Ublox ANNA-B112 Quick setup guide

UBX-18009821 - R09
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ANNA-B112
Stand-alone Bluetooth 5 low energy module
System integration manual
Abstract
This document describes the system integration of ANNA-B112 stand-alone Bluetooth® low energy
modules. With embedded Bluetooth low energy stack and u-connectXpress software, this module is
tailored for OEMs who wish to have the shortest time-to-
market. The OEMs can also embed their
own application using for example the Nordic nRF5 SDK, Wirepas Mesh or Arm® Mbed™ integrated
development environment (IDE).


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Document information
Title ANNA-B112
Subtitle Stand-alone Bluetooth 5 low energy module
Document type System integration manual
Document number UBX-18009821
Revision and date R09 9-Feb-2021
Disclosure restriction C1-Public
Document status descriptions
Draft For functional testing. Revised and supplementary data will be published later.
Objective specification Target values. Revised and supplementary data will be published later.
Advance information Data based on early testing. Revised and supplementary data will be published later.
Early production information Data from product verification. Revised and supplementary data may be published later.
Production information Document contains the final product specification.
This document applies to the following products:
Product name Document status
ANNA-B112 Production information
☞For information about the related hardware, software, and status of listed product types, refer to
the respective data sheets.
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 info
rmation. 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.
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
1System description ............................................................................................................................6
Overview........................................................................................................................................................6
Product features .........................................................................................................................................7
1.2.1 Module architecture...........................................................................................................................8
1.2.2 Hardware options ...............................................................................................................................8
1.2.3 Software options ................................................................................................................................8
Pin configuration and function.................................................................................................................8
Supply interfaces ........................................................................................................................................9
1.4.1 Main supply input ...............................................................................................................................9
1.4.2 Digital I/O interfaces reference voltage .........................................................................................9
1.4.3 VCC application circuits ....................................................................................................................9
System function interfaces ....................................................................................................................10
1.5.1 Module reset ......................................................................................................................................10
1.5.2 Internal temperature sensor ..........................................................................................................10
Low power clock ........................................................................................................................................10
1.6.1 External crystal .................................................................................................................................10
1.6.2 Internal oscillator..............................................................................................................................11
1.6.3 External clock source .......................................................................................................................11
1.6.4 Low power clock settings for u-connectXpress software........................................................12
1.6.5 Selecting clock source .....................................................................................................................14
Debug – serial wire debug (SWD) ...........................................................................................................14
Serial interfaces ........................................................................................................................................14
1.8.1 Universal asynchronous serial interface (UART) .......................................................................14
1.8.2 Serial peripheral interface (SPI).....................................................................................................15
1.8.3 I2C interface.......................................................................................................................................15
GPIO pins.....................................................................................................................................................16
1.9.1 Analog interfaces..............................................................................................................................16
Antenna interface .....................................................................................................................................17
1.10.1 Integrated antenna ..........................................................................................................................17
1.10.2 Antenna pin (external antenna).....................................................................................................17
1.10.3 NFC antenna......................................................................................................................................18
Reserved pins (RSVD) ..............................................................................................................................18
GND pins .....................................................................................................................................................18
2Software ............................................................................................................................................. 19
u-connectXpress software......................................................................................................................19
2.1.1Standard edition ...............................................................................................................................19
2.1.2 Mesh edition ......................................................................................................................................19
Open CPU....................................................................................................................................................20
2.2.1 Nordic nRF5 SDK ..............................................................................................................................20
2.2.2 Zephyr .................................................................................................................................................22
2.2.3 Support – Nordic development forum ..........................................................................................24

