Ublox ANT-B10 User manual

UBX-22006906 - R02
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ANT-B10
Antenna board
User guide
0
0
3
Abstract
This document describes the ANT-B10 antenna board and includes procedures for connecting,
configuring, and flashing both the board and C209 tags with the direction finding software.

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Document information
Title
ANT-B10
Subtitle
Antenna board
Document type
User guide
Document number
UBX-22006906
Revision and date
R02
3-May-2022
Disclosure restriction
C1-Public
This document applies to the following products:
Product name
Ordering code
ANT-B10
ANT-B10-00C
C209
-
u-blox or third parties may hold intellectual property rights in the products, names, logos and designs included in this
document. Copying, reproduction, modification or disclosure to third parties of this document or any part thereof is only
permitted with the express written permission of u-blox.
The information contained herein is provided “as is” and u-blox assumes no liability for its use. No warranty, either express or
implied, is given, including but not limited to, with respect to the accuracy, correctness, reliability and fitness for a particular
purpose of the information. This document may be revised by u-blox at any time without notice. For the most recent
documents, visit www.u-blox.com.
Copyright © u-blox AG.

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Contents
Document information................................................................................................................................2
Contents ..........................................................................................................................................................3
1Product description ..............................................................................................................................5
1.1 Overview........................................................................................................................................................ 5
1.2 Kit includes ................................................................................................................................................... 5
1.3 Suggested accessories.............................................................................................................................. 5
1.4 Software........................................................................................................................................................ 6
2Connecting the ANT-B10 board to host PC..................................................................................7
2.1 Overview........................................................................................................................................................ 7
2.2 Pin description for UART connection......................................................................................................7
3Configuration and mounting..............................................................................................................9
3.1 Configuring and testing the board ..........................................................................................................9
3.2 Mounting and mechanical aspects .......................................................................................................10
4C209 tags .............................................................................................................................................. 12
4.1 Overview......................................................................................................................................................12
4.2 Software and flashing..............................................................................................................................13
4.2.1 Installing tag software with the DFU bootloader using s-center............................................14
4.2.2 Installing tag software with the DFU bootloader via command line ......................................15
4.2.3 Installing tag software using a debugger ....................................................................................15
4.3 Configuration and handling ....................................................................................................................16
4.3.1 Configuring advertising interval ....................................................................................................16
4.3.2 Enabling/disabling advertising ......................................................................................................16
4.3.3 Restore Eddystone Instance ID .....................................................................................................16
5Software and flashing....................................................................................................................... 17
5.1 Flashing using s-center ...........................................................................................................................17
5.2 Command line flashing ............................................................................................................................18
6u-connectLocate software .............................................................................................................. 19
6.1 General information..................................................................................................................................19
6.2 Configuration example.............................................................................................................................19
7u-connectLocate AT commands ................................................................................................... 20
7.1 Direction finding enable +UDFENABLE................................................................................................20
7.1.1 Description .........................................................................................................................................20
7.1.2 Syntax .................................................................................................................................................20
7.1.3 Defined values ...................................................................................................................................20
7.2 Direction finding filter +UDFFILT ..........................................................................................................20
7.2.1 Description .........................................................................................................................................20
7.2.2 Syntax .................................................................................................................................................20
7.2.3 Defined values ...................................................................................................................................21
7.2.4 Notes ...................................................................................................................................................21
7.3 Configure direction finding +UDFCFG ..................................................................................................21

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7.3.1 Description .........................................................................................................................................21
7.3.2 Syntax .................................................................................................................................................21
7.3.3 Defined values ...................................................................................................................................22
7.4 Angle calculation event +UUDF..............................................................................................................23
7.4.1 Description .........................................................................................................................................23
7.4.2 Syntax .................................................................................................................................................23
7.4.3 Defined values ...................................................................................................................................23
7.5 RS232 setting +UMRS.............................................................................................................................23
7.5.1 Description .........................................................................................................................................23
7.5.2 Syntax .................................................................................................................................................23
7.5.3 Defined values ...................................................................................................................................23
7.5.4 Notes ...................................................................................................................................................24
7.6 Other supported AT commands ............................................................................................................24
Appendix ....................................................................................................................................................... 25
AGlossary ................................................................................................................................................. 25
BC209 schematics ................................................................................................................................ 26
Related documentation ........................................................................................................................... 27
Revision history.......................................................................................................................................... 28
Contact.......................................................................................................................................................... 29

