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8168C-MCU Wireless-02/10
AT86RF212
5.2 Extended Operating Mode
The Extended Operating Mode is a hardware MAC accelerator and goes beyond the
basic radio transceiver functionality provided by the Basic Operating Mode. It handles
time critical MAC tasks requested by the IEEE 802.15.4-2003/2006 standard, such as
automatic acknowledgement, automatic CSMA-CA, and retransmission. This results in
a more efficient IEEE 802.15.4-2003/2006 software MAC implementation, including
reduced code size, and may allow the use of a smaller microcontroller.
The Extended Operating Mode is designed to support IEEE 802.15.4-2003/2006
standard compliant frames and comprises the following procedures:
Receive with Automatic Acknowledgement (RX_AACK) divides into the tasks:
Frame reception and automatic FCS check
Configurable addressing fields check
Interrupt indicating address match
Interrupt indicating frame reception if it passes frame filtering and FCS check
Automatic acknowledgment (ACK) frame transmission if applicable
Support of slotted acknowledgment using SLP_TR pin (used for beacon-enabled
operation)
Transmit with Automatic CSMA-CA and Retransmission (TX_ARET) divides into
the tasks:
CSMA-CA, including automatic CCA retry and random backoff
Frame transmission and automatic FCS field generation
Reception of ACK frame (if ACK was requested)
Automatic retry of transmissions if ACK was expected but not received or accepted
Interrupt signaling with transaction status
An AT86RF212 state diagram, including the Extended Operating Mode states, is shown
in
Figure 5-8. Yellow marked states represent the Basic Operating Mode; blue marked
states represent the Extended Operating Mode.