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2.2.4 Arm Mbed OS ....................................................................................................................................24
2.2.5 Wirepas Mesh....................................................................................................................................28
2.2.6 Saving Bluetooth MAC address and other production data....................................................28
Flashing ANNA-B112 ...............................................................................................................................29
2.3.1 Flashing over UART..........................................................................................................................30
2.3.2 Flashing over the SWD interface...................................................................................................36
3Design-in............................................................................................................................................. 39
Overview......................................................................................................................................................39
Antenna interface.....................................................................................................................................39
3.2.1 ANNA-B112 Internal antenna design...........................................................................................39
3.2.2 ANNA-B112 External antenna design..........................................................................................40
3.2.3 General antenna design guidelines...............................................................................................40
Supply interfaces ......................................................................................................................................44
3.3.1 Module supply design ......................................................................................................................44
Data communication interfaces ............................................................................................................44
3.4.1 Asynchronous serial interface (UART) design............................................................................44
3.4.2 Serial peripheral interface (SPI).....................................................................................................45
3.4.3 I2C interface.......................................................................................................................................45
NFC interface.............................................................................................................................................45
3.5.1 Battery protection ............................................................................................................................45
General High Speed layout guidelines ..................................................................................................46
3.6.1 General considerations for schematic design and PCB floor-planning.................................46
3.6.2 Module placement ............................................................................................................................46
3.6.3 Layout and manufacturing.............................................................................................................46
Module footprint and paste mask .........................................................................................................47
Thermal guidelines ...................................................................................................................................47
ESD guidelines ...........................................................................................................................................47
4Handling and soldering................................................................................................................... 49
Packaging, shipping, storage, and moisture preconditioning.........................................................49
Handling......................................................................................................................................................49
Soldering .....................................................................................................................................................49
4.3.1 Reflow soldering process ................................................................................................................49
4.3.2 Cleaning ..............................................................................................................................................51
4.3.3 Potting ................................................................................................................................................51
4.3.4 Other remarks ...................................................................................................................................51
5Qualifications and approvals ........................................................................................................ 52
6Product testing................................................................................................................................. 52
u-blox in-series production test .............................................................................................................52
OEM manufacturer production test .....................................................................................................53
6.2.1 “Go/No go” tests for integrated devices ......................................................................................53
Appendix .................................................................................................................................................... 54
AGlossary .............................................................................................................................................. 54
BAntenna reference designs ........................................................................................................... 55
B.1 Internal antenna reference design with module at PCB corner.......................................................55
B.2 Internal antenna reference design with module along PCB edge ...................................................57

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B.3 Reference design for external antennas (U.FL connector) ..............................................................59
B.4 Examples of application ground plane miniaturizations ..................................................................61
B.4.1 Example application 1......................................................................................................................61
B.4.2 Example application 2......................................................................................................................62
Related documents ................................................................................................................................ 64
Revision history ....................................................................................................................................... 65
Contact....................................................................................................................................................... 66

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1System description
Overview
The ANNA-B112 is an ultra-small, high-performing, standalone Bluetooth low energy module. The
System in Package (SiP) module features Bluetooth 5, a powerful Arm®Cortex®-M4 microprocessor
with FPU, and state-of-the-art power performance. The ANNA-B112-0XB is delivered with
u-connectXpress software that provides support for u-blox Bluetooth low energy Serial Port Service,
GATT client and server, beacons, NFC™, and simultaneous peripheral and central roles – all
configurable from a host by using AT commands.
The OEMs can also embed their own application using for example the Nordic nRF5 SDK, Wirepas
Mesh or Arm® Mbed™, by erasing the pre-flashed u-connectXpress SW or by flashing their application
on the empty ANNA-B112-70B module.
The ANNA-B112 module also includes an integrated antenna providing a range of up to 160 m, and
an antenna pin for design-in of an external antenna.
ANNA-B112 has full modular approval for Europe (ETSI RED), US (FCC), Canada (IC / ISED RSS),
Taiwan (NCC), South Korea (KCC), Japan (MIC), Australia / New Zealand (ACMA), Brazil (Anatel),
South Africa (ICASA).

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Product features
Table 1: ANNA-B112 main features summary

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1.2.1 Module architecture
Figure 1: Block diagram of ANNA-B112
1.2.2 Hardware options
The ANNA-B112 module is designed for use with either an internal antenna or by connecting to an
external antenna. It contains an integrated DC/DC converter for higher efficiency under heavy load
situations. External components are limited to only an optional 32.768 kHz low power crystal.
1.2.3 Software options
The ANNA-B112 module can be used either together with the pre-flashed u-connectXpress software
or as an Open CPU module where you can run your own application developed with either
Arm® Mbed™, Nordic SDK or Wirepas Mesh development environment inside the ANNA-B112
module. The different software options are described in more detail in section 2.
The u-connectXpress SW comes with a separate mesh SW variant, that is available for download only.
The ANNA-B112-70B variant of the module is delivered with an empty flash. This module variant can
be used to avoid an erase operation to remove u-connectXpress when the final product will have a
custom application, or when the pre-flashed SW is incompatible with the HW design of the final
product.
Pin configuration and function
See the ANNA-B112 Data sheet [2] for information about pin configuration and function.
DC/DC and LDO regulators
512 kB Flash
BLE baseband
Cryptographic
hardware
accelerators
IO Buffers
Arm Cortex-M4
Antenna
PLL
VCC (1.7 - 3.6 V)
32 MHz
Reset
UART
SPI
GPIO
1.3 V
System
power
I2C
PWM
I2S
ADC and
comparator
Analog
Passive NFC tag
NFC
64 kB RAM
PLL
32.768 kHz
RTC
RF
Internal
Antenna pin
Nordic Semiconductor
nRF52832
Antenna pin

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Supply interfaces
1.4.1 Main supply input
The ANNA-B112 module uses an integrated DC/DC converter or LDO to transform the supply voltage
presented at the VCC pin into a stable system core voltage. Due to this, the ANNA-B112 module is
compatible for use in battery powered designs.
While using ANNA-B112 with a battery, it is important that the battery type can handle the peak
power of the module. In case of battery supply, consider adding extra capacitance on the supply line
to avoid capacity degradation. See the ANNA-B112 data sheet [2]
for information about voltage
supply requirement and current consumption.
Table 2: Summary of voltage supply requirements
☞The current requirement in Table 2 considers using the u-connectXpress software with UART
communication. But it does not include any additional I/O current. Any use of external
push buttons, LEDs, or other interfaces will add to the total current consumption of the
ANNA-B112 module. The peak current consumption of the entire design must be considered in
battery powered solutions.
1.4.2 Digital I/O interfaces reference voltage
On the ANNA-B112 module, the I/O voltage level is the same as the supply voltage and is internally
connected to the supply input VCC.
When using ANNA-B112 module with a battery, the I/O voltage level will vary with the battery output
voltage, depending on the charge of the battery. Level shifters might be needed depending on the I/O
voltage of the host system.
1.4.3 VCC application circuits
The power for ANNA-B112 module is provided through the VCC pins, which can be one of the following:
•Switching Mode Power Supply (SMPS)
•Low Drop Out (LDO) regulator
•Battery
The SMPS is the ideal choice when the available primary supply source has higher value than the
operating supply voltage of the ANNA-B112 module. The use of SMPS provides the best power
efficiency for the overall application and minimizes current drawn from the main supply source.
⚠While selecting SMPS, ensure that AC voltage ripple at switching frequency is kept as low as
possible. Layout shall be implemented to minimize impact of high frequency ringing.
The use of an LDO linear regulator is convenient for a primary supply with a relatively low voltage
where the typical 85-90% efficiency of the switching regulator leads to minimal current saving. Linear
regulators are not recommended for high voltage step-down as they will dissipate a considerable
amount of energy.
DC/DC efficiency should be evaluated as a tradeoff between active and idle duty cycle of the specific
application. Although some DC/DC can achieve high efficiency at extremely light loads, a typical
DC/DC efficiency quickly degrades as idle current drops below a few mA, which greatly reduces the
battery life.
Rail Voltage requirement Current requirement (peak)
VCC 1.7 V – 3.6 V 15 mA

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Due to the low current consumption and wide voltage range of the ANNA-B112 module, a battery can
be used as a main supply. The capacity of the battery should be selected to match the application.
Care should be taken so that the battery can deliver the peak current required by the module. See the
ANNA-B112 data sheet [2]
for electrical specifications.
It is considered as best practice to have decoupling capacitors on the supply rails close to the
ANNA-B112 module, although depending on the design of the power routing on the host system,
capacitance might not be needed.
System function interfaces
1.5.1 Module reset
You can reset the ANNA-B112 module by applying a low level on the RESET_N input pin, which is
normally set high with an internal pull-up. This causes an “external” or “hardware” reset of the module.
The current parameter settings are not saved in the non-volatile memory of the module and a proper
network detach is not performed.
1.5.2 Internal temperature sensor
The radio chip in the ANNA-B112 module contains a temperature sensor used for over temperature
and under temperature shutdown.
⚠The temperature sensor is located inside the radio chip and should not be used if an accurate
temperature reading of the surrounding environment is required.
Low power clock
The ANNA-B112 module uses a 32.768 kHz low power clock to enable different sleep modes. This
clock can be generated from an internal or external clock source.
Different options for generating the clock are listed below:
•Internal oscillator
•External crystal oscillator
•External clock source
The u-connectXpress software automatically senses the clock input and uses the external crystal if
available; otherwise, it runs the internal oscillator. This automatic sense functionality will add
additional time during startup (about 1s). If the startup time is critical or more detailed settings are
needed, then set the low power clock settings using AT commands. See section1.6.4.
To fully utilize the low current consumption of the ANNA-B112 module, an external crystal or external
clock source is needed. The internal oscillator will increase the current consumption in sleep mode.
☞An external crystal is required by the mesh variant of u-connectXpress as well as some 3rd party
SWs like for example Wirepas Mesh.
The following sections describe the different hardware options for the low power clock source and the
implications these choices on both the cost and performance of the ANNA-B112 module. For practical
guidance on how to configure the oscillator on nRF5 open CPU modules, see the application note [15].
1.6.1 External crystal
The ANNA-B112 has two input pins for connecting an external crystal as source for the low power
clock. This setup will enable ANNA-B112 to run with the lowest overall power consumption. Figure 1
shows the components used on the ANNA-B112 EVK.

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Figure 2: Connecting ANNA-B112 to an external crystal oscillator
Table 3: Components used on the EVK-ANNA-B112 EVK evaluation kit
1.6.2 Internal oscillator
Using ANNA-B112 with the internal oscillator will enable a minimal BOM, saving cost for the end
product. This will however increase the power consumption during sleep.
When using the internal oscillator, the clock pins (pin 17 and pin 18) should be connected to ground.
⚠The application must ensure calibration of the internal oscillator at least once every 8 seconds to
ensure +/-250ppm clock stability.
1.6.3 External clock source
An external clock source generated from for example a host CPU can also be used. The clock source
can be either low swing signal or full swing signal.
The electrical parameters are stated in Table 4 and Table 5.
Pin name Parameter Min Typ Max Unit Remarks
XL1 Input characteristic:
Peak to Peak amplitude
200 1000 mV Input signal must not swing outside
supply rails.
XL2 - - - - Connect to GND
Table 4: Electrical parameters for a low swing clock
Pin name Parameter Min Typ Max Unit Remarks
XL1 Input characteristic:
Low-level input
0 0.3*VCC V
Input characteristic:
high-level input
0.7*VCC VCC V
XL2 - - - - - Connect to GND or leave unconnected
Table 5: Electrical parameters for a full swing clock
Component Value Note
Crystal oscillator 32.768 kHz – 20 ppm EPSON FC-12M used on ANNA-B112 EVK
Capacitors 22pF

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1.6.4 Low power clock settings for u-connectXpress software
The low power clock settings for the u-connectXpress software are stored in a special flash area and
can only be written only once. The only way to clear the settings is to erase the flash memory. See
section 2.3.2 for details on SWD flashing.
This section describes the AT command and the available settings for the low power clock.
This AT command requires the module to be set in production mode.
•AT+UPROD=1
oSet the module in production mode
•AT+UPRODLFCLK=(for details see tables below)
oCommand to change the settings on the low power clock
•Reset the module to restart in normal connectivity software

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Description
AT Command Description
AT+UPRODLFCLK=<source>[,<value1>[,<value2]]
Syntax
Response Description
OK Successful response to
AT+UPRODLFCLK=<source>[,<accuracy>]
+UPRODLFCLK: <source>[,<value1>[,<value2>]]
OK
Successful response to AT+UPRODLFCLK
ERROR When command fails
Defined values
Parameter Type Description
<source> Number Allowed values are: (default = automatic detection)
0: Internal oscillator
1: External crystal
3: External clock
<value1> Number When <source> = 0; internal oscillator: (default = 16)
Calibration timer interval in 1/4 second, allowed 1-32
When <source> = 1; external crystal:External crystal
accuracy: (default = 7)
0: 250 PPM
1: 500 PPM
2: 150 PPM
3: 100 PPM
4: 75 PPM
5: 50 PPM
6: 30 PPM
7: 20 PPM
8: 10 PPM
9: 5 PPM
10: 2 PPM
11: 1 PPM
<value2> Number When <source> = 0; internal oscillator: (default = 2)
Temperature change calibration interval:
0: Always calibrate even if the temperature has not
changed.
1: Invalid, do not use
2-32: Check the temperature and only calibrate if it has
changed, however calibration will take place every X
intervals even if no change in temperature.
Table 6: Settings
The internal oscillator needs to be calibrated to maintain its accuracy. The interval of the calibration
should be selected so that the temperature does not change more than 0.5 ºC between calibrations.
There are two settings for the calibration - Calibration timer interval and Temperature change
calibration interval.
•
Calibration timer interval sets the interval when the need for calibration is checked.
•Temperature change calibration interval sets the number of calibrations timer intervals counted
before a calibration is forced.
o0: Always calibrate even if the temperature has not changed.

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o2-32: Check the temperature and calibrate only if it has changed; however, calibration will take
place every X count of the
calibration timer interval even if there is no change in the temperature.
Calibrating the unit more often will increase the current consumption.
⚠When using internal oscillator as source the user must make sure that the settings calibrate the
internal oscillator at least once every 8 seconds to ensure +/-250ppm clock stability. It is
recommended to keep the default values as stated in Table 6.
1.6.5 Selecting clock source
As described above, the selection of clock source is a tradeoff between BOM count and current
consumption. The increase in current consumption when using the internal oscillator will depend on
both the software settings as well as the surrounding environment.
The internal oscillator itself will add about 400 nA and the calibration will add about 1 µA, depending
on the above-mentioned settings. The standby current of ANNA-B112 will then increase from 2.2 µA
to 3.6 µA, an increase of about 60%.
For the active use cases when the module is not in standby the increase of current is negligible. So if
the application will be in standby for longer periods of time then an external crystal might be worth
adding.
Table 7 shows the average current consumption for a beacon advertising at different intervals, both
with external crystal oscillator as well as internal oscillator. The use case is an advertisement event
(4.7 ms), +4 dBm output power and 31 bytes payload at 3.3 V.
Debug – serial wire debug (SWD)
The primary interface for debug is the SWD interface. The SWD interface can also be used for
software upgrade.
The two pins, SWDIO and SWDCLK, should be made accessible on header or test points.
Serial interfaces
⚠The available interfaces and pin mapping can differ depending on if ANNA-B112 is used with the
u-connectXpress software or an open CPU based application. For detailed pin information see the
ANNA-B112 data sheet [2].
1.8.1 Universal asynchronous serial interface (UART)
The ANNA-B112 module provides a Universal Asynchronous Serial Interface (UART) for data
communication.
The following UART signals are available:
•Data lines (RXD as input, TXD as output)
•Hardware flow control lines (CTS as input, RTS as output)
•DSR and DTS are used to set and indicate system modes
Advertise interval External crystal oscillator Internal oscillator Increase in current
1 s 18 µA 19.5 µA 8 %
10 s 3.8 µA 5.2 µA 37 %
60 s 2.4 µA 3.9 µA 63 %
Table 7: Average current consumption (theoretical calculations)

