C030-AppBoard UserGuide (UBX-17015029)
C030-AppBoard UserGuide (UBX-17015029)
Abstract
This guide explains how to set up the C030 Arm® Mbed Enabled™ Internet of Things Starter Kit to
begin evaluating u-blox 2G/3G/4G cellular and GNSS modules.
www.u-blox.com
UBX-17015029 - R05
C030 - User Guide
Document Information
Title C030
Subtitle LTE Cat 1, Cat M1, NB-IoT and 2G/3G mbed-enabled IoT starter kit
Document type User Guide
Document number UBX-17015029
Revision and date R05 26-Oct-2018
Disclosure Restriction
In Development / Objective Specification Target values. Revised and supplementary data will be published later.
Prototype
Engineering Sample Advance Information Data based on early testing. Revised and supplementary data will be published later.
Initial Production Early Production Information Data from product verification. Revised and supplementary data may be published later.
Mass Production / Production Information Document contains the final product specification.
End of Life
u-blox or third parties may hold intellectual property rights in the products, names, logos and designs included in this
document. Copying, reproduction, modification or disclosure to third parties of this document or any part thereof is only
permitted with the express written permission of u-blox.
The information contained herein is provided “as is” and u-blox assumes no liability for its use. No warranty, either express or
implied, is given, including but not limited to, 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 without notice. For the most recent
documents, visit www.u-blox.com.
Arduino® is a trademark of Arduino Srl or Arduino LLC registered and/or used in the EU, the U.S. and other countries/regions.
Arm and Mbed™ are registered trademarks of Arm Limited (or its subsidiaries) in the US and/or elsewhere.
JT® is a registered trademark of JTGlobal Limited in the EU, the U.S. and other countries/regions
Copyright © u-blox AG.
Contents
Document Information ................................................................................................................................ 2
Contents .......................................................................................................................................................... 3
1 Overview ................................................................................................................................................... 4
Using this guide .................................................................................................................................................... 4
Warnings and certifications .............................................................................................................................. 5
2 Hardware description ........................................................................................................................... 6
2.1 C030 block diagram .................................................................................................................................... 9
2.2 Buttons, jumpers and switches ............................................................................................................. 16
2.2.1 Utilization of cellular modem USB sniffer (and programmer) .................................................. 17
2.3 LED indicators ........................................................................................................................................... 18
2.4 Connectors ................................................................................................................................................. 19
2.5 Configuration links / components .........................................................................................................20
2.6 Test, break out points, and debug interfaces ..................................................................................... 24
2.7 Arduino™ UNO R3 compatible interface pin out................................................................................. 25
2.8 Power supply options and LiPo battery usage .................................................................................... 26
2.9 C030-N211 variant cellular module firmware upgrade ...................................................................... 27
3 Getting started .................................................................................................................................... 28
3.1 eUICC (embedded SIM) activation ......................................................................................................... 28
3.2 C030 board setup ..................................................................................................................................... 28
3.3 Development PC USB driver configuration .......................................................................................... 28
3.4 Getting started with Mbed...................................................................................................................... 29
4 Approvals............................................................................................................................................... 30
4.1 C030-U201 European Conformance CE mark .....................................................................................30
4.2 C030-N211 European Conformance CE mark ...................................................................................... 31
Appendix ....................................................................................................................................................... 32
A Glossary ................................................................................................................................................. 32
Related documents ................................................................................................................................... 33
Revision history .......................................................................................................................................... 33
Contact .......................................................................................................................................................... 34
1 Overview
The u-blox C030 LTE Cat 1, Cat M1, NB-IoT and 2G/3G mbed-enabled IoT starter kit is a versatile
development platform that allows quick prototyping of a variety of applications for low-power Internet
of Things (IoT) devices.
The u-blox C030 boards are delivered in several variants based on the type of u-blox cellular module
employed, such as:
C030-U201: SARA-U201 HSPA module with 2G fallback
C030-N211: SARA-N211 NB-IoT (LTE Cat NB1) module
C030-R410M: SARA-R410M LTE Cat M1 / Cat NB1 module
C030-R3121: LARA-R3121 LTE Cat 1 single-mode module with GNSS receiver
The u-blox C030 application boards, except C030-R3121, have a u-blox MAX-M8C module or a ZOE
GNSS IC as a concurrent GNSS receiver, thereby enabling straight forward development of location-
aware, globally communicating applications.
