RAK RAK4600 User manual

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RAK4600 Module Quick Start Guide
This guide covers the following topics:
The Things Stack (TTN V3) OTAA Guide
RAK4600 OTAA AT Commands for The Things Stack
The Things Stack (TTN V3) ABP Guide
RAK4600 ABP AT Commands for The Things Stack
Chirpstack OTAA Guide
RAK4600 OTAA AT Commands for Chirpstack
Chirpstack ABP Guide
RAK4600 ABP AT Commands for Chirpstack
LoRa P2P Guide
Updating RAK4600 FW Procedure
Prerequisites
What Do You Need?
Before going through the step in the installation guide of the RAK4600 WisDuo LPWAN Module, make sure to
prepare the necessary items listed below:
Hardware Tools
1. RAK4600 WisDuo LPWAN Module
2. Windows PC
3. USB to TTL adapter
4. RAKDAP1 Flash and Debug Tool
5. LoRaWAN gateway in range
Software Tools
1. RAK Serial Port Tool
2. RAK4600 Firmware
3. RAK Firmware Upgrade Tool
Definition of Terms
List of Acronyms

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Product Configuration
Interfacing with RAK4600
In this section, a RAK4600 module is used for demonstration. Use a USB to TTL adapter to connect to the module.
In case the RAK4600 module is mounted on an evaluation board or a custom PCB, use the appropriate interface
to connect to the serial port.
⚠ WARNING
Before powering the RAK4600 Module, you should install the LoRa and BLE Antenna first. Not doing so
might damage the board.
Use Figure 1 as a reference to connect the antennas.
IoT Made Easy
FCC ID:2AF6B-RAK4600(H)
RAK4600(H)
EUI: 60c5a8
fffe754781
LoRa Antenna
BLE Antenna
Figure 1: RAK4600 Module antenna connection
1. Connect the RAK4600 to USB to the TTL adapter, as shown in Figure 2.
In general, the pin marked as TX of the adapter must be connected to the USART1_RX pin of the RAK4600, and
the RX pin of the adapter connects to the RAK4600 USART1_TX pin.
ABP Activation-By-Personalization
BLE Bluetooth Low Energy
DFU Device Firmware Upgrade
EUI Extender Unique Identifier
LoRa Long Range
OTAA Over-The-Air-Activation
TTN The Things Network
P2P Peer-to-peer communication
SWD Serial Wire Debug

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Figure 2: RAK4600 module connection
2. Open RAK Serial Port Tool. Any serial communication tool will work, but it is recommended to use the RAK
Serial Port Tool.
RAK Serial Port Tool
3. Configure the serial communication tool by selecting the proper port of the computer UART port and configure
the link as 115200 baud, 8 bits, no parity bit, and 1 stop bit.
Choose the correct COM Port number for your device. Go to your Device Manager by pressing Windows + R
and type devmgmt.msc or search in the Start Menu.
Figure 3: Device Manager
Look for Ports (COM & LPT). Find the name of your USB UART Module driver and take note of the COM Port
Number.

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4. The RAK4600 console output can now be read in the RAK serial port tool, as shown in Figure 4.
Figure 4: RAK4600 on RAK Serial Port Tool
Configure the RAK4600
Through UART
To connect the RAK4600 module to a LoRa P2P connection or a LoRaWAN network, the module must be
configured, and the LoRa parameters must be set by sending AT commands through the UART interface.
Connect the RAK4600 module to the computer as described in the previous section. Using the serial
communication tool, it is possible to send commands to the RAK4600. For example, sending the at+version will
display the current firmware version, as shown in Figure 5.
The full set of RAK4600 AT commands can be found in Appendix I.

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Figure 5: at+version command response
Through the BLE Interface
To configure the RAK4600 through BLE, execute the following steps.
1. Install the “nRF Connect” or the “nRF Master Control Panel (BLE)” app provided by Nordic Semiconductor.
2. Open the app on the mobile device and scan for BLE devices.
3. Reset the RAK4600 module. After a few seconds, a list of BLE devices will be shown. The RAK4600 is listed as
“RUI-XX: XX: XX".
Figure 6: Nordic app scan for BLE devices
📝 NOTE:
Connect within 60 seconds after resetting the RAK4600. After that time, the BLE broadcast will be
stopped.

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4. After pressing the “CONNECT” button, a list will be displayed, as shown in Figure 7.
Figure 7: Options to connect to the RAK4600
5. Select the service named “Nordic UART Service”.
6. To receive data from mobile, enable notification on TX Characteristic by clicking on the arrow.
Figure 8: Enable notifications from mobile phone
7. Write a value on RX Characteristic by clicking on the arrow.

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Figure 9: Send AT command
8. A small input window will pop up. This is where you will input the AT commands.
Figure 10: nRF app AT command input window
9. Send AT commands to RAK4600 in this dialog.
For example, to check the current firmware version, type “ at+version ” then click on the “SEND” button.

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Figure 11: nRF app, send at command over BLE
The console output shall be read on the TX Characteristic of the App.
Figure 12: AT response over BLE
Connecting to The Things Stack (TTN V3)
This section will show how to connect the RAK4600 module to The Things Stack (TTN V3) platform.

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Figure 13: The Things Stack diagram
As shown in Figure 13, The Things Stack is an open-source LoRaWAN Network Server suitable for global, geo-
distributed public and private deployments as well as for small, local networks. The architecture follows the
LoRaWAN Network Reference Model for standards compliancy and interoperability. This project is actively
maintained by The Things Industries .
LoRaWAN is a protocol for low-power wide-area networks. It allows for large-scale Internet of Things deployments
where low-powered devices efficiently communicate with Internet-connected applications over long-range wireless
connections.
The RAK4600 module can be part of this ecosystem as a device, and the objective of this section is to
demonstrate how simple it is to send data to The Things Stack using the LoRaWAN protocol. To achieve this, the
RAK4600 module must be located inside the coverage of a LoRaWAN gateway connected to The Things Stack
server.
Registration to TTN and Creating LoRaWAN Applications
The first step is to go to The Things Network platform and select a cluster, as shown in Figure 14. The Things
Industries adds more clusters from time to time, so select the one closes to your location. In this guide, Europe 1 is
selected.
Figure 14: Selecting Cluster in TTN V3
You can use the same login credentials on the TTN V2 if you have one. If you have no account yet, you need to
create one.

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1. To register as a new user to TTN, click on Login with The Things ID, then select register on the next page, as
shown in Figure 15 and Figure 16.
Figure 15: Login using TTN account
Figure 16: Registration of new account
2. You should now be on the step of creating your TTN account. Fill in all the necessary details and activate your
account.
3. After creating an account, log in to the platform using your username/email and password, then click Submit,
as shown in Figure 17.

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Figure 17: Logging in to TTN platform
4. Click Authorize to proceed.
Figure 18: Authorization to TTN
5. Now that you are logged in to the platform, the next step is to create an application. Click Create an
application.

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Figure 19: Creating TTN application for your LoRaWAN devices
6. To have an application registered, input first the specific details and necessary information about your
application, then click Create application.
Figure 20: Details of the TTN application
If you have no error on the previous step, you should now be on the application console page. The next step is to
add end-devices to your The Things Stack application. LoRaWAN specification enforces that each end device has
to be personalized and activated. There are two options in registering devices depending on the activation mode
selected. Activation can be done either via Over-The-Air-Activation (OTAA) or Activation-By-Personalization
(ABP).

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📝 NOTE:
Once you have the application in The Things Stack (TTN V3), you need to ensure that you are in coverage
of a LoRaWAN gateway that is registered to The Things Stack (TTN V3) as well. Without the coverage of
that LoRaWAN gateway, you cannot activate any device that you will register in your application.
RAKwireless has LoRaWAN gateways that you can connect to The Things Stack (TTN V3) if no
LoRaWAN gateway coverage is available in your location.
The Things Stack OTAA Device Registration
1. Go to your application console to be able to register a device. To start adding an OTAA end device, click + Add
end device, as shown in Figure 21.
Figure 21: Add end device
2. To register the module, you need to click first Manually then configure the activation method by selecting Over
the air activation (OTAA) and compatible LoRaWAN version, then click the Start button, as shown in Figure
22 and Figure 23.

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Figure 22: Manually register device to The Things Stack
Figure 23: Device activation configuration
3. Then, input a unique End device ID and EUIs (DevEUI and AppEUI), as shown in Figure 24. Check if your
module has a DevEUI on sticker or QR that you can scan, then use this as the device unique DevEUI.
Optionally, you can add a more descriptive End device name and End device description about your device.
4. After putting all the details, click Network layer settings to proceed to the next step.
📝 NOTE:
It is advisable to use a meaningful End device ID, End device name, and End device description that will
match your device purpose. The End device ID rak-device is for illustration purposes only.

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Figure 24: OTAA Device Information
5. Next step is to set up Frequency plan, compatible Regional Parameter version, and LoRaWAN class
supported. Then you can click Join settings.
Figure 25: OTAA Configuration
6. The last step in the registration of a new OTAA end-device is the configuration of the AppKey. To get the
AppKey, you must click the generate button, then click Add end device to finish your new device registration.

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Figure 26: OTAA AppKey generation and device registration
You should now be able to see the device on The Things Stack console after you fully registered your device, as
shown in Figure 27.
📝 NOTE:
The AppEUI, DevEUI, and AppKey are the parameters you will need to activate your LoRaWAN end
device via OTAA. The AppKey is hidden by default for security reasons, but you can easily show it by
clicking the show button. You can also copy the parameters quickly using the copy button.
The three OTAA parameters on The Things Stack device console are MSB by default.
These parameters are always accessible on the device console page, as shown in Figure 27.
Figure 27: OTAA device successfully registered to The Things Stack
RAK4600 OTAA Configuration for The Things Stack

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The RAK4600 module supports a series of AT commands to configure its internal parameters and control the
functionalities of the module. To set up the RAK4600 module to join The Things Stack using OTAA, start by
connecting the RAK4600 module to the computer (see Figure 1) and open the RAK Serial Port Tool. Wait for the
communication to start. It is recommended to test the serial communication and verify the current configuration by
sending either of these two AT commands:
Figure 28: AT Command response
As an example, these are the list of the parameters you need to configure in RAK4600:
LoRa join mode: OTAA
LoRa class: Class A
LoRa region: EU868
Device EUI: 1133557799224466
Application EUI: 1000000000000009
Application Key: 04FA4E626EF5CF227C969601176275C2
1. Set the LoRa join mode to OTAA.
2. Set the LoRa class to Class A.
at+set_config=device:restart
at+version
at+set_config=lora:join_mode:0
at+set_config=lora:class:0

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3. Set the frequency/region to EU868.
Refer to the RAK4600 Datasheet for the list of supported frequencies.
4. Set the Device EUI.
5. Set the Application EUI.
📝 NOTE:
All zero value Application EUI at+set_config=lora:app_eui:0000000000000000 is not supported and
will return error.
6. Set the Application Key.
Figure 29: Configuring LoRa Parameters
at+set_config=lora:region:EU868
at+set_config=lora:dev_eui:1133557799224466
at+set_config=lora:app_eui:1000000000000009
at+set_config=lora:app_key:04FA4E626EF5CF227C969601176275C2

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📝 NOTE:
After configuring all the parameters, you need to reset your RAK4600 Module to save the parameters.
7. After resetting, join in OTAA mode.
After 5 or 6 seconds, if the request is successfully received by a LoRa gateway, then you should see the
messages shown in Figure 30.
8. Try to send a message from the RAK4600 module.
Figure 30: OTAA Test Sample Data Sent via RAK Serial Port Tool
You can see the data sent by the RAK4600 module on The Things Stack platform, as shown in Figure 31.
at+join
at+send=lora:2:1234567890

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Figure 31: OTAA Test Sample Data Sent Viewed in The Things Stack
The Things Stack ABP Device Registration
1. To register an ABP device, go to your application console and select the application where you want your
device to be added, then click + Add end device, as shown in Figure 32.
Figure 32: Add end device
2. To register the module, you need to click first Manually then configure the activation method by selecting
Activation by personalization (ABP), compatible LoRaWAN version, and click the Start button, as shown in
Figure 33 and Figure 34.