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The UART can be used as both 4 wire UART with hardware flow control and 2-wire UART with only
TXD and RXD. If using the UART in 2-wire mode, CTS should be connected to GND on the
ANNA-B112 module.
Depending on the bootloader used, the UART interface can also be used for software upgrade. See
the Software section for more information.
The u-connectXpress software adds the DSR and DTR pins to the UART interface. These pins are not
used as originally intended, but to control the state of the ANNA-B112 module. Depending on the
current configuration, the DSR can be used to:
•Enter command mode
•Disconnect and/or toggle connectable status
•Enable/disable the rest of the UART interface
•Enter/wake up from the sleep mode
See the ANNA-B112 data sheet [2] for characteristic information about the UART interface.
Interface Default configuration
COM port 115200 baud, 8 data bits, no parity, 1 stop bit, hardware flow control
Table 8: Default settings for the COM port while using the u-connectXpress software
It is recommended to make the UART available either as test points or connected to a header for
software upgrade.
The IO level of the UART will follow the VCC voltage and it can thus be in the range of 1.8 V and 3.6 V.
If you are connecting the ANNA-B112 module to a host with a different voltage on the UART interface,
a level shifter should be used.
1.8.2 Serial peripheral interface (SPI)
ANNA-B112 supports up to 3 serial peripheral interfaces that can operate in both master and slave
modes with a maximum serial clock frequency of 8 MHz in both these modes. The SPI interfaces use
the following 4 signals:
•SCLK
•MOSI
•MISO
•CS
When using the SPI interface in master mode, it is possible to use GPIOs as additional Chip Select (CS)
signals to allow addressing of multiple slaves.
1.8.3 I2C interface
The Inter-Integrated Circuit (I2C) interfaces can be used to transfer or receive data on a 2-wire bus
network. The ANNA-B112 module contains up to two I2C bus interfaces and can operate as both
master and slave using both standard (100 kbps) and fast (400 kbps) transmission speeds. The
interface uses the SCL signal to clock instructions and data on the SDL signal.
External pull up resistors are required for the I2C interface. The value of the pull up resistor should be
selected depending on the speed and capacitance of the bus.

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GPIO pins
The ANNA-B112 module can provide up to 25 pins, which can be configured as general purpose input
or output. 8 GPIO pins are capable of handling analog functionality. All pins are capable of handling
interrupt.
Function Description Default
ANNA-B1 pin
Configurable
GPIOs
General purpose input Digital input with configurable edge detection and interrupt
generation.
Any
General purpose output Digital output with configurable drive strength, pull-up, pull-down,
open-source, open-drain and/or slew rate.
Any
Pin disabled Pin is disconnected from input buffers and output drivers. All* Any
Timer/ counter High precision time measurement between two pulses/ Pulse
counting with interrupt/event generation.
Any
Interrupt/ Event trigger Interrupt/event trigger to the software application/ Wake up event. Any
ADC input 8/10/12-bit analog to digital converter Any analog
Analog comparator
input
Compare two voltages, capable of generating wake-up events and
interrupts
Any analog
PWM output Output complex pulse width modulation waveforms Any
Connection status
indication
Indicates if a BLE connection is maintained BLUE** Any
* = If left unconfigured ** = If using u-connectXpress software
Table 9: GPIO custom functions configuration
1.9.1 Analog interfaces
8 out of the 25 digital GPIOs can be multiplexed to analog functions. The following analog functions
are available for use:
•1x 8-channel ADC
•1x Analog comparator*
•1x Low-power analog comparator*
*Only one of the comparators can be used simultaneously.
ADC
The Analog to Digital Converter (ADC) can sample up to 200 kHz using different inputs as sample
triggers. Table 10 shows the sample speed in correlation to the maximum source impedance. It
supports 8/10/12-bit resolution. Any of the 8 analog inputs can be used both as single-ended inputs
and as differential pairs for measuring the voltage across them. The ADC supports full 0 V to VCC
input range.
Table 10: Acquisition versus source impedance
ACQ [us] Maximum source resistance [kΩ]
3 10
5 40
10 100
15 200
20 400
40 800

