemoTI API document [R5].  
1.4.1.4 
This  is  an  implementation  of  the  CERC  application  profile.  It  includes  the  pairing  mechanism 
defined in CERC profile. There are also additional test mode features available. This component 
in  included  as  source  code.  More  details  including  the  API  are  available  in  the  RemoTI  API 
document [R5].  
1.4.1.5 
This is sample code that demonstrates how to easily build different applications with the RemoTI 
stack.  The  BasicRemote  application  implements  the  basic  features  of  a  remote  control.  The 
NetworkProcessor application implements a target node that communicates with a host processor 
over UART or SPI interface. 
Extended  features  include  the  over-air-download  feature and  the serial  bootloader  feature. The 
over-air-download  feature  is  available  with  the  BasicRemote  application  and  can  be  used  to 
upgrade the firmware on the remote control from the Target node. The serial bootloader feature is 
available with the NetworkProcessor application and can be used to upgrade the firmware on the 
Target node from the host processor.  
More details on the sample applications are available in the RemoTI Sample Applications User’s 
Guide document [R9].  
1.4.2  Software API 
The RemoTI software API is described in detail in [R5]. Note that the API is exposed at both the 
RCN and RTI layers. The application developer can choose to develop to either of them. The RTI 
layer includes the CERC application profile as well as the test mode features. So it is easier and 
quicker for the user to develop a complete solution.  
Sample applications 
       
Copyright © 2009 Texas Instruments, Inc.