LoRa Device-to-Cloud Data Pump
For developers looking for the ability to expand their wireless connectivity options beyond cellular and Wi-Fi without sacrificing the simplicity and power of the Notecard.
The Notecard for LoRa is a version of the Blues Notecard that allows for connecting to LoRaWAN gateways. The device follows the same M.2 pinout as the cellular and Wi-Fi Notecards. What's more, the Notecard for LoRa uses the same powerful JSON-based programming interface, meaning that developers can easily add LoRa as a deployment option for their IoT solutions, with minimal impact to their existing host applications.
Functional Description
As an embeddable device-to-cloud data pump, the Notecard eliminates all complexity and friction that exists with existing IoT solutions. It enables development and rapid iteration of production-quality secure cellular, Wi-Fi, or LoRa IoT solutions at an extremely low, fixed cost. With as little as two lines of code on the controlling MCU, and with no external libraries or dependencies, data can be sent from device to cloud.
Notecard is:
- A drop-in embeddable data storage and transport module for LoRa IoT
products, pumping JSON-formatted or binary data ("Notes") bi-directionally
between device and cloud:
- JSON from/to MCU application using I2C, Serial, or USB.
- JSON to/from your cloud app using HTTPS or MQTT.
- JSON is auto-tagged with date/time.
- A removable and field-upgradable 30mm x 35mm system-on-a-module (SOM).
Features
- Low-power. Designed to operate on battery power, be "always-on", maintain time & location, while typically drawing less than ~8µA@5V when idle.
- MCU-agnostic. Will support any MCU or single-board computer as your app processor - even low-memory, 8-bit microcontrollers.
- Simple. Uses a JSON command interface over I2C, UART, or USB. Allows you to connect your 3.3V MCU.
- Power-conscious. Mostly-offline data sync mode for low power.
- Efficient. Battery-powered LoRa without the complexity of managing connections, queues, or storage.
- Integrated. Utilizes an extremely thin cloud infrastructure that directly routes your data to where it belongs: AWS, Azure, GCP, or your own cloud.
- Built for data. Data routing and simple "no code/low code" visual data stream analysis through Notehub.io (SaaS), or host and integrate Notehub functionality into your own app (OSS).
Package Configuration
NOTE-LORA
- Product Name: Notecard for LoRa
- Module: STM32WLE5
- LoRa Frequency: Either 868 MHz (Europe) or 915 MHz (United States). Set by Blues during provisioning.
Block Diagram
The Notecard for LoRa is packaged using a compact removable form factor, 30mm x 35mm.
Open hardware schematics for both the Notecard and Notecarrier boards are available on GitHub, making it a straightforward task to embed the Notecard into a broad variety of host device designs.
The Notecard can interface with the host MCU at 3.3v levels.
Front | Back |
---|---|
Typical Application
As shown below, Notecard is not an application processor and hosts no customer application code. It can be used as a data pump peripheral that is focused on bidirectional, asynchronous, secure data staging and transfer of JSON Notes.
Key Features
-
Low Power Consumption
The Notecard has sophisticated power control and makes heavy use of variable clock speeds. This enables the Notecard to have a typical idle current consumption of ~8µA@5V, while still supporting active UART and I2C communication.
Power Information
The Notecard's main supply voltage (VMODEM_P
) is used for the LoRa radio
and associated circuitry. The Notecard has on-board regulators designed for
direct connection to a battery, so any voltage in the range of 2.5V to 5.5V may
be provided.
The Notecard for LoRa typically sits in an ~8µA@5V idle mode waiting for a request
from the host MCU, however the Notecard current draw increases when the LoRa
radio is active (consult the
STM32WLE5 datasheet
for details). The module also draws 10's of mA when the CPU is
performing session encryption. As such, it's recommended that VMODEM_P
be
directly connected to a battery or other supply that is capable of
such brief spikes. It is also recommended that PCB traces for VMODEM_P
and
GND
be designed to handle such current.
