u-blox NINA-W1 series, System Integration Manual

Page 1: ...ries Wi Fi and NINA W10 and NINA W15 series multiradio modules The module has a number of important security features embedded including secure boot which ensures that only authenticated software can run on the module This makes NINA W1 ideal for critical IoT applications where security is important It connects to a host system using UART high speed RMII or a GPIO interface www u blox com UBX 1700...

Page 2: ...tus NINA W131 NINA W131 00B 00 1 0 0 06 N A Initial Production NINA W131 00B 01 1 0 1 06 UBX 18016827 Initial Production NINA W131 01B 00 2 0 0 06 N A Initial Production NINA W132 NINA W132 00B 00 1 0 0 06 N A Initial Production NINA W132 00B 01 1 0 1 06 UBX 18016827 Initial Production NINA W132 01B 00 2 0 0 06 N A Initial Production NINA W101 NINA W101 00B 00 06 N A Initial Production NINA W102 N...

Page 3: ...MII SMI 10 1 8 Antenna interfaces 11 1 8 1 Antenna pin NINA W101 W131 W151 11 1 8 2 Integrated antenna NINA W102 W132 W152 12 1 9 Reserved pins RSVD 12 1 10GND pins 12 Software 13 2 1 Flashing the NINA module 13 2 2 Updating the NINA W13 W15 u blox connectivity software 13 2 3 Developing and flashing the NINA W10 open CPU software 14 2 3 1 Setup Toolchain 14 2 3 2 Get ESP IDF 15 2 3 3 Setup path t...

Page 4: ...ing 34 3 5 2 Module placement 35 3 5 3 Layout and manufacturing 35 3 6 Module footprint and paste mask 35 3 7 Thermal guidelines 36 3 8 ESD guidelines 36 Handling and soldering 37 4 1 Packaging shipping storage and moisture preconditioning 37 4 2 Handling 37 4 3 Soldering 37 4 3 1 Reflow soldering process 37 4 3 2 Cleaning 38 4 3 3 Other remarks 39 Approvals 40 5 1 General requirements 40 5 2 FCC ...

Page 5: ... NINA W15 series The NINA W15x modules has similar performance as the NINA W13x modules but provides support for dual mode Bluetooth Bluetooth BR EDR low energy v4 2 making it a multiradio gateway NINA W10 series Multiradio MCU module that integrates a powerful microcontroller MCU and a radio for wireless communication With the open CPU architecture customers can develop advanced applications runn...

Page 6: ...i baseband IO Buffers 2xXtensa 32 bit LX6 MCU SRAM 4Mbit Cryptographics hardware accelerations Antenna NINA W132 PLL Quad SPI VCC_IO VCC 3 0 3 6V 40 MHz Reset UART RMII EFUSE GPIO BPF ANT NINA W131 Flash 16Mbit Linear voltage regulators RF ROM Wi Fi baseband IO Buffers 2xXtensa 32 bit LX6 MCU SRAM 4Mbit Cryptographics hardware accelerations Antenna NINA W152 PLL Quad SPI VCC_IO VCC 3 0 3 6V 40 MHz...

Page 7: ...INA W102 also support external FLASH and SRAM memory via a Quad SPI interface see section 2 7 2 4 1 4 Operating modes 1 4 1 Power modes The NINA W1 series modules are power efficient devices capable of operating in different power saving modes and configurations Different sections of the module can be powered off when not needed and complex wake up events can be generated from different external a...

Page 8: ...requency 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 conside...

Page 9: ...l lines CTS as input RTS as output DSR and DTS are used to set and indicate the system modes The UART can be used as 4 wire UART with hardware flow control and 2 wire UART with only TXD and RXD If the UART is used in 2 wire mode CTS should be connected to the GND on the NINA W1 module The UART interface is also be used for firmware upgrade See the Software section for more information The u blox c...

Page 10: ...ine and a data line to setup the internal registers on PHY chip Due to pin muxing of the RMII interface there is a limitation in the functionality of NINA W13 W15 series module when using RMII The following functions will be turned off when RMII communication is initiated Red Green and Blue LED will be disabled UART will be run without flow control as CTS and RTS functionality will be disabled DSR...

