LTE CAT-M1 / NB-IOT / EGPRS GNSS Feather Compatible shield

Name

LTE CAT-M1 / NB-IOT / EGPRS GNSS Feather Compatible shield

Brand / Manufacturer

IOT-BOTS.COM

Manufacturer Part #

IBT-QTC-BG96-AFC

Product Description

qTop BG96 LTE/GNSS AFC Shield is Feather Compatible shield to be used for DIY IOT project together with Adafruit Feather Compatible IOT board to get cellular connectivity and location info for the system developed.

The qTop shields dimensions are not the same as Adafruit Feather boards and qTop shields are a little bit bigger. Please check the dimensions at picture below.

From interface connection perspective, it is compatible with and could be connected to any Adafruit Feather Compatible IOT boards. It works well even with ESP8266 Feather limited GPIOs boards - some action to be done to get it working with that board, some PCB jumpers should be reconnected.

This qTop Cell Modem shield works "out of the box" with all ESP32 Feather like boards - for basic operations it uses as default connection two control GPIOs (PWR_ON and MODEM_ON), and regular Feather UART pins and power for sure.

Our design allows to connect almost all modem UART, GNSS UART and status pins to IOT board (RTS, CTS, DTR, DCD, RI, STATUS). To get it done PCB jumpers connection should be changed: PCB jumper connection bridge should be cut/removed and unconnected pads of jumper should be electrically connected by soldering.

The most of modem interface pins (UART, USB) could be reached using PCB control pads. Even modem FW could be updated through the Quectel FOTA or USB pads on PCB.

GNSS UART pins could be connected to IOT board as separate UART using PCB solder jumpers as well. So, we can have two independent UARTs for communicating with modem and GNSS receiver.

The main qTop BG96 LTE/GNSS AFC Shield components highlighted at picture below:

And let us share the functional diagram of qTop BG96 LTE/GNSS AFC Shield and give some brief functional modules description:

The core of the shield is Quectel BG96 modem.

BG96 is an embedded IoT (LTE Cat M1, LTE Cat NB1 and EGPRS) wireless communication module. It provides data connectivity on LTE-TDD/LTE-FDD/GPRS/EDGE networks, and supports half-duplex operation in LTE networks. It also provides GNSS functionality to meet customers’ specific application demands.

More info about modem itself could be found at Quectel website (https://www.quectel.com/product/bg96.htm)

Two u.FL connectors are used for internal or external Antennas (LTE and GNSS). Shield provides 3,3VDC power   for active GNSS antenna.

Shield supports nano-SIM card to be inserted into Hinged Lid SIM Card Holder type located at the top of PCB. All SIM-card traces are ESD-protected.

Network indication LED, located in the center of the edge of the board lets observe modem network status.

TPS63020 Buck-Boost Converter is used to power modem, so shield is fully functional even with input voltage drops down to 3.3 V.

DC/DC output voltage (3,95V) is also used to power LDO, which provides 3,3 voltage for the level translators, OD logic IC and active GNSS antenna to be connected.

Level translators are used to shift voltage levels between IOT board with 3,3V signals and 1,8V levels used by modem logic.

All IOT-BOTS.COM qTop shields has device ID feature - each qTop shield has integrated EEPROM chip with UID feature. EEPROM is preprogrammed by manufacture (IOT-BOTS.COM) with shield type and info, so IOT controller with appropriate FW loaded, at power up time could identify type of the shield and configures FW to work with. So, no needs to re-flash IOT controller with new FW if you want to change shield, for example, to change wireless connectivity from LTE to LoRa : just turn power off, replace a shield and turn power on - system will recognize new HW connected and start working with that device. UID feature could be used by End User as particular device identification (for sure, IMEI could be used as well).

OD logic is simple gate IC used to convert push-pull RI modem signal to open-drain logic to be compatible with Q_INT line of qJam interface - so many different devices (sensors, actuators, modems, etc) interrupt outputs could be connected to single line to be used by IOT controller to react on system or external events.

And finally, to bring more value for our qTop products, each qTop shield (except GNSS shields) supports qJam connectivity system : it is developed by us, tiny 6-pin connecting system, which allows End User to easily bring small I2C devices (sensors, actuators, system devices, memories) to the IOT solution to be developed. Need just put qJam compatible device into qJam connector of the controller board - no cables, soldering or wires required. It has power (3,3V), I2C bus, Q_INT open-drain interrupt line and Q_IO GPIO line to be used by qJam device as additional control or status signal.

