Design
Low-power embedded radio modem with Reed-Solomon error correction for long-range applications
Circuit Design has recently developed and released a 434 MHz low-power radio modem, the MU-2-R.
Circuit Design’s MU series are modems for embedding in industrial equipment. They incorporate the RF circuit required for radio communication and a CPU for control, and data is exchanged with an external CPU using the UART serial interface based on commands.
The The MU-2-R is now 55% smaller than the earlier models, and is offered at a lower price. The MU-2-R also features FEC (Forward Error Correction) employing Reed-Solomon code that is used in satellite communications and compact discs. This ensures highly reliable radio communication even with a weak electric field or when burst noise is present. Designed for narrow band FM and with high receiver sensitivity, the MU-2-R has a communication range of 600 m (line-of-sight) with the 10 mW output authorized for the European harmonized ISM band. In addition, the built-in relay function enables wide-area telemetry systems and remote control applications covering several kilometers using batterypowered operation with 10 mW output.