4 AVR2016
3.1 AVR Microcontrollers Two AVR microcontrollers are found on the AVRRAVEN module. An ATmega1284P
is connected to the AT86RF230 radio transceiver, and an ATmega3290P is driving
the LCD. Both these devices are selected from the AVR picoPower family, something
that ensures minimal power consumption and operation down to 1.8 Volts. Universal
Synchronous and Asynchronous serial Receiver and Transmitter (USART) is used as
an inter processor communication bus.
3.2 Atmel Radio Transceiver The AT86RF230 is a 2.4GHz radio transceiver that is tailored for a wide range of
wireless applications. Low power consumption and market leading RF performance
makes it an excellent choice for virtually any type of networking device. Support for
IEEE 802.15.4 TM (Automatic acknowledge of packets, address filtering and automatic
channel access) type of applications is available through an enhanced layer of
functionality on top of the basic radio transceiver.
3.3 Antenna description The antenna on the AVRRAVEN is a 100Ω loop antenna with a net peak gain of
about 5dB.
3.4 LCD The LCD found on the AVRRAVEN module is a full custom 160-segment display
tailored for the RZRAVEN kit (See Figure 3-2 for a quick reference). It contains a 7
segments text area; four segment number area and numerous handy symbols. In
particular pay attention to the bird looking symbol. It is symbolizing the two black
scouting ravens of Norse god Odin; Hugin (Thought) and Munin (Memory). The saga
says that they flew around the world and reported news back to Odin at night.
Underneath the raven segment’s “eye” there is a red LED capable of soft-blinking;
this may be used to indicate the AVRRAVEN’s search for “news” on the air interface.
A full segment map can be found in Appendix C and in the schematics folder in the
compressed archive file accompanying this application note. The LCD is driven
directly from the connected ATmega3290P.
Figure 3-2 AVRRAVEN - LCD Segments
8117D-AVR-04/08