Page 11: ...nterface is different for each module variant in the NINA W1 series 1 8 1 Antenna pin NINA W101 W131 W151 The NINA W101 W131 W151 modules are equipped with an RF pin The RF pin has a nominal characteristic impedance of 50 Ω and must be connected to the antenna through a 50 Ω transmission line to allow reception of radio frequency RF signals in the 2 4 GHz frequency band Choose an antenna with opti...

Page 12: ...ording to the u blox reference designs The reference design is available on request from u blox 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 8 2...

Page 13: ...lidated hardware such as NINA W13 W15 The u blox connectivity software is delivered in a zip file NINA W1xX_SW1 0 0 zip Unzip this file before downloading The secure boot is included in the file json In s center software secure boot is supported from version 4 7 onwards The json file should be selected to make to use secure boot in the s center as shown in Figure 6 The s center will handle the dow...

Page 14: ...The following must be setup in order to compile flash and execute a program on NINA W10 Setup Toolchain o Windows Mac and Linux is supported Get ESP IDF o Download the GIT repository provided by Espressif Setup Path to ESP IDF o The toolchain program can access the ESP IDF using IDF_PATH environment variable Build and Flash o Start a Project Connect Configure Build and Flash a program More informa...

Page 15: ...om espressif esp idf To download the files open the mingw32 exe navigate to the directory where you want to have the ESP IDF like c git and clone it using git clone command Use the recursive parameter In this example the esp idf repository will be created in the c git folder git clone recursive https github com espressif esp idf git To checkout a specific tag such as v2 1 use the following command...

Page 16: ...et up for building the projects Figure 9 Setting up the PATH variable 2 3 4 Building and flashing The environment is now ready to build and flash a project In this case we use hello world as a sample project This project will print out Hello World ten times on the UART and then reboot To build this sample project go to the hello world folder using the following command Plug in NINA W10 to the PC a...

Page 17: ...ample only the com port that is used to flash NINA W10 is modified Use the arrow keys to navigate and select the Serial flasher config as shown in Figure 10 Figure 10 Screenshot that shows selection of Serial flasher config Enter the com port name in this case enter COM10 and click OK Figure 11 Screenshot that shows selection of the sample com port number COM10 Save the sdkconfig by entering a fil...

Page 18: ...g and flashing NINA W10 should be prepared to accept the downloaded file This is done by holding the BOOT button while resetting or powering on the board Then enter make flash to build and flash the NINA W10 as shown below Figure 13 Compiling of the example application Now reset the NINA W10 by clicking the RESET button Then enter make monitor to open a serial port monitor program to the NINA W10 ...

Page 19: ... be removed so that they do not interfere It is not possible to use the Hardware Flow control or the DSR signals on the UART while using this setup More information about the esptool is available at https github com espressif esptool 2 4 Arduino support for NINA W10 It is possible to use Arduino electronics platform on the NINA W10 The Arduino platform and open source community provides the possib...

Page 20: ...files as mentioned in the next step The Arduino IDE user folder is typically located in C Users user_name Documents Arduino 2 4 2 Downloading from the GIT repository Download from the URL https github com espressif arduino esp32 git The files should be placed in C Users user_name Documents Arduino hardware espressif esp32 Open the mingw32 exe located in c msys32 The Arduino user folder is normally...

Page 21: ...duino Esp32 repository 2 4 3 Downloading the Toolchain Go to the folder C Users user_name Documents Arduino hardware espressif esp32 tools to execute the program get exe Double click on the get exe to start the download This will download the toolchain that is needed to build and flash the project All the files are extracted on successful download Figure 17 Screenshot after selecting get exe Norma...

Page 22: ... Files x86 Arduino arduino exe In the Tools Board menu select ESP32 Dev Module and then select the following Flash Mode DIO Flash Frequency 40 MHz Flash Size 2 MB 16 Mb Upload Speed 921600 Core Debug Level Debug optional Figure 19 Screenshot that depicts selection of the ESP32 Dev Module u blox NINA W10 module will soon be added to the list of supported boards Until then use the ESP32 Dev Module ...

Page 23: ...mples WiFiScan Press the arrow button as shown highlighted in red in the below screenshot Figure 20 to start the upload to NINA W10 Figure 20 Screenshot that depicts the arrow at the top Select Serial Monitor from the Tools menu as shown in Figure 21 to view the events Figure 21 Screenshot that depicts selection of the Serial Monitor The Wi Fi scan starts and will display results as shown in the s...