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Comparator
The comparator compares voltages from any analog pin with different references as shown in Table
11. It supports full 0 V to VCC input range and can generate different software events to the rest of
the system.
Low power comparator
The low-power comparator operates in the same way as the normal comparator, with reduced
functionality. It can be used during system OFF modes as a wake-up source.
Analog pin options
The following table shows the supported connections of the analog functions.
☞An analog pin may not be simultaneously connected to multiple functions.
Table 11: Possible uses of analog pin
Antenna interface
The ANNA-B112 is equipped with an integrated antenna in the module. Depending on how the RF pins
are connected, the internal antenna can be bypassed and an external antenna can be used instead.
Table 12 describes how the RF related pins shall be connected for each antenna solution.
*Connect to GND for better layout, not critical for function
Table 12: ANNA-B112 Antenna options
1.10.1 Integrated antenna
The ANNA-B112 is equipped with a certified integrated antenna in the module. To take advantage of
the ANNA-B112 certification, the customer is required to implement the specific ground plane design
according to u-blox reference design. The reference design is described in Appendix B.
1.10.2 Antenna pin (external antenna)
The ANNA-B112 is equipped with an RF pin. The RF pin has a nominal characteristic impedance of 50
Ωand must be connected to the antenna through a 50 Ωtransmission line to allow reception of radio
frequency (RF) signals in the 2.4 GHz frequency band.
Analog function Connects to
ADC single-ended input Any analog pin or VCC
ADC differential input Any analog pin or VCC pair
Comparator IN+ Any analog pin
Comparator IN- Pin 24 or 25, VCC, 1.2 V, 1.8 V, 2.4 V
Low-power comparator IN+ Any analog pin
Low-power comparator IN- Pin 24 or 25, 1/16 to 15/16 VCC in steps of 1/16 VCC
External antenna Integrated antenna module placed
in the corner of the PCB
Integrated antenna module
placed on the side of the PCB
Pin 1 – ANT_PCB GND* GND pattern NC
Pin 2 – ANT_GND GND NC GND pattern
Pin 3 – ANT_GND GND NC GND pattern
Pin 5 – ANT_INT GND* Connect to pin 6 – ANT Connect to pin 6 – ANT
Pin 6 - ANT Connect to external antenna Connect to pin 5 – ANT_INT Connect to pin 5 – ANT_INT

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Choose an antenna with optimal radiating characteristics for the best electrical performance and
overall module functionality. An internal antenna integrated on the application board, or an external
antenna connected to the application board through a proper 50 Ωconnector, can be used.
While using an external antenna, the PCB-to-RF-cable transition must be implemented using either a
suitable 50 Ωconnector, or an RF-signal solder pad (including GND) that is optimized for 50 Ω
characteristic impedance.
Antenna matching
The antenna return loss should be as good as possible across the entire band when the system is
operational to provide optimal performance. The enclosure, shields, other components and
surrounding environment will impact the return loss seen at the antenna port. Matching components
are often required to re-tune the antenna to bring the return loss within an acceptable range.
It is difficult to predict the actual matching values for the antenna in the final form factor. Therefore,
it is a good practice to have a placeholder in the circuit with a “pi” network, with two shunt components
and a series component in the middle, to allow maximum flexibility while tuning the matching to the
antenna feed.
Approved antenna designs
ANNA-B112 module comes with a pre-certified design that can be used to save costs and time during
the certification process. The antenna path is routed to a U.FL connector and the external antenna is
connected to the U.FL connector.
To take advantage of the ANNA-B112 certification, the customer is required to implement antenna
layout according to u-blox reference design. The reference design is described in Appendix
B.
The designer integrating a u-blox reference design into an end-product is solely responsible for the
unintentional emission levels produced by the end-product.
The module may be integrated with other antennas. In this case, the OEM installer must certify his
design with respective regulatory agencies.
1.10.3 NFC antenna
The ANNA-B112 module includes a Near Field Communication interface, capable of operating as a
13.56 MHz NFC tag at a bit rate of 106 kbps. As an NFC tag, data can be read from or written to the
ANNA-B112 modules using an NFC reader; however, the ANNA-B112 module is not capable of reading
other tags or initiating NFC communications. Two pins are available for connecting to an external NFC
antenna: NFC1 and NFC2.
Reserved pins (RSVD)
Do not connect reserved (RSVD) pin. The reserved pins can be allocated for future interfaces and
functionality.
GND pins
Good connection of the module's GND pins with solid ground layer of the host application board is
required for correct RF performance. It significantly reduces EMC issues and provides a thermal heat
sink for the module.
See the Module footprint and paste mask and thermal guidelines sections for information about
ground design.