The Notecard's logic voltage (VIO_P
) is provided by the Notecarrier or host
system for digital communication; it will be 3.3V. Although the
Notecard typically draws very little current, this supply should be designed
with a 150mA budget allocated to the Notecard.
Pin Name | Direction | Pin Numbers | Usage |
---|---|---|---|
GND | -- | 3,5,6,11,18,33,39,45,51,57,71,73 | Ground |
VIO_P | IN | 2,4 | 3.3V @ 150mA |
VUSB | IN | 13 | USB Serial proxy for "line power", with respect to dynamic line voltage detection |
VMODEM_P | IN | 70,72,74 | 2.5V to 5.5V, capable of sustained 250mA draw |
Antenna Requirements
The Notecard for LoRa requires usage of an external antenna attached to its u.FL connector. The external antenna must support a frequency band appropriate for the region-specific LoRa frequency in use.
Cellular Service
This section does not apply to the Notecard for LoRa.
Pin Information
Pin Definitions
Pin Name | Pin Description |
---|---|
ATTN_P | Attention pin (requires protection) |
AUX1 | Auxiliary GPIO pin 1 |
AUX2 | Auxiliary GPIO pin 2 |
AUX3 | Auxiliary GPIO pin 3 |
AUX4 | Auxiliary GPIO pin 4 |
AUX_CHARGING | Charge detection |
CTX | GPIO |
RTX | GPIO |
GND | Ground |
NC | No connection (reserved and must be left open) |
NRST | Active-low (not) reset |
RX_P | UART receive (requires protection - Notecard has onboard 10K pull-up resistors) |
SCL_P | I2C clock (requires protection - Notecard has onboard 10K pull-up resistors) |
SDA_P | I2C data (requires protection - Notecard has onboard 10K pull-up resistors) |
SIM_CLK | External SIM clock |
SIM_IO | External SIM input/output |
SIM_NPRESENT | External SIM active-low (not) present |
SIM_RST | External SIM reset |
SIM_VCC | External SIM positive (common collector) voltage |
TX_P | UART transmit (requires protection) |
USB_DN | USB data negative |
USB_DP | USB data positive |
VACT_GPS_IN | Active antenna GPS bias voltage |
VACT_GPS_OUT | Active antenna GPS 3.8V from Notecard |
VIO_P | I/O Voltage (requires protection) |
VMODEM_P | Voltage modem (requires protection) |
VUSB | 5V USB voltage |
Pin Description
Notecard M.2 Key E, Edge Connector Pinout
Pin # | Pin Name | Func. Interface | Func. Interface | Pin Name | Pin # |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | NC | Power | VIO_P | 2 | |
3 | GND | Power | Power | VIO_P | 4 |
5 | GND | Power | Power | GND | 6 |
7 | USB_DP | USB Serial | SIM_VCC | 8 | |
9 | USB_DN | USB Serial | SIM_RST | 10 | |
11 | GND | Power | SIM_IO | 12 | |
13 | VUSB | USB Serial | SIM_CLK | 14 | |
15 | NC | SIM_NPRESENT | 16 | ||
17 | NC | Power | GND | 18 | |
19 | NC | VACT_GPS_OUT | 20 | ||
21 | NC | VACT_GPS_OUT | 22 | ||
23 | NC | MODULE KEY | -- | 24 | |
25 | -- | MODULE KEY | MODULE KEY | -- | 26 |
27 | -- | MODULE KEY | MODULE KEY | -- | 28 |
29 | -- | MODULE KEY | MODULE KEY | -- | 30 |
31 | -- | MODULE KEY | NC | 32 | |
33 | GND | Power | NC | 34 | |
35 | NC | NC | 36 | ||
37 | NC | AUX_CHARGING | 38 | ||
39 | GND | Power | I2C Serial | SCL_P | 40 |
41 | ALT_DFU_RX | I2C Serial | SDA_P | 42 | |
43 | ALT_DFU_TX | NC | 44 | ||
45 | GND | Power | Auxiliary Ports | AUX1 | 46 |
47 | RTX | Auxiliary Ports | AUX2 | 48 | |
49 | CTX | Auxiliary Ports | AUX3 | 50 | |
51 | GND | Power | Auxiliary Ports | AUX4 | 52 |
53 | NC | Attention | ATTN_P | 54 | |
55 | NC | Auxiliary Ports | NC | 56 | |
57 | GND | Power | NC | 58 | |
59 | NC | NC | 60 | ||
61 | NC | UART Serial | RX_P | 62 | |
63 | JT_RST | UART Serial | TX_P | 64 | |
65 | BOOT | NC | 66 | ||
67 | NRST | Reset | NC | 68 | |
69 | NC | Power | VMODEM_P | 70 | |
71 | GND | Power | Power | VMODEM_P | 72 |
73 | GND | Power | Power | VMODEM_P | 74 |
75 | NC |
Link: Digi-Key part number of the connector - Both Digi-Key and Mouser have pictures for this part number that show a component with a different key, but both have links to datasheet/drawing/CAD models.
