Letter announcing software changes from Motorola
16th June 2000
Dear Channel Partner,
In line with Motorola's policy of ongoing improvement of it's Professional Radio portfolio, the GP300 Series portable radios are being upgraded to provide significant new features and to resolve a number of problems discovered in earlier versions.
What has changed?…
The following GP300 Series software elements have been upgraded:
GP300 Series Radio Firmware (the software embedded in the radios themselves). The new firmware version R03.XX.XX replaces the previous R02.XX.XX versions
GP300 Series Radio Codeplug (the portion of the internal radio memory that contains the radio's personality parameters). The new codeplug version R04.XX replaces the old version R03.XX.
GP300 Series Customer Programming Software (CPS). The new CPS version R03.00.01 replaces the old versions R02.XX.XX.
IMPORTANT : radios with the new version of firmware and codeplug require the new version of CPS - older versions of CPS are not compatible with the new radios.
The new CPS is included on the enclosed CD ROM.
The new version of CPS is fully compatible with older radios which contain older versions of firmware and codeplug.
NOTE : The new version of CPS includes references to the forthcoming Professional Mobile Radios. Further details of the new mobile radios will be announced later this year.
Radio Tuner. The tuning software has been upgraded to version number R02.00.03.
The changes to the above software elements have been reflected in changes to the following documentation:
User Guides - the user guides which ship inside the radio boxes have been upgraded to reflect the changes in the radio's functionality
Product Manuals - the GP300 Series Product Manual has been upgraded to reflect the changes in the radio's functionality. Electronic copies of the following new GP300 Series Product Manuals are included on the enclosed CD ROM:
English (ENLN4073C)
German (ENLN4074C)
French (ENLN4075C)
Italian (ENLN4076C)
Russian (ENLN4077C)
Spanish (ENLN4130B)
New radio firmware functionality…
The following new radio features are provided by the new radio firmware (further details on these new features are provided in the presentation enclosed with this letter):
Missed Calls List
Applicable to GP360 & GP380. Details of up to 10 unanswered calls are stored in the radio's memory
Pre-programmed DTMF sequences assigned to call buttons.
Applicable to all GP300 Series models. Pre-programmed DTMF sequences may be assigned to call buttons.
Numeric channel select via keypad
Applicable to GP380. It is now possible to select the required channel number directly from the keypad.
Default keypad mode may be programmed to Channel
Applicable to GP380. Related to the above feature, the radio's default keypad mode may now be set to channel entry.
20mS CCIR signalling
Applicable to all GP300 Series models. CCIR 5 Tone signalling now supports 20mS tone duration (encode and decode).
Scan Vote
Applicable to all GP300 Series models. While scanning, the RSSI of each channel is measured and the radio lands on the channel with the strongest signal - used in multi-frequency simulcast systems.
Enhancements to existing firmware functionality…
The following radio functions have been enhanced to increase user-friendliness and operator efficiency.
DTMF mode operation
Applicable to the GP380. It is now possible to permanently enable/disable the keypad for DTMF operation via the menu or a dedicated side button.
Keypad active during a call
Applicable to the GP380. The keypad (and limited menu functionality) is now available during a call.
Initiate further calls during a call
Applicable to all GP300 Series models. It is now possible to initiate calls, using the keypad, call buttons and menus, while a call is already in progress.
"Unknown Party" display changed
Applicable to the GP360 and GP380. Radios containing earlier versions of firmware displayed "Unknown Party" when a call was received from a caller with an ID that was not included in the Contact List. It was decided that this was not user friendly and the display string has now been changed to "Call Received".
New CPS functionality…
The new GP300 Series CPS has been enhanced to include the following features:
Password protection
When the radio is programmed, the personality data may be password protected. This means that the personality data cannot be read back out of the radio unless the password is known.
NOTE : only the read function is password protected - new personality data may be written into the radio without knowing the password.
Import/export Contact List to/from Microsoft Excel format
To help make radio programming easier and quicker, the Contact List may be imported/exported to/from Microsoft Excel format.
Import/export Status List from/to Microsoft Excel format
To help make radio programming easier and quicker, the Status List may be imported/exported to/from Microsoft Excel format.
Dealer customised help text links
The CPS helptext may be customised to guide the programmer through the configuration process to achieve the radio personality required.
Old personality file conversion
Personality files from earlier versions of radio may be converted to use with radios containing the new version of firmware.
Radio Firmware Problem Resolution…
The new radio firmware upgrade includes fixes for the following problems discovered in earlier versions:
External PTT did not work if pressed during power-up:
With earlier versions of firmware, if an external PTT was connected to the radio (eg. Remote Speaker Mic) and the PTT was pressed while the radio was powering up, the radio would ignore subsequent PTT presses (ie. subsequent PTT presses would not cause the radio to transmit). This issue has now been fixed; if the external PTT is pressed during radio power up, subsequent presses will cause the radio to transmit as normal.
When waiting for an authorisation response call, the keypad locked on all channels. (GP380) :
This has been fixed and radios can now initiate a second call whilst waiting for an authorisation response. The keypad, menu and call buttons are no longer locked out.
Timed backlight remained on when auto scan was active or when carrier was received on a PL channel (even the wrong PL).
This problem has been resolved; now the backlight only comes on when the display changes (eg. when a 5 tone call is received) or a button is pressed.
