User's Manual

Boomer II User Manual & Integrator’s Guide __________________________ Appendix D - Application Development
BM210012WT37 123 Copyright Wavenet Technology © November 2003
Low battery
Network contact is dropped when a low battery condition is reached.
This occurs at the same time as a battery alert notification event, but
after the assertion of the LOWBAT LED that occurs while the battery
still has some remaining usable capacity. The time between these
events (the assertion of the LOWBAT LED and the loss of network
contact) is much influenced by the battery technology and the level of
transmit activity within the wireless modem. A relatively inactive
device provides more warning time than an active device. Also, an
alkaline battery provides more warning than a NiCad battery.
Low buffers
If outbound SDUs remain unread within the wireless modem, its
outbound buffers are eventually filled. When this occurs, network
contact is dropped. Network contact is re-established when the internal
buffer pool within the wireless modem reaches a usable level, as a
result of SDU reads by the application. This situation never occurs
when the client application reads continuously to clear the wireless
modem of received outbound SDUs.
Receiver disabled
The client application can disable the wireless modem transceiver by
using the Receiver Disable NCL command. When this occurs, network
contact is dropped and the radio is turned off. Network contact is re-
established when the application issues the Receiver Enable, then the
Transmitter Enable NCL commands.
Power Management
The following modem power management options can be included in
an application to maximize battery life:
Power Save Mode
The wireless modem defaults to Power Save mode when turned on if
the network supports the Power Save protocol. If you are concerned
about latency of unsolicited outbound messages, you can turn off the
Power Save mode, but at the expense of consuming more battery
power. For details, refer to the NCL 1.2 command
S_POWER_SAVE_MODE. See “Battery Life Considerations” and
“Power Save Protocol” on the following page.
Dynamically modifying the Power Save mode of the device is not
recommended.
On/Off upon User Demand
To extend battery life, design the application to switch the modem on
and off as the usage need arises. This method is especially effective for
session-based, user-initiated applications.