AvaLAN Wireless AW900R4-EVAL - Manual (Page 6)

User’s Manual
PAGE 6 Technical support (650) 384-0000 www.avalanwireless.com
AW900R4-EVAL
Configuration
Setting or changing the configuration (Baud rate, etc.) of the AW900R4 module is
done via the USB interface on the board. Follow these steps:
1. The PC that you will connect via USB to the module must have a USB 2.0 or later
port available and be running MS Windows XP or later. In addition, three critical
pieces of software must be installed; a driver, a utility and a dll.
2. Your PC requires a virtual COM port driver to allow communication with the USB
interface chip in the module. This driver may be downloaded from the chip manu-
facturer’s website, http://www.ftdichip.com . On their site menu, select “Drivers”
and “VCP” (Virtual COM Port). Next, choose the driver corresponding to your PC’s
operating system and our chip, which is an FT232R. At this manual’s writing, the
correct choice was Driver Version 2.06.02, dated 31 March 2010. Download the zip
file from their site. You would also be advised to download the installation guide
for your operating system, available from the link at the top of the driver selection
page. Extract the driver zip file to a folder of your choice, connect the module to
your PC using the supplied USB cable and follow the instructions in the installation
guide. Once you are successful, you should be able to navigate to your Windows
Device Manager and see something like this in the “Ports” section:
The device labeled “USB Serial Port (COM6) is the connection to the AW900R4 mod-
ule. Windows chooses which COM port number to assign, so yours is unlikely to be
COM6. In fact, every time you plug and unplug the USB or restart your computer,
the assigned COM port number will probably be different. So your first step when up
and running should be to open Device Manager to identify the correct port number.
3. Next, you will need a configuration utility and its associated dll file from AvaLAN.
Go to our website, http://www.avalanwireless.com . Navigate to “Support” then
“Downloads.” Choose the “AvaLAN Evk Utility Lite” file and download the zip file.
This zip archive contains two files, EvkUtilityLite.exe and ZedGraph.dll. Extract both
of these to the same folder of your choice. The utility does not use the Windows
registry and can be placed anywhere, but the dll must be in the same folder. If Evk
Utility Lite refuses to run, check first to be sure the dll file is there.