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2Software
The ANNA-B112 module can be used either with the preflashed u-connectXpress software or as an
Open CPU module where you can run your own application developed either with for example Arm
Mbed, Nordic SDK or Wirepas Mesh development environment inside the ANNA-B112 module.
The software on the ANNA-B112 module contains of the following parts:
•SoftDevice S132 is a Bluetooth low energy (Bluetooth LE) central and peripheral protocol stack
solution
•Optional bootloader
•Application
Figure 3: ANNA-B1 software structure and available software options
u-connectXpress software
2.1.1 Standard edition
The ANNA-B112-0XB module is delivered with the preflashed u-connectXpress software.
The u-connectXpress software enables the use of the Bluetooth Low Energy functions, controlled by
AT-commands over the UART interface. Examples of supported features are u-blox Low Energy Serial
Port Service, GATT server and client, central and peripheral roles and multidrop connections. More
information on the features and capabilities of the u-connectXpress software and how to use it can
be found in the u-connectXpress software user guide [3] and u-connect AT commands manual [4].
2.1.2 Mesh edition
u-ConnectXpress is also available in a separated edition available for download. For more information
about the mesh SW please refer to the application note Bluetooth Mesh with u-connect software [21].
ANNA-B112
Software structure
Bootloader
Radio Stack
Application
Pre flashed OpenCPU options
Nordic S132 SoftDevice
u-connectXpress
software Nordic SDK Arm Mbed
Wirepas Mesh
Software
+
SDK

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Open CPU
2.2.1 Nordic nRF5 SDK
The Nordic nRF5 SDK provides a rich development environment for different devices and applications
by including a broad selection of drivers and libraries. The SDK is delivered as a plain .zip-archive, which
makes it easy to install. The SDK comes with support for Segger Embedded Studio, Keil μVision, GCC
make files, and IAR support, which gives the freedom to choose the IDE and compiler.
Getting started with the Nordic nRF5 SDK
When working with the Nordic SDK on the ANNA-B112 module, follow the steps below to get started
with the Nordic Semiconductor toolchain and examples:
1. Download and install the nRF Connect application and install the Programmer app, which allows
programming over SWD, from www.nordicsemi.com. Also other SWD capable programmers can
be used.
2. Download and install the latest SEGGER Embedded Studio from www.segger.com, or use another
supported IDE.
3. Download and extract the latest nRF5 SDK available at:
http://www.nordicsemi.com/eng/Products/Bluetooth-low-energy/nRF5-SDK. Save the software
container to the directory you want to use with the nRF5 SDK.
4. Read the information in the SDK Release Notes and check the nRF5 Software Development Kit
documentation available at the Nordic Semiconductor Infocenter [13].
The easiest way to get started with the Nordic SDK is to copy one of the examples in the SDK to get
started. Choose the example that is the closest to what you want to achieve and use the board
definition that is the closest to your board. If you are building for ANNA-B1 the closest board definition
is the
pca10040.
Create a custom board for Nordic nRF5 SDK
The predefined hardware boards included in the Nordic SDK are Nordic development boards only. To
add support for a custom board, a custom board support file can be created. This is normally located
in the folder …\components\boards\ or together with the sdk_config .h file in the config folder of the
example.
The above-mentioned file locations are valid according to the Nordic nRF5 SDK version 17.0.
Figure 4shows an example of how the custom board support file can look like for EVK-ANNA-B112.