4. Wireless module

4.1. EC20 4G Module suite

4.1.1. Product parameters

  • Model

    • EC20-C R2.0 Mini PCIe-C

  • Supply voltage

    • 3.3V~ 3.6V, Typical values: 3.3V

  • Working frequency band

    • TDD-LTE: B38/B39/B40/B41

    • FDD-LTE: B1/B3/B8

    • WCDMA: B1/B8

    • TD-SCDMA: B34/B39

    • GSM: 900/1800

  • Data transmission

    • TDD-LTE： Max 130Mbps (DL) Max 35Mbps (UL)

    • FDD-LTE： Max 150Mbps (DL) Max 50Mbps (UL)

    • DC-HSPA+： Max 42Mbps (DL) Max 5.76Mbps (UL)

    • UMTS： Max 384Kbps (DL) Max 384Kbps (UL)

    • TD-SCDMA： Max 4.2Mbps (DL) Max 2.2Mbps (UL)

    • CDMA： Max 3.1Mbps (DL) Max 1.8Mbps (UL)

    • EDGE： Max 236.8Kbps (DL) Max 236.8Kbps (UL)

    • GPRS： Max 85.6Kbps (DL) Max 85.6Kbps (UL)

  • Interface connector

    • USB: USB 2.0 high-speed interface, 480Mbps

    • digital voice: 1 digital voice interface (optional)

    • USIM：1.8V/3V

    • network indicator: ×2, NET_STATUS 和 NET_MODE

    • UART：×1 UART

    • reset: low level

    • PWRKEY: low level

    • antenna interface: 3 (main antenna, diversity antenna and GNSS antenna interface)

    • ADC：×2

  • Structure size

    • 51.0mm × 30.0mm × 4.9mm

  • Weight

    • about 10.5g

  • Certification

    • CCC/ NAL*/ TA

4.1.2. GNSS function

There are two types of EC20 modules, one is has GNSS and another is no GNSS. EC20 4G modules sold on firefly’s official website do not support GNSS, and the suffix is SNNS. EC20 modules that support GNSS generally have the suffix SGNS.The public firmware supports GNSS function, but it is turned off by default. For the use method, please refer to the chapter EC20 GNSS function.

4.1.3. Real figure

_images/module_wireless_ec20.png

4.1.4. Connection

  • USB connection

_images/module_wireless_ec20_usb.jpg

  • Mini PCIe connection

_images/module_wireless_4G-EC20_MiniPCIe_AntWord.jpg

  • SIM card Connection

_images/module_wireless_sim_connection.jpg

4.2. EC200T 4G Module suite

4.2.1. Product parameters

  • Model

    • EC200T-CN Mini PCIe-D

  • Supply voltage

    • 3.4V~ 4.3V, Typical values: 3.8V

  • Working frequency band

    • TDD-LTE: B34/B38/B39/B40/B41

    • FDD-LTE: B1/B3/B5/B8

    • WCDMA: B1/B5/B8

    • GSM: 900/1800 MHz

  • Data transmission

    • TDD-LTE： Max 120Mbps (DL) Max 3Mbps (UL)

    • FDD-LTE： Max 150Mbps (DL) Max 50Mbps (UL)

    • DC-HSDPA： Max 21Mbps (DL)

    • HSDPA: Max 5.76 Mbps (UL)

    • WCDMA: Max 384Kbps (DL) Max 384Kbps (UL)

    • EDGE: Max 236.8Kbps (DL) Max 236.8Kbps (UL)

    • GPRS： Max 85.6Kbps (DL) Max 85.6Kbps (UL)

  • Interface connector

    • USB: USB 2.0 high-speed interface, 480Mbps

    • digital voice: 1 digital voice interface (optional)

    • USIM：1.8V/3V

    • network indicator: ×2, NET_STATUS 和 NET_MODE

    • UART：×1 UART

    • W_DISABLE# for Airplane Mode Control

    • LED_WWAN# for Network Status Indication

    • PERST# for Module Resetting

    • RI for Host Wake-up

    • WAKEUP_IN for Sleeping Control, Low Level Active

    • WAKEUP_OUT for Sleeping Status Indication

    • antenna interface: 2 (main antenna, diversity antenna)

  • Structure size

    • 51.0mm × 30.0mm × 4.9mm

  • Weight

    • about 10.2g

  • Certification

    • CCC/SRRC/NAL

4.2.2. Real figure

_images/module_wireless_ec200t.jpg

4.2.3. Connection

Please refer to EC20 4G module suite.

4.3. RM500Q-GL 5G Module suite

4.3.1. Product parameters

  • Model

    • RM500QGLAB-M20-SGASA

  • Supply voltage

    • 3.135~4.4 V , Typical values: 3.7V

  • Transmitting power

    • WCDMA band：Class 3（24 dBm +1/-3 dB）

    • LTE band：Class 3（23 dBm ±2 dB）

    • 5G NR band：Class 3（23 dBm ±2 dB）

    • LTE B38/B40/B41/B42/B43 band HPUE：Class 2（26 dBm ±2 dB）

    • 5G NR n41/n77/n78/n79 bands HPUE：Class 2（26 dBm +2/-3 dB)

  • 5G NR characteristics

    • support 3GPP Release 15

    • modulation mode：

      • 256QAM (UL)

      • 256QAM (DL)

    • SCS supports 15 kHz and 30 kHz

    • the maximum bandwidth of 5g NR band under development supports 20MHz

    • 5G NR n41/n77/n78/n79 , the maximum bandwidth is 100 MHz

    • support Option 3x、3a and Option 2

    • NSA TDD：Max 2.5 Gbps (DL) Max 650 Mbps (UL)

    • SA TDD： Max 2.1 Gbps (DL) Max 900 Mbps (UL)

    • n41/n77/n78/n79 bands support 2 × 2 MIMO (UL)

    • n1/n2/n3/n7/25/n38/n40/n41/n48/n66/n77/n78/n79 bands support 4 × 4 MIMO (DL)

    • support SA and NSA networking mode, all 5G bands support SA，n38*/n41/n77/n78/n79 bands support NSA

  • LTE characteristics

    • support CA Cat 16 FDD and TDD

    • modulation mode：

      • (UL) QPSK、16QAM、64QAM、256QAM*

      • (DL) QPSK、16QAM、64QAM、256QAM

    • support 1.4~20 MHz（3 × CA）RF bandwidth

    • LTE： Max 1.0 Gbps (DL) Max 200 Mbps (UL)

    • B1/B2/B3/B4/B7/B25/B30/B38/B39/B40/B41/B42/B43/B48/B66 bands support (DL) 4 × 4 MIMO

  • UMTS characteristics

    • support QPSK、16QAM and 64QAM modulation

    • DC-HSDPA：Max 42 Mbps (DL)

    • HSUPA：Max 5.76 Mbps (UL)

    • WCDMA：Max (DL/UL) 384 kbps

    • support 3GPP R8 DC-HSDPA、HSPA+、HSDPA、HSUPA and WCDMA

  • Interface connector

    • USB interface： USB 3.1 and USB 2.0 standard

    • (U)SIM interface：support Class B（3.0 V）and Class C（1.8 V）

    • diversity receiving antenna interface ：support 5G NR/LTE/WCDMA diversity receiving

    • PCIE interface：PCIe Gen3 standard, up to 8 Gbps per channel

    • antenna interface：×4 (ANT0、ANT1、ANT2_GNSSL1 and ANT3)

  • Characteristics of network protocol

    • support QMI/NTP* protocol

    • support PAP and EIRP protocol, commonly used for PPP connections

  • Built-in GNSS

    • support GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, Galileo and QZSS

  • Structure size

    • (52.0 ±0.15) mm × (30.0 ±0.15) mm × (2.3 ±0.2) mm

  • Weight

    • about 8.6g

  • RoHS

    • EU RoHS standard

Note：* indicates that Quectel is under development

4.3.2. Real figure

_images/module_wireless_5G.png

4.3.3. Connection

  • M.2(NGFF) connection

_images/module_wireless_5G-RM500Q-GL_NGFF_AntWord.png

Note:The 5G-RM500Q-GL module needs to be connected with four antennas

4.3.4. Reference firmware

The official website of the public version of the default firmware support EC20 4G dongle module, EC200T 4G module and RM500Q-GL 5G module

4.4. GNSS Module

4.4.1. DELINCOMM Series

4.4.1.1. Product Parameter

_images/module_wireless_gps_delincomm_en.jpg

The parameters of each module model of this series will be different, please refer to DelinComm_gps.pdf

4.4.1.2. Interface Definition

VCC (red wire),GND (black wire),TX (white wire),RX(green wire)

4.4.1.3. Instruction

4.4.1.3.1. Hardware Connection

  • Connect the VCC, GND, TX and RX of the module to 3.3V, GND, RX and TX of ITX-3568Q UART9(the corresponding node is /dev/ttyS9) respectively. Pay attention to avoid burning the module due to wrong connection of VCC, GND, TX and RX.

  • For some definitions and descriptions of UART, you can refer to the wiki tutorial UART.

