EAA00202 - Embedded Artists - Datasheet.Company

Cellular and Positioning Shield - User’s Guide

EA2-USG-0702 v1.0 Rev A

Cellular and Positioning Shield

User’s Guide

Get Up-and-Running Quickly and

Start Developing Your Application On Day 1!

Cellular and Positioning Shield - User’s Guide

Page 2

Embedded Artists AB

Davidshallsgatan 16

211 45 Malmö

Sweden

info@EmbeddedArtists.com

http://www.EmbeddedArtists.com

No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, transcribed, stored in a retrieval system, or

translated into any language or computer language, in any form or by any means, electronic,

mechanical, magnetic, optical, chemical, manual or otherwise, without the prior written permission of

Embedded Artists AB.

Disclaimer

Embedded Artists AB makes no representation or warranties with respect to the contents hereof and

specifically disclaim any implied warranties or merchantability or fitness for any particular purpose.

Information in this publication is subject to change without notice and does not represent a

commitment on the part of Embedded Artists AB.

Feedback

We appreciate any feedback you may have for improvements on this document. Please send your

comments to support@EmbeddedArtists.com.

Trademarks

All brand and product names mentioned herein are trademarks, services marks, registered

trademarks, or registered service marks of their respective owners and should be treated as such.

Cellular and Positioning Shield - User’s Guide

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Table of Contents

1 Document Revision History 4

2 Declaration of Conformity 5

3 Introduction 6

3.1 Features 6

3.2 ESD Precaution 6

3.3 General Handling Care 7

3.4 Other Products from Embedded Artists 7

3.4.1 Design and Production Services 7

3.4.2 OEM / LPCXpresso / QuickStart Boards and Kits 7

4 Getting Started 8

4.1 Preparations 8

4.2 m-center Application 9

4.2.1 Direct USB connection on 3G version 12

4.3 UART Pass-Through Applications 12

5 Cellular and Positioning Shield Design 13

5.1 Cellular Modem 13

5.2 GNSS/GPS Receiver 14

5.3 Power Supply 14

5.4 Level Shifters 14

5.5 ArduinoTM Shield Connector 14

5.6 Raspberry Pi Connector 16

5.7 USB Connector 16

5.8 LED 16

5.9 Locating Components 16

6 Things to Note 18

6.1 SIM Card not Found 18

7 Further Information 19

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1 Document Revision History

Revision

Date

Description

PA1

2014-11-04

First version.

Cellular and Positioning Shield - User’s Guide

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2 Declaration of Conformity

We, Embedded Artists AB, Davidshallsgatan 16, 21145 Malmö, Sweden, declare under our sole

responsibility that our products:

 Cellular and Positioning Shield - GSM/GPRS (2.5G), model: EAA00202

 Cellular and Positioning Shield - UMTS (3G), model: EAA00215

to which this declaration relates, conforms to the following Product Specifications:

Health and Safety Standards: EN 60950-1:2006+A11:2009+A1:2010+A12:2011+AC:2011

(R&TTE article 3.1a) EN 62311:2008

EMC Standards: EN 301 489-24 V1.5.1

(R&TTE article 3.1b) EN 301 489-7 V1.3.1

EN 301 489-1 V1.9.2

EN 61000-6-3:2007

Radio Spectrum Efficiency Standard: EN 301 511 V9.0.2

(R&TTE article. 3.2) EN 301 908-2 V6.2.1

EN 301 908-1 V6.2.1

RoHS: EN 50581:2012

Concerning article 3.3 of the R&TTE directive, no additional requirements have been considered as

relevant for this class of apparatus.

Supplementary Information:

The products herewith complies with the requirements of the Low Voltage Directive 2006/95/EC, the

EMC Directive 2004/108/EC, the R&TTE Directive 1999/5/EC, the RoHS Directive 2011/65/EU and

carries the CE-marking accordingly.

Anders Rosvall, Technical Director of Embedded Artists AB

Malmö, November 4, 2014

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3 Introduction

Thank you for buying Embedded Artists’ Cellular and Positioning Shield. The shield/board has been

designed for IoT applications. It builds around high-quality cellular and positioning modules from u-

blox and has been designed in cooperation with them.

