Blues Notecard® Datasheet: NOTE-LORA v2.1

Functional Description

Notecard is an embeddable device-to-cloud data pump designed to remove the complexity and friction inherent in traditional IoT solutions. The Notecard family includes models supporting secure cellular, WiFi, LoRa, or satellite connectivity, enabling rapid development and iteration at a predictable, low cost. With as little as two lines of code on your host MCU, and no external libraries or dependencies, any Notecard model can securely move data from device to cloud.

Specifically, the Notecard NOTE-LORA v2.1 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 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).

• Embeddable. Castellated edges enable product builder to embed the Notecard for LoRa directly onto a PCB for volume production.

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.

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Module Datasheet

• STM32WLE5

Block Diagram

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.

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, while still supporting active UART and I2C communication.

Power Information

Notecard for LoRa is powered by the logic voltage supply (VIO_P), provided by the Notecarrier or host system; it must be 3.3V. Because this supply powers the STM32WL module and the LoRa radio, it should be designed with a 150mA budget allocated to the Notecard, and PCB traces for VIO_P and GND should be designed to handle that current.

Unlike cellular and WiFi Notecards, the VMODEM_P pins on Notecard for LoRa do not power the radio. VMODEM_P is used only to monitor the supply/battery voltage (for example, in response to a card.voltage request). It presents a negligible (sub-µA) load, and any voltage in the range of 2.5V to 5.5V may be provided.

Notecard for LoRa typically draws ~8µA on VIO_P when sitting idle 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.

Reset and Loss of Power

Antenna Requirements

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 Notecard for LoRa.

Pin Information

Pin Definitions

* See the power information section for important product design considerations related to reset and loss of power conditions.

Pin Description

Notecard M.2 Key E, Edge Connector Pinout

Notecard for LoRa v2.1 Castellated Edge Pinout

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Bootloader

BOOT (pin 65) is a test/debug pin that forces Notecard into its bootloader instead of running its firmware. Its primary use is recovering a Notecard whose firmware update was interrupted, leaving it unable to boot normally. This pin plays no part in normal operation and use of it is optional.

To enter the bootloader, hold BOOT at VIO_P while resetting the Notecard, then release NRST (pin 67) before releasing BOOT. Notecard will stay in its bootloader, ready to accept firmware over the USB serial interface.

Restrictions on this pin are:

• If this pin is not used, it must remain not connected (NC).
• Never apply a voltage above VIO_P to this pin.
• Never hold this pin HIGH in normal operation, or Notecard will enter its bootloader on every reset rather than running its firmware.

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

Electrical Characteristics

Absolute Maximum Ratings

DC Characteristics

Ordering Information

Blues Shop

Certifications

CE

For the EU variant of Notecard for LoRa.

CE certification indicates that a product complies with the essential requirements of relevant European health, safety, and environmental protection legislation. It is a mandatory conformity mark for products sold within the European Economic Area (EEA).

FCC

For the US variant of Notecard for LoRa.

FCC certification indicates that a product complies with the regulations set forth by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the United States. This certification ensures that electronic devices do not emit electromagnetic interference that could disrupt other electronic devices and communication systems.

ISED

For the US variant of Notecard for LoRa.

ISED/ISEDC certification is issued by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISEDC), formerly known as Industry Canada (IC). This certification ensures that electronic devices comply with Canadian regulations regarding radio frequency (RF) emissions and electromagnetic interference (EMI).

Board Errata

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

Contact Information

Blues Inc.
https://blues.com
50 Dunham Ridge Suite 1650
Beverly, MA 01915
support@blues.com