Raspberry Pi and EnOcean Internet of Things Pack

Yes, I guess I'm being overly pedantic

not really, we've experienced numerous low power RF transmitters taking out aircraft communications, because they were either not operated in accordance with the rules, or modified in some way.

Luckily the person wasn't charged for the time spent chasing it, otherwise the fine would pail in comparison.

To give you an example of how easy it is to cause interference, we have our meetings at a commercial premises and most RF car door remotes won't work in the car park.

There is something they have (legally) that results in the noise being high enough to prevent them from working unless you are at zero feet.

mark

I agree to some degree that it's unlikely short range devices with relatively low output powers would cause practical problems, but do consider that with the appropriate error correction coding and spreading, that signals can be below the noise floor of narrowband services and still be decoded by the intended service. E.g. for 3G services, service can be had at even -4dB SNR, and GPS where devices are never going to see a positive SNR on a spectrum analyzer. So while your narrow band device with less protection and coding may "fail" at a short range, it may cause much further interference than intended. For example, something as innocuous as a faulty TV masthead amplifier that can only put out mWs of power was jamming a whole harbour (The Hunt for RFI: Unjamming a Coast Harbor : GPS World).

Likewise, I agree with Mark as well, as high powered bases and mobile phones are likely to severely shorten the range of a low power FSK transmission that the Enocean uses. This may lead to unreliability of the product where the bands are shared with higher powered devices, with some packets failing to decode occasionally depending on what the other people in the band are doing. If it's nearby on an adjacent band and high powered enough, it may overwhelm the receiver and desensitize it to the intended signal as well.

However, my pedantic stance was mainly because of the legal aspect - if one ever intends to deploy these in any serious use, they will have to do so in line with the law or risk fines if they get caught. Interfering with a licensed user that has paid several thousand dollars+ for the privilege of using the spectrum is not going to sit pretty with the authorities. Even the importation of radio gear which is unlicensed in the wrong bands can land you a fine, especially due to the rise of rogue jammer devices and illegal GSM/UMTS repeaters that degrade base station performance by raising the noise floor. Unfortunately, the fines are as crazy as the rules are, and the maker movement has taken some risk - for example, the EMI emissions from all these unshielded prototyping boards which have the potential to cause problems.

Yes, I guess I'm being overly pedantic, but that's mainly just to be sure that people do take the time to understand the issues at play, which is why they have to make so many different bands of equipment for regional-specific requirements on frequency bands and output powers.

You bring up some outstanding points it seems regulation of these things never took into account the IoT or maker community. It's was easy back in the day to regulate manufactured products. Don't think they realized one day more hackers would exist buying from various sources having thousands of products broadcasting within the city. I'm sure one day all the Countries will catch on and revise and regulate these types of components.

Luckily most offer such a short range they probably will just let it go. I think from Radio and Remote Planes perspective they are much more concerned as you try to transmit as far as you can. So it would be more closely regulated as a source of interference. But if you plug this into your home and if the range can't even escape the walls of your house interference would not be an issue. Do you know the specs on what kind of range could be expected of these devices by chance. 5m 10m 100m etc.

They document 902 MHz transceiver achieves double the range of common 2.4 GHz

Common 2.4 is about 40m indoor and 100m outdoor double that 80m and 200m or 132' and 660' without interference. A stationary device even at 666' at least in my city really wouldn't be a problem as far as interfering with another device. Even at 132' inside my house where I would set it up wouldn't reach my neighbors property in any direction. Attach it to an Model Airplane and I could see how flying around my neighborhood could cause interference. The US states you are responsible for any radio you transmit if it cannot interfere with another persons device your pretty much in the clear regardless of what band you choose.

You also need to consider that many are meant to be intermittant data only, and are likely to get swamped by other devices on the same bands.

Mark

From what you have posted, it's congruent with what I said above.

According to the Australian Communications and Media Authority, the 900Mhz ISM band only stretches from 915-928Mhz (maximum 3mW), and 902.875Mhz which is specified in the sensor datasheets, as is 902Mhz in general, is outside of this band. Therefore, making it illegal as it lies within the mobile phone telco bands in Australia, just as the 868.300Mhz modules lie within the 850Mhz 3G mobile band.

Their mention of Zigbee use and locking channels doesn't seem to be related to Enocean products as they don't appear to use Zigbee and list only a single frequency of 902.875Mhz.

The 315Mhz band appears to belong to fixed/mobile radio services as well, however, I did find the LIPD legal conditions document http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/F2013C00396 which mentions 304.05-328.6Mhz with maximum output of 10uW is also legal. However, the Enocean modules typically put out 1-5dBm, meaning roughly 1mW to 4mW which makes them unsuitable for use under the LIPD rules.

The Wikipedia page for Enocean (EnOcean - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) makes a mention of 928.35Mhz as another band which is available, however, element14's website has no mention of this module at this moment. Those modules can be found here: Energy Harvesting Wireless Sensor Modules, Receiver and Transceiver Modules and Accessories in 928 MHz | EnOcean - Produ…

EDIT: As our band ends at 928Mhz, even this is technically outside our ISM band, making it not suitable either. Hmm.

Note that laws are different in every country, I encourage people to look up the relevant government bodies for the legal requirements. Sometimes, some forums online can get things wrong - as a radio amateur, I've been taught to be extra careful about this.

