5G HUB BG77 User manual

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USB Dongle Rev 1.0 Copyright © 5GHUB.US
5G NB-IOT & GNSS USB KIT
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
04.25.2020
Initial Document

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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
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 – Key Components ...................................................................................................... 8
2.6 Peripherals – IO Connections.......................................................................................................10
2.7 Hardware Specification................................................................................................................11
2.8 PIN Description............................................................................................................................. 12
2.9 BG77 chipset ................................................................................................................................13
2.10 Interface between SAM21D and BG77 ....................................................................................... 13
3 References....................................................................................................................................14

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USB Dongle Rev 1.0 Copyright © 5GHUB.US
1Package contents:
NB-IoT Cat NB2 & GNSS USB Dongle Kit Package:
•USB Dongle with on-board LTE & GNSS antennas.
Download software:
Software can be downloaded from the following website:
https://www.5ghub.us/download
Software to download:
•QNavigatorV1.6 (in the folder \Tools).
•Quectel driver (in the folder \Driver).
Documentation:
•Quectel AT commands and GNSS commands manual (in the folder \Doc).

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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 based on Quectel BG77. It has on-board LTE
& GNSS antennas. The USB dongle features a microcontroller and wireless modem. The microcontroller
is an Atmel’s SAMD21G18A MCU which features a 32-bit ARM Cortex® M0+ core. The wireless modem is
BG77 which is an embedded IoT (LTE Cat-M1, LTE Cat-NB2 and EGPRS) 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/UART/I2C/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 kit is a rich hardware board that can be used for the latest 5G wireless technology and enables a
variety of smart and 5G applications for devices, and acts as a great educational tool for learning about
5G and 32-bit application development. It enables large number of applications such as wireless POS,
smart metering, tracking, smart transportation, smart buildings, smart city, and smart homes.
The board is also compatible with Arduino and Arduino software (IDE). Arduino sketches and examples
are provided with the kit and additional sketches can be developed and uploaded to the board.
2.2 Key Features
•Atmel ATSAMD21G18 MCU
•Quectel BG77 NB-IoT & GNSS module
•On-board LTE & GPS antenna
•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 65mm x 30mm
•Nano USIM card slot
•Arduino IDE Compatible
•Works with Windows, Linux, or Android
•Ready for 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,

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USB Dongle Rev 1.0 Copyright © 5GHUB.US
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
•Each of the general purpose I/O pins on the board can be used for digital input or digital
output using pinMode(), digitalWrite(), and digitalRead() functions. Pins used for PWM
can be using analogWrite() function. All pins operate at 3.3 volts. Each pin can source
or sink a maximum of 10 mA and has an internal pull-up resistor (disconnected by
default) of 20-60 K ohm.
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 30 mm (width) by 65 mm (length). The board have two
screw holes in opposite corner that allows the board to be attached to a surface or case.

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USB Dongle Rev 1.0 Copyright © 5GHUB.US
Figure 3. Physical Characteristics.

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USB Dongle Rev 1.0 Copyright © 5GHUB.US
2.5 Peripherals – Key Components
Figure 4. USB Dongle Top Side – Key Components

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

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USB Dongle Rev 1.0 Copyright © 5GHUB.US
2.6 Peripherals – IO Connections
Figure 7. USB Dongle Connectors
* I2C interface lines might be configured as USART interface SDA line can work then as USART TXD and SCL line can work as
USART RXD)
** MOSI and SCK lines might be configured as USART interface (MOSI line can work then as USART TXD and SCK line can work as
USART RXD)

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USB Dongle Rev 1.0 Copyright © 5GHUB.US
2.7 Hardware Specification
Technical Specification
Microcontroller (MCU)
Atmel ATSAMD21G18, 32-Bit ARM Cortex
M0+
Clock Speed
48 MHz
Flash Memory
256 KB
SRAM
32 KB
NB-IoT Module
Quectel BG77
Dimension
30 mm (width) by 65 mm (length)
Weight
22 grams
Power Supply
USB (5V)
LED
LED1, LED2, LED3, Status LED, Netlight LED
Interfacing Logic Voltage Level (Operating
Voltage)
3.3V
Voltage output
5V, 3.3V
RESET buttons
Two; one for MCU and one for BG77
User-defined Button
1 connected to MCU
USB Switch
1 switch to connect to MCU directly or BG77
directly
General-purpose digital I/O Pins
14 (A0-A5, PA6, PA7, SS, MOSI, MISO, SCK, SDA,
SCL)
GPIO
2 connected to BG77
ADC
2 connected to BG77
USB
1
I2C
2 (1 connected to BG77)
SPI
1
UART
1
ADC pins
6 (8/10/12-bit ADC channels)
DAC pin
1 (10-bit DAC)
External interrupts
14 (All general-purpose PINs)
PWM pin
6
DC Current per I/O Pin
10 mA
JTAG Debug
Cortex Debug Connector (Single Wire Debug)
USIM
Nano
GNSS
GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou/Compass, Galileo, QZSS
Antenna
1 main antenna and 1 GPS 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 and currently for AT&T
Notes:
-UART can be programmed through any of general-purpose pins.
-SPI can be programmed through any of general-purpose pins.