The u-blox C030 board provides access to a variety of hardware interfaces (10/100 Mb/s Ethernet, 22
GPIOs with SPI, I2C, UART, PWM) through the Arduino™ Uno R3 compatible header connector.
An eUICC (embedded SIM) is integrated on the u-blox C030-U201 / C030-R3121 variants. The eUICC
comes with International Data Roaming Cellular Connectivity Service by JT ® JTGlobal (formerly
Jersey Telecom) with 50 MB of data for the period of 90 days, which can be topped up and extended
on demand.
The u-blox C030 board is powered by an Arm® Cortex-M4 based ST® STM32F437VGT Host
microcontroller, which is fully supported by the Arm® Mbed™ platform. The microcontroller has 512 kB
flash, 64 kB RAM, and runs an up-to-96 MHz system clock. The board provides simple USB drag-n-
drop programming and ST-Link debug interface for the Host microcontroller. The Arm Mbed platform
provides free software libraries and online tools for professional rapid prototyping. The programming
is done using a standard-based C/C++ SDK. The Arm Mbed compiler also supports full export to
various tool chains, for projects that demand it as they go into production.
The u-blox C030 also works with wide choice of Integrated Development Environments (IDEs)
including but not limited to Arm® Keil®, GCC-based Eclipse IDEs.
☞ An index finger points out key information pertaining to device operation and performance.
⚠ A warning symbol indicates actions that could negatively impact or damage the device.
CAUTION! Risk of short circuit of the battery when touching it with conducting
parts. In the unlikely event of a failure in the internal protection circuitry, there is
a risk of an explosion when charging fully or partially discharged batteries.
Replace the battery if it no longer has sufficient charge for unit operation. Control
the battery before using it if the device has not been operated for an extended
period of time.
Products marked with this lead-free symbol on the product label comply with the
“Directive 2002/95/EC of the European Parliament and the Council on the
Restriction of Use of certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic
Equipment” (RoHS).
C030 application boards are RoHS compliant and green (no halogens).
2 Hardware description
The u-blox C030 has the following onboard hardware features:
u-blox cellular functionality
o On C030-U201 – u-blox SARA-U201 HSPA/GSM module, with eUICC (embedded SIM)
o On C030-N211 – u-blox SARA-N211 LTE Cat NB1 (NB-IoT) module, with MicroSIM socket
o On C030-R410M – u-blox SARA-R410M-02B LTE Cat M1 / NB1 module, with MicroSIM socket
o On C030-R3121 – u-blox LARA-R3121 LTE Cat 1 module, with eUICC (embedded SIM)
u-blox GNSS functionality
o On C030-U201 – u-blox MAX-M8C LCC module able to utilize concurrent reception of up to
three GNSS systems (GPS / Galileo together with GLONASS or BeiDou)
o On C030-N211 – u-blox MAX-M8C LCC module able to utilize concurrent reception of up to three
GNSS systems (GPS / Galileo together with GLONASS or BeiDou)
o On C030-R410M – u-blox ZOE-M8G SiP module able to utilize concurrent reception of up to
three GNSS systems (GPS / Galileo together with GLONASS or BeiDou)
o On C030-R3121 – GPS receiver integrated in u-blox LARA-R3121 module
STM32F437VG Cortex-M4 Arm host MCU with 1024 kB Flash, 256 kB SRAM and SWD connector
o 12 MHz crystal oscillator for system clock
o 32.768 kHz crystal oscillator for real-time clock
o 1.8 V operation
On-board ST-Link/V2-1 debugger/programmer with SWD connector
o ST-Link/V2-1 standalone development and debug capability
o USB re-enumeration; Virtual COM port, mass storage device and debug port
o 5V from ST-Link/V2-1 Debug USB VBUS, 3.3V operation
o (CMSIS-DAP variant of the FW with extended features will be available in the future)
On-board TI® bq24295 single cell LiPo battery charger and TI® bq27441-G1 battery fuel gauge
Molex® SPOX™ 5268-03A LiPo battery connector
o Supports battery types like BAK –LP-503759-IS-3 (battery is not included)
On-board SiLabs® CP2105 USB to dual UART bridge as Serial USB Sniffer
o Alternative to ST-Link/V2-1 virtual COM port when ST-LINK/V2-1 is not used/available
o Alternative to main supply and Debug USB 5V VBUS inputs
o Sniffing serial communication between the host MCU and the cellular module
RGB User LED, and two push buttons: user and reset
On-board SiLabs® Si7034-A10 humidity and temperature sensor
o Utilized temperature sensor only. Cannot be used for humidity measurements
SD card socket for file storage
Integrated NB-IoT and GNSS antennas by Antenova® on C030-N211’s snap-off antenna section
SMA RF connectors for 50 Ohm cellular and GNSS active antennas except on C030-N211
Integrated eUICC including International Data Roaming Cellular Connectivity by JT® JTGlobal with
50 MB of data for the first 90 days (except for C030-N211 / C030-R410M)
MicroSIM card socket on C030-N211 / C030-R410M
Extension:
o Arduino™ Uno R3 compatible interface
o 6 analog capable inputs
o 8 PWM capable outputs
o 22 GPIOs
o 1 x SPI
o 1 x I2C
o 1 x UART with HW flow control option (RTS, CTS)
VCC
VCC
VCC
Figure 5, Figure 6 and Figure 7 show the major interfaces and internal connections of the C030.
