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MAX-7 / NEO-7 - Hardware Integration Manual 

UBX-13003704 - R09 

Production Information  

Page 2 of 52

 

 

 

Document Information 

Title 

MAX-7 / NEO-7  

Subtitle 

u-blox 7 GNSS modules 

 

Document type 

Hardware Integration Manual 

 

Document number 

UBX-13003704 

Revision and date 

R09 

26-Sep-2017 

Document status 

Production Information 

 

Document status explanation 

Objective Specification 

Document contains target values. Revised and supplementary data will be published later. 

Advance Information 

Document contains data based on early testing. Revised and supplementary data will be published later. 

Early Production Information 

Document contains data from product verification. Revised and supplementary data may be published later. 

Production Information 

Document contains the final product specification. 

 

European Union regulatory compliance 

MAX-7 and NEO-7 complies with all relevant requirements for RED 2014/53/EU. The MAX-7 andNEO-7 Declaration of Conformity (DoC) is 
available at www.u-blox.com within Support > Product resources > Conformity Declaration

 
This document applies to the following products: 

Product name 

Type number 

ROM/FLASH version 

PCN reference 

MAX-7C-0 

All 

ROM1.00 

 

MAX-7Q-0 

All 

ROM1.00 

 

MAX-7W-0 

All 

ROM1.00 

 

NEO-7N-0 

All 

FLASH1.00 

 

NEO-7M-0 

All 

ROM1.00 

 

NEO-7P-0 

All 

FLASH1.01 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 

u-blox reserves all rights to this document and the information contained herein. Products, names, logos and designs described herein 
may in whole or in part be subject to intellectual property rights. Reproduction, use, modification or disclosure to third parties of this 
document or any part thereof without the express permission of u-blox is strictly prohibited. 
The information contained herein is provided “as is” and u-blox assumes no liability for the use of the information. No warranty, either 
express or implied, is given, including but not limited, with respect to the accuracy, correctness, reliability and fitness for a particular 
purpose of the information. This document may be revised by u-blox at any time. For most recent documents, visit www.u-blox.com. 
Copyright © 2017, u-blox AG. 
u-blox is a registered trademark of u-blox Holding AG in the EU and other countries

 

 

Summary of Contents for MAX-7C-0

Page 1: ...e u blox 7 positioning engine These compact easy to integrate stand alone GNSS receiver modules combine exceptional GNSS performance with highly flexible power design and connectivity options Their co...

Page 2: ...com within Support Product resources Conformity Declaration This document applies to the following products Product name Type number ROM FLASH version PCN reference MAX 7C 0 All ROM1 00 MAX 7Q 0 All...

Page 3: ...It is not necessary to read it from beginning to end The following symbols are used to highlight important information within the manual An index finger points out key information pertaining to module...

Page 4: ...2 5 3 V_BCKP Backup supply voltage 10 2 5 4 VDD_USB USB interface power supply NEO 7 11 2 5 5 VCC_RF Output voltage RF section 11 2 5 6 V_ANT Antenna supply MAX 7W 11 2 6 Interfaces 11 2 6 1 UART 11...

Page 5: ...ONASS GPS active antenna 30 3 4 5 Design with GLONASS GPS passive antenna 31 3 5 Recommended parts 32 3 5 1 Recommended GPS GLONASS active antenna A1 33 3 5 2 Recommended GPS GLONASS passive patch ant...

Page 6: ...ons 42 7 3 3 ESD protection measures 43 7 3 4 Electrical Overstress EOS 43 7 3 5 EOS protection measures 43 7 3 6 Electromagnetic interference EMI 44 7 3 7 Applications with cellular modules 45 8 Prod...

Page 7: ...a design make sure you also have the data sheet for the specific positioning module see Related documents For information about migration see sections 4 2 3 MAX 7 and 4 2 2 NEO 7 Layout Power Interfa...

Page 8: ...ock includes the input matching elements the SAW band pass filter the integrated LNA and the oscillator while the digital block contains the u blox 7 GNSS engine the RTC crystal and additional element...

Page 9: ...messages The modified settings remain effective until power down or reset If these settings have been stored in BBR Battery Backed RAM then the modified configuration will be retained as long as the...

Page 10: ...ion for a short time Some u blox 7 modules integrate a DC DC converter This allows reduced power consumption especially when using a main supply voltage above 2 5 V When switching from backup mode to...