Page 24: ...file with the values provided below const esp_phy_init_data_t esp_phy_get_init_data int8_t init_data malloc sizeof esp_phy_init_data_t memcpy init_data phy_init_data sizeof esp_phy_init_data_t init_data 44 56 target power 0 init_data 45 58 target power 1 init_data 46 54 target power 2 init_data 47 47 target power 3 init_data 48 44 target power 4 init_data 49 37 target power 5 init_data 50 0 msc0 i...

Page 25: ...hy_init_data_t init_data 2 5 1 2 Wi Fi output power configuration for version v3 1 The original file phy_init c is located in the folder esp idf components esp32 in the official v3 1 esp idf git repository Update this file with the values provided below const esp_phy_init_data_t esp_phy_get_init_data int8_t init_data malloc sizeof esp_phy_init_data_t memcpy init_data phy_init_data sizeof esp_phy_i...

Page 26: ...t_data 2 5 1 3 Bluetooth BR EDR output power configuration No output power configuration for Bluetooth BR EDR is required With default settings the module will operate at 6 dBm which is within the regulatory limit for NINA W1 2 5 1 4 Bluetooth low energy output power configuration No output power configuration for Bluetooth low energy is required With default settings the module will operate at 6 ...

Page 27: ...recommendations provided in section 3 4 1 for schematic and layout design 4 System functions RESET_N GPIO and other System input and output pins Accurate design is required to guarantee that the voltage level is well defined during module boot 5 Other pins Accurate design is required to guarantee proper functionality 3 2 Supply interfaces 3 2 1 Module supply VCC design Good connection of the modul...

Page 28: ...in a metal enclosure No metal casing or plastics using metal flakes should be used Avoid metallic based paint or lacquer as well The NINA W101 and NINA W131 modules offer more freedom as an external antenna can be mounted further away from the module According to the FCC regulations the transmission line from the module s antenna pin to the antenna or antenna connector on the host PCB is considere...

Page 29: ...nimized to reduce dielectric losses o If traces longer than few centimeters are needed it is recommended to use a coaxial connector and cable to reduce losses o Stack up should allow for thick 50 Ω traces and at least 200 µm trace width is recommended to assure good impedance control over the PCB manufacturing process o FR 4 material exhibits poor thickness stability and thus less control of imped...

Page 30: ...as with optimal radiating performance in the operating bands o RF cables should be carefully selected with minimum insertion losses Additional insertion loss will be introduced by low quality or long cable Large insertion loss reduces radiation performance o A high quality 50 Ω coaxial connector provides proper PCB to RF cable transition Integrated antennas such as patch like antennas o Internal i...

Page 31: ...iation efficiency is the ratio of the radiated power to the power delivered to the antenna input the efficiency is a measure of how well an antenna receives or transmits Maximum Gain Refer to Datasheet The maximum antenna gain must not exceed the value specified in type approval documentation to comply with the radiation exposure limits specified by regulatory agencies Table 3 Summary of antenna i...

Page 32: ...on Wi Fi and Bluetooth end products to increase the difficulty for the end user to replace the antenna with higher gain versions and exceed regulatory limits The following recommendations apply for proper layout of the connector Strictly follow the connector manufacturer s recommended layout o SMA Pin Through Hole connectors require GND keep out that is clearance a void area on all the layers arou...

Page 33: ...ecific countermeasures like metal shields or ferrite sheets to reduce the interference Take care of interaction between co located RF systems like LTE sidebands on 2 4 GHz band Transmitted power may interact or disturb the performance of NINA W1 modules 3 3 3 On board antenna design NINA W102 W132 W152 only If a plastic enclosure is used it is possible to use NINA W1 with embedded antenna In order...

Page 34: ...the RMII bus should be done so that crosstalk with other parts of the circuit is minimized providing adequate isolation between the signals the clock and the surrounding busses traces Termination resistors are recommended on the RX and TX lines of the RMII bus Pull up resistor is required for MDIO The General High Speed layout guidelines in section 3 5 apply for the RMII and the SMI bus 3 5 Genera...

Page 35: ...performance Ensure that maximum allowable length for high speed busses is not exceeded Ensure that you track your impedance matched traces Consult with your PCB manufacturer early in the project for proper stack up definition RF and digital sections should be clearly separated on the board Ground splitting is not allowed below the module Minimize bus length to reduce potential EMI issues from digi...

Page 36: ...ice implements a removable antenna the antenna port can be separated from the enclosure port The antenna port includes the antenna element and its interconnecting cable surfaces The applicability of ESD immunity test to the whole device depends on the device classification as defined by ETSI EN 301 489 1 Applicability of ESD immunity test to the related device ports or the related interconnecting ...

Page 37: ...ust always be between the local GND and PCB GND Before mounting an antenna patch connect ground of the device When handling the RF pin do not come into contact with any charged capacitors and be careful when contacting materials that can develop charges e g patch antenna 10 pF coax cable 50 80 pF m soldering iron To prevent electrostatic discharge through the RF input do not touch any exposed ante...

Page 38: ...ing cycles 1 Table 6 Recommended reflow profile Figure 26 Reflow profile Lower value of TP and slower ramp down rate 2 3 C sec is preferred After reflow soldering optical inspection of the modules is recommended to verify proper alignment Target values in Table 6 should be taken as general guidelines for a Pb free process Refer to JEDEC J STD 020C standard for further information 4 3 2 Cleaning Cl...

Page 39: ...or boards populated with the modules Miniature Wave Selective Solder process is preferred over traditional wave soldering process Hand soldering is not recommended Rework is not recommended Conformal coating may affect the performance of the module it is important to prevent the liquid from flowing into the module The RF shields do not provide protection for the module from coating liquids with lo...

Page 40: ...when operating in authorized modes on any host product given that the integrator follows the instructions as described in this document 5 2 1 NINA W10 series FCC ID and IC certification number u blox FCC ID and IC certification number for NINA W10 series is restricted to be used by u blox only Integrators other than u blox may not refer to the u blox FCC ID and IC certification number on their end...

Page 41: ...ve Change 5 2 3 2 Co location simultaneous transmission If the module is to be co located with another transmitter additional measurements for simultaneous transmission is required The results must be added to the grant file as a Class II Permissive Change 5 2 3 3 Adding a new antenna for authorization If the authorized antennas and or antenna trace design cannot be used the new antenna and or ant...

Page 42: ...nctional tests Digital I O tests Measurement and verification of RF characteristics in all supported bands calibration of transmitter power levels modulation and frequency accuracy power levels sensitivity and so on Figure 27 Automatic test equipment for module test 6 2 OEM manufacturer production test As the testing is already done by u blox an OEM manufacturer does not need to repeat firmware te...

Page 43: ...al quality This test can be performed after establishing a connection with an external device A very simple test can be performed by just scanning for a known Bluetooth low energy device and checking the signal level These kinds of test may be useful as a go no go test but not for RF performance measurements This test is suitable to check the functionality of the communication with the host contro...

Page 44: ...rnet of Things ISM Industrial Scientific and Medical radio LED Light Emitting Diode LPO Low Power Oscillator LTE Long Term Evolution MAC Media Access Control MCU Microcontroller MCS Modulation Coding Scheme MSL Moisture Sensitivity Level NSMD Non Solder Mask Defined OEM Original Equipment Manufacturer PCB Printed Circuit Board RF Radio Frequency ROM Read only Memory RMII Reduced Media independent ...

Page 45: ...rocessing Unit UTC Coordinated Universal Time DCE Data Circuit terminating Equipment Data Communication Equipment DTE Data Terminal Equipment DC Direct Current DRX Discontinuous Reception DDC Display Data Channel DL Down Link Reception XYZ This table can be automatically constructed using the custom macro Table 7 Explanation of the abbreviations and terms used ...

Page 46: ... variants NINA W101 and NINA W102 Updated section 1 and classified the information for NINA W13 series and NINA W10 series separately Updated Software section section 2 with more information about NINA W13 and NINA W10 software updates Updated Block diagrams section 1 2 1 Included reference to NINA W101 and NINA W102 modules in section 3 Minor changes in section 3 2 2 R04 5 Mar 2018 ajah mhan cmag...

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