INTERFACEMODE

Sets receive or transmit modes for ports

Platform:

OEM719, OEM729, OEM7500, OEM7600, OEM7700, OEM7720, PwrPak7, CPT7, CPT7700, SMART7, SMART2

This command is used to specify what type of data a particular port on the receiver can transmit and receive. The receive type tells the receiver what type of data to accept on the specified port. The transmit type tells the receiver what kind of data it can generate. For example, to accept RTCMV3 differential corrections, set the receive type on the port to RTCMV3.

It is also possible to disable or enable the generation or transmission of command responses for a particular port. Disabling of responses is important for applications where data is required in a specific form and the introduction of extra bytes may cause problems, i.e., RTCA, RTCM, RTCMV3 or CMR. Disabling a port prompt is also useful when the port is connected to a modem or other device that responds with data the RECEIVER does not recognize.

For applications running in specific interface modes, see Table: Serial Port Interface Modes, set the appropriate interface modes before sending or receiving corrections. It is important that the port interface mode matches the data being received on that port. Mismatches between the interface mode and received data can result in CPU overloads.

When INTERFACEMODE port NONE NONE OFF is set, the specified port is disabled from interpreting any input or output data. Therefore, no commands or differential corrections are decoded by the specified port. When GENERIC is set for a port, it is also disabled but data can be passed through the disabled port and be output from an alternative port using the pass-through logs PASSCOM, PASSAUX and PASSUSB. See PASSCOM, PASSAUX, PASSUSB, PASSICOM, PASSNCOM for details on these logs along with Pass-Through Logging for information about pass-through logging. See also the SERIALCONFIG command.If you intend to use the SERIALCONFIG command, ensure you do so before the INTERFACEMODE command on each port. The SERIALCONFIG command can remove the INTERFACEMODE command setting if the baud rate is changed after the interface mode is set. You should also turn break detection off using the SERIALCONFIG command to stop the port from resetting because it is interpreting incoming bits as a break command. If such a reset happens, the Interface mode will be set back to the default NOVATEL mode for both input and output.

SPAN Systems

The INTERFACEMODE of the receiver is also configured for the serial port dedicated to the IMU. This mode changes automatically upon sending a CONNECTIMU command and the change is reflected when logging this command. This is normal operation.

When the CONNECTIMU command is used to configure the IMU connected to the receiver, the correct interface mode for the IMU port is automatically set. The IMU port should not be altered using the INTERFACEMODE command in normal operation. Doing so may result in the loss of IMU communication.

Message ID: 3

Abbreviated ASCII Syntax:

INTERFACEMODE [port] rxtype txtype [responses]

Factory Default:

INTERFACEMODE COM1 NOVATEL NOVATEL ON

INTERFACEMODE COM2 NOVATEL NOVATEL ON

INTERFACEMODE COM3 NOVATEL NOVATEL ON

INTERFACEMODE AUX NOVATEL NOVATEL ON

INTERFACEMODE USB1 NOVATEL NOVATEL ON

INTERFACEMODE USB2 NOVATEL NOVATEL ON

INTERFACEMODE USB3 NOVATEL NOVATEL ON

INTERFACEMODE ICOM1 NOVATEL NOVATEL ON

INTERFACEMODE ICOM2 NOVATEL NOVATEL ON

INTERFACEMODE ICOM3 NOVATEL NOVATEL ON

INTERFACEMODE ICOM4 NOVATEL NOVATEL ON

INTERFACEMODE ICOM5 NOVATEL NOVATEL ON

INTERFACEMODE ICOM6 NOVATEL NOVATEL ON

INTERFACEMODE ICOM7 NOVATEL NOVATEL ON

INTERFACEMODE NCOM1 RTCMV3 NONE OFF

INTERFACEMODE NCOM2 RTCMV3 NONE OFF

INTERFACEMODE NCOM3 RTCMV3 NONE OFF

INTERFACEMODE CCOM1 NOVATELBINARY NOVATELBINARY ON

INTERFACEMODE CCOM2 NOVATELBINARY NOVATELBINARY ON

INTERFACEMODE CCOM3 AUTO NOVATEL OFF

INTERFACEMODE CCOM4 AUTO NOVATEL OFF

INTERFACEMODE CCOM5 AUTO NOVATEL OFF

INTERFACEMODE CCOM6 AUTO NOVATEL OFF

INTERFACEMODE SCOM1 NOVATEL NOVATEL ON

INTERFACEMODE SCOM2 NOVATEL NOVATEL ON

INTERFACEMODE SCOM3 NOVATEL NOVATEL ON

INTERFACEMODE SCOM4 NOVATEL NOVATEL ON

ASCII Example 1:

INTERFACEMODE COM1 RTCMV3 NOVATEL ON

ASCII Example 2:

INTERFACEMODE COM2 MRTCA NONE

Are NovAtel receivers compatible with others on the market?

All GNSS receivers output two solutions: position and time. The manner in which they output them makes each receiver unique. Most geodetic and survey grade receivers output the position in electronic form (typically RS-232), which makes them compatible with most computers and data loggers. All NovAtel receivers have this ability. However, each manufacturer has a unique way of formatting the messages. A NovAtel receiver is not directly compatible with a Trimble or Ashtech receiver (which are also incompatible with each other) unless everyone uses a standard data format.

