Quectel BG96 Instruction Manual

Eseye-enabled Quectel BG96
module
Developer Guide
Document: 8618 v1.8

Copyright
Copyright 2021 Eseye Ltd. All rights reserved.
You may not reproduce or use this document or any portion thereof without prior written permission
of Eseye Ltd. Eseye Ltd retains the right to change this document or related product specifications and
descriptions, at any time, without notice. Eseye Ltd makes no warranty for the use of this document
and assumes no responsibility for any errors that may appear in the document, nor does it make a
commitment to update the information contained herein. For the most current product information,
please visit www.eseye.com.
Eseye® and its logos, Eseye Intelligently Connected® and Hera 300™ are trademarks of Eseye Ltd in the
United Kingdom and/or other countries. All other marks and names mentioned herein may be claimed
as the property of others.
Last updated: 12 November 2021
ii Eseye-enabled Quectel BG96 module Developer Guide v1.8

Contents
About this guide vi
Extra reading vi
Standards and conventions vii
About the Eseye-enabled Quectel BG96 module 1
What do I need? 1
How connectivity is established with AWS 1
Powering up the Quectel BG96 module 2
Powering up the LTE IoT 2 click 2
Connecting to the LTE IoT 2 click 3
Configuring your system to send and receive data 4
Integrating with AWS Marketplace using AnyNet IRIS 5
Getting Started: preparing the cloud 6
Preparing the cloud overview 6
Subscribing to AnyNet Cellular Connectivity for AWS IoT 6
Viewing the AnyNet IRIS Welcome page 8
About the required AWS IAM user for AnyNet IRIS 9
Recommended reading 9
Creating a dedicated IAM user account for AnyNet IRIS 9
Required IAM Managed Policies 11
Attaching IAM policies to an existing user 12
Installing AnyNet IRIS 16
Installing AnyNet IRIS for Windows 10 16
Installing AnyNet IRIS for macOS 16
Configuring AnyNet IRIS 17
Creating a thing in AWS IoT Core 19
Establishing the cellular connection on the LTE IoT 2 click 21
Provisioning the Quectel BG96 module 23
Limiting the AWS IoT Core policy 24
Sending data from your thing to the cloud 25
Sending data from the cloud to your thing 28
Interacting with the AWS IoT shadow 30
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General AT Commands for the Quectel BG96 module 31
AT Command syntax 32
Types of AT Commands and responses 32
ETM Management AT commands 33
ETMCFG – read and write configuration file values 33
ETMCFGCHECK – checks if a new ETM configuration file is available 34
ETMHFWCONF – confirms the new host firmware is applied 35
ETMHFWGET – checks for new host firmware 36
ETMHFWREAD – reads a section of the new firmware image 37
ETMINFO – displays information about the current ETM application and device 39
ETMRESET – reboot the modem 40
ETMSTATE – check current state 41
+ETM Unsolicited Response Codes (URCs) 43
MQTT telemetry ATcommands 44
EMQ – publish a message to singletopic 45
EMQPERSIST – report a set value to the device shadow 46
EMQPUBOPEN – create a publish message topic 48
EMQPUBCLOSE – remove a publish message topic 50
EMQPUBLISH – publish data to a message topic 51
EMQSUBOPEN – create a subscribe message topic 52
EMQSUBCLOSE – cancel a subscription to a message topic 54
+EMQ Unsolicited Response Codes (URCs) 55
Quectel BG96 module AT commands 57
CCID – request unique SIM number (ICCID) 57
CREG – request network registration status 58
CSQ – request signal quality 61
Using the Quectel BG96 module configuration file 62
Data security 70
AWS security compliance 70
Processing updates 70
Upgrading the Quectel BG96 module firmware 71
About the Eseye Telemetry Module 71
Before you begin 71
iv Eseye-enabled Quectel BG96 module Developer Guide v1.8

Updating the modem firmware using Windows 10 73
Downloading the required files for Windows 10 73
Installing the Windows USB drivers 73
Connecting to the Quectel BG96 module 73
Updating the modem firmware 74
Installing ETM files on the Quectel BG96 module using Windows 10 75
Updating the modem firmware using Linux 76
Connecting to the Quectel BG96 module 76
Checking the existing Linux USB drivers 76
Downloading the required files for Linux 76
Installing the USB drivers 77
Updating the modem firmware 77
Installing ETM files on the Quectel BG96 module using Linux 78
Updating the modem software 79
Updating host software 79
Updating kernel, ETM application and configuration software 79
Updating the modem firmware using AWS IoT jobs 80
Creating a JSON job description file 80
Example job document 81
Creating an AWS IoT custom job 81
Unsubscribing from AnyNet Cellular Connectivity for AWS IoT 82
Eseye-enabled Quectel BG96 module Developer Guide v1.8 v

About this guide
This guide is designed to help you connect one or more things to Amazon Web Services (AWS) for data
collection, storage and analysis purposes, using the Eseye-enabled Quectel BG96 module. You will also
learn how to control the modem using ATcommands.
This guide uses the plug and play LTE IoT 2 click as a worked example. The LTE IoT 2 click contains the
Quectel BG96 module, and provides a useful proof of concept.
We assume that your thing is designed to transmit data over cellular networks. You must have
knowledge of AT command and cellular modem usage for data communications.
If you want to connect with other cloud providers, or to a private cloud, speak to your Account
Manager.
Extra reading
For general information, see the online help: https://docs.eseye.com/Content/Home.htm
You may prefer to use the Quick Start Guide to connect to the cloud. For more information, see:
8617 LTE IoT 2 click Quick Start Guide (PDF)
For information about the LTE IoT 2 click, see https://www.mikroe.com/lte-iot-2-click.
vi Eseye-enabled Quectel BG96 module Developer Guide v1.8

