DESCRIPTION

The RN-174 prototyping board is a field ready, Wi-Fi certified 802.11 b/g solution.  It has the flexibility to connect directly to a standard RS232 interface or through the TTL UART interface to embedded systems.  The status LEDs and jumpers enable rapid prototyping and integration into existing systems.

The RN-174 is built upon Roving Networks' RN-171 module.  The RN-171 module incorporates a 2.4 GHz radio, processor, full TCP/IP stack, real-time clock, FTP, DHCP, DNS, and HTML client to connect to a remote server.  The RN-171 is the smallest, lowest power 802.11 b/g module available.  The module supports ad hoc and infrastructure networking modes. 

In the simplest configuration the hardware only requires four connections (PWR, TX, RX, GND).  Additionally, the analog sensor interface provides direct connections to send temperature, acceleration, and other analog data without requiring additional hardware.  The RN-171 is programmed and controlled with simple ASCII command language.  Once the RN-171 is set up it can scan to find an access point, associate, authenticate, and connect over any Wi-Fi network.

The RN-174 is available in multiple antenna configurations such as Wire, chip, U.Fl connector and a SMA connector.

Developers may want to consider the RN-174-K development kit which is designed to help simplify prototyping work based on the RN-171 module.  The RN-174-K includes the RN-174P prototyping board, an RS232 cable with male DB9 connector, null modem, USB serial cable, and 9V battery clip.