However, there are several standard data formats available. For position and navigation output there is the NMEA format. Real-time differential corrections use RTCM or RTCA format. For receiver code and phase data RINEX format is often used. NovAtel and all other major manufacturers support these formats and can work together using them. The NovAtel format measurement logs can be converted to RINEX using the utilities provided in NovAtel Convert.

Field

Field Type

ASCII Value

Binary Value

Description

Format

Binary Bytes

Binary Offset

1

Command header

-

-

INTERFACEMODE header

This field contains the command name for abbreviated ASCII or the message header for ASCII (see page 1) or Binary (see page 1).

-

H

0

2

port

See Table: Communications Port Identifiers

Serial port identifier

(default = THISPORT)

Note: On the SMART2, the INTERFACEMODE command cannot be used with CCOM ports.

Enum

4

H

3

rxtype

See Table: Serial Port Interface Modes

Receive interface mode

Enum

4

H+4

4

txtype

See Table: Serial Port Interface Modes

Transmit interface mode

Enum

4

H+8

5

responses

OFF

0

Turn response generation off

Enum

4

H+12

ON

1

Turn response generation on (default)

Serial Port Interface Modes

Binary Value

ASCII Value

Description

0

NONE

The port accepts/generates nothing. The port is disabled.

1

NOVATEL

The port accepts/generates NovAtel commands and logs.
The port also accepts/generates NOVATELX corrections.

2

RTCM

The port accepts/generates RTCM corrections.

3

RTCA

The port accepts/generates RTCA corrections.

4

CMR

The port accepts/generates CMR corrections.

5

Reserved

6

Reserved

7

IMU

This port supports communication with a NovAtel supported IMU.

8

RTCMNOCR

When RTCMNOCR is used as the txtype, the port generates RTCM corrections without the CR/LF appended.

When RTCMNOCR is used as the rxtype, the port accepts RTCM corrections with or without the CR/LF appended.

9

Reserved

10

TCOM1

INTERFACEMODE tunnel modes. To configure a full duplex tunnel, configure the baud rate on each port. Once a tunnel is established, the baud rate does not change. Special characters, such as a BREAK condition, do not route across the tunnel transparently and the serial port is altered, see the SERIALCONFIG command. Only serial ports may be in a tunnel configuration: COM1, COM2, COM3 or AUX may be used.

For example, configure a tunnel at 115200 bps between COM1 and AUX:

SERIALCONFIG AUX 115200

SERIALCONFIG COM1 115200

INTERFACEMODE AUX TCOM1 NONE OFF

INTERFACEMODE COM1 TAUX NONE OFF

The tunnel is fully configured to receive/transmit at a baud rate of 115200 bps.

11

TCOM2

12

TCOM3

13

TAUX 1

14

RTCMV3

The port accepts/generates RTCM Version 3.0 corrections.

15

NOVATELBINARY

The port only accepts/generates binary messages. If an ASCII command is entered when the mode is set to binary only, the command is ignored. Only properly formatted binary messages are responded to and the response is a binary message.

16-17

Reserved

18

GENERIC

The port accepts/generates nothing. The SEND command or SENDHEX command from another port generate data on this port. Any incoming data on this port can be seen with PASSCOM logs on another port, see PASSCOM, PASSAUX, PASSUSB, PASSICOM, PASSNCOM log.

19

IMARIMU

This port supports communication with an iMAR IMU.

20

MRTCA

The port accepts/generates Modified Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics (MRTCA) corrections.

21-22

Reserved

23

KVHIMU

This port supports communication with a KVH CG5100 IMU.

24-26

Reserved

27

AUTO

For auto-detecting different RTK correction formats and incoming baud rate (over serial ports).

The change of baud rate will not appear when SERIALCONFIG is logged as this shows the saved baud rate for that port.

28-34

Reserved

35

NOVATELX

The port accepts/generates NOVATELX corrections.

36-40

Reserved

41

KVH1750IMU

The port supports communication with an IMU-KVH1750 or IMU-P1750 IMU.

42

VERIPOS

This port supports Veripos, TerraStar and Oceanix PPP corrections.

43-45

Reserved

46

TCCOM1

CCOM1 Tunnel

47

TCCOM2

CCOM2 Tunnel

48

TCCOM3

CCOM3 Tunnel

49

NOVATELMINBINARY

NovAtel binary message with a minimal header.
Only available for CCOM ports.

50

TCCOM4

CCOM4 Tunnel

51

TCCOM5

CCOM5 Tunnel

52

TCCOM6

CCOM6 Tunnel

53-57

Reserved

60

TSCOM1

SCOM1 Tunnel

61

TSCOM2

SCOM2 Tunnel

62

TSCOM3

SCOM3 Tunnel

63

TSCOM4

SCOM4 Tunnel

64

LUA

Lua stdin/stdout/stderr.

Use the LUA PROMPT command to set this Interface Mode.

65

HONEYWELLIMU

This port supports communication with a Honeywell HG4930 IMU