Standards and conventions
This guide uses consistent visual cues and standard text styles to help you locate and interpret
information easily.
Style Description
Note
Extra information or a recommendation related to the current topic.
Tip
Good-to-know information that helps users complete a procedure or
understand a topic.
Warning
Information that alerts the user about significant or critical actions or
outcomes.
Title names Window or section names, denoting a title, appear in italics.
Field or button name Element names in a user interface, for example fields and buttons,
appear in bold.
Ctrl+X; Ctrl+click A key combination with a plus sign separating two key names or a key
name and a mouse action, indicates that you hold down the first key
while pressing the second key or performing the mouse action.
Cross reference Title and
page
Cross references appear in italics, for example: For more information,
see Copyright on pageii. Select the cross reference to view it.
Hyperlinks Underlined cross references are hyperlinks to electronic forms of the
document. Select the hyperlink to open the cross reference.
ATCommands
Commands Command formats are displayed in monospaced typeface.
<Parameter> Angle brackets enclose the AT Command parameter, for example
<topic>. The brackets do not appear in the command line.
"ParameterString" Quotation marks enclose parameter strings.
CommandValue Italics in a command depicts values or examples that need replacing
with your specific parameters.
[CommandOptionalEntry] Square brackets display optional entries.
ATCommandResponse Returned responses to ATCommands are displayed in monospaced
bold typeface.
<ASCIICHARACTERS> Returned ASCII characters are in uppercase.
Eseye-enabled Quectel BG96 module Developer Guide v1.8 vii

About the Eseye-enabled Quectel BG96
module
The Eseye-enabled Quectel BG96 module LTE IoT 2 click enables you to simply, easily and securely
connect your thing to Amazon Web Services (AWS) from anywhere in the world over cellular networks.
This enables you to remotely extract data from your thing for a variety of industrial and commercial
applications, such as metering, monitoring, transportation, security, and so on.
Eseye ensures that your thing has near constant connectivity to a cellular network. Connecting to AWS
provides a flexible and scalable cloud service solution for your internet of things enterprise.
What do I need?
•Single Eseye SIM with multi-IMSI capability – enables worldwide wireless connectivity
•As a worked example, Eseye uses the MIKROE LTE IoT 2 click, featuring an Eseye-enabled
Quectel BG96 module. Product ID: MIKROE-3144.
For information about MIKROE products, see the MikroElektronika website.
www.mikroe.com
How connectivity is established with AWS
Eseye uses the Message Queue Telemetry Transport (MQTT) protocol to connect one or more things
(MQTT clients) with AWS IoT Core (the MQTT broker).
You use an AT-command interface to send and receive telemetry data to and from the cloud service.
The Quectel BG96 module buffers publish data in non-volatile flash memory until it is delivered to the
cloud. The flash memory queues messages when there is no network connection, and protects against
data loss in the event of a power failure. For information about the Eseye Telemetry Module, see
About the Eseye Telemetry Module on page1.
1 Eseye-enabled Quectel BG96 module Developer Guide v1.8
About the Eseye-enabled Quectel BG96 module

The Eseye-enabled Quectel BG96 module uses the following:
•MQTT URL – the AWS Custom Endpoint used to establish a connection between a thing and
AWS IoT Core, for example:
a2efgh321joea3-ats.iot.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com
•Transport Layer Security (TLS) – for the IP connection, established using the certificates from the
SIM
For more information, see Data security on page70.
•Publish and subscribe topics – preconfigured in the Eseye Telemetry Module (ETM) application
using ATcommands
•AWSthingname – appended to the topics as a suffix to uniquely identify the thing in AWS IoT
Core
Powering up the Quectel BG96 module
The embedded application runs on generic Quectel BG96 module devices, so no hardware interfacing is
specified except for PWRKEY and the main AT UART and DTR line if power control is required.
Do not disconnect the power supply to the Quectel BG96 module at any time, as the
module requires power at all times, even during sleep mode.
Powering up the LTE IoT 2 click
Use the PWRKEY pin to power-up the LTE IoT 2 click. When the device is powered off, pulling PWRKEY
high for 100mS and then returning it low will cause the LTE IoT 2 click to power-up.
In normal operation it is not necessary to power-down the LTE IoT 2 click, as it takes care of power
management internally.
In the event of a loss of communication with the LTE IoT 2 click, you can use the PWRKEY to force
power-off by pulling high for >500mS, then returning low.
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About the Eseye-enabled Quectel BG96 module

Connecting to the LTE IoT 2 click
Connect to the LTE IoT 2 click over USB, or using the MIKROE click serial interface.
If you are testing a single unit, we recommend that you use a terminal emulator to execute the
AT commands, for example PuTTY or Tera Term.
Serial port settings
Change the port settings using Device Manager, and ensure you also adjust the serial port settings in
the terminal emulator.
Serial port setting Default value
Baud rate 115200
Data Bits 8
Parity None
Stop Bits 1
Flow Control None
Send the following AT command to enable MQTT: AT+ETMSTATE=startmqtt
If the configuration file [operation] <mode> is set to mqtt, then ETM automatically starts
MQTT after power up. If the <mode> is not set, after each reboot you must send
AT+ETMSTATE=startmqtt again.
Send the following AT command to enable MQTT: AT+ETMSTATE=startmqtt
If the configuration file [operation] <mode> is set to mqtt, then ETM automatically starts MQTT after
power up. If the <mode> is not set, after each reboot you must send AT+ETMSTATE=startmqtt again.
3Eseye-enabled Quectel BG96 module Developer Guide v1.8
Connecting to the LTE IoT 2 click