The major component layouts of each board variant are provided in Figure 8, Figure 9, Figure 10 and
Figure 11.
The C030-N211 NB-IoT variant has a different component and PCB configuration.
There is no international data roaming eUICC (embedded SIM) on the PCB. Instead, there is a
MicroSIM card socket.
There is no cellular modem data communication USB connector and relevant circuitry, as
SARA-N2 series modules do not support USB device communication.
In contrast to C030-U201, the C030-N211 has integrated NB-IoT and GNSS antennas by Antenova
on the antenna section PCB.
The C030-N211 NB-IoT variant specific component locations are shown in Figure 9.
The connectors unique to the C030-R410M LTE Cat M1 / NB-IoT variant are:
There is no international data roaming eUICC (embedded SIM) on the PCB. Instead, there is a
MicroSIM card socket
The C030-R410M LTE Cat M1 / NB-IoT variant specific component locations are shown in Figure 10.
The C030 P1 and P3 jumpers and S2 switch positions are depicted in Figure 12 and Figure 13.
Figure 12: C030-U201 / C030-N211 jumper and switches Figure 13: C030-R410M / C030-R3121 jumper and switches
☞ Enhanced COM port Mode 1 direct access to the cellular module allows using development PC
applications like u-blox m-center, to exercise the cellular module AT command interface bypassing
the C030 HostMCU.
☞ On the R410M / R3121 variants, usage of USART1 and USART2 have been swapped as compared
with the U201 / N211 variants.
1
GNSS Time Pulse LED indicator, LED_G3, is powered by the application section 3.3 VDC rail controlled by the HostMCU PE_0
port. If the Application Section 3.3 VDC supply rail is not turned on, the GNSS Time Pulse LED does not light up.
2
Ethernet LED indicators are powered by 3.3 VDC generated from the Debug USB VBUS, which powers the whole Utility section.
If the Debug USB is not connected to a USB Master (for example, a development PC), the Utility section is powered down, and
therefore the Ethernet LED indicators do not light up.
2.4 Connectors
The C030 has various connectors as listed in Table 3. See Figure 8, Figure 9, Figure 10 and Figure 11
for connector locations.
☞ The J2 Micro SD Card Socket shares the Arduino Interface D10 to D13 pins, which are used as an
SPI bus to the HostMCU SPI4 peripheral. The D10 pin (NSS) is used as an SD Card SPI Slave Select
signal. When the SPI bus on the Arduino Interface is utilized by other SPI slaves on daughter
boards, free Arduino digital IO lines should be utilized for Slave Select signals.
⚠ As the SD card interface and its supply voltage are designed to work with 3.3 VDC, the SD card
socket shall not be used when the Arduino interface IOREF voltage level is set to higher than
3.3 VDC. Such usage could cause a permanent damage and/or a failure to an SD card inserted in
the J2 socket and the C030’s Arduino™ interface level translators. (See R152 and R153 links in
Table 4).