All pins whose Functional Interface is marked "Power" must be connected.
All pins named NC
MUST have no connection and be left open because they are
reserved for future use. Furthermore, any pin not used in a design MUST also be
left open.
Those pins ending with _P
may be optionally protected from anomalous external
conditions on some Notecarrier designs, depending upon use-case specific
requirements.
Technical Details
Host Microcontroller API
Notecard supports a rich, simple API whose syntax is standard JSON. The
developer can communicate requests to Notecard, generally by using little more
than printf
functions available in most programming languages.
Serial Communication
JSON requests and responses (the Notecard's Application Programming Interface "API") may be sent over any of the following interfaces:
- USB Serial Interface
- UART Serial Interface
- I2C Interface
API Reference
For API usage, names, and parameters, please refer to the Notecard API Reference.
USB Serial Interface
The USB Serial Interface appears to the host as a USB 2.0 Full Speed CDC device. You can access it from Linux, Windows, or macOS without a device driver using terminal emulation software. Newline-delimited JSON requests may be sent directly as UTF-8 text over this port, or you may use the open-source Blues libraries for C, Python, Go, and Arduino.
Pin Name | Direction | Pin Number | Usage |
---|---|---|---|
USB_DM | I/O | 9 | USB D- data signal |
USB_DP | I/O | 7 | USB D+ data signal |
VUSB | IN | 13 | +5V from USB |
GND | I/O | 11 | Ground from USB |
UART Serial Interface
The UART Serial Interface operates at VIO_P
at a fixed baud rate of 9600 using
eight data bits, no parity bit, and one stop bit. Newline-delimited JSON
requests may be sent directly as UTF-8 text over this port, or you may use the
open-source Blues libraries for C, Python, Go, and Arduino.
Pin Name | Direction | Pin Number | Usage |
---|---|---|---|
RX_P | IN | 62 | Receive data signal |
TX_P | OUT | 64 | Transmit data signal |
I2C Interface
The Notecard acts as an I2C secondary device operating at VIO_P
, and it
implements a simple
Serial-over-I2C protocol.
You can access it from an embedded host using open-source Blues
libraries for C, Python, Go, and Arduino.
Pin Name | Direction | Pin Number | Usage |
---|---|---|---|
SCL_P | IN | 40 | I2C clock |
SDA_P | I/O | 42 | I2C data |
Host Microcontroller Hardware Interface
Attention Interrupt
Using software, you can optionally configure Notecard to use the ATTN
output
pin to:
- Inform the host MCU of certain asynchronous events (such as incoming data availability) in an interrupt-driven manner rather than just polling.
- Place the host MCU into a power-off sleep state and wake it back up again.
Pin Name | Direction | Pin Number | Usage |
---|---|---|---|
ATTN_P | OUT | 54 | Attention pin |
This pin operates at VIO_P
. If it is unused it can be left disconnected.
Auxiliary Ports
The AUX1-4 pins operate at VIO_P
and can be configured in software to operate
in several optional modes such as GPS Tracking Mode, GPIO Mode, and Internet
Button Mode. If these pins are unused, they can be left disconnected.