I found the following. I know in the US some are regulated only by how much they broadcast. You can use the Emergency Frequency here but you can only broadcast 10 seconds per hour. (Not a direct quote but many frequencies have that type of allowed use.)

Hope it helps find what you need.

RC Groups are a great resource as they have a lot of frequencies they operate on and I found my info on Remote Control Planes websites.

I would think it's legal as it's sold by USB 300U - ENOCEAN - USB GATEWAY FOR RADIO, 902MHZ | element14 Australia

Here's the sample for the 900mhz range from an RC Group forum in Australia.

RC Groups - View Single Post - 900mhz in australia

Legalities of 900MHz ISM band communications in Australia are covered by the Low Interference Potential Devices Class licence, here http://www.comlaw.gov.au/ComLaw/Legislation/LegislativeInstrumentCompilation1.nsf/0/58DA61C0685CFB85CA2575ED0032C733/$file/RadcomLIPDClassLic2000.pdf

Band of operation for 900MHz applications is 915-928MHz for digitally modulated (OFDM or COFDM, DSSS) or Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum Communications. Zigbee appears to use 10-30 channels, these are in the 902-928 range. To operate a zigbee device legally in australia, you need to restrict the operation to channels in the 915-928 range.

Main issue of the lower end of the 900MHz band is that they're owned by telcos for mobile phone applications

It is regionally localized for different frequency bands given your location as the laws in regards to spectrum usage differ. In Australia, a search for Enocean under Element14's webpage gives us 315Mhz, 868Mhz and 902Mhz band receivers for the Raspberry Pi. See: MCU / MPU / DSC / DSP / FPGA Development Kits | element14 Australia | Results

Specifically their datasheets specify the frequencies being 315.000Mhz, 868.300Mhz, 902.875Mhz.

Which one is legal for usage in your country depends on your laws. The output power and bands typically fall into Low Interference Potential Devices (LIPD) licensing conditions, or otherwise fall inside an Industrial, Science or Medical (ISM) band where unlicensed emission is permitted given certain rules are followed (e.g. the 433Mhz band). Australia's LIPD rules are here: http://www.acma.gov.au/Industry/Spectrum/Radiocomms-licensing/Class-licences/lipd-class-licence-spectrum-acma

Unfortunately, it seems none of the frequencies in the set are covered by the LIPD rules. From further research into the band allocations, it appears that those frequencies are allocated for fixed/mobile radiocommunication services - 868.3Mhz seems to lie within a telecommunications mobile phone band, 902.875Mhz lies outside the 900Mhz ISM band where cordless phones and other devices are allowed to operate in Australia. See: http://www.acma.gov.au/webwr/radcomm/frequency_planning/spectrum_plan/aust_rf_spectrum_allocations_chart.pdf and http://www.acma.gov.au/~/media/Spectrum%20Transformation%20and%20Government/Information/pdf/Australian%20Radiofrequency%…

So, from my research, I don't think any of these kits can legally be operated in Australia unless I've overlooked something. How unfortunate!

Just a guess. But from what I have found these are likely candidates for the Sensors.

• A temperature sensor PTM 330U

Energy Harvesting Wireless Sensor Modules, Receiver and Transceiver Modules and Accessories in 902 MHz | EnOcean - Produ…

• A wireless switch PTM 210U wireless switch module

Energy Harvesting Wireless Sensor Modules, Receiver and Transceiver Modules and Accessories in 902 MHz | EnOcean - Produ…

• A contact sensor STM 320U

This one I am not sure of. The product description list it as "wireless magnet contact sensor" so seems a likely candidate.

Energy Harvesting Wireless Sensor Modules, Receiver and Transceiver Modules and Accessories in 902 MHz | EnOcean - Produ…

Note: Product links are for EnOcean line of energy harvesting wireless modules communicating on the 902 MHz band for the North American market. It seems Region is not an issue for this test. Visit EnOcean via any links in this comment and you can find what frequencies are valid for your region. It may come in handy to verify you receive the correct part or not get confused when they reveal what kit is being shipped to the selected applicant.

Christian DeFeo May 1, 2014 5:27 AM (in response to Gurinder Singh Gill)

 

Good question!  The sensor kits are region specific in order to overcome that issue.

 

The closest kit is the ENOCEAN  ESK 300U  ENERGY HARVEST, 902MHZ, STARTER KIT - But it's contents do not reflect the Road Test Sensors listed. worth a look at anyway.

I hope this helps and that I got the right modules. It's always useful to read up about the product so you can prepare in case you are selected.

Element14 = tech. and info. cornucopia.

Christian

Thanks for that.

Sometimes the search doesn't work too well, but the part number often works globally.

Thanks Mark

Hi Mark - check in the Related Products widget on the right, I've listed the various EnOcean sensor packs and EnOcean Pi there.

Christian

Do you have a part number as the part detail link goes to RPi 8GB SD.

I was wondering if there are available in AUS/NZ.?

Cheers

Mark

Something like this: Energy Harvesting Wireless Sensor Solutions and Technology | EnOcean – Products

Good question!  The sensor kits are region specific in order to overcome that issue.

what frequency band does the EnOcean module transmit/receive ? as few bands are restricted in some country's !

Very good news indeed. Really overwhelming roadtests.

Yes, a Raspberry Pi is included along with the EnOcean Pi and Sensor kit.

Hallo. Does this pack have the PasPI included?