5G HUB BG77 USB User manual

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USB Dongle Rev 1.0 Copyright © 5GHUB.US
BG77 USB
USB Dongle BG77 Technical Specifications & User Manual

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USB Dongle Rev 1.0 Copyright © 5GHUB.US
Purpose of the Document
The purpose of this document is to explain the technical specifications and manual for using
the 5G NB-IoT & GNSS USB Dongle.
Document History
Version
Author
Date
Description
A
5G HUB
09.02.2022
Initial Document
B
5G HUB
03.07.2022
Add LTE/GNSS operation

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USB Dongle Rev 1.0 Copyright © 5GHUB.US
Table of Contents
Purpose of the Document .......................................................................................................................2
Document History...................................................................................................................................2
1 Package contents: .......................................................................................................................4
1.1 Cat NB2 NB-IoT USB Dongle Package: .........................................................................................4
1.2 Download....................................................................................................................................4
2 General Description ....................................................................................................................5
2.1 Overview.....................................................................................................................................5
2.2 Key Features ...............................................................................................................................5
2.3 Overview Diagrams .....................................................................................................................6
2.4 Physical Characteristics ...............................................................................................................6
2.5 Peripherals – IO Connections ......................................................................................................8
2.6 Hardware Specification .............................................................................................................10
2.7 PIN Description .........................................................................................................................11
3 LTE and GNSS modem .............................................................................................................11

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USB Dongle Rev 1.0 Copyright © 5GHUB.US
1Package contents:
1.1 Cat NB2 NB-IoT USB Dongle Package:
•Cat NB2/Cat M USB dongle with LTE & GNSS antenna connectors.
1.2 Download
Arduino software can be downloaded from the following website:
5G-NB-IoT/KitSketches at master · 5ghub/5G-NB-IoT (github.com)
To use the board with Windows:
Download and Install LTE&GNSS modem driver for Windows OS:
https://github.com/5ghub/5G-NB-IoT/tree/master/Driver
Download and Install QNavigator and QCOM tools for Quectel BG77 here:
https://github.com/5ghub/5G-NB-IoT/tree/master/Tools
All the following software can be installed from the GitHub location here:
https://github.com/5ghub/5G-NB-IoT

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USB Dongle Rev 1.0 Copyright © 5GHUB.US
2General Description
2.1 Overview
The NB-IoT & GNSS USB dongle is a cellular and GPS USB stick form factor based on Quectel BG77 chipset.
The BG77 is the world smallest modem integrating Cat NB2 LTE and GNSS.
The USB dongle has on-board LTE & GNSS antennas. It features a wireless modem. The wireless modem
is BG77 which is an embedded IoT (LTE Cat-M1, LTE Cat-NB2 and EGPRS and GNSS) wireless
communication module. BG77 wireless modem provides a maximum data rate of 589Kbps downlink and
1.12Mbps uplink. It features ultra-low power consumption, provides data connectivity on LTE-TDD/LTE-
FDD/GPRS/EDGE networks, and supports half-duplex operation in LTE networks. It also provides GNSS to
meet customers’ specific application demands
The USB dongle provides rich sets of Internet protocols, industry-standard interfaces
(USB/I2C/SPI/ADC/Status Indicator) and abundant functionalities. The board offer a high integration level
and enables integrators and developers to easily design their applications and take advantage of the board
low power consumption, many functionalities, and USB drivers for Windows 7/8/8.1/10, Linux and
Android.
The USB dongle is a rich hardware board that can be used for the 4G LTE wireless technology and enables
a variety of smart applications for devices. It enables large number of applications such as wireless POS,
smart metering, tracking, smart transportation, smart buildings, smart city, and smart homes.
2.2 Key Features
•Quectel BG77 NB-IoT & GNSS module
•Data rate of 589Kbps downlink and 1.12Mbps uplink
•On-board LTE & GPS antenna connectors
•Supports LTE NB-IoT and Machine Type Communications (MTC)
•Supports EGPRS
•Global Frequency Band B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B8/B12/B13/B18/B19/B20/B26/B28/B39 (B39 for
Cat.M1 only) for LTE and 850/900/1800/1900MHz for EGPRS
•Supports the protocols TCP/UDP/PPP/ SSL/ TLS/ FTP(S)/ HTTP(S)/ NITZ/ PING/ MQTT
•Supports SMS
•Supports GNSS technology (GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou/Compass, Galileo, QZSS)
•Compact board size of 59mm x 25mm
•Nano USIM card slot
•Works with Windows, Linux, or Android
•Ready for smart wearables, smart applications, and development (smart home, smart city, smart
transportation, smart metering, smart farming, smart waste management, asset tracking,
location, navigation, mapping, and timing applications). Application such as Gas Detector, Soil
PH Tester, Optical Sensor, Machinery Alarm System, Irrigation Controller, Elevator, Asset
Tracking Electronics, Person/Pet Tracking, Water/Gas Metering, Smart Parking System, Fire
Hydrant, Smoke Alarm, Trash Bin, Street Lighting
•The board is powered via the USB connector
•Interfaces with external sensors through I2C or SPI. Each of the general purpose I/O
pins on the board can be used for digital input or digital output.

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USB Dongle Rev 1.0 Copyright © 5GHUB.US
2.3 Overview Diagrams
Figure 1: USB Dongle Overview Diagram – Top View
Figure 2: USB Dongle Overview Diagram – Bottom View
2.4 Physical Characteristics
The width and length of the USB dongle is 25 mm (width) by 59 mm (length). The board have four
screw holes in opposite corner that allows to use the USB dongle inside an enclosure or to be
attached to a surface or case.
The size of the BG77 module is also shown below which is the world’s smallest size for a
LTE&GNSS modem.