There are two versions of the shield; one 2.5G (GSM/GPRS) and 3G (UMTS) version. This document

is a User’s Guide that describes the hardware design for both versions. The document use the

LPC4088 Experiment Bundle as example platform to describe how the shields operate. The shields

have a general design and can operate together with many different platforms.

3.1 Features

Embedded Artists’ Cellular and Positioning Shield lets you get up-and-running quickly with IoT

applications. The features of the shield/board are:

 SARA-G350-0xS GSM/GPRS module on 2.5G shield version, or

 Quad-band version for global connectivity

 SARA-U270-0xS UMTS module on 3G shield version

 Note: UMTS/HSPA frequency bands are 900/2100 MHz and GSM/EDGE frequency

bands are 900/1800 MHz, which are commonly used in Europe/Africa/Asia, but not in

North America.

 MAX-7Q-0 GPS/GNSS module on 2.5G shield version, or

 MAX-M8Q-0 GPS/GNSS module on 3G shield version

 SMA connectors for both modules (right-angled female)

 SIM card connector (note: SIM card not included)

 ArduinoTM shield and Raspberry Pi (RPi) compatible connectors for external interface

 UART interface to cellular module

 I2C interface to positioning module

 POWER_ON and GPS_EXTINT GPIO signals

 Note that RPi pin header is not soldered - just pads on pcb

 On-board power supply

 Requires external 5-12V DC / 1Amp power supply

 Input power via micro-B USB connector, Arduino shield connectors or RPi expansion

connector

 Dimensions

 Compact size: 54 x 66 mm (including SMA connectors)

 Note that antenna connectors will build to the 66mm measure.

3.2 ESD Precaution

Please note that the Cellular and Positioning Shield come without a case/box

and all components are exposed for finger touches – and therefore extra

attention must be paid to ESD (electrostatic discharge) precaution.

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Make it a habit always to first touch the metal surface of one of the SMA connectors for a few

seconds with both hands before touching any other parts of the boards. That way, you will have

the same potential as the board and therefore minimize the risk for ESD.

In general touch as little as possible on the boards in order to minimize the risk of ESD damage.

Note that Embedded Artists does not replace boards that have been damaged by ESD.

3.3 General Handling Care

Handle the Cellular and Positioning Shield with care. The board is not mounted in a protective

case/box and is not designed for rough physical handling. Connectors can wear out after excessive

use. The Cellular and Positioning Shield is designed for prototyping use, and not for integration into an

end-product.

Note that Embedded Artists does not replace boards what have been improperly handled.

3.4 Other Products from Embedded Artists

Embedded Artists have a broad range of LPC based boards that are very low cost and developed for

prototyping / development as well as for OEM applications (i.e., for integration). Modifications for OEM

applications can be done easily, even for modest production volumes. Contact Embedded Artists for

further information about design and production services.

3.4.1 Design and Production Services

Embedded Artists provide design services for custom designs, either completely new or modification to

existing boards. Specific peripherals and I/O can be added easily to different designs, for example,

communication interfaces, specific analog or digital I/O, and power supplies. Embedded Artists has a

broad, and long, experience in designing industrial electronics in general and with NXP’s LPC

microcontroller families in specific. Our competence also includes wireless and wired communication

for embedded systems.

3.4.2 OEM / LPCXpresso / QuickStart Boards and Kits

Visit Embedded Artists’ home page, www.EmbeddedArtists.com, for information about other products

or contact your local distributor.

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4 Getting Started

This chapter contains information about how to get acquainted with the Cellular and Positioning Shield.

Please read this section first before you start using the board - it will be well spent time!

4.1 Preparations

This section walks through the preparations that must be done to get the system (i.e., Cellular and

Positioning shield) up and running.

First, acquire a standard size SIM card (sometimes also called "mini SIM") and mount it in the SIM

card holder. Make sure the it supports data communication. The picture below illustrates how to mount

the SIM card.

