RAKwireless RAK4600 User manual

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Quick Start Guide
What do you need?
Before going through the configuration guide of the RAK4600 Evaluation Board, make sure to prepare the items
listed below:
1. RAK4600 Evaluation Board
2. Micro USB cable
3. LoRA Gateway in Range for testing (not provided)
4. RAKDAP1 DapLink tool (not provided)
5. Windows PC
📝 NOTE
This device released by RAKWireless is already pre-loaded with its latest firmware upon manufacture. If
you want to have your device's firmware burned or upgraded, please refer to the links below:
1. Device Firmware Setup
2. Device Firmware Upgrading
3. Open Source Framework Development
What's Included in the Package?
1pc - RAK4600 Evaluation Board
1pc - Micro USB cable
1pc - LoRa Antenna (iPEX)
1pc - BLE Antenna (iPEX)
2pcs - 4-pin Header (not soldered)
9pcs - Dupont Lines
Interfacing with RAK4600
In order to interface with the Evaluation Board, using a Windows PC, you need to install the RAK Serial Port Tool
here .
⚠ WARNING
Before powering the RAK4600 Evaluation Board , you should install the LoRa and BLE Antenna first. Not
doing so might damage the board.
Figure 1: LoRa and BLE Antennas

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Connect your RAK4600 Evaluation Board to your Windows PC using the provided micro USB cable.
Figure 2: RAK4600 Evaluation Board to Windows PC Connection
Open the RAK Serial Port Tool :
Figure 3: RAK Serial Port Tool
In order to choose the correct COM Port number for your device you need to open your Device Manager by
pressing : Windows + R and typing devmgmt.msc or search in the Start Menu

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Figure 4: Device Manager
Look for Ports (COM & LPT) and find the name USB-SERIAL CH340 . Take note of the COM Port Number.
📝 NOTE
If you didn't find any Port with the name USB-Serial CH340, make sure you have installed the the CH340
Drivers on your Windows PC.
Choose the Correct Port Number and Baud Rate from the device manager then click Open:

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Figure 5: Correct Port Number and Baud rate
Checking Device Logs
1. Open the RAK Serial Port Tool
2. Press the reset button on the RAK4600 Evaluation Board then you will see the following contents in the Serial
Port Tool.
Figure 6: Log Checking through UART
📝 NOTE
You still have to connect the micro usb cable to the RAK4600 Evaluation Board to power the board.

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Configuring RAK4600
You can configure your RAK4600 Evaluation Board by sending AT Commands either through BLE or through
micro USB.
📝 NOTE:
For the full list of AT Commands available for configuring your RAK4600, please refer to the AT Command
Manual.
Through Micro USB
1. As mentioned in Checking Device Logs, if you want to use RAK4600 Evaluation Board through UART, you
should connect the RAK4600 to Windows PC as shown in the image below:
Figure 7: RAK4600 Evaluation Board to Windows PC Connection
2. Try to send a simple AT command to RAK4600 to get the current firmware’s version by sending the command
below using the RAK Serial Port Tool. Similarly, you can send other AT commands of RAK4600 in the same
way.
at+version
sh

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Figure 8: AT command for Firmware Version
Through BLE
1. In order to configure the RAK4600 through BLE, download and install nRF Connect for Mobile. This tool is
developed by Nordic Semiconductor and is available on the App Store and Google Play Store.

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Figure 9: nRF Connect App in Android and IOS
2. Make sure the Bluetooth on your mobile is turned on. Open the application and scan for BLE devices. You will
see all BLE devices in range in the scan list:

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Figure 10: Available Bluetooth Devices in the Nordic App
3. Press the reset button on the RAK4600 Evaluation Board and wait for a couple of seconds. Look for a BLE
Device named "RUI-..." in the scan list of the app. Connect to this device and click "Nordic UART Service"

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Figure 11: Nordic UART Service in the Nordic App
⚠ WARNING
By default, the BLE signal of the RAK4600 is turned off automatically if no connection is established after
60 seconds. Connect to RAK4600 over BLE immediately after pressing the reset button.
4. Click on the arrow which is marked by the red box in the picture below, you will see the following page:

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Figure 12: RX Characteristic in the Nordic UART Service
5. You can now send AT commands to the RAK4600.
For example, if you want to check the current firmware’s version send the following command:

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Figure 13: Sending AT Command via Nordic App
6. Check the AT command response on Nordic UART Service Tx Characteristic.

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Figure 14: AT response over BLE
Open Source Framework
Before using RAK4600 on Arduino IDE you need to flash a new bootloader using RAKDAP1 Tool and pyOCD.
1. Install pyOCD.
Please refer to RAKDAP1 Flash and Debug Tool
2. Check pyOCD installation
3. Clone RAK repository
4. Flash bootloader
pyocd list
git clone https://github.com/RAKWireless/RAK4600_Arduino
sh
sh

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5. Install BSP support for Arduino as described on section BSP Installation
https://github.com/RAKWireless/RAK4600_Arduino#bsp-installation
📝 NOTE:
Before upload any Arduino example make sure that the RAK4600 is on DFU mode.
1. Connect the RX pin of RAK4600 to GND.
2. Press the reset button and then disconnect RX pin from GND. Now the RAK4600 is on DFU mode.
Connecting to The Things Network (TTN)
Please refer to Connecting to The Things Network (TTN)
Connecting with Chirpstack
Please refer to Connecting with ChirpStack
Miscellaneous
RAK5005 Core Module Slot Connection to RAK4601
The RAK5005 is the base board that connects the RAK4600 Core Module. It creates the power supply for the
attached module, and provides additional IO and Sensor support for your project needs.
📝 NOTE
RAK4601 is a circuit board module for RAK5005 with pre-soldered RAK4600 LPWAN Module.
Listed below are the accessible pins and data bus of attached RAK5005 base board on the RAK4600 EVB:
cd RAK4600_Arduino
pyocd flash -t nrf52 feather_nrf52832_bootloader.hex
sh

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Bluetooth Connection Modes
There are three BLE modes in RAK4600 from the firmware V3.0.0.6 on, the Peripheral Mode, the Central Mode
and the Beacon Scan Mode. You can change the work mode of RAK4600’s BLE using the commands provided
below which is defined here
RAK4601 Pin
Definition
Function
Name of
WisBase
Pin
Number
Pin
Number
Function
Name of
WisBase
RAK4601 Pin
Definition
NC VBAT 1 2 VBAT NC
GND GND 3 4 GND GND
3V3 3V3 5 6 3V3 3V3
NC USB+ 7 8 USB- NC
NC VBUS 9 10 SW1 NC
UART1_TX/P0.23 TXD0 11 12 RXD0 UART1_RX/P0.22
MCU_RST RESET 13 14 LED1 NC
NC LED2 15 16 LED3 NC
3V3 VDD 17 18 VDD 3V3
I2C1_SDA/P0.13 I2C1_SDA 19 20 I2C1_SCL I2C1_SCL/P0.12
NC AIN0 21 22 AIN1 NC
NC BOOT0 23 24 NC NC
NC SPI_CS 25 26 SPI_CLK NC
NC SPI_MISO 27 28 SPI_MOSI NC
IO1/RESERVED IO1 29 30 IO2 IO2/RESERVED
NFC1/P0.09 IO3 31 32 IO4 NFC2/P0.10
UART2_TX/P0.19 TXD1 33 34 RXD1 UART2_RX/P0.18
NC I2C2_SDA 35 36 I2C2_SCL NC
NC IO5 37 38 IO6 NC
GND GND 39 40 GND GND

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Description: Set the work mode for BLE.
X - 0: BLE peripheral mode, 1: BLE central mode. 2: Beacon scan mode.
Y - 0: normal range, 1: BLE long range.
BLE Peripheral Mode
For the Peripheral Mode, you can scan RAK4600’s BLE and connect with it using your mobile device.
BLE Central Mode
For the Central Mode, RAK4600’s BLE will not broadcast so that your mobile devices will not be able to scan it.
This is very useful if you want to make the RAK4600 act as a BLE Gateway wherein BLE Sensor Nodes (up to 20
Devices) can send sensor data.
Beacon Scan Mode
For the Beacon Scan mode, RAK4600 can scan around the Beacon signal, it is useful for Beacon use case like
iBeacon.
RAK4600 BLE Default Settings
By default, the RAK4600 Evaluation Board will work on Peripheral Mode. In this mode users can configure it
through BLE including DFU easily. It should be noted that after resetting the RAK4600, the user has only 60
seconds to establish a connection with your Mobile Device through BLE based on its power consumption settings.
If no connection has been established within 60 seconds, the RAK4600's BLE signal will not be broadcasted and it
will enter power saving mode. On the other hand, there is no limitation once you are already connected with the
RAK4600's BLE.
If you set the RAK4600 to work in Central Mode, the RAK4600 will work first on Peripheral Mode for 30 seconds
and if no connection is established after 30 seconds, it will automatically work in Central Mode. In this mode,the
BLE signal of the RAK4600 will stop broadcasting and will not be visible on your mobile devices up until you
change the work mode to peripheral mode or reset the RAK4600 again.
Burning the Firmware
If you want to get a pre-compiled firmware instead of compiling the source code by yourself, you can find the latest
firmware on RAK website after it is released here .
Flash the firmware using DAPLink and RAKDAP
Please refer to RAKDAP1 Flash and Debug Tool
Upgrading Firmware through DFU using BLE
1. Download the DFU package of the RAK4600 Evaluation Board here and save it on your mobile phone.
2. Make sure the Bluetooth on your mobile is turned on. Open the nRF Connect Mobile application and you will
see all BLE devices in range in the scan list:
at+set_config=ble:work_mode:X:Y
sh

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Figure 15: Available Bluetooth Devices in the Nordic App
3. Press the reset button on the RAK4600 and wait for a couple of seconds. Look for a BLE Device named
"RUI-..." in the scan list of the app. Connect to this device and click on "Secure DFU Service"
📝 NOTE:
This will be only visible for 60 seconds. More information about Bluetooth Connection Guide can be found
here in here

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Figure 16: Secure DFU Service in the Nordic App
4. On “Secure DFU Service” click on the button highlighted in red.

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Figure 17: Buttonless DFU
5. Now, click on the red box button as shown below and press "Send" in the Write Value pop-up window.

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Figure 18: Resetting the Bootloader via Bluetooth
6. Great! Now the RAK4600 is now working in DFU Mode. In the application, you will see the following:

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Figure 19: RAK4600 Default Status Overview after Resetting
7. In the device list, find a BLE device named "DfuTarg" and then click on Connect.