Packet error test with two devices

[Ramonf]

Hi,
I'm a new member in this group, this is my first question, so first, I want to say hi for everyone here.
I currently developing a 802.15.4 device network using Atmel's AT86RF231 chip.
I want to develop a packet error test, so I can know what is the link quality between the boards.
Currently I have a coordinator device, which is stationary, and another device which can be placed in various places in a house.
I want, to initiate a test, just after the authentication of the device against the coordinator, which will last for approx. 20 seconds, where a led will blink on the device while you walk and place it in the house. The led will blink faster if the connection is good, and slow if it's poor.
In that way the user can know where exactly to place his device in the house.
How can I accomplish such a thing ? I thought about various options, such as checking the RSSI, or the LQI while transmitting & recieving, but as far as I know, this must be checked for a while, because the values are prone to errors. I need to have a dynamic test, in such a way that the user can know the link quality while the test is running. Do you have any ideas how can I implement such a thing ?
Thanks a lot.
Ramon.

 

[alexxx]

Hi Ramon.

I think that the LQI is what you need. There is also the RSSI as you mentioned, but I have never seen a good LQI value accompanied by a weak RSSI value or the opposite. About error prone, I have never seen that. What I see is what I get always. I use the ZigBit modules from Atmel, which they use AT86RF230 if I remember correctly. So the values I get from the stack is the values the stack gets from the tranceiver, and it seems to be just fine. Of course the value is possibly debounced before it is exported to the higer layers, but I'm telling you what I see as the final result, which is reliable.

Alex