How do I turn M10 on/off based on satellite availability so as to make battery powered applications efficient?

Why we need to turn on/off M10?
M10 take less than 1 minute to get a satellite link. It all depends upon the availability of the satellite at that particular time. M10 scans through different frequencies to lock to a satellite. So it may lock earlier, in the middle, or at the end of the scan depending upon the frequency of the satellite.
This scan period is around 35 seconds for all the available frequencies. Plus around 10 seconds for boot up, wakeup of SC etc. thus around 1 minute.

 

Taking a minute to find satellite could be a serious issue for battery powered applications if that satellite is not available.

Soultion
M10 is a slave device, hence it cannot wake up or down by itself. DTE has to do it.
1.The DTR signal has to be configured for pwr_down_mode configuration parameters (Appendix A). DTE can drive DTR pin from inactive to active which will result in the awakening of the SC.#Refer Orbcomm serial specs
2.Use Flow Control

To have an optimal solution which enhances battery life, get the predicted almanac of Orbcomm satellites for a region.

https://www.digi.com/support/knowledge-base/what-are-the-different-methods-of-finding-predicte

ie: DTE can wake up M10 at a time when the probability of satellite visibility is high, with reference to "predicted almanac".

 

Last updated: Jun 05, 2019

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