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USB Dongle Rev 1.0 Copyright © 5GHUB.US
Figure 3: Physical Characteristics
Figure 4: BG77 Modem (World Smallest LTE&GNSS modem)

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USB Dongle Rev 1.0 Copyright © 5GHUB.US
2.5 Peripherals – IO Connections
Figure 5: USB Dongle Connectors

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USB Dongle Rev 1.0 Copyright © 5GHUB.US
Figure 6: USB Dongle Bottom Side – Key Components

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USB Dongle Rev 1.0 Copyright © 5GHUB.US
2.6 Hardware Specification
Table 1: Technical specification
Technical Specification
NB-IoT Module
Quectel BG77
Dimension
25 mm (width) by 59 mm (length)
Weight
18 grams
Power Supply
USB (5V) from USB port
LED
PWR, STAT LED, NET LED
Interfacing Logic Voltage Level (Operating
Voltage)
3.3V
Voltage output
5V, 3.3V
General-purpose digital I/O Pins
8 (A0-A5, PA6, PA7, SS, MOSI, MISO, SCK, SDA,
SCL)
GPIO
2 connected to BG77
ADC
2 connected to BG77
USB
1
I2C
1 connected to BG77
SPI
1
JTAG Debug
Cortex Debug Connector (Single Wire Debug)
USIM
Nano
GNSS
GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou/Compass, Galileo, QZSS
Antenna
1 main antenna and 1 GNSS antenna
Band
LTE-FDD, B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B8/B12/
B13/B18/B19/B20/B26/B28
LTE-TDD: B39 (for Cat M1 only)
Certification
FCC, CE
Mobile Operator Certification
Verizon, AT&T

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USB Dongle Rev 1.0 Copyright © 5GHUB.US
2.7 PIN Description
Table 2: PIN description
PIN
DIRECTION
Description
USB Connector
I
The USB dongle is powered from the USB port (3.8V-5V)
LED (Power)
O
LED on powering on the USB
LED (NET)
O
Indicate the BG77 operation status
LED (STAT)
O
Indicate the BG77 network activity status
3.3V O
3.3V generated by the on-board regulator. Maximum current
drawn is 3A. The regulator also provides power to the MCU and
BG77
5V O
5V generated from the board. The board is supplied with power
from USB connector (typical 5V)
GND
Ground
SCL
IO
I2C. The SCL (clock line). Can be used as GPIO
SDA
IO
I2C. The SDA (data line). Can be used as GPIO
Cortex Debug
Connector
IO
Using Single Wire Debug to burn bootloader and debug the
board
ADC0
I
Connected to BG77. General purpose analogue to digital converter
ADC1
I
Connected to BG77. General purpose analogue to digital converter
GPIO0
IO
Connected to BG77. General purpose IO
GPIO1
IO
Connected to BG77. General purpose IO
SPI
IO
Connected to BG77.
USIM
I
Used to insert a Nano USIM. Connected to BG77
3 LTE and GNSS modem
Before powering on the USB dongle, make sure to insert SIM card into the SIM card slot and connect GNSS
and LTE antennas to the antenna UFL connectors on the USB dongle.
Plug the USB dongle into a USB port on a PC. When the USB is plugged into the USB port, the power LED
turns on. There are other two LEDs (STATE and NET) on the USB dongle for the modem status as listed in
the table:
Table 3: Modem LEDs
LED
Behavior
Description
PWR
ON
Indicates the USB dongle is powered on
STATE
ON
Indicates the BG77 is powered on
NET
Flicker slowly (200ms High/1800ms Low)
Network Searching
Flicker slowly (1800ms High/200ms Low)
Idle
Flicker slowly (125ms High/125ms Low)
Data transfer is ongoing
When the USB dongle is powered-on, it will enumerate BG77 modem interfaces in “Device manager” on
Windows OS as shown in Figure 7.

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USB Dongle Rev 1.0 Copyright © 5GHUB.US
Figure 7: Modem ports in Device Manager on Windows OS
Right-click on the “Quectel USB Modem” to check its serial port as in the screen shot below:

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USB Dongle Rev 1.0 Copyright © 5GHUB.US
Figure 8: Modem port in Device Manager on Windows OS
Launch QCOM tool and connect to COM45. In the command boxes, type the following AT commands to
configure APN and make the modem registers on mobile operator network as shown in Figure 9
ATI
Quectel
BG77
Revision: BG77LAR02A04
OK
AT+CGDCONT=1,"IP","m2mNB16.com.attz"
OK
AT+CFUN=0
OK
AT+CFUN=1
OK
+CPIN: READY
+QUSIM: 1
+QIND: SMS DONE
AT+CEREG?
+CEREG: 0,1
OK

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USB Dongle Rev 1.0 Copyright © 5GHUB.US
AT+CGDCONT?
+CGDCONT: 1,"IP","m2mNB16.com.attz","0.0.0.0",0,0,0
OK
Figure 9: Modem registration on mobile operator network
To enable GNSS, open another QCOM instance and connect to the port “Quectel USB NMEA Port
(COM46)”, and type the following GNSS AT commands. GNSS position will show up on the QCOM window
as shown in Figure 10.
AT+QGPS=1
+OK
AT+QGPSCFG="outport","usbnmea"
OK

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USB Dongle Rev 1.0 Copyright © 5GHUB.US
AT+QGPSLOC=0
+QGPSLOC: 031153.000,4749.6019N,12212.3855W,2.3,43.7,2,0.00,0.0,0.0,080323,05
Figure 10: Modem GNSS

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USB Dongle Rev 1.0 Copyright © 5GHUB.US
The following tool shows all GNSS satellites detected by the USB dongle and exact location.