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Blues Wireless Notecarrier® Datasheet

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Companion development boards for easy prototyping and deployment.

Notecarriers are available in several form-factors to facilitate rapid prototyping. Depending upon the variant, a Notecarrier may be designed with direct host integration, size optimization, integrated cellular/Wi-Fi and GNSS antennas, or even to be soldered directly into a solution for low-volume production.

Functional Description

Notecarriers are designed to bridge the gap between prototype and production for the Notecard. The Notecard is designed to be socketed directly onto the circuit board using an edge connector socket, along with a customer's MCU, sensors, and controls. While such a model provides a highly modular configuration for the final product, it can make prototyping unnecessarily difficult.

Notecarriers offer breakout connections for the Notecard, as well as circuitry to provide power management, protection and signal amplification.

Features

Simple. Provides breadboard compatible pins or solderable mask for direct connections.
Compatible. Level shifters ensure compatibility with 3.3V or 5V equipment.
Convenient. Powered by a micro-USB connector (requires 2A supply).
GPS Ready. Models are either active GPS compatible, or feature a built-in antenna to enable GNSS connectivity.

Package Configuration

Notecarrier-Pi (Raspberry Pi Hat)

Notecarrier-Pi (CARR-PI) is designed for drop-in development with a Raspberry Pi or compatible Single Board Computer. This Notecard must be powered by a Raspberry Pi or compatible SBC.

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Pre-soldered stackable 40-pin header for plugging directly into a Raspberry Pi and stacking additional Pi hats.
Notecard edge connector socket and mounting screw receptacle.
Micro-USB port to power Notecarrier and provide a USB Serial command interface to Notecard.
External Nano-SIM slot for additional carrier connectivity.
1 Grove I2C port for attaching external peripherals to your project.
DIP switches (shown below) to configure diagnostic serial port, attention pin, and active GPS support.
Requires user provided U.FL cellular/Wi-Fi antenna and optional U.FL active GPS antenna.

warning

Due to the power requirements of the Notecard, some Raspberry Pi 2 and 3 models include a current-limiting fuse that will power-cycle the device when the Notecard's modem is on and transmitting. To avoid these issues, we recommend using only Raspberry Pi 4 devices with the Notecard and Notecarrier Pi.

Power Information

The Micro-USB port on the Notecarrier-Pi is a data-only port and does not provide power to the Notecarrier. Make sure to power your project with a Raspberry Pi, or use an alternate power method, including:

applying 2.5-5.5VDC to the V+ pin.
Commonly provided via DC power supply or non-rechargeable battery.

warning

Typical USB ports may only be capable of supplying 500 mA of current, which might not be enough to power Notecard during a cellular connection.

GPS (GNSS) Antenna Requirements

All Notecarrier models are designed to support active GPS, and several Notecarrier models provide built-in antennas ready to be connected to a Cellular Notecard using the included U.FL cables.

Active GPS Ready

The Notecarrier-B and Notecarrier-Pi models do not have integrated GPS antennas, but support active GPS by providing circuitry to enable bias voltage to be supplied. This functionality is enabled using the VACT_GPS_OUT and VACT_GPS_IN pins.

Pin Name	Pin Description
VACT_GPS_IN	Input for active GPS antenna bias voltage
VACT_GPS_OUT	Notecard supplied DC bias voltage for active GPS

The only pin required to support active GPS is VACT_GPS_IN, which allows you to provide a voltage specific to your antenna or application. VACT_GPS_OUT is unnecessary, but can be connected directly to VACT_GPS_IN to support an active GPS antenna that accepts voltages in the 3.3V-4V range*.

The Notecarrier-Pi is built to support either an active or passive GPS antenna, and has a DIP switch to enable you to select your configuration.

*VACT_GPS_OUT is only powered when the cellular modem is active.

Header Descriptions

Notecarrier-Pi 40-Pin Header

Notecarrier-Pi is configured as a Pi Hat. As such, the Notecarrier-Pi follows the standard 40-pin Raspberry Pi Model B+ layout.

note

The Raspberry Pi 40-pin GPIO connector used has 0.64mm square pins.

Pi 40-pin Header Pin Usage

Pin #	Pin Name	Dedicated	Description
1	3V3	N	3.3VDC power
2	5V	N	5VDC power
3	SDA	N	I2C data
4	5V	N	5VDC power
5	SCL	N	I2C clock
6	GND	N	Ground
8	AUX_RX	Y/N (DIP)	High-speed diagnostic interface
9	GND	N	Ground
10	AUX_TX	Y/N (DIP)	High-speed diagnostic interface
14	GND	N	Ground
20	GND	N	Ground
25	GND	N	Ground
30	GND	N	Ground
31	ATTN	Y/N (DIP)	Configurable interrupt signal
34	GND	N	Ground
39	GND	N	Ground

DIP Switches

There are three DIP switches are located on the back side of the board. The switches are used to reserve exclusive access to the GPIO pins.

ACTIVE GPS - