5G HUB BG96 User manual

1
Board Rev 2.2 Copyright © 5GHUB.US
5G NB-IOT & GNSS KIT
BG96 Technical Specifications & User Manual

2
Board Rev 2.2 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 board.
Document History
Version
Author
Date
Description
A
5G HUB
04.05.2019
Initial Document
B
5G HUB
06.08.2019
Add Arduino IDE instructions
C
5G HUB
06.10.2019
Add Serial Interface
D
5G HUB
09.11.2019
Add more information about Arduino IDE
E
5G HUB
01.02.2020
Update Information regarding Input voltage and Current
F
5G HUB
07.11.2020
Update pictures and information
G
5G HUB
02.28.2021
Update pictures and add download Section

3
Board Rev 2.2 Copyright © 5GHUB.US
Table of Contents
Purpose of the Document .......................................................................................................................... 2
Document History ...................................................................................................................................... 2
1 Package contents: .......................................................................................................................... 4
1.1 NB-IoT Kit Package: ........................................................................................................................ 4
1.2 Download ....................................................................................................................................... 4
2 General Description ....................................................................................................................... 5
2.1 Overview ........................................................................................................................................ 5
2.2 Key Features................................................................................................................................... 6
2.3 Overview Diagrams ........................................................................................................................ 6
2.4 Physical Characteristics.................................................................................................................. 8
2.5 Peripherals – Key Components ....................................................................................................10
2.6 Peripherals – IO Connections.......................................................................................................11
2.7 Hardware Specification................................................................................................................12
2.8 PIN Description............................................................................................................................. 13
2.9 BG96 chipset ................................................................................................................................14
2.10 Interface between SAM21D and BG96 .......................................................................................14
3 Using the Board with Arduino IDE ............................................................................................... 15
3.1 Installing the Software .................................................................................................................15
3.2 Setting Up Arduino IDE ................................................................................................................ 15
3.3 Running Arduino Sketch............................................................................................................... 18
4 Using the Arduino Sketches with Serial Interface........................................................................20
5 Procedure for Operating the BG96 Wireless Unit........................................................................23
6 Running the GNSS ........................................................................................................................ 27
7 AT Commands ..............................................................................................................................29
8 References....................................................................................................................................32
APPENDIX A – SCHEMATIC....................................................................................................................... 33

4
Board Rev 2.2 Copyright © 5GHUB.US
1Package contents:
1.1 NB-IoT Kit Package:
•Hardware board
•One USB cable
•One LTE & GPS antenna
1.2 Download
Arduino software can be downloaded from the following website:
https://github.com/5ghub/5G-NB-IoT/tree/master/KitSketches
To use the board with Arduino IDE and starts running Arduino projects and sketches, install the
following software:
Install Arduino IDE for Windows from the following website:
https://www.arduino.cc/en/Main/Software
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 BG96 here:
https://github.com/5ghub/5G-NB-IoT/tree/master/Tools
Download and install Arduino library (5G-NB-IoT_Arduino.zip) here:
https://github.com/5ghub/5G-NB-IoT
All the following software can be installed from the GitHub location here:
https://github.com/5ghub/5G-NB-IoT
LTE cellular connectivity on Windows OS

5
Board Rev 2.2 Copyright © 5GHUB.US
2General Description
2.1 Overview
The NB-IoT kit is a cellular and GPS kit that can be used for the 5G wireless technology. The kit includes a
hardware board, LTE&GPS antenna, and USB cables. The board is a powerful board that 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 BG96 which is an embedded IoT (LTE
Cat-M1, LTE Cat-NB1 and EGPRS) wireless communication module. BG96 wireless modem provides a
maximum data rate of 375Kbps downlink and 375Kbps 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 board 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 board 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.
Figure 1. Hardware Board – unboxed with one LTE/GPS antenna and one USB cable

6
Board Rev 2.2 Copyright © 5GHUB.US
2.2 Key Features
•Atmel ATSAMD21G18 MCU
•Quectel BG96 NB-IoT module
•External GPS antenna Connector
•External LTE antenna connector
•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 58mm x 42mm
•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,
Person/Pet Tracking, Water/Gas Metering, Smart Parking System, Fire Hydrant, Smoke Alarm,
Trash Bin, Street Lighting
•The board can operate on an external power supply of 3.3V to 5V. The recommended
voltage is 5V.
•The board can be powered via the USB connector or with an external DC power supply.
The power source is selected automatically.
•External DC Power supply (non-USB) can be provided from an AC-to-DC adapter (such
as a wall-wart) or battery, and can be connected using a 2.1mm center-positive plug
connected to the board's power jack, or directly to the GND and VIN pins.
•Each of the 14 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

7
Board Rev 2.2 Copyright © 5GHUB.US
Figure 2. Hardware Board Overview Diagram – Top and Bottom View

8
Board Rev 2.2 Copyright © 5GHUB.US
Figure 3. Top and Bottom Views
2.4 Physical Characteristics
The width and length of the board is 48mm (width) by 52 mm (length). The board have four screw
holes in each corner that allows the board to be attached to a surface or case.
58 mm
42mm
USB_BOOT
IOREF
RESET
3.3V
5V
GND
GND
VIN
A0
A1
A2
A4
A3
A5
ADC0
GPIO26
ADC1
GPIO64
SCK
MISO
MOSI
PA7
SS
PA6
SCL
SDA
AREF
GND
ANT
BG96 USB MCU USB
SAMD21G18
PWR
S TAT
LD1
LD2
NET
SWD USER RESET
BGP6 RESET
MCU RESET
USIM
MAIN GNSS
Thickness
1.6mm

9
Board Rev 2.2 Copyright © 5GHUB.US
Figure 4. Hardware Board Top View – External Dimensions

10
Board Rev 2.2 Copyright © 5GHUB.US
2.5 Peripherals – Key Components
Figure 5. Board Top Side – Key Components
Figure 6. Board Bottom Side – Key Components
DC INPUT POWER SUPPLY
USB_BOOT JUMPER
J105 HEADER
J106 HEADER
PWR LED
STAT LED
NET LED
LD1 LED
LD2 LED
SWD Connector
USER RESET
BG96 USB Port
MCU USB Port
J101 HEADER
MCU
JP2 HEADER
Nano SIM Card Slot
MCU RESET
BG96 RESET

11
Board Rev 2.2 Copyright © 5GHUB.US
2.6 Peripherals – IO Connections
Figure 7. Board Extension Connectors
ATN
IOREF
RESET
3.3V
5V
GND
GND
VIN
A0
A1
A2
A3
A4
A5
GPIO64
GPIO26
ADC1
ADC0
PA7
SS
MOSI
PA6
MISO
SCK
GND
AREF
SDA
SCL
TXD
RXD
TXD
RXD
Power
GPIO
BG96 PINs
A/D
SPI
I2C
UART
TXD
RXD
RXD
TXD
* 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)

12
Board Rev 2.2 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 BG96
Dimension
48mm (width) by 52 mm (length)
Weight
18 grams
Power Supply
DC Power Supply (3.8-5V), USB (5V), VIN (3.8-5V),
or Battery
LED
LED1, LED2, Power LED, 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 BG96
User-defined Button
1 connected to MCU
General-purpose digital I/O Pins
14 (A0-A5, PA6, PA7, SS, MOSI, MISO, SCK, SDA,
SCL)
GPIO
2 connected to BG96
ADC
2 connected to BG96
USB
2
I2C
1
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.

13
Board Rev 2.2 Copyright © 5GHUB.US
2.8 PIN Description
PIN
DIRECTION
Description
DC Power Jack I
The board can be supplied with power either from the DC power
jack (3.8V-5V), the USB connector (5V), or the VIN pin of the
board (3.8V-5V)
LED (PWR) O
LED is lighted on when the board is power on from the MCU USB
port
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
LED (NET)
O
Indicate the BG96 operation status
LED (STAT)
O
Indicate the BG96 network activity status
MCU RESET
button
I Reset the MCU
BG96 RESET
button
I Reset the BG96 module
User Button I
Connected to digital pin, D0, of MCU and can be used for user-
defined purposes
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 300 mA. The regulator also provides power to the MCU
and BG96
5V O
5V generated from the board. The board can be supplied with
power either from the DC power jack (3.3V - 5
V), the USB
connector (5V), or the VIN pin of the board (3.3-5V). Supplying
voltage via the 5V or 3.3V pins bypasses the regulator and can
damage the board if it is not sufficiently regulated (This is not
recommended)
GND
Ground
VIN I
Input voltage to the board when it uses an external power source (as
opposed to 5 volts from the USB connection or other regulated power
source). You can supply voltage through this pin, or if supplying
voltage via the power jack, access it through this pin
A0
IO
Six analog inputs which can provide up to 12 bits of resolution
(i.e. 4096 different 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

