.NET Micro Framework

Many people asked how I connected the GM862  to my .NET Micro Framework board (For people who don’t know what the GM862 is, the GM862 is a very powerfull GSM Module with build in TCP/IP Stack for GRPS and DUN, SirfStar III GPS reciever, Python Intrepeter, Jammer Detection and many more powerfull functions.) I’ve written a class for this and published this some time ago.

This driver class was  an initial version and I made a lot of changes to it. But I still didn’t like the stability of it, missing on unsolicitated responses like RING and GPS information, loosing track of the state it’s in (DATA/COMMAND or IDLE) etc. So I started writing a new version from scratch.

The biggest changes in the new driver class are:

• AT Command interface sepperated from the general GM862 class. This class is the base of all communication with the device. It now holds a central FIFO for recieved data and functions to recieve and send lines of text.
   
• Unsolicitated responses are stored in a special Queue that is handled on a user function instead of a seperate thread. This has the bennefit that you can control the moment that the responses are handled. This helps to make sure the handling doesn’t interfere with some of your block of commands.
   
• Also unsolicitated responses are fetched from the FIFO to the Queue on execution of a function.So if you want to make sure you get all responses quickly you can run a dummy AT command.
   
• The functions are split up in "modules". The module now includes the following modules: GSM, GPRS, GPS, TextMessaging and Networking. Networking is in a very early state and only has one command at this moment.
   

Stability seems to be improved a lot. With 3 unsolicitated GPS and GSM Info responses a second the interface kept on invoking commands al night without error.

Download:

The driver class is released as part of the  .NET Micro Framework toolkit. This toolkit was originaly named mschwarztoolkit and build by Michael Schwarz. We’ve decided to join forces to help the MF community. This joining of forces is in a early start but expect great things of it!

The MFToolkit website on CodePlex can be found here: http://www.mftoolkit.net/

Documentation:

There is a demo application included in the solution. Expect more info to come available soon.

For my Dare to Dream Different Challenge project I ordered a Telit  GM862 GSM and GPS Module from SparkFun with Serial Carrier board. The GM862 is a very powerfull GSM Module with build in TCP/IP Stack for GRPS and DUN, SirfStar III GPS reciever, Python Intrepeter, Jammer Detection and many more powerfull functions.

The GM862 uses an AT command set that is compatible with regular Modem commands. So the code from this class can be a base for other AT Based devices (Like XBee modules or Bluetooth modules).

The class provided here is an intial version.This version includes: Basic GSM/GPRS/GPS Initialization, Sending and recieving of SMS Text messages and  retrieval of an HTML page.

Usage is very simple as demonstrated in this piece of code:

// Initialize GSM/GPS Device
GM862 = new GM862GPS("COM1");

// Make sure GM862 is in command state
GM862.Escape();

// Wait until GM862 is ready
while (true)
{
        try
        {
                GM862.ExecuteCommand("ATE1", 500);
        }
        catch
        {
                System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(1000);
                continue;
        }
        break;
}

// Store new pinRequest Handler
lock (GM862)
{
        GM862.getRequestedPIN = GM862_pinRequest;
}

You can download the class and an example program here: MFGM862Example.zip