3
: Connected/populated, : Not connected/open
4
Provisional feature (Module current consumption): instrumenting the current consumption of the Cellular and GNSS Modules
from the InterfaceMCU to characterize and instrument the application behavior during development.
5
Provisional feature (I2C Bus Access): accessing Application section sensors and devices on the HostMCU I2C3 Bus from
InterfaceMCU to characterize and instrument the application behavior during development.
6
The Si7034-A10 is a Temperature and Relative Humidity Sensor. The HostMCU PD_4 port cannot provide enough current to
the sensor to run the humidity sensor’s heating element. So the humidity feature of the sensor shall not be used.
Figure 17: C030 test and break out points and debug interfaces (bottom view)
7
11 A2 Analog input PC_3 Analog input GPIO, Ext. interrupt
12 A3 Analog input PA_4 Analog input7 GPIO, Ext. interrupt
7 8
13 A4 Analog input PA_6 Analog input , PB_7 I2C1 SDA GPIO, Ext. interrupt
7 9
14 A5 Analog input PB_0 Analog input , PB_6 I2C1 SCL GPIO, Ext. interrupt
15 D0 Digital I/O, UART RX PD_9, USART3_TX GPIO, Ext. interrupt
16 D1 Digital I/O, UART TX PD_8, USART3_RX GPIO, Ext. interrupt
17 D2 Digital I/O PD_11 USART3_CTS, GPIO, External
interrupt
Ard1C
27 D12 Digital I/O PE_5, SPI4 MISO, shared with SD Card GPIO, PWM, Ext. interrupt
28 D13 Digital I/O PE_2, SPI4 SCK, shared with SD Card GPIO, Ext. interrupt
29 GND Ground level
30 AREF 3.3 VDC Reference
31 SDA I2C SDA I/O PB_6 I2C1 SCL GPIO, Ext. interrupt
32 SCL I2C SCL Output PB_7 I2C1 SDA GPIO, Ext. interrupt
Table 6: C030 Arduino UNO R3 compatible interface
7
Pin is connected to the port via 1 kΩ/1 kΩ resistive voltage divider.
8
PB_7 could be connected to the (A4) Ard1B Pin 13 to provide I2C1 SDA signal.
9
PB_6 could be connected to the (A5) Ard1B Pin 14 to provide I2C1 SCL signal.
10
Arduino interface D10 to D13 pins are used as an SPI Bus to HostMCU SPI4 peripheral. The D10 to D13 pins are shared with
the SD card socket.
☞ The C030 could run on a single supply input from #1 debug USB or #3 serial USB sniffer. However,
the cellular module transmission power demand might not be satisfied from these connections.
In such a use case, the C030 might be suffering brownout dues to USB VBUS supply rail cuts due
to USB current limitations. Therefore, either a 5 VDC USB power supply with ~3 ADC capacity
should be connected to the Aux 5V USB connector and/or an adequate LiPo battery, such as a BAK
LP-503759-IS-3, should be connected to the LiPo battery connector. The locations of the power
supply connections are shown in Figure 19. It is recommended to use LiPo battery in conjunction
to the USB connections as high frequency current demands might not be provided by the USB
VBUS rails but the LiPo battery
3 Getting started
3.1 eUICC (embedded SIM) activation
☞ This section applies to the C030-U201 and C030-R3121 only.
The C030-U201 / C030-R3121 variants have an integrated eUICC (embedded SIM) for international
data roaming cellular connectivity service. The 50 MB of data or the 90-day period of cellular
connectivity service, whichever comes first, are covered in the C030-U201 / C030-R3121 package to
provide a seamless out-of-the-box experience.
The international data roaming connectivity service is provided by JT® JTGlobal. The service must be
activated through the Internet. The JT® international data roaming cellular connectivity service
activation procedure is provided below:
Visit http://www.jtiotsims.com/ubxC030 (the link is forwarded automatically to
https://jtiotsims.com/ubxC030/)
1. Register (or Login) to your account
2. Enter the C030-U201 / C030-R3121 IMSI code given on the C030-U201 / C030-R3121 board
3. Customize the PIN code or leave as default
4. Optionally name your IMSI for easier top up in the future
5. Accept the Terms and Conditions
6. Click “Activate” to start your connectivity service.
4 Approvals
4.1 C030-U201 European Conformance CE mark
The C030-U201 application board has been evaluated against the essential requirements of the
2014/53/EU Radio Equipment Directive.
