NV Parameters¶
NV11 - Feature Bits¶
The TX Power Levels Bit (0x0200) sets the radio to control transmit power based on European protocols and standards. If you are using nodes based on the ATmega128RFA1 in Europe, you should set this feature bit via NV11 - Feature Bits. Otherwise, you should leave the bit unset.
Beginning in SNAP 2.7.2, the Power Amplifier Bit (0x0010) specifies whether the firmware should assume the existence of an external amplifier. This bit will default to 0 (no amplifier is present) on firmware builds for the AT128RFA1. Default values for modules based on this chip are not affected.
NV64 - Vendor Specific¶
On the ATmega128RFA1, setting the Turbo Mode Bit (0x0001) via NV64 - Vendor-Specific Settings enables a “turbo” mode in the node, allowing for slightly faster radio communications between nodes by reducing the pauses between packets. You can set the Turbo Mode Bit (0x0001) to 1 and reboot the node to slightly increase throughput, but the node will only be able to communicate over the air with other ATmega128RFA1 nodes. The node will still be able to hear other 2.4 GHz SNAP nodes based on other platforms, but it will not be able to reliably talk to them. (Without the Turbo Mode Bit (0x0001) set, the AT128RFA1-based node inserts a pause between receive and transmit in order to allow nodes with slower systems to make their own transition from transmit to receive.) Other AT128RFA1-based nodes will be able to communicate with the node regardless of their setting, but nodes based on other hardware platforms may have problems.
Note
Prior to SNAP 2.7, setting the Turbo Mode Bit (0x0001) had an additional side effect of increasing the size of the node’s route table from 10 entries to 100 entries. The route table size is now controlled by the Route Table Size Bit via NV11 - Feature Bits.