14
Board Rev 2.2 Copyright © 5GHUB.US
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
Cortex Debug
Connector
IO
Using Single Wire Debug to burn bootloader and debug the
board
ADC0
I
Connected to BG96. General purpose analogue to digital converter
ADC1
I
Connected to BG96. General purpose analogue to digital converter
GPIO26
IO
Connected to BG96. General purpose IO
GPIO64
IO
Connected to BG96. General purpose IO
USIM
I
Used to insert a Nano USIM. Connected to BG96
USB Boot I
Connected to BG96. Force the BG96 to enter emergency download
mode
USB1
IO
Connected to MCU
USB2
IO
Connected to BG96
Precaution
The board 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 BG96 chipset
All functionality of the BG96 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 BG96
The Microcontroller communicates with the BG96 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.

15
Board Rev 2.2 Copyright © 5GHUB.US
3Using the Board with Arduino IDE
3.1 Installing the Software
To use the board with Arduino IDE and starts running Arduino projects and sketches, install the
following software:
1- Install Arduino IDE for Windows from the following web site
https://www.arduino.cc/en/Main/Software
2- Download and Install Quectel Driver here:
This will install Quectel driver on Windows.
https://github.com/5ghub/5G-NB-IoT/tree/master/Driver
3- Download and Install QNavigator tool for Quectel BG96 here:
https://github.com/5ghub/5G-NB-IoT/tree/master/Tools
4- Download and save the file 5G-NB-IoT_Arduino.zip here:
https://github.com/5ghub/5G-NB-IoT
All the following software can be installed from the GitHub location here:
https://github.com/5ghub/5G-NB-IoT
3.2 Setting Up Arduino IDE
1- Connect a USB cable from the computer USB to the USB_SAMD21 port to power on the board.
2- Connect a USB cable from the computer USBto the USB_BG96 port to connect to the BG96.
3- Launch Arduino IDE and choose File->Preferences. In the Additional Boards Manager URLs,
insert the following URL:
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/5ghub/5G-NB-IoT/master/package_5G-NB-IoT_index.json
4- In Arduino IDE, choose Tools->Board->Boards Manager, select and install “5G-NB-IoT SAMD
Boards”.

16
Board Rev 2.2 Copyright © 5GHUB.US
5- Choose “5G NB-IoT (Native USB Port)”
6- In the Arduino IDE, Choose Port and select the serial port where the board appears.

17
Board Rev 2.2 Copyright © 5GHUB.US
7- In the Arduino IDE, Choose Sketch->Include Library->Add .Zip Library and select the file
5G-NB-IoT_Arduino.zip
You are now ready to start running Arduino sketches and projects.

18
Board Rev 2.2 Copyright © 5GHUB.US
3.3 Running Arduino Sketch
1- Using Arduino IDE, open the Arduino sample Test_All_PIN.ino, choose Sketch->Upload.
2- In the Device manager, the Arduino and Quectel USB Modem and ports shall show up as in this
screen shoot:
After compiling and uploading the Arduino sketch, the LEDs will blink and the BG96 is enabled as in the
following picture:

19
Board Rev 2.2 Copyright © 5GHUB.US
The following table show different five LEDs status after uploading this sketch
LED
Behavior
Description
PWR
ON
Indicates the MCU is powered on
STATE
ON
Indicates the BG96 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
LD1
Blinking
User controlled LED
LD2
Blinking
User controlled LED
PWR, STAT LEDs are ON
LD1, LD2 LED are blinking

20
Board Rev 2.2 Copyright © 5GHUB.US
4Using the Arduino Sketches with Serial Interface
The board has a serial interface where output can be sent via the serial interface to the computer. Use
USB-to-Serial cable such as the Prolific USB-to-Serial cable.
Connect the USB-to-Serial cable to the PC, and the device manager shall display a new COM port.