Page 11: ...s the USB interface If the USB interface is not used the VDD_USB pin must be connected to GND For more information about correctly handling the VDD_USB pin see section 2 6 2 1 2 5 5 VCC_RF Output volt...

Page 12: ...is operated as a USB self powered device but if bus powered LDO U1 must be able to deliver the maximum current For the peak supply current see a low cost DC DC converter such as LTC3410 from Linear Te...

Page 13: ...o SPI Master VCC_IO must have the same voltage level as the host 2 7 I O pins 2 7 1 RESET_N Reset input Driving RESET_N low activates a hardware reset of the system Use this pin only to reset the modu...

Page 14: ...7C In Power Save Mode the system can turn on off an optional external LNA using the ANT_ON signal in order to optimize power consumption A pull down resistor 10 kOhm is required to ensure correct oper...

Page 15: ...acing a filter or other source of resistance at VCC can create significantly longer acquisition times For ground plane design see section 3 3 3 Are all power supplies VCC VDD_USB within the specified...

Page 16: ...cro strip use the Coplanar Waveguide model in AppCad to calculate the micro strip and not the micro strip model see section 3 3 5 Use an external LNA if your design does not include an active antenna...

Page 17: ...on VCC_RF can be used to power an external active antenna UART TxD 20 O Serial port SPI MISO Communication interface Can be programmed as TX Ready for DDC interface If pin 2 low SPI MISO RxD 21 I Seri...

Page 18: ...ved MAX 7W 13 O ANT_ON ANT_ON antenna on HIGH can be used to turn on and LOW to turn off an optional external LNA ANT_ON pin voltage level is VCC_IO Reserved Leave open UART TXD 2 O Serial port UART l...

Page 19: ...he half vias reduce the amount of solder paste under the module and increase the volume outside of the module by defining the dimensions of the paste mask to form a T shape or equivalent extending bey...

Page 20: ...emperature drift and air vents near the receiver Non emitting circuits PCB Digital Analog circuits Non emitting circuits Antenna Digital Part RF Part 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 28 27 26 25 24 23...

Page 21: ...ntenna connection must match the 50 impedance of the receiver To achieve an impedance of 50 the width W of the micro strip has to be chosen depending on the dielectric thickness H the dielectric const...

Page 22: ...100 Therefore the impedance of this part of the trace cannot be controlled Use as many vias as possible to connect the ground planes In order to avoid reliability hazards the area on the PCB under the...

Page 23: ...icro strip on a multi layer board Agilent AppCAD Coplanar Waveguide 3 4 Antenna and Antenna supervision For all module designs shown in this section see the data sheet for exact pin orientation For re...

Page 24: ...external LNA The VCC_RF output can be used to supply the LNA with a filtered supply voltage A standard GPS LNA has enough bandwidth to amplify GPS and GLONASS signals 3 4 2 Active antenna design with...

Page 25: ...t match with the antenna supply voltage use a filtered external supply as shown in Figure 20 3 4 3 Antenna design with active antenna using antenna supervisor MAX 7W An active antenna supervisor provi...

Page 26: ...ration the u blox 7 GPS GALILEO module will output an NMEA GPTXT or UBX INF NOTICE message with the internal status of the antenna supervisor disabled short detection only enabled None one or several...

Page 27: ...Description Including Protocol Specification 4 Short circuits on the antenna input without limitation R_BIAS of the current can result in permanent damage to the receiver Therefore it is mandatory to...

Page 28: ...urrent for open circuit detection Antenna open circuit detection OCD is not activated by default It can be enabled by the UBX CFG ANT message This configuration can be sent to the receiver at every st...

Page 29: ...Specification 4 If the antenna supply voltage is not derived from VCC_RF do not exceed the maximum voltage rating of the AADET_N pin For more information see section 3 4 3 1 3 4 3 4 External active a...

Page 30: ...y as seen in Figure 27 In existing designs that were only intended for GPS reception the RF path has to be modified the LNA filter and antenna accordingly to let both signals pass Figure 27 GPS GLONAS...

Page 31: ...7 modules supporting GLONASS have a GPS GLONASS SAW filter that lets both GPS and GLONASS signals pass For best performance with passive antenna designs use an external LNA See section 3 4 1 2 Figure...

Page 32: ...oss Only for mobile application Triquint B9850 GPS Compliant to the AEC Q200 standard CTS CER0032A GPS Ceramic filter also offers robust ESD protection LNA Avago ALM 1106 LNA pHEMT GaAS ALM 1412 LNA F...

