Upgrading Stock Sensor Nodes
If you have stock sensor nodes and need to upgrade them, please use this page to prepare for the upgrade.
Offline OTAP is only supported for stack 4 updates while stack 5 upgrades are not supported. The offline OTAP relies on custom applications running on the gateways, which were released in 2023. Please note that if the gateway that had a custom application was brought online after a custom installation, it will lose its offline OTAP capability. If that has happened, please contact OR through the service desk to arrange an upgrade after having done the preparations until step 3.
1.0 Step 1 - Tools
The Toolkit used for the offline OTAP process consists of,
Rigado-Cascade IoT Gateway*
Response SN3 power jigs.
2-pin connectors (only used when upgrading detached sensor nodes). Click here for more info about the connectors.
Power Supply Units (PSU) to power the nodes - available in both Europe / UK plug types.
A computer**
* specially configured for stack 4 offline OTAP Purposes, will be referred to as the “offline gateway” in this document, and ORT provides it.
** Capable to run web browser to allow stack 4 nodes to be upgraded as shared in step 4.
2.0 Step 2 - Pre-requisites
Things to be considered before starting the offline OTAP Process:
Contact ORT to check if the portable (offline) Gateway is updated with the latest version.
Make sure to power off any other gateways within the communication range. This is mandatory to force all the nodes to connect to the offline gateway only.
Please make sure the laptop/computer is always ON during the Upgrade.
This toolkit is designed to upgrade 126 Response SN3s only (63 nodes per power jig) through one gateway at a time.
Offline OTAP process can only support upgrading the sensor nodes to firmware version 186. It is currently unable to support any Wirepas 5 updates.
Please note that the gateway will not be able to distinguish between nodes powered on at the jig or installed in a luminaire. As long as there are nodes powered on and in reception range to form network and can see this gateway they will appear in the node scan. It is always recommended to ensure the number of nodes on the jig match the nodes that appear in the node scan.
3.0 Step 3 - Place Response SN3 on Power Jig
The Response SN3 power jig should work together with a Power Supply Unit (PSU), as you can see in Figure 1, and you will get a UK plug if it is used in the UK.
The power jig has 7x18 probe pins, which can power 63 Response SN3s at a time. Make sure you do not connect the mains’ power to the power jig when you are seating Response SN3s.
Caution: Please pay attention to the correct direction when you are seating the Response SN3, as in the picture below, and make sure to seat the node gently, just need a little bit pressure, avoid pushing it too hard, otherwise you may break the connectors of the Response SN3. A good practise would be to start from back line so that you can visually confirm the sensor node red dome and green led blink to indicate that they are powered on.
This is what it looks like when all Response SN3s are seated.
Another angle is shown below. All 63 Response SN3s are ready for upgrade, and you can connect the mains’ power to the jig now.
Note: Please place the power jig on a stable bench and avoid moving the nodes during the upgrade process.
3.1 Instruction to place the Detached Sensor Nodes (DNS) on Power Jig
To connect DResponse SN3s to a power jig, you need CH2 cable connectors, as shown below.
You can order the connectors from amazon (Sweden) or amazon (UK).
The power jig has 7X18 probe pins, which can power 63 sensor nodes at a time. Seat the connectors to the probe pins as shown below, 9 connectors are seated to the pins, and you can seat up to 63 connectors.
Note: Please do NOT connect the mains’ power to the power jig while you are seating the connectors.
After seating the connectors, you can connect the wires to the connectors. Please pay attention to the correct direction when you are connecting them. The red wire should go for the pin that has two pads nearby, shown with a red circle in the picture below. Make sure the wires are in good contact with the connectors.
This is what it looks like when some DResponse SN3s are connected. Of course, you can connect more.
You can now connect the mains power to the jig. Please make sure the jig with connected DSNs should be placed at a level surface, without moving during the whole upgrade process.
After finishing an upgrade, please disconnect the mains’ power, then release the wires from the connectors by pressing the release buttons, and you can have another set of DResponse SN3 be upgraded.
4.0 Step 4 - Nodes Upgrading Process (Offline stack 4)
4.1 Initial Setup
1- Plug in the portable gateway to a power outlet. Please note that the Internet connection is not required here (i.e. no Ethernet cable is required).
2- Turn off any other gateways within the same communication range.