So, any qJam compatible device could be located at the top of the shield to bring more feature to the IOT solution or project you are working on.

We have started working on shield documentation and FW part already and we do our best to get them accurate and usable as much as possible. We will publish User Manual, schematic and Arduino sketch at our qTop BG96 Campaign github sooner. 

qTop BG96 LTE/GNSS AFC Shield will be delivered together with internal LTE and GNSS antennas.

We have assembled and tested the first samples of qTop Quectel shields (BG96, BG96, M95, BC95G).

Initial Demo was run on qTop BG96 LTE/GNSS AFC Shield with LTE and GNSS internal antennas connected and BME280 gJam sensor.

Arduino log could be seen below:
 - After power up UID chip is detected and shield info received;
 - next step : to check that qJam sensor is connected : BME280 sensor found and data received;
 - and final setup() step is modem on.

In the loop:
 - getting BME280 sensor data;
 - collecting modem / network status;
 - requesting GNSS info;
 - opening TCP/IP session;
 - publishing info received to a cloud;
 - closing session opened;
 - waiting for 3 sec.

We have done field test as well. We have found that qTop GNSS functionality works fine as designed. BTW, at pic below could be found that some points are out of road - the data was obtained, but due to weak GSM coverage in this area, not sent to the cloud. This issue is easily fixed by saving all reports received in Serial Flash and sending them to the cloud as soon as connection established. But this Demo did not have such option.

We did not find any issues during our testing performed and device is ready for production :-)

We work directly with Quectel and our partner for PCB and PCBA in China. We are aware about logistic and the most of risks, because we have ordered PCBA already and had several our products delivered and tested already. We make full testing 100% of our products on our own.

Same time we work with Cellular providers to get BG96 and BG95 shield certified to be used with their network. And later as a our new product, we will make an option for purchasing qTop Modem shields as a kit with deployment option :  SIM Card & IOT Cloud service (Dashboard with remote control and monitoring).

Some our products manufactured could be purchased on Amazon and at our iotbotscom website. Some products (mostly electronics, qButton, qESP & qESP32 controllers and kits) will be available very soon : HW is fully tested and ready to go, but we are still working on docs and FW.

Going forward, please join us to bring this product to life!

Links

External Website

Unit Deliverable

qTop Feather Compatible LTE/GNSS shield with internal LTE antenna and internal GNSS Antenna.

Unit Price

$49.99

Availability

Not available / campaign Funded, end date: Fri, 30 Apr 2021 12:53:00 PDT

Lead Time

60 Days

qJam Temperature / Humidity / Pressure BME280 module

$13.95

 qJam Temperature / Humidity / Pressure BME280 module is based on BME280 from Bosch.

The BME280 is a temperature, humidity and pressure sensor especially developed for applications where size and low power consumption are key design parameters.  The device combines high linearity and high accuracy sensors and is perfectly feasible for low current consumption, long-term stability and high EMC robustness.

qJam Temperature / Humidity / Pressure BME280 module is part of the newest qJam IOT device line, brought by IOT-BOTS.COM. qJam family includes different types of devices, like sensors, actuators, system (RTC modules) and memory devices. qJam IOT device connecting system uses 6-pins 2mm pitch 2x3 connectors. Male connector is located at modules side, and female is on main board (controller). qJam modules are powered by 3,3VDC, and I2C bus is used as data interface. Interface has additional input-output pin (Q_IO) to be used as GPIO and active low level open drain interrupt pin (Q_INT). Some modules have all pins functional, and some ones have just power and I2C pins.

qJam IOT device connecting system is integrated almost in all our products. No wires or soldering required - just plug qJam module to qJam interface connector at main board.

 qJam Temperature / Humidity / Pressure BME280 module was used as part of Demos we had, so using this module you can easily reproduce a setup we used. So, just connect all parts, flash the sketch and you are good to go with the newest HW purchased.