4.4.1.3.2. Software Configuration

The baud rate of DELICOMM series serial port is configured as 9600. By default, it has been configured in the public firmware and can be used after enabling GPS. For details, please refer to How to enable GPS and modify serial port configuration.

Note: The GPS function will occupy UART9. If UART9 needs to be used for other purposes, the GPS needs to be disabled first.

4.4.2. DK2635U7F Module

4.4.2.1. Product Parameter

_images/module_wireless_gps.en.jpg

4.4.2.2. Interface Definition

VCC (white wire),GND (black wire),TX (blue wire),RX(green wire)

4.4.2.3. Instruction

4.4.2.3.1. Hardware Connection

  • Connect the VCC, GND, TX and RX of the module to 3.3V, GND, RX and TX of ITX-3568Q UART9(the corresponding node is /dev/ttyS9) respectively. Pay attention to avoid burning the module due to wrong connection of VCC, GND, TX and RX.

  • For some definitions and descriptions of UART, you can refer to the wiki tutorial UART.

4.4.2.3.2. Software Configuration

The baud rate of UBLOX module serial port is configured as 9600. By default, it has been configured in the public firmware and can be used after enabling GPS. For details, please refer to How to enable GPS and modify serial port configuration.

Note: The GPS function will occupy UART9. If UART9 needs to be used for other purposes, the GPS needs to be disabled first.

4.4.3. EC20 GNSS Function

EC20 module supports GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO and BEIDOU, and is compatible with standard NMEA 0183 protocol. It can output NMEA information of 1Hz frequency through USB NMEA interface. The default output serial port is /dev/ttyUSB1 and baud rate is 115200 bit/s.

4.4.3.1. Antenna Requirements

  • Frequency range:1559MHz~1609MHz

  • Polarization:RHCP or Linear

  • VSWR:< 2(Typical)

  • Active antenna noise figure:< 1.5dB

  • Active antenna gain:> 0dB

  • LNA gain embedded in active antenna:< 17dB

Note: The GPS antenna need using an active antenna.

4.4.3.2. Instruction

4.4.3.2.1. Hardware Connection

The EC20 module can be connected according to the chapter of EC20 4G Module suite, and the GPS antenna is connected to the interface with GPS silk screen.

4.4.3.2.2. Software Configuration

For EC20 module, the serial port node and baud rate configured by GNSS are /dev/ttyUSB1 and 115200 respectively. Before using the module, you need to check whether the value of SERIAL_DEVICE or SERIAL_BAUD_RATE in /system/etc/u-blox.conf matches it. If you confirm the matching, you can use it after enabling GPS. Refer to the enabling method How to enable GPS and modify serial port configuration.

Note: For EC20 module, when using GNSS function, you need to pay attention to whether has other ttyUSB* devices. If there are other ttyUSB, the default ttyUSB device number of EC20 may be changed, resulting in the failure of GNSS function.

4.4.4. How to enable GPS and modify serial port Configuration

Glossary:

  • SERIAL_DEVICE: Serial port node

  • SERIAL_BAUD_RATE:Serial baud rate

4.4.4.1. Temporary modification method

Ensure that the firmware is the latest public firmware. The firmware turns off the GPS function by default and needs to be enabled manually. The following is the modification method:

  • Enable ADB, and how to enable ADB, please refer to wiki tutorial ADB Use

  • Set system readable and writable

    adb shell setprop persist.sys.root_access 3
adb root && adb remount

  • Modify Parameters

    • Enabled GPS：Modify the parameter ro.factory.hasGPS in /vendor/build.prop on the machine to true to enable GPS. It will take effect after soft restarting the machine.

    • Modify serial port configuration (serial port node or baud rate)：Modify the SERIAL_DEVICE or SERIAL_BAUD_RATE in /system/etc/u-blox.conf on the machine to the value of the corresponding module configuration. It takes effect after soft restarting the machine.

4.4.4.2. Code modification method

  • Enabled GPS

    • Modify the BOARD_HAS_GPS in the SDK directory device/rockchip/rk356x/rk3568_firefly_itx_3568q/rk3568_firefly_itx_3568q.mk to true to enable GPS function. Then, recompile the SDK and upgrad the firmware to take effect.

  • Modify serial port configuration (serial port node or baud rate)

    • Modify the SERIAL_DEVICE or SERIAL_BAUD_RATE in the SDK directory device/rockchip/rk356x/rk3568_firefly_itx_3568q/rk3568_firefly_itx_3568q.mk to the value of the corresponding module configuration. Then, recompile the SDK and upgrad the firmware to take effect.