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1Product description
1.1 Overview
The ANT-B10 is a versatile Bluetooth direction finding board equipped with eight dual-polarized, patch
antennas for direction finding, as shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1: ANT-B10 board showing antennas and mounting holes
The board hosts a single NINA-B411-40B Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) module, which controls the
antennas and applies an angle calculation algorithm to the received signals to compute tag angles.
The angles are calculated by the u-connectLocate software running on the embedded MCU in the
module. The angles are delivered over the UART port of the ANT-B10. Future u-connectLocate SW
versions may also include support for USB and SPI interfaces.
For general information about Bluetooth direction finding, watch the u-blox webinars [2] and study
the technical overview from the Bluetooth SIG [3].
1.2 Kit includes
ANT-B10 antenna board.
1.3 Suggested accessories
The ANT-B10 board has a pin header used for the communication with a host PC. For initial testing, it
is advisable to use this header to set up a UART connection to the PC. See also Connecting the
ANT-B10 board to host PC.

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The following components (shown from left to right in Figure 2) are needed to connect ANT-B10 to
the host PC:
•USB adapter cable with male USB Type-A connector to male mini-B connector
•FTDI FT232RL USB-to-TTL Serial Converter Adapter Module 5 V and 3.3 V for Arduino
•Female-to-female jumper set
•Dual-row, 1.27 mm pitch, 20-pin, female adapter (to avoid pin damage on the ANT-B10 board)
Figure 2: Components required for PC connection
1.4 Software
☞ANT-B10 must be flashed with the u-connectLocate software. See also Software and flashing.
For software updates and further information about the software, see also the u-connectLocate
product page [10].

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2Connecting the ANT-B10 board to host PC
2.1 Overview
A host PC communicates with ANT-B10 over UART interface (TX, RX, CTS, RTS) of the pin-header
located in the center of the bottom side of the board. A dual-row pitch, 20 pin, female adapter should
be mounted on the pin-header on ANT-B10 to protect the board from physical damage. The adapter
is used to connect the cable harness between the ANT-B10 pin-header and the USB-to-Serial adapter.
As ANT-B10 is powered by the USB-to-Serial Adapter there is no need for external power supply.
Figure 3 shows how the USB adapter connects to the ANT-B10 pin header. The figure features a signal
expansion board, which for test purposes has been mounted on the standard 1.27 mm header.
Figure 3: ANT-B10 with UART to USB serial converter
To connect ANT-B10 to the host PC, plug in the USB-to-Serial adapter and open the Windows Device
Manager to identify the COM port number of the board. It is advisable to use s-center [7] to establish
the serial connection to the COM port, but any terminal emulator can be used.
See also Configuring and testing the board.
2.2 Pin description for UART connection
Using the cable harness, connect the following pins from the ANT-B10 header to USB-to-Serial
adapter:
•UART_TXD (pin 16)
•UART_RXD (pin 18)
•UART_CTS (pin 14) –optional for UART flow control
•UART_RTS (pin 12) –optional for UART flow control
•GND (pin 15 or 17)
•+3V3 (pin 2)
☞If flow control is not used the UART_CTS pin is internally pulled down, but it is good practice to
connect UART_CTS to GND.

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Figure 4 shows the pin positions on the ANT-B10 connector.
Figure 4: ANT-B10 connector pin assignment (top view)

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3Configuration and mounting
3.1 Configuring and testing the board
After connecting ANT-B10 to the USB port, a serial port (COM port on Windows) becomes available
on the host. Connect the COM port to a terminal emulator or use the s-center tool [7] with the
following port settings:
•115200 kbps
•8 data bits, no parity, 1 stop bit (8N1)
•Flow control enabled using RTS/CTS
A green LED light indicates that the board is powered on.
Having connected the COM port, the board is ready to receive AT commands. For information about
the AT commands to use for configuring direction finding, see u-connectLocate AT commands.
s-center supports specific direction-finding AT commands in the AoA tab, as shown in Figure 5. The
COM port can also be configured as a terminal for use with AT commands.
Once the system is setup, each anchor reports angle calculation events (+UUDF) over the serial port
connection. ANT-B10 returns events similar to the following when it detects a beacon:
+UUDF:CCF9578E0D8A,-42,20,0,0,37,”CCF9578E0D89”,””,15869
+UUDF:CCF9578E0D8B,-41,10,4,0,38,”CCF9578E0D89”,””,15892
+UUDF:CCF9578E0D8A,-42,-10,2,0,39,”CCF9578E0D89”,””,15921
…
The data reported in these events can be used to estimate a position of the tracked beacon. The
parameters of the +UUDF event are (in order from left to right):
•Eddystone instance ID
•RSSI of 1st polarization
•Azimuth angle
•Elevation angle
•Reserved
•Detected advertising channel, that is, one of the normal Bluetooth Low Energy advertisement
channels (37, 38 or 39)
•Anchor ID as set by AT+UDFCFG tag 4. See also Configure direction finding +UDFCFG
•User defined strings as set by AT+UDFCFG tag 2. See also Configure direction finding +UDFCFG
•Timestamp
For a detailed description of the +UUDF event parameters, see also Angle calculation event +UUDF.
In the angle calculation events shown above, the beacon is moving from one side of the anchor to the
other as the azimuth angle. Given as the third parameter in the command (shown in bold), the beacon
moves from a positive value (20) to a negative value (-10).
☞The optimal distance between anchor nodes and tags is approximately 2–15 m.

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Angle events can also be visualized in the s-center [7] using the “IoT->Angle of Arrival”tab, as shown
in Figure 5.
Figure 5: s-center with Angle of Arrival tab
3.2 Mounting and mechanical aspects
The ANT-B10 board should be mounted with the antenna side facing the room where the tracked tags
are moving. The antennas should be positioned with the best possible direct line of sight to the tags.
The antennas are ideally positioned to avoid pillars and similar objects the in the room. The boards
can be mounted on walls, in corners, and from ceilings.

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Any enclosure or holder for ANT-B10 boards can be designed to utilize the mounting holes that are
placed along the edges of the board, as shown in Figure 6.
Figure 6: ANT-B10 board dimensions
Any enclosure designed for the boards should not include metal casing or plastic with metal flakes.
Metallic-based paint or lacquer should also be avoided. A clearance of at least 10 mm between the
antenna and the casing is recommended. Antenna performance may be adversely affected if the
clearance is less.
The use of polycarbonate (PC) and acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) plastics for enclosure
materials has less impact than POS-type plastics.

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4C209 tags
4.1 Overview
The C209 [12] provides a versatile beacon that is suitable for use as an AoA tag. It is advisable to test
ANT-B10 boards together with C209 tags and pre-loaded C209 tag software [13].
Figure 7: C209 tag in open plastic enclosure
C209 tags run on custom tag software that advertises an Eddystone beacon with a Constant Tone
Extension (CTE) added to the advertising packets. This CTE is used by the u-connectLocate direction
finding software that runs on the antenna application board and calculates the Angle of Arrival.
The namespace included in the transmitted Eddystone-UID beacon is 0x4E494E412D4234544147 and
the instance ID is based on the MAC address of the NINA-B406 found on the module QR code label.
C209 tags are powered by a single CR2032 battery ( not included ) or through the USB connector.
C209 tags include several sensors for use in a multitude of different applications. The on-board
sensors include:
•LIS2DW12 accelerometer
•APDS-9306 ambient light sensor
•BME280 humidity, pressure, and temperature sensor

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The main components of any C209 tag are shown in Figure 8.
Figure 8: C209 main functional components
The important pin definitions on the C209 application board are described in Table 1.
No.
Name
I/O
Description
Remarks
GPIO_1
RED
O
RED system status signal
Active low
GPIO_2
LIS_INT
I
Interrupt signal from Ambient Light
Sensor
GPIO_7
GREEN
O
GREEN system status signal
Active low
GPIO_8
BLUE
O
BLUE system status signal
Active low
GPIO_18
SWITCH_2
I
Switch_2 button
Active low
GPIO_20
UART_RTS
O
UART request to send control signal
Used only when hardware flow control is enabled
GPIO_21
UART_CTS
I
UART clear to send control signal
Used only when hardware flow control is enabled
GPIO_22
UART_TXD
O
UART data output
GPIO_23
UART_RXD
I
UART data input
GPIO_42
LIS_INT
I
Interrupt signal from accelerometer
Table 1: Important pin definitions on the C209
For more information about programming the module, see also the NINA-B4 system integration
manual [14] and NINA-B40 data sheet [15]. See also C209 schematics.
☞Although the sensors on the C209 application board are not used in the latest direction-finding
tag software from u-blox, the sensors can be utilized in any customer application.
4.2 Software and flashing
C209 tags are delivered with bootloader software only and do not include the tag software (available
from Github [13]) needed for the device to advertise Bluetooth beacons to C211 anchor nodes.
The bootloader on C209 tags is different than that supplied on C211anchor nodes, and the nrfutil
[16] flashing tool is needed to install software over the UART interface with the boot loader.

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u-blox C209 tag software can be installed using the DFU bootloader or an external debugger.
Precompiled packages for each installation option are available from the u-blox C209 software
repository [13].
Figure 9: C209 with enclosure
4.2.1 Installing tag software with the DFU bootloader using s-center
The C209 tags can be flashed over the UART using s-center [7].
☞Flashing requires s-center 6.1 or later.
Follow the flashing procedure outlined below when using s-center:
1. Download and unzip the u-connectLocate software container, as described in Installing tag
software with the DFU bootloader over the command line.
2. Open s-center on the correct COM port once the module is in the software download mode.
3. Select Software Update.
4. In the “Software Update” dialog, select the app.zip file from the software container, as shown in
Figure 10. Make sure the flashing speed is set to 115200.
5. Press Update.

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Figure 10: Updating the software on the C209 board using s-center
4.2.2 Installing tag software with the DFU bootloader via command line
Install C209 tag software with the pre-flashed DFU bootloader on NINA-B406:
1. Download and install the nrfutil flashing tool from the Nordic Github repository [16].
2. Download and unpack the c209_aoa_tag_for_dfu_boot.zip file from the u-blox C209 software
repository using this direct link, or go to the “Releases” section from the main github repository
page [13]. The unpacked file includes the app.zip file used for the installation.
3. Press and hold the SW2 button on the C209 while resetting the board (by inserting the USB cable
or clicking the RESET button) to set the bootloader in “download” mode. See also Figure 9.
4. Use the following command to install the C209 tag software using nfutil:
nrfutil dfu serial -pkg app.zip -p COMXX -b 115200 -fc 1
☞Replace COMXX with the appropriate COM port for your system.
4.2.3 Installing tag software using a debugger
C209 tag software can also be installed using a debugger connected through the J10 10-pin contact
on the PCB. Install C209 tag software with the pre-flashed DFU bootloader on NINA-B406:
1. Download the c209_aoa_tag_no_boot_required.zip from the u-blox C209 software
repository [13] and read the releases section.
2. Unzip the downloaded file.
3. Connect the debugger to the 10-pin contact on the C209.
4. Flash the hex file from the zip using your debugger.

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4.3 Configuration and handling
4.3.1 Configuring advertising interval
Press the SW2 button on the C209 to change the advertising interval. The default interval at startup
is 20 milliseconds
When SW2 is pressed, the advertising interval cycles through [20, 100, 1000] milliseconds. For best
performance, it is advisable to use the default 20 ms advertising interval.
C209 tags are simply configured over the UART interface using AT commands.
The AT commands that can be used to configure the interface are described in Table 2.
Command
Description
AT+UMLA=1
Read Local MAC address
AT+GMM
Read the model identifier, NINA-B4-TAG
AT+TXPWR=<valid_tx_power>
<valid_tx_power> can be one of: -40, -30, -20, -16, -12, -8, -4, 0, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 (dBm)
Table 2: C209 AT commands
☞For +TXPWR to take effect the software must be reset, by pressing the reset button or power cycling
the module. The configuration is persistently stored in flash.
All commands are echoed and responded with either \r\nOK\r\n or \r\nERROR\r\n, and should be
terminated with \r.
☞The UART interface is available for 10 seconds after reset with the settings 115200 bps, with no
flow control.
4.3.2 Enabling/disabling advertising
Press and hold the SW2 button for ~3 seconds to enable/disable advertising. If the tag is advertising,
press and hold the button to stop it advertising. The onboard RGB LED blinks blue when advertising
is enabled. The blinking interval correlates to the advertising interval.
4.3.3 Restore Eddystone Instance ID
All u-blox modules are delivered with a u-blox MAC address, which is written into the UICR register.
If the MAC address is accidentally erased, for example during a reflash of the software, this
information is lost. If this happens, the Eddystone Instance ID transmitted in the C209 advertising
beacon will not match the MAC address of the module. To correct this:
1. Scan the QR code on the module label. The information in the code includes a code that includes
the MAC address (shown here in bold): H85(CCF9578E0D89)0400.
2. While having a debugger connected to the SWD interface of the board enter these commands to
reinstate the MAC address CCF9578E0D89 into the UICR of the module:
nrfjprog --memwr 0x10001080 --val 0x8E57F9CC
nrfjprog --memwr 0x10001084 --val 0xFFFF890D
Another example for which the MAC address given in the scan code is 0123456789AB:
nrfjprog --memwr 0x10001080 --val 0x67452301
nrfjprog --memwr 0x10001084 --val 0xFFFFAB89
3. After writing the MAC address, reset the module. The module now transmits the correct
Eddystone Instance ID for the C209 tag.

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5Software and flashing
This chapter describes how the ANT-B10 board is flashed with u-connectLocate software. The
software is flashed using s-center or flashed directly on the command line.
5.1 Flashing using s-center
ANT-B10 can be flashed over the UART using s-center [7].
☞This requires s-center 6.1 or later.
Follow the procedure outlined below to flash ing when using s-center:
1. Download and unzip the u-connectLocate software container as described in Command line
flashing.
2. Open s-center on the correct COM port once the module is in software download mode.
3. Select Software Update.
4. In the “Software Update” dialog select the binary file in the software container, as shown in
Figure 11. Make sure the flashing speed is set to 115200.
5. Press Update.
Figure 11: Updating the software on the board using s-center

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5.2 Command line flashing
Follow the procedure outlined below to flash the board over the UART connection.
1. Download the u-connectLocate software container from [4].
2. Boot the board into Software Update mode by connecting the SWITCH_2 pin to ground while
powering up the board.
3. Flash the u-connectLocate software using the bundled (Windows only) newtmgr executable.
Alternatively, use the Newt Manager Guide [6] to install the newtmgr application tool for MAC OS,
Linux, and Windows.
4. Use Newt Manager to install u-connectLocate on the NINA-B411 module:
newtmgr --conntype=serial --connstring="COMXX,baud=115200" image upload <binary
image>
5. Press the reset button to reset the application board or reset it with newtmgr:
newtmgr --conntype=serial --connstring="COMXX,baud=115200" reset

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6u-connectLocate software
6.1 General information
u-connectLocate software can track a certain number of tags and report their angles in +UUDF events
over the UART connection. The software employs an algorithm to detect the direction or angle of a
moving tag.
As the antenna array on the board detects the Constant Tone Extension (CTE) advertised in a tag
beacon, the algorithm calculates the angles of the tag in two dimensions. The software runs on the
NINA-B411-40B module, which is connected to the antenna array and Bluetooth receiver on the
ANT-B10 board.
6.2 Configuration example
By default, u-connectLocate comes pre-configured to track all u-blox tags. The tags advertise with
the Eddystone namespace 0x4E494E412D4234544147,which by default is tracked in u-connectLocate.
So, if you are only using the u-blox C209 tags, no configuration is needed.
Each anchor node can be configured with beacons to track. An example for how to set up the anchor
to track two tags is shown below:
AT+UDFFILT=1,2,”6E616D65737061636578”
At+UDFFILT=2,2,“CCF9578E0D8A”,”CCF9578E0D8B”
AT+UDFENABLE=1 (Tracking is enabled by default, so this is optional)
These commands set up the anchor to track the two tags with the given MAC addresses in the
Eddystone name space (6E616D65737061636578) used by the tags.
The sequence described above reflects the most simplistic use case. Further configuration is possible
using the AT+UDFCFG command. See also Configuration direction finding +UDFCFG.
The settings shall be saved using the AT&W command, followed by a restart (AT+CPWROFF).

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7u-connectLocate AT commands
7.1 Direction finding enable +UDFENABLE
+UDFENABLE
Modules
NINA-B41X-40B
Attributes
Syntax
Settings saved
Can be aborted
Response time
Full
No
No
-
7.1.1 Description
AT Command
Description
AT+UDFENABLE=<enabled>
Start or stop angle calculations during runtime
7.1.2 Syntax
Response
Description
OK
Successful write response
ERROR
Error Response
7.1.3 Defined values
Parameter
Type
Description
Enabled
Integer
0: Disabled
1: Enabled
7.2 Direction finding filter +UDFFILT
+UDFFILT
Modules
NINA-B41X-40B
Attributes
Syntax
Settings saved
Can be aborted
Response time
Full
Yes
No
-
7.2.1 Description
Configure a filter to decide which tags to track. This command is used to configure the filter to either
track all devices with a specific namespace, or individual tags with a certain namespace and instance
id. Currently, only filter types 1,2 (EDDYSTONE) are supported.
AT command
Description
AT+UDFFILT=<filter_type>,<action>[,<option_val1>
,<option_val2>,…<option_valXX>]]]
Set the tag filter for tracked tags
AT+UDFFILT=<filter_type>
Read the current filter for the specified
<filter_type>
7.2.2 Syntax
Response
Description
+UDFFILT:<filter_type>,<option_val1>,..
OK
Read response
OK
Successful write response
Error
Error response