ITK SAS MAST001 Manuel D’Utilisation
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LoRa® wireless communication from ITK-FlowSensor to ITK-FlowMaster
The communication between an ITK-FlowSensor and an ITK-FlowMaster is done through LoRa®
technology (radio frequency).
Radio Frequency
ISM bands: 902-928 MHz (FCC compliant).
Radio range
Up to 2 miles Loss-Of-Signal with receiving antenna 5m above floor.
Typically 0.5 miles in a vineyard
Communication protocol
Clover-Net® protocol (private LoRa radio network).
Please refer to the ITK flow sensor technical specifications for more details.
Communication between ITK-FlowMaster and gateway
The ITK-FlowMaster is physically connected to a gateway over an UART link through a USB port. It is
up to the gateway to recover the data packets sent by the ITK-FlowMaster and to interpret them into
an embedded application software.
UART physical link description
The application embedded in the ITK-FlowMaster uses a serial link to receive orders and to return
results. UART implements a transmission speed = 115200 Bauds, no parity check and 1 single stop
bit.
Standby and wake up
The ITK-FlowMaster stays in standby mode to optimize power consumption. It wakes up periodically
for a RF scan, where it checks if there is activity in a pre-defined RF channel to receive possible
frames sent by an ITK-FlowSensor. The ITK-FlowMaster also wakes up when a serial frame is received
from the gateway, from the UART physical link over a direct memory access management.
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Easy-install
The installation of the ITK-FlowSensor is done through an automated gateway discovery process. The
gateway discovery pairs the ITK-FlowSensor with the best available ITK-FlowMaster and gateway
around. At any time after the initial installation, the link between the ITK-FlowSensor and the
gateway can be tested with a link check process.
See ITK Flow Sensor Quick Start Guide for launching gateway installation.
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In order to give enough time to the ITK-FlowMaster to wake up, a synchronization character is required at the
beginning of the serial frame sent by the gateway. This synchronization character is 0xFF in hexadecimal
notation or an “A” in ASCII. The same synchronization character is also sent at the beginning of frame
transmissions sent by the ITK-FlowMaster to the gateway.
notation or an “A” in ASCII. The same synchronization character is also sent at the beginning of frame
transmissions sent by the ITK-FlowMaster to the gateway.