Figure 1 – Mounting SIM Card

Step 1) Push metal lock in red arrow direction

Step 2) Lift up the SIM card older

Step 3) Insert SIM card (contacts down, polarizing

corner as shown in picture)

Step 4) Push back the SIM card holder and push

metal lock in green arrow direction to secure the

SIM card in correct position.

Mounted SIM card

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Next, connect the shield to a system. It can be via the Arduino, Raspberry Pi connectors or, in the case

of the 3G version, a direct USB connection to a PC. As an illustrated example, the picture below shows

the shield mounted on the LPC4088 Experiment Bundle.

Figure 2 –Shield Mounted on LPC4088 Experiment Bundle

The next step is to mount the antennas. Only use the antennas that are shipped with the shield. The

picture above also shows where the GPS/GNSS and cellular antennas shall be mounted. The

GPS/GNSS antenna has a big puck/box at the very end and a long antenna cable. The cellular

antenna is short and connects directly to the SMA connector.

The final step is to provide an external power source to the shield. A 5-12V DC / 1Amp supply is

suitable. Three options exist:

 Power the shield via the micro-B USB connector. This will by default be a 5V supply, for

example a USB charger.

 Power the shield via the Arduino connectors; either the +5V power supply or the VIN (12V

max) power supply can power the shield, whichever has highest voltage.

 Power the shield via the Raspberry Pi connector; pin 2, 4 are +5V input and pin 6, 9, 14, 20,

25 are ground.

4.2 m-center Application

u-box has created a (Windows) PC application for direct evaluation, configuration and testing of the

cellular modem. The application is called m-center. The PC application communicates with the

cellular modem via the UART channel. The application can be downloaded from here: http://www.u-

GPS/GNSS antenna

connector

Cellular and

Positioning shield

Cellular antenna

connector

micro-B USB

connector for

powering

Cellular and Positioning Shield - User’s Guide

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blox.com/en/evaluation-tools-a-software/u-center/m-center.html and there is also an associated user's

manual for the application. This section will just describe how to get the initial connection. The rest of

the details can be found in the m-center manual.

Embedded Artists has created a 'UART pass-through' application on the LPC4088 QuickStart Board. It

can be downloaded from the LPC4088 Experiment Base Board project page:

https://developer.mbed.org/users/embeddedartists/notebook/lpc4088-experiment-base-board---

projects/

When the m-center application has started the main window looks like below. Start with selecting the

virtual COM port to connect to. In this case, the virtual OCM port that the HDK on the LPC4088

QuickStart board creates.

Figure 3 – m-center Main Window

Select the HDK COM port and set 115200 bps, 8N1, no flow control.

Figure 4 – m-center Set COM Port

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Next, press the Connect-button and then the Initialization-button. The cellular modem information will

be displayed in the lower left corner.

Figure 5 – m-center Main Window, Modem Connected

In the upper right corner it is possible to click on AT Terminal-button to open a terminal window where

direct AT commands can be sent. Consult the cellular modem AT command manual for details.

Figure 6 – m-center, AT Terminal

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4.2.1 Direct USB connection on 3G version

The 3G version of the cellular modem has direct USB support, so connecting the a PC to the micro-B

USB connector on the shield will give a direct access (via virtual COM ports) to the cellular modem. No

'UART pass-through' application is needed (and no base board either).

4.3 UART Pass-Through Applications

Embedded Artists has created a 'UART pass-through' application on the LPC4088 QuickStart Board. It

can be downloaded from the LPC4088 Experiment Base Board project page:

https://developer.mbed.org/users/embeddedartists/notebook/lpc4088-experiment-base-board---

projects/

The application can be used to allow the m-center PC application to communication with the cellular

modem via the mbed HDK virtual COM port.

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5 Cellular and Positioning Shield Design

This chapter contains information about the hardware design of the Cellular and Positioning Shield and

the different options on the board. The schematic can be downloaded in pdf format from the product

page, and is recommended to have printed out while reading this chapter.

The picture below gives an overview of the Cellular and Positioning Shield design.

Figure 7 – Cellular and Positioning Shield Overview

5.1 Cellular Modem

The cellular modem from u-blox is one of two versions (SARA-G350 or SARA-U270, depending on

shield version). The modules are pin compatible. A SIM card connector with ESD protection and

antenna connector (SMA) are connected to the modem.