What's included: 

- qJam Temperature / Humidity / Pressure BME280 module;
- Packaging bag and shipping box.

qBoard-B : ESP32 Feather Compatible IOT controller

$20.95

qBoard-B ESP32 Feather Compatible IOT controller is one of the best option to build DIY IOT wireless solution. 

qBoard-B ESP32 Feather Compatible IOT controller is the part of qBoard family, developed by IOT-BOTS.COM. There are three IOT controllers in the family for now:

- qBoard-A ESP32 Arduino MKR Compatible IOT controller;

- qBoard-B ESP32 Adafruit Feather Compatible IOT controller;

- qBoard-X ESP32 QWARKS interface Arduino MKR Compatible IOT controller.

All three boards are similar each other. The difference is just connecting interface. And qBoard-X has QWARKS compatible interface at the top of the board, allowing the variety of wireless, wired, sensors QWARKS modules to be used.

qBoard family has many advantages over the existing on market ESP32 IOT boards:

- Effective power management design based on TPS62826 an easy-to-use synchronous 3A stepdown DC-DC converter with a very low quiescent current of only 4 μA. So, Up to 2A load could be connected to 3,3V board output (taking into account appropriate input power);

- Highly integrated Li-Ion and Li-Pol linear BQ24040 charger IC and temperature sense element, allowing properly control battery charging cycle over wide range of ambient temperature;

- qJam IOT device connecting system interface integrated, so, many qJam sensors, actuators and other devices could be easily incorporated to a solution;

- JST Power&I2C Qwiic and Stemma connecting systems compatible connector integrated;

- Reset button is located on a side of the board - system could be easily restarted even if some shield plugged in;

- All qBoards are Arduino Environment compatible and have similar ESP32-WROOM-32 module based design and functionality and could be good flexible options for projects where popular Feather and MKR compatible IOT boards and shield are used.

qBoard-B ESP32 Feather Compatible IOT controller was used as part of Demos we had, so using this advanced IOT controller board you can easily reproduce a setup we used. 

So, just connect all parts, flash the sketch and you are good to go with the newest HW purchased.

What's included:

- qBoard-B ESP32 Feather Compatible IOT controller;
- Packaging bag and shipping box.

qGround DIY IOT Adafruit Feather Compatible PCB Kit

$8.95

Each qGround AFC PCB kit consists of high-quality double sided PCB with rich set of connectors installed and 3,5mm terminal plugs.

PCB has enough space to keep one Adafruit Feather Compatible (AFC) IOT board, power supply (DC/DC), OLED display and sensor modules, as example, using plain grid proto holes.

At pics below it could be seen how this PCB kit could be used together with Adafruit Feather Compatible IOT board and qTop Cell Modem shield.

Four pluggable 3,5mm terminal blocks to be used for external power and GPIO and interface lines. Board has several options for I2C connection : one Grove I2C and one 4-pin JST (I2C&Power) connectors populated on PCB. And still several DIP 0.1" I2C interface connectors could be placed at PCB.

PCB could be easily placed inside IP65 waterproof qBox enclosure : just remove by plier PCB corners, mount PCB inside an enclosure and secure it by two 3,5mm self-tapping screws.

What's included: 
- High quality prototyping double sided PCB with set of connectors installed;
- Four terminal block plugs;
- Packaging bag and shipping box.

More info: User Manual

qBox AFC DIY IOT Enclosure Kit (Two SMAs)

$25.95

Each qBox AFC Enclosure Kit consists of durable waterproof IP65 enclosure with installed PG7 glands, double sided PCB with connectors installed and integrated SMA to u.FL adapter cable (up to two, depending on kit model) and connectors set. External DC voltage from power adapter or solar system could be brought by cable through the one gland inner and another gland gives opportunity to connect external sensors or actuators. Two LTE / WiFi / LoRa / etc. external antennas could be connected to wireless board u.FL connectors via SMA to IPEX (u.FL) adapter cables glued into enclosure wall. Two M3 self-tapping screws securely attach the PCB to the enclosure. Same time board could be easily removed. Enclosure has enough room to keep with or without stacking header one IOT controller board like Adafruit Feather Compatible (AFC), power supply (DC/DC), OLED display and sensor modules using plain grid proto holes. Each board has got four pluggable 3,5mm terminal blocks, one Grove, one 4-pin JST and two low profile pass-through 0,1” SMT AFC interface compatible connectors installed. Several DIP 0.1" I2C and SPI interface connectors could be populated. Two separate power traces for VDD and GND along short PCB sides allow bring the power to sensor boards. Transparent lid lets see electronics, LEDs and display and is able to hold LiPol battery to be applied to the internal surface.

