NimbeLink NL-SWDK2 User Manual Download

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NL-SWDK2 User Manual

NimbeLink Corp

Updated: January 2021

PN 1002633 REV 1

Summary of Contents for NL-SWDK2

Page 2: ...n 7 Connect to a PC 9 SIM Insertion 9 Modem Placement Antenna Connectors 10 Connect LTE Antennas 12 Apply Power 12 Connect USB 13 Modem Power On 13 AT Commands 14 Test Serial Communication 15 PDP Context APN Configuration 17 Verizon Cat1 Devices 17 LTE M1 and Non Verizon LTE Cat 1 Device APN Configuration 18 Signal Quality 19 Network Registration 24 Activate PDP Context 27 Next Steps 28 Version In...

Page 3: ...chasing information please visit the Part Ordering Information section on the development kit s product page Any additional sales questions or requests for quotation can be directed to NimbeLink s sales team at sales nimbelink com 1 2 Orderable Part Numbers This modem is compatible with all Skywire modems using the standard Skywire interface This development kit is not compatible with Skywire Nano...

Page 4: ...x NL SWDK2 development board 2x Taoglas TG 30 8113 Antennas 1x NimbeLink AT T SIM 1x 12V Power Supply 1x Mini B USB Cable The development kit does not include a Skywire modem Modems must be purchased separately PN 1002634 REV 1 NimbeLink Corp 2021 All rights reserved 4 ...

Page 5: ...ur preferred cellular carrier for assistance in setting up a data plan 2 2 Access Point Names Users will need to set an Access Point Name APN on their modem for it to be able to connect to a cellular carrier s network The APN is determined by the cellular carrier and the type of data plan that is in use The table below contains a list of common APNs and their respective carriers It is important to...

Page 6: ...es The specific USB interfaces available will be modem specific and connecting to the USB interface will require that users download the modem s USB drivers from its product page The J14 interface will connect to the modem s USB to serial UART interface IC to access the modem s serial UART interface The USB to serial UART interface IC used on the J14 USB interface is an FTDI FT234XD The FTDI drive...

Page 7: ...ircuit will toggle the modem s ON_OFF pin low once for about 8 seconds after the 4 0V supply is applied The automatic turn on circuit can be enabled or disable based using the SW1 3 DIP switch Users may also manually turn the modem on or off by disabling the auto turn on circuit by setting SW1 3 to the off position and then use SW2 labeled ON BTN on the circuit board to manually pulse the modem s ...

Page 8: ...Users may use SW2 to turn off the modem or to turn the modem back on after a shutdown when the automatic turn on circuit is enabled PN 1002634 REV 1 NimbeLink Corp 2021 All rights reserved 8 ...

Page 9: ...standard Skywire interface 2 4 1 SIM Insertion Insert the SIM card for the Skywire modem into the modem s 3FF SIM interface located on the bottom side of the modem The gold contacts on the SIM should be inserted so they are facing the modem s PCB Some Skywire modems have onboard Verizon SIMs If the user is using the onboard SIM for Verizon service this step can be skipped PN 1002634 REV 1 NimbeLin...

Page 10: ...connecting antennas before powering up the modem Users should not attempt to place the modem in the Skywire socket or attach the U FL connectors while power is applied To seat the modem align the Skywire modem s top side U FL connectors with the two circles seen on the top of the SWDK2 s Skywire socket Make sure that the modem s pins are properly aligned in the Skywire socket Inserting the modem i...

Page 11: ...be in the middle of the development kit when mounted An example photo of the modem placement with the U FL connectors attached is below A common issue is accidentally inserting the modem with pins misaligned by one row Check pin alignment BEFORE applying power to prevent modem damage PN 1002634 REV 1 NimbeLink Corp 2021 All rights reserved 11 ...

Page 12: ...NSS antenna port as this may damage the GNSS interface In this example the GNSS interface of the modem is left without an antenna 2 4 4 Apply Power The development kit can be powered through the barrel jack connector J15 or through the Arduino interface s VIN pin For this exercise the development kit should be powered through the board s barrel jack connector using the provided 12V DC power supply...

Page 13: ... Power On The development kit can automatically boot the modem when power is applied if the automatic turn on circuit is enabled Otherwise users should press the ON BTN to turn the modem on Most modems will turn on with a 1 second press and hold of the ON BTN but some modems such as the TC4EU modem may require 5 seconds Please refer to the modem s datasheet for details on its ON_OFF timing PN 1002...

Page 14: ...the modem If you do not have a terminal emulator program you can download Tera Term here https ttssh2 osdn jp index html en Your PC may have multiple COM ports Select appropriate USB COM port to communicate with the development kit Note Your device may not show up on the port list due to a missing driver Refer to Section 2 3 1 for instructions on installing a driver You may need to adjust the Seri...

Page 15: ... users may run into an error output where the modem outputs ERROR to an AT command Users may enable verbose verbose error mode to see what error code is occurring by issuing the following command AT CMEE 2 After pressing the Enter key the terminal program will respond with OK 2 4 7 3 Cellular Functionality Some modems may boot into airplane mode or have their cellular functionality turned off To v...

Page 16: ...ase check that the SIM is properly seated that the correct SIM interface is selected if the modem supports dual SIMs that cellular functionality is enabled AT CFUN 1 and verify that the SIM does not require a PIN If it still responds with an error and further assistance is needed please contact NimbeLink for assistance PN 1002634 REV 1 NimbeLink Corp 2021 All rights reserved 16 Modem Command Respo...