Pin Name | Direction | Pin Number | Usage |
---|---|---|---|
AUX1 | I/O | 46 | General Purpose IO |
AUX2 | I/O | 48 | General Purpose IO |
AUX3 | I/O | 50 | General Purpose IO |
AUX4 | I/O | 52 | General Purpose IO |
AUX5 | I/O | 38 | Alt. attention pin or charge detection |
Reset
Use of this pin is optional. If the host system has a global reset line, caution should be used when connecting this pin to the host system's reset because the Notecard may independently pull the line low in software. Restrictions on this pin are:
- If this pin is not used, it must remain not connected (
NC
). - The pin is active-low. It must be held low for at least 350nS for a clean reset.
- This pin must never be pulled-up. A pull-up would interfere with the Notecard's own internal watchdog timer and thus will prevent reliable operations.
- Some Notecarriers may invert this signal to be active-high.
Pin Name | Direction | Pin Number | Usage |
---|---|---|---|
NRST | I/O | 67 | Active-low reset |
Network Communication Behavior
The Notecard includes a built-in connection to Notehub.io and communicates though any available (and in-range) LoRaWAN gateway and LoRaWAN Network Server (LNS) with a secure connection to Notehub.io. Outbound connections communicate with Notehub via the LNS for provisioning and device authentication. By default, the connection is unidirectional, but can operate bi-directionally, if needed.
Specifications
General Characteristics
Description | Value |
---|---|
Weight | 3 grams |
Electrical Characteristics
Absolute Maximum Ratings
Description | Minimum | Maximum | Unit |
---|---|---|---|
Storage temperature | -40 | 90 | °C |
Ambient operating temperature | -40 | 85 | °C |
DC Characteristics
Ordering Information
Certifications
Certifications are currently pending.
Terms and Conditions
Visit Blues Hardware Terms & Conditions
Security and Vulnerability Scanning
As a part of our regular audit and scanning process, Blues Inc. performs full vulnerability scanning every six months. Any identified vulnerabilities will be analyzed, reported, and patched in a timely fashion, where appropriate.
Revision History
Author | Date | Summary |
---|---|---|
Ray Ozzie | 2019-2020 | Document drafted |
John Wiedey | 2020 | Various improvements |
Sean Taylor | 2020 | Various improvements |
Zachary J. Fields | 11 SEP 2020 | Updated information and translated to markdown |
Brandon Satrom | 13 APR 2021 | Updated Country list based on carrier audit |
Carlton Henderson | 12 JUL 2021 | Update coverage information |
Carlton Henderson | 12 JUL 2021 | Fix block diagram photo |
Brandon Satrom | 11 NOV 2021 | Added Certification Dates |
Brandon Satrom | 07 JAN 2022 | Added RoHS Certification Dates |
Brandon Satrom | 15 FEB 2022 | Add Wi-Fi Notecard Datasheet |
Rob Lauer | 25 AUG 2022 | Added updated certification data |
Rob Lauer | 27 OCT 2022 | Update country coverage information |
Rob Lauer | 13 JAN 2023 | Added RF performance information |
Rob Lauer | 2 FEB 2023 | Warning re: STM32 light sensitivity |
Kimball Johnson | 21 SEP 2023 | Updated for new Cellular + Wi-Fi, LoRa, and Wi-Fi Notecards |
Rob Lauer | 23 OCT 2023 | Update and clarify power consumption values |
Rob Lauer | 31 JAN 2023 | Update Notecard for LoRa datasheet details |
Rob Lauer | 16 APR 2024 | Updated for new Cellular (black PCB) Notecards, MB Cellular Notecards, and Notecard XP |
Rob Lauer | 6 JUN 2024 | Added cell band support for Cellular Notecards |
Rob Lauer | 23 JUL 2024 | Update pin definitions |
TJ VanToll | 24 SEP 2024 | Adding Notecard for LoRa v2.1 information |
Contact Information
Blues Inc.
https://blues.com
50 Dunham Ridge Suite 1650
Beverly, MA 01915
support@blues.com