Using qBox AFC kit the variety of IOT DIY and POC projects could be done, like LoRa-based soil moisture monitoring project, home WiFi garage door opener, NB-IOT bee hive monitoring system, GSM GPS asset tracking solution and many others.

At pics below it could be seen how this Enclosure kit could be used together with Adafruit Feather Compatible IOT board and qTop Cell Modem shield.

What's included:
- IP65 waterproof enclosure with two PG7 glands installed and two SMA u.FL cables glued;
- High quality prototyping double sided PCB mounted with two M3 self-tapping screws and connectors installed:

• Adafruit Feather Compatible board female headers set (low profile pass-through 0,1” pitch 1x12 and 1x16 pins connectors);
• Four 3,5mm 2 pins terminal blocks;
• Grove 2mm connector;
• 4-pin JST I2C&Power connector;

- Four 3,5mm 2 pins terminal plugs;
- Packaging bag and shipping box.

More info: User Manual

qBox AFC DIY IOT Enclosure Kit (One SMA)

$24.95

Each qBox AFC Enclosure Kit consists of durable waterproof IP65 enclosure with installed PG7 glands, double sided PCB with connectors installed and integrated SMA to u.FL adapter cable (up to two, depending on kit model) and connectors set. External DC voltage from power adapter or solar system could be brought by cable through the one gland inner and another gland gives opportunity to connect external sensors or actuators. One LTE / WiFi / LoRa / etc. external antenna could be connected to wireless board u.FL connector via SMA to IPEX (u.FL) adapter cable glued into enclosure wall. Two M3 self-tapping screws securely attach the PCB to the enclosure. Same time board could be easily removed. Enclosure has enough room to keep with or without stacking header one IOT controller board like Adafruit Feather Compatible (AFC), power supply (DC/DC), OLED display and sensor modules using plain grid proto holes. Each board has got four pluggable 3,5mm terminal blocks, one Grove, one 4-pin JST and two low profile pass-through 0,1” SMT AFC interface compatible connectors installed. Several DIP 0.1" I2C and SPI interface connectors could be populated. Two separate power traces for VDD and GND along short PCB sides allow bring the power to sensor boards. Transparent lid lets see electronics, LEDs and display and is able to hold LiPol battery to be applied to the internal surface.

Using qBox AFC kit the variety of IOT DIY and POC projects could be done, like LoRa-based soil moisture monitoring project, home WiFi garage door opener, NB-IOT bee hive monitoring system, GSM GPS asset tracking solution and many others.

At pics below it could be seen how this Enclosure kit could be used together with Adafruit Feather Compatible IOT board. It could be used if just one external antenna (GNSS antenna, as example), is connected.

What's included:
- IP65 waterproof enclosure with two PG7 glands installed and one SMA u.FL cable glued;
- High quality prototyping double sided PCB mounted with two M3 self-tapping screws and connectors installed:

• Adafruit Feather Compatible board female headers set (low profile pass-through 0,1” pitch 1x12 and 1x16 pins connectors);
• Four 3,5mm 2 pins terminal blocks;
• Grove 2mm connector;
• 4-pin JST I2C&Power connector;

- Four 3,5mm 2 pins terminal plugs;
- Packaging bag and shipping box.

More info: User Manual

qBox AFC DIY IOT Enclosure Kit (No SMA)

$23.95

Each qBox AFC Enclosure Kit consists of durable waterproof IP65 enclosure with installed PG7 glands, double sided PCB with connectors installed and integrated SMA to u.FL adapter cable (up to two, depending on kit model) and connectors set. External DC voltage from power adapter or solar system could be brought by cable through the one gland inner and another gland gives opportunity to connect external sensors or actuators. This kit does not have any SMA connectors integrated, so just internal antennas could be used for wireless applications. Two M3 self-tapping screws securely attach the PCB to the enclosure. Same time board could be easily removed. Enclosure has enough room to keep with or without stacking header one IOT controller board like Adafruit Feather Compatible (AFC), power supply (DC/DC), OLED display and sensor modules using plain grid proto holes. Each board has got four pluggable 3,5mm terminal blocks, one Grove, one 4-pin JST and two low profile pass-through 0,1” SMT AFC interface compatible connectors installed. Several DIP 0.1" I2C and SPI interface connectors could be populated. Two separate power traces for VDD and GND along short PCB sides allow bring the power to sensor boards. Transparent lid lets see electronics, LEDs and display and is able to hold LiPol battery to be applied to the internal surface.