In order to satisfy the essential requirements of the 2014/53/EU Radio Equipment Directive, the device
is compliant with the following standards:
Radio Frequency spectrum use (Article 3.2):
o EN 301 511
o EN 301 908-1
o EN 301 908-2
o EN 303 413
Electromagnetic Compatibility (Article 3.1b):
o EN 301 489-1
o EN 301 489-19
o EN 301 489-52
Health and Safety (Article 3.1a)
o EN 62368-1
o EN 62311 and EN 62479
The conformity assessment procedure for C030-U201 application boards, referred to in Article 17 and
detailed in Annex III of Directive 2014/53/EU, has been followed.
Thus, the following marking is included in the product:
There are no restrictions for the commercialization of the C030-U201 application boards in all the
countries of the European Union.
⚠ Radiofrequency radiation exposure Information: this equipment complies with radiation exposure
limits prescribed for an uncontrolled environment for fixed and mobile use conditions. This
equipment should be installed and operated with a minimum distance of 20 cm between the
radiator and the body of the user or nearby persons. This transmitter must not be collocated or
operating in conjunction with any other antenna or transmitter except as authorized in the
certification of the product.
⚠ The gain of the system antenna(s) used for C030-U201 application boards (i.e. the combined
transmission line, connector, cable losses and radiating element gain) must not exceed 2.96 dBi
(in the 900 MHz band, i.e. GSM 900 or UMTS FDD-8 band), 7.85 dBi (in the 1800 MHz band, i.e.
GSM 1800 band), 11.84 dBi (in the 2100 MHz band, i.e. UMTS FDD-1 band) for mobile and fixed or
mobile operating configurations.
There are no restrictions for the commercialization of the C030-N211 application boards in all the
countries of the European Union.
⚠ Radiofrequency radiation exposure Information: this equipment complies with radiation exposure
limits prescribed for an uncontrolled environment for fixed and mobile use conditions. This
equipment should be installed and operated with a minimum distance of 20 cm between the
radiator and the body of the user or nearby persons. This transmitter must not be collocated or
operating in conjunction with any other antenna or transmitter except as authorized in the
certification of the product.
⚠ The gain of the system antenna(s) used for C030-N211 application boards (i.e. the combined
transmission line, connector, cable losses and radiating element gain) must not exceed 9.2 dBi (in
the 800 MHz band, i.e. LTE band 20) and 9.4 dBi (in the 900 MHz band, i.e. LTE band 8) for mobile
and fixed or mobile operating configurations.
Appendix
A Glossary
Abbreviation Definition
Arm Arm (Advanced RISC Machines) Holdings
CE Certification Mark for EHS compliance in the European Economic Area
CTS Clear To Send
eUICC embedded SIM
FDD Frequency Division Duplex
GLONASS Global Navigation Satellite System
GND Ground
GNSS Generic Navy Simulation System
GPIO General Purpose Input Output
GSM Global System for Mobile Communication
HSPA High Speed Packet Access
I2C Inter-Integrated Circuit
IMSI International Mobile Station Identity
IoT Internet of Things
LCC Leadless Chip Carrier
LTE Long Term Evolution
PCB Printed Circuit Board
PIN Personal Identification Number
PWM Pulse Width Modulation
RAM Random Access Memory
RTS Request To Send
SCL Serial Clock
SDA Serial Data
SIM Subscriber Identification Module
SiP System in Package
SPI Serial Peripheral Interface
UART Universal Asynchronous Receiver-Transmitter
USB Universal Serial Bus
Table 8: Explanation of the abbreviations and terms used
Related documents
[1] u-blox SARA-U2 series Data Sheet, Docu No UBX-13005287
[2] u-blox SARA-N2 series Data Sheet, Docu No UBX-15025564
[3] u-blox SARA-R4/SARA-N4 series Data Sheet, Docu No UBX-16024152
[4] u-blox LARA-R3121 Data Sheet, Docu No UBX-18007123
[5] u-blox Nested Design Application Note, Docu No UBX-16007243
☞ For regular updates to u-blox documentation and to receive product change notifications, register
on our homepage (www.u-blox.com).
Revision history
Revision Date Name Comments
Contact
For complete contact information, visit us at www.u-blox.com.
u-blox Offices