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USB Dongle Rev 1.0 Copyright © 5GHUB.US
2.8 PIN Description
PIN
DIRECTION
Description
USB Connector
I
The USB dongle is powered from the USB port (3.8V-5V)
LED1 (USER) O
LED which can be controlled from MCU (D25). When the pin is
HIGH value, the LED is on, when the pin is LOW, it is off
LED2 (USER) O
LED which can be controlled from MCU (D26). When the pin is
HIGH value, the LED is on, when the pin is LOW, it is off
LED3 (USER)
O
LED on powering on the USB
LED (NET)
O
Indicate the BG77 operation status
LED (STAT)
O
Indicate the BG77 network activity status
MCU RESET
button
I Reset the MCU
BG77 RESET
button
I Reset the BG77 module
User Button I
Connected to digital pin, D0, of MCU and can be used for user-
defined purposes
USB Switch
I
1 switch to connect to MCU directly or BG77 directly
IOREF O
Provides the voltage reference with which the MCU operates. A
device can read the IOREF pin voltage and select the appropriate
power source or enable voltage translators on the outputs for
working with the 5V or 3.3V
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
A0
IO
Six analog inputs which can provide up to 12 bits of resolution
(i.e. 4096 diff
erent values). By default, each input measures
from ground to 3.3 volts, though is it possible to change the
upper end of their range using the AREF pin
A0 can also be used as a DAC output and provides a 10 bit
voltage output with analogWrite() function
Analog pins can be used as GPIOs
A1
IO
A2
IO
A3
IO
A4
IO
A5 IO
SCL
IO
I2C. The SCL (clock line). Can be used as GPIO
SDA
IO
I2C. The SDA (data line). Can be used as GPIO
AREFA I
Input reference voltage for the analog inputs used for either he
ADC or the DAC
SCK
IO
SPI Interface. Can be used as GPIO
MISO
IO
SPI Interface. Can be used as GPIO
MOSI
IO
SPI Interface. Can be used as GPIO
SS
IO
SPI Interface. Can be used as GPIO
PA7
IO
GPIO. Can be used as GPIO
PA6
IO
GPIO. Can be used as GPIO

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USB Dongle Rev 1.0 Copyright © 5GHUB.US
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
GPIO26
IO
Connected to BG77. General purpose IO
GPIO64
IO
Connected to BG77. General purpose IO
SPI
IO
Connected to BG77.
USIM
I
Used to insert a Nano USIM. Connected to BG77
USB Boot I
Connected to BG77. Force the BG77 to enter emergency download
mode
Precaution
The USB dongle runs at 3.3V. The maximum voltage that the I/O pins can tolerate is 3.3V.
Applying voltages higher than 3.3V to any I/O pin could damage the board
2.9 BG77 chipset
All functionality of the BG77 shipset shall be implemented excluding the following features. That is, the
following features are not supported [1][2].
-Audio, Earphone, and Codes are not supported.
-PCM and I2C are not supported
-PSM_IND and AP_READY are not supported
2.10 Interface between SAM21D and BG77
The Microcontroller communicates with the BG77 through UART interfaces:
-UART1: (PA12/PA13/PA14/PA15). Used for data transmission and AT command communication
115200bps by default. The default frame format is 8N1 (8 data bits, no parity, 1 stop bit) Support
RTS and CTS hardware flow control.
-UART3: (PB23/PB22). Used for outputting GNSS data or NEMA sentences 115200bps baud rate.

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USB Dongle Rev 1.0 Copyright © 5GHUB.US
3References
[1] Quectel_BG77_Hardware_Design_V1.2.pdf
[2] Quectel_BG77_Reference_Design_Rev.A_20170814.pdf
[3] Quectel_Antenna_Design_Note_V2.0.pdf
[4] Quectel_RF_Layout_Application_Note_V2.2.pdf
[5] Quectel_QFlash_User_Guide_V2.3
[6] Arduino IDE, https://www.arduino.cc/en/Main/Software
[7] Arduino IDE, https://www.arduino.cc/en/Guide/ArduinoZero
[8] Microchip, “Low-Power, 32-bit Cortex-M0+ MCU with Advanced Analog and PWM”