Using qBox AFC kit the variety of IOT DIY and POC projects could be done, like LoRa-based soil moisture monitoring project, home WiFi garage door opener, NB-IOT bee hive monitoring system, GSM GPS asset tracking solution and many others.

At pics below it could be seen how this Enclosure kit could be used together with Adafruit Feather Compatible IOT board. Kit has two I2C connectors (Grove and QWIIC compatible), so any compatible sensors or actuators could be easily connected.

What's included:
- IP65 waterproof enclosure with two PG7 glands installed;
- High quality prototyping double sided PCB mounted with two M3 self-tapping screws and connectors installed:

• Adafruit Feather Compatible board female headers set (low profile pass-through 0,1” pitch 1x12 and 1x16 pins connectors);
• Four 3,5mm 2 pins terminal blocks;
• Grove 2mm connector;
• 4-pin JST I2C&Power connector;

- Four 3,5mm 2 pins terminal plugs;
- Packaging bag and shipping box.

More info: User Manual

BY-LTE-05 : 4G / LTE Omni-Directional SMA Male Adhesive Mount Antenna

$6.95

BY-LTE-05 is external 4G / LTE antenna. To be used in wide range of LTE / CAT M1 and NB-IOT IOT applications. 

BY-LTE-05 comes with 3m length cable and SMA Male type connector. 3M Industrial Adhesive at the back of antenna makes it convenient to stick it at some suitable place.

Specification:
- Frequency（MHz）： 698-960/1710-2170/2500-2700
- VSWR: ≤2
- Gain（dBi）： 2.5
- Max Input power（W）： 60
- Input Impedance（Ω）： 50
- Polarization： Vertical
- Antenna Length（mm）： 115 x 22 x 4
- Cable Length（m/ft）： 3/9.8
- Cable Type： RG174
- Connector： SMA
- Mounting： Adhesive

More info : Datasheet

BY-GPS-GLONASS-10 : GPS/GLONASS SMA Male Magnetic Mount Antenna

$8.95

BY-GPS-GLONASS-10 is active outdoor waterproof GPS / GLONASS to be used for location / navigation IOT applications. The magnetic mount allows it to be easily mounted to a metal base such as a ground plate or car roof. The antenna has 5m cable and standard SMA connector.

BY-GPS-GLONASS-10 works fine with all IOT-BOT.COM external antenna GPS/GLONASS modules and shields.

Specification:
Dielectric Antenna:
- Center Frequency（MHz）： 1575/1602
- VSWR： 1.5:1
- Bandwidth（MHz）： ±5 
Impedance（Ω）： 50 
Peak Gain: ＞3dBi Based on 7cm×7cm ground plane 
Gain Coverage: ＞-4dBi at –90°＜0 ＜+90°(over 75% Volume) 
Polarization： RHCP 

LNA/Filter:
LNA Gain (Without cable)： 28 dBi Typical 
Noise Figure（dB）： 2.0
Filter Out Band Attenuation (f0=1575.42 MHz): 40dB Min 1592+/-130MHz 
VSWR: ＜2.0 
DC Voltage（V）： 2.7 to 5.5v
DC Current（mA）： 15Max 

Mechanical:
Weight（gram ）: ＜110
Size（mm）： 42×36×13.5 
Cable Length（ft/m）： 16.4/5
Connector： SMA (Male)
Mounting： Magnetic
Housing： Black 

Environmental:
Working Temp： -40℃~+85℃ 
Storage Temp： -45℃~+100℃ 
Vibration： Sine sweep 1g(0-p)10~50~10Hz each axis 
Humidity： 95%~100%RH 
Weatherproof： 100% Waterproof 

More info : Datasheet