If a call was initiated whilst the radio was in monitor mode, the cleardown call was not sent at the end of the call.
This has now been fixed and the cleardown is sent as normal
Tx Admit Criteria were not applied in auto-reset period.
This problem has been resolved in the new firmware release.
Callback did not work from the tick or "#" button.
This problem has now been fixed.
When a call was initiated whilst in active scan, the wrong 5 Tone sequence was sometimes sent.
This problem was due to the fact that the radio sent the sequence associated with the channel being scanned at the time the button was pressed, rather than the sequence associated with the channel designated to transmit on. This has been fixed and the correct telegram is transmitted.
When in scan mode for 5 tone channels, the radio landed on the wrong channel.
The reason for this problem was that by the time the radio had decoded the call, it had moved onto the next channel in the list, and landed on that channel. This has also been fixed in the new firmware release.
When the radio landed on a channel with 5 tone and PL decode configured, the auto acknowledgement was transmitted on the wrong channel.
This problem has been resolved.
When scanning several channels with the same Tx/Rx frequencies, but different PLs, the radio would land on the wrong channel and the user would miss the call.
This issue has been fixed in the new firmware.
ID display overwritten when in scan mode.
When a 5 Tone call was received whilst in scan, the displayed caller ID was immediately overwritten by the channel number. Now, the ID remains on the display when the radio lands.
When in scan mode, the cleardown was not sent at the end of a call.
Issue resolved in latest firmware.
Channel busy alert doesn’t work in scan mode.
This problem has now been fixed
Rapid PTT presses would sometimes cause the radio to stop transmitting.
This problem has now been fixed
When will changes take effect?…
The radio firmware Upgrade Utility will be available to download from the Internet from the end of June 2000 (see section "upgrading radios in the field" below for further details).
Due to the large quantities of stock that have been built up to cover the transfer of the EMEA Distribution Centre from Dublin/Ireland to Taunusstein/Germany, radios containing the new version of firmware and codeplug will not begin to ship until September 2000.
NOTE : the new version of CPS (version no : R03.00.01) will be required to program radios containing the new version of firmware and codeplug.
Which radio models are effected?…
The upgrade applies to the following GP300 Series models:
GP320
VHF (136 - 174MHz) MDH25KDC9AN0_E
UHF (403 - 470MHz) MDH25RDC9AN0_E
GP340
VHF (136 - 174MHz) MDH25KDC9AN3_E
UHF (403 - 470MHz) MDH25RDC9AN3_E
300MHz (300-350MHz) MDH25EDC9AN3_E
Lowband 1 (30-42MHz) MDH25BEC9AN3_E
Lowband 2 (36-50MHz) MDH25CEC9AN3_E
GP360
VHF (136 - 174MHz) MDH25KDF9AN5_E
UHF (403 - 470MHz) MDH25RDF9AN5_E
GP380
VHF (136 - 174MHz) MDH25KDH9AN6_E
UHF (403 - 470MHz) MDH25RDH9AN6_E
Lowband 1 (30-42MHz) MDH25BEH9AN6_E
Lowband 2 (36-50MHz) MDH25CEH9AN6_E
Upgrading radios in the field…
Radios currently in use in the field may be upgraded using the latest "FlashGrade" tool.
The latest FlashGrade tool (version R03.XX.XX) upgrades the radio firmware and the radio personality codeplug to the latest versions.
NOTE : the upgrade process does not affect the essential tuning data specific to each radio.
The FlashGrade Tool will be available on the Internet at the Motorola CGISS Europe, Middle East & Africa Business Centre site from the 26th June 2000.
The address of the Business Centre is:
http://cgiss.motorola.com/businesscenter
If you do not have access to the Business Centre internet site, you may apply for an account by clicking on the "Contact Registration Desk" button on the home page at the above internet address.
The FlashGrade Tool is available from the "Software Download" page (accessed via the "Technical Support & Training" page ) as a compressed archive file (to minimise download time).
Simply download the file to your computer's hard disk and extract the tool files by executing the archive file (the executable".exe" file). To ensure that the tool works correctly, all the extracted files must be contained within the same directory on your computer's hard disk.
Once the files have been successfully extracted, the FlashGrade tool is activated by simply executing the following program file:
UpgradeTool.exe
The upgrade process is started by simply selecting the "Upgrade Radio" option from the pull-down "Radio Access" menu or by clicking on the "Start Radio Upgrade" shortcut button.
IMPORTANT : Once the firmware has been upgraded to, radios may only be programmed using the latest Customer Programming Software (CPS), version R03.00.01. Earlier versions of CPS will no longer be compatible with upgraded radios.
The following equipment must be used in conjunction with the FlashGrade Tool to upgrade radios;
Flash Adapter part no. HLN9742
and either
(a) Radio Interface Box (RIB) part no. RLN4008B or RLN4008C
RIB to PC cable part no. 3080369B72 (9-pin) or
part no. 3080369B71 (25-pin)
Programming/Test Cable part no. RKN4074
or
(b) RIBless Programming Cable part no. RKN4075A
If equipment set (a) is used, the Flash Adapter must be connected between the RIB and the Programming/Test Cable.
If equipment set (b) is used, the Flash Adapter must be connected between the PC and the RIBless Programming Cable.
Product Marketing Management, Basingstoke