3- Connect the nodes to the Jig board (please follow the instructions above) and wait for 5 minutes for the mesh to be formed.
4- Connect your computer to the offline gateway’s Wifi (Wifi Name: ort_gateway*** / password: password1).
5- To access the offline OTAP user interface (UI), open the browser from your PC and paste this URL http://10.0.60.1:9004/. Figure 10 shows the home page of the UI.
6- Advance mode menu: Click on the “advanced mode” button located at the left top corner of the UI to view more detailed scan information. (Figure 11).
7- Identify the nodes: If you want to visually identify the selected node(s) to make sure they are connected properly to the jig, you can simply click on “Identify Nodes” (Figure 12) this will force the red dome of the selected node to lit red for 60 sec.
Note: If a node does not lit red after clicking on “Send Identify” , then it is most probably not seated properly. Please press it gently into the pins to connect (do not remove it). Once it is seated properly, it will flash red immediatly if the power is connected. If the light doesn't flash then it means that the node is powered but has not connected to the mesh yet.
8- Start scanning for nodes.
HOW TO SCAN NODES | |
Action | Result |
| Node scanning is started and displays the progress indicator and number of nodes found once scanning is completed. The scanning process might take up to 10 minutes. (Figures 13 & 14) |
| Detailed scan information is displayed below which consists of node details (Node ID, PIC and Nordic versions, BLE status) and logs. (Figure 15) |
4.2 Start the Upgrade
Start upgrading the nodes by following the below steps:
When in upgrade menu expand the view by clicking on down arrow on the right hand side next to Upgrade x nodes option. A menu will be displayed where you can select the upgrade options (either All or Nordic only). Also, you can select the Updater, PIC and Nordic versions as shown in Figures 16 and 17.
Please note that a gateway in offline OTAP is equipped to upgrade for certain version numbers as they were available at the time of its configuration. If you wish to use a version higher or if you are unable a particular version please contact OR to upgrade your gateway to include later versions.
Click on “All” to run a full firmware upgrade (Updater, PIC and Nordic, in that sequence) as shown in Figure 14.
Click on “Nordic Only” if you wish to run a Nordic upgrade only.
If you are upgrading the stock nodes, toggle on the “Reset Nodes to Factory defaults” to reset the nodes to their factory settings when the upgrade process is finished.
Note: Please make sure to disconnect (unplug) all the nodes immediately after the upgrade process is done (no more than 15 minutes) to maintain the validity of the Automated Self-Test Sequence
Click on the “Upgrade nodes” button to initiate the upgrade process (Figure 18).
Wait until the upgrade process is completed. The upgrade process might take around 2 hours to be completed depending on the number of nodes.
Click on the top left corner menu “Advance mode” and then select the “Upgrade Nodes” column to monitor the upgrade status and to view the logs for each node.
The status of the Updater, PIC and Nordic for each selected node will be displayed as a color indicator as shown below,
Yellow - The process is initiatedOrange - Upgrade is in progress
Green - Successful upgrade
Red - Unsuccessful upgrade
Examples can be seen in Figures 19, 20, 21 and 22.
To view the upgrade logs, you click on the log icon. This will provide more advanced information about what is actually happening behind the scenes during the upgrade process.
Click on “Sinks” to Display detailed information about the gateway (Figure 24).
OTAP process is completed (Figure 25).
5.0 BLE Scanning
The UI allows you to control the BLE scanning for the scanned sensor nodes. Click on the left-hand side menu for the nodes to perform the following functions (Figure 26),
Get BLE status: Displays the information about the current BLE status (Blue means ON, Grey means OFF, a Question mark means the query is under process).
Turn on BLE scanning: turns on BLE scanning of the node manually.
Turn off BLE scanning: turns off BLE scanning of the node manually.
Note: The BLE scanning will be automatically turned off for all selected nodes when the upgrade process is started and it will turn back on automatically once the upgrade process is completed.
6.0 Reset to factory default settings
If you have already enabled the “Reset nodes to factory defaults” option, the nodes will be automatically reset to their factory settings after the upgrade. However, if you wish to do this process manually, you can simply select all the nodes or some of them and then click on “Factory Reset” from the burger menu.
Upon sending the factory reset command, the Red dome of the sensor nodes will flash once rapidly followed by 2 long flashes. (See full factory reset led sequence here)
If you have cross-stack upgrade requirements, please reach out to OR via the service desk.