Page 33: ...ch www amotech co kr AGA363913 S0 A1 GPS GLONASS BeiDou active Additional antenna Manufacturer Allis Communications 2J Tallysman Wireless Table 9 Recommend GPS GLONASS active antenna A1 3 5 2 Recommen...

Page 34: ...on Manual UBX 13003704 R09 Production Information Design Page 34 of 52 Manufacturer Order No Comments 4 INPAQ www inpaq com tw ACM4 5036 A1 CC S 5 5 2 x 3 7 x 0 7 mm GPS GLONASS Table 11 Recommend GPS...

Page 35: ...mers consider a design review with the u blox support team to ensure the compatibility of key functionalities Figure 30 Module migration path 6 2 Hardware migration 6 2 1 Hardware compatibility Table...

Page 36: ...No difference 13 GND GND GND GND No difference 14 MOSI CFG_ COM0 SPI MOSI Configuration pin Leave open if not used ANT_ON turn on and off an optional external LNA ANT_ON antenna on can be used to turn...

Page 37: ...upply of module MAX 7C 1 65 3 6V MAX 7Q 2 7 3 6V 9 VRESET connect to pin 8 RESET_N Reset input With MAX 6 if Reset input is used it implements the 3k3 resistor from pin 9 to pin 8 This also works with...

Page 38: ...PIO 6 When communicating with u blox cellular modules this change of pins is not recognized by LEON FW7 60 02 and previous versions u blox 6 15 s leap second by default FW 6 02 and FW7 0x u blox 7 16...

Page 39: ...solder joints on the connectors half vias should meet the appropriate IPC specification 7 2 2 Reflow soldering A convection type soldering oven is strongly recommended over the infrared type radiation...

Page 40: ...dering the u blox 7 module consider an optical inspection step to check whether The module is properly aligned and centered over the pads All pads are properly soldered No excess solder has created co...

Page 41: ...d using a hot air gun When using a hot air gun for unsoldering the module max one reflow cycle is allowed In general we do not recommend using a hot air gun because this is an uncontrolled process and...

Page 42: ...and momentary electric current that flows between two objects at different electrical potentials caused by direct contact or induced by an electrostatic field The term is usually used in the electroni...

Page 43: ...na patches or external antenna connection points then additional ESD measures as shown in Figure 32 can also avoid failures in the field Small passive antennas 2 dBic and performance critical Passive...

Page 44: ...receiver or result in unstable performance Any unshielded line or segment 3mm connected to the GNSS receiver can effectively act as antenna and lead to EMI disturbances or damage The following elemen...

Page 45: ...uch isolation cannot be achieved e g in the case of an integrated GSM GPS antenna an additional input filter is needed on the GPS side to block the high energy emitted by the GSM transmitter Examples...

Page 46: ...re 37 The main sources are wireless communication systems such as GSM CDMA WCDMA Wi Fi BT etc Figure 37 Out band jamming signals Measures against out band jamming include maintaining a good grounding...

Page 47: ...nt of voltages and currents Measurement of RF characteristics e g C No Traceability down to component level X Ray and Automated Optical Inspection AOI Ongoing Reliability Tests Figure 39 Automatic Tes...

Page 48: ...io of 38 40 dBHz 3 Power up the DUT Device Under Test and allow enough time for the acquisition 4 Read the C No value from the NMEA GSV or the UBX NAV SVINFO message e g with u center 5 Compare the re...

Page 49: ...magnetic compatibility EMI Electromagnetic interference EOS Electrical Overstress EPA Electrostatic Protective Area ESD Electrostatic discharge GLONASS Russian satellite system GND Ground GNSS Global...

Page 50: ...ar and GNSS Simultaneous operation Family Variant Antenna SAW LNA On chip LNA SAW Passive GNSS Antenna Active GNSS Antenna SAW 2G cellular 3G 4G cellular 2G 3G 4G cellular MAX 6 Any NEO 6 Any LEA 6 An...

Page 51: ...12 jfur MAX 7W added Revision Chapter 3 4 Antenna supervision MAX 7C Higher backup current new Figure 42 and 43 DC bloc removed from Figure 21 and Figure 22 2 11 Feb 2013 jfur NEO 7P added Electrical...

Page 52: ...blox com Support support_ap u blox com Regional Office China Beijing Phone 86 10 68 133 545 E mail info_cn u blox com Support support_cn u blox com Regional Office China Chongqing Phone 86 23 6815 158...

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