A d v a nce d I n fo rm a t i o n

Eterna Datasheet

Linear Technology / Dust Networks

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2.8.2

Sleep

The SLEEPn digital interrupt enables an external controller to temporarily disable Eterna’s duty cycling between active and

Doze states (see Section 4.0 for state definitions). Forcing Eterna to the Doze state should only be done when absolutely

necessary, such as when taking a very sensitive sensor reading, as forcing a device into a Doze state will on the average

increase the energy consumption of other devices in the network. When SLEEPn is asserted the software will go into a Doze

state until the SLEEPn signal is negated. For details on the timing associated with SLEEPn, see Section 8.11.

2.10

Flash Programming

Eterna’s software images are loaded via the IPCS, in-circuit programming control system, SPI interface. Sequencing of

RESETn and FLASH_P_ENn, as described in Section 4.0, places Eterna in a state emulating a serial flash to support in-

circuit programming. Hardware and software for supporting development and production programming of devices is

described in 040-0110 Eterna Serial Programmer Guide. The serial protocol, SPI, and timing parameters are described in

Section 8.13.

3.0

SmartMesh Intelligent Networking Platform

The SmartMesh Eterna network manager is built upon Dust Networks’ Intelligent Networking Platform, which provides

dynamic network optimization, deterministic power management, intelligent routing, and bandwidth flexibility to achieve the

carrier class data reliability, and ultra-low power and ease of use required for industrial automation applications.

3.1

Dynamic Network Optimization

Dynamic network optimization allows Eterna to address the changing RF requirements in harsh industrial environments

resulting in a network that is continuously self-monitoring and self-adjusting. The manager performs dynamic network

optimization based upon periodic reports on network health and link quality that it receives from the network motes. The

manager uses this information to provide performance statistics to the application layer and proactively solve problems in the

network. Dynamic network optimization not only maintains network health, but also allows Eterna to deliver deterministic

power management.

3.2

Deterministic Power Management

Deterministic power management balances traffic in the network by diverting traffic around heavily loaded motes (for

example, motes with high reporting rates). In doing so, it reduces power consumption for these motes and balances power

consumption across the network. Deterministic power management provides predictable maintenance schedules to prevent

down time and lower the cost of network ownership. When combined with field devices using Eterna’s industry-leading low

power radio technology, deterministic power management enables over a decade of battery life for network motes.

3.3

Intelligent Routing

Intelligent routing provides each packet with an optimal path through the network. The shortest distance between two points

is a straight line, but in RF the quickest path is not always the one with the fewest hops. Intelligent routing finds optimal

paths by considering the link quality (one path may lose more packets than another) and the retry schedule, in addition to the

number of hops. The result is reduced network power consumption, elimination of in-network collisions, and unmatched

network scalability and reliability.

3.4

Bandwidth Flexibility

Efficient use of network resources enables Dust Networks to deliver bandwidth flexibility—the ability to assign different

levels of bandwidth to satisfy unique throughput and latency requirements. Bandwidth flexibly addresses the range of latency

and throughput needs of industrial automation applications such as request/response, fast file transfer, and alerting.