The cellular module is accessed via the UART interface per default design of the shield. Only RXD and

TXD are connected but by mounting configuration resistors R62/R63 RTS and CTS signals can be

added to the interface.

Signal MDM_PWR_ON controls the PWR_ON signal on the cellular modem.

Normally the UART channel of the modem is used to communicate with it. The SARA-U270 modem

also has a USB channel, as an alternative communication channel.

Arduino shield

connectors

SIM card connector

Cellular modem

module

Raspberry Pi

connector pads

micro-B USB

connector

Cellular antenna

connector

GPS/GNSS antenna

connector

GPS/GNSS

positioning module

Status LEDs

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5.2 GNSS/GPS Receiver

The position module from u-blox is one of two versions (MAX-7Q or MAX-M8Q, depending on shield

version). The modules are pin compatible. An antenna connector (SMA) is connected to the module. A

0.22F super capacitor can power the positioning module for some time to keep time.

The position module is accessed via the I2C interface per default design of the shield. There is

configuration resistors that are not mounted that allows for UART access (by mounting R68/R69) or

letting the cellular modem communicate with the module (mount R78/R79). U-blox cellular modems

has a positioning tunneling mode for simpler access of both a cellular and positioning module via just

one serial interface.

The positioning module directly controls one LED for the once-a-second pulse. The signal can be

made accessible via a configuration resistor (mount R66).

5.3 Power Supply

The power supply on the board is straight forward and simple, yet flexible. An external supply (5-14V

DC / 1Amp min) is converted to 3.8V for the cellular modem. A switched DC/DC converter is used,

switching at 2.5 MHz. The external power supply comes from:

 +5V on Arduino or Raspberry Pi connectors, or

 VIN pin on Arduino connector, or

 micro-B USB connector

An LDO created a 3.3V (from the 3.8V supply) to power the positioning module.

5.4 Level Shifters

The level shifters translate between the 3.3V I/O voltage of the shield and the cellular modem I/O

voltage (1.8V).

5.5 ArduinoTM Shield Connector

There are four male/female connectors around the board edge that together form an Arduino UNO R3

compatible shield connector.

Arduino Signals

RPi Signals

Usage

Note

SCL

Pin 5,

SCL/GPIO1

I2C communication with

positioning module

Input to shield.

SDA

Pin 3,

SDA/GPIO0

I2C communication with

positioning module

Bidirectional signal.

D13: GPIO/SPI-SCK

Not connected

D12: GPIO/SPI-MISO

Not connected

D11: GPIO/PWM/SPI-MOSI

Not connected

D10: GPIO/PWM/SPI-SSEL

Not connected

D9: GPIO/PWM

Not connected

Normally not connected

Connected to positioning

module RXD if

configuration resistor

Cellular and Positioning Shield - User’s Guide

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R69 is mounted.

Input to shield.

D8: GPIO

Not connected

Normally not connected

Connected to positioning

module TXD if

configuration resistor

R68 is mounted.

Output from shield.

D7: GPIO

Pin 13,

GPIO21

Connected to positioning

module, signal:

GPS_EXTINT

Input to shield.

D6: GPIO/PWM

Pin 15,

GPIO22,

normally not

connected

Normally not connected

Connected to positioning

module, signal:

GPS_PPS (one-a-

second pulse signal).

Output from shield.

D5: GPIO/PWM

Not connected

D4: GPIO

Pin 16,

GPIO23

Connected to cellular

module PWR_ON

D3: GPIO/PWM

Pin 12,

GPIO18,

normally not

connected

Normally not connected

Connected to cellular

module CTS if

configuration resistor

R63 is mounted.

Output from shield.

D2: GPIO

Pin 11,

GPIO17,

normally not

connected

Normally not connected

Connected to cellular

module RTS if

configuration resistor

R62 is mounted.

Input to shield.

D1: GPIO/UART-TXD

Pin 8,

TXD/GPIO14

Connected to cellular

module RXD

Input to shield.