Page 17: ...at 1 or higher devices should use PDP context 3 for their data connections and manual APN configuration Contexts 1 2 4 5 and 6 are used for other services SMS registration ect on Verizon and these PDP contexts should not be altered Doing so may cause the modem to fail to register with the network To manually set the APN follow these steps Get a snapshot of the current PDP context APN configuration...

Page 18: ...t the APN from the cellular network each time the modem connects by leaving the APN blank Note Some carrier SIMs may load APNs into the PDP contexts upon boot These APNs may not be the correct APN for the customer s data plan and will need to be configured on each bootup To manually set the APN follow these steps Issue the following command followed by the Enter key to change the APN in the first ...

Page 19: ...antenna connection RSRQ indicates the quality of the connection between the tower and modem by measuring the quality of a received reference signal sent from the tower to the modem A poor RSRQ signal can be an indication that there is noise interfering with the modem s communication For 4G connections it is best to rely on the RSRQ and RSRP measurements as they provide a more granular perspective ...

Page 20: ...detectable during data transfers and will be not known when the modem is idle PN 1002634 REV 1 NimbeLink Corp 2021 All rights reserved 20 Values of y Bit Error Rate in percent 0 Less than 0 2 1 0 2 to 0 4 2 0 4 to 0 8 3 0 8 to 1 6 4 1 6 to 3 2 5 3 2 to 6 4 6 6 4 to 12 8 7 More than 12 8 99 Not known or not detectable Values of x Relative Signal Strength 0 9 Poor 95 dBm 10 14 OK 93 dBm to 85 dBm 15...

Page 21: ...ERVICE GSM gsm_rssi CAM M1 lte_rssi lte_rsrp lte_sinr lte_rsrq eMTC lte_rssi lte_rsrp lte_sinr lte_rsrq CAT NB1 lte_rssi lte_rsrp lte_sinr lte_rsrq Parameter Notes gsm_rssi lte_rssi An integer indicating the received signal strength These parameters are available for GSM and LTE modes respectively lte_rsrp An integer indicating the reference signal received power RSRP This parameter is available f...

Page 22: ... in percent For 2G networks only 0 7 RXQUAL values in the table in 3GPP TS 45 008 sub clause 8 2 4 99 Not known or not detectable or if the current serving cell is not a GERAN cell rscp Received signal code power see 3GPP TS 25 133 subclause 9 1 1 3 and 3GPP TS 25 123 subclause 9 1 1 1 3 For 3G networks only 0 rscp 120 dBm 1 120 dBm rscp 119 dBm 2 119 dBm rscp 118 dBm 94 27 dBm rscp 26 dBm 95 26 d...

Page 23: ...ause 9 1 7 For 4G networks only 0 rsrq 19 5 dB 1 19 5 dB rsrq 19 dB 2 19 dB rsrq 18 5 dB 32 4 dB rsrq 3 5 dB 33 3 5 dB rsrq 3 dB 34 3 dB rsrq 255 Not known or not detectable or if the current serving cell is not a EUTRA cell rsrp Reference signal received power see 3GPP TS 36 133 subclause 9 1 4 For 4G networks only 0 rsrp 140 dBm 1 140 dBm rsrp 139 dBm 2 139 dBm rsrp 138 dBm 95 46 dBm rsrp 45 dBm...

Page 24: ...ith 2G or 3G fallback should also be checking to see if the device has registered on a 2G 3G network In the event the modem is in an area with no LTE coverage and it falls back to 2G or 3G it may show that its LTE registration the AT CEREG response was denied not registered and searching or not registered and it has given up attempting but its 2G or 3G registration was successful To check if a dev...

Page 25: ...4 unknown then it may have registered on a 2G network Make sure to check the AT CREG response in this event PN 1002634 REV 1 NimbeLink Corp 2021 All rights reserved 25 stat Parameter 0 Not registered MT is not currently searching an operator to register to 1 Registered home network 2 Not registered but MT is currently trying to attach or searching for an operator to attach to 3 Registration denied...

Page 26: ... Parameter Notes mode Modem registration mode 0 Automatic 1 Manual Operator Selection 2 Manual Deregister from network 3 set only format parameter and ignore oper setting 4 Manual Automatic format Formatting configuration for oper 0 Alphanumeric long form max 16 digits 1 Short format alphanumeric oper 2 Numeric oper oper Network Operator name per format setting Act Access technology selected 0 GSM...

Page 27: ...e carrier is configured Not all modems will display the IP address with the PDP activation On occasion the PDP context activation might fail and output an error message If this occurs users should immediately attempt to retry as the network may have been busy during the attempt If the error persists please check the signal quality network registration status and APN configuration or contact NimbeL...

Page 28: ... modem on their product page under the application notes section Skywire Modem Overview Page PN 1002634 REV 1 NimbeLink Corp 2021 All rights reserved 28 Modem Command Response NL SW LTE QBG96 NL SW LTE QBG95 AT CGPADDR 1 CGPADDR 1 IP OK NL SW LTE TC4NAG AT T Firmware NL SW LTE TC4EU NL SW LTE TC4APG AT CGPADDR 1 CGPADDR 1 IP OK NL SW LTE TC4NAG VZW Firmware AT CGPADDR 3 CGPADDR 3 IP OK NL SW LTE S...

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