D0: GPIO/UART-RXD

Pin 10,

RXD/GPIO15

Connected to cellular

module TXD

Output from shield.

A5: GPIO/AIN/I2C-SCL

Not used

A4: GPIO/AIN/I2C-SDA

Not used

A3: GPIO/AIN

Not connected

A2: GPIO/AIN

Not connected

A1: GPIO/AIN

Not connected

A0: GPIO/AIN

Not connected

IOREF

Not connected

RESET

Pin 7, normally

not connected

Normally not connected

Can control reset of the

positioning module if

configuration resistor

Cellular and Positioning Shield - User’s Guide

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R91 is mounted.

Can control reset of the

cellular module if

configuration resistor

R90 is mounted.

VIN

Does not exist

Can power the shield if

highest voltage is present

on this net.

Note: 5-14V DC, 1Amp

Can power the shield if

highest voltage is present

on this net.

3.3V

Not connected

5.6 Raspberry Pi Connector

The Raspberry Pi (RPi) connector pads are compatible with the 2x13 pos expansion connector found

on the RPi. The shield and RPi can easily be connected with the help of a 26-pos flat cable. Note that

pin headers must be soldered.

The RPi connections are placed in parallel over the Arduino connectors and are numbered according

to the Arduino pins. See table under Arduino pinning for details.

An external power supply is needed in most cases since the RPi cannot deliver enough current for the

cellular modem.

5.7 USB Connector

This is a micro-AB connector. When SARA-G350 is mounted this connector can only be used for

powering the shield. When SARA-U270 is mounted it is an optional USB interface that can connect to

a PC or an embedded system with a USB Host interface (and appropriate software driver). In the latter

case, the USB connector can also be used to just power the shield.

5.8 LED

There are three LEDs:

 Yellow - signals presence of 3.3V, i.e. the shield is powered.

 Green - the once per second pulse from the GPS/GNSS module.

 Red - is a configurable indicator connected to GPIO1 on the cellular module.

5.9 Locating Components

There are nine configuration resistors on the board. The picture below shows their location. Normally

there is no need to change the default setting but for prototyping situations, some of them can be

mounted.

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Figure 8 – Configuration Resistor Locations

R90

R91

R62

R63

R69

R68

R66

R79

R78

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6 Things to Note

This chapter contains information that can be relevant to check in case some problems or issues

appear when using the shield.

6.1 SIM Card not Found

If the cellular modem gives a message that the SIM cards cannot be found it is likely that a power

cycle is needed - not just removing and inserting the SIM card again. Remember that all supply

voltages to the shield must be removed during the power cycle.

In the system integration manuals for the cellular modems it is clearly stated in section 2.5 that the

modules do not support SIM hot insertion / removal.

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7 Further Information

The LPC4088 microcontroller is a complex circuit and there exist a number of other documents with a

lot more information. The following documents are recommended as a complement to this document.

[1] u-blox SARA-U270 UMTS/HSPA/GSM modem information

http://www.u-blox.com/en/wireless-modules/umtshsdpa-modules/sara-u2-series.html

[2] u-blox SARA-G350 GSM/GPRS modem information

http://www.u-blox.com/en/wireless-modules/gsm-gprs-modules/sara-gsm-module-family.html

[3] u-blox MAX-7M GPS/GNSS module

http://www.u-blox.com/en/gps-modules/pvt-modules/max-7.html

[4] u-blox MAX-M8 GPS/GNSS module

http://www.u-blox.com/en/gps-modules/pvt-modules/max-m8-series-concurrent-gnss-

modules.html

[5] LPCware, NXP's community for developers

http://www.lpcware.com/

[6] LPCXpresso IDE: NXP's low-cost development platform for LPC families, which is an Eclipse-

based IDE.

http://www.lpcware.com/lpcxpresso

[7] LPCOpen - a Software Development Platform for NXP's LPC Microcontrollers

http://www.lpcware.com/lpcopen

[8] mbed.org, the official site for mbed development and gives access to all documentation and

the on-line compiler.

http://mbed.org

Note that there can be newer versions of the documents/links than the ones listed above. Always

check for the latest information/version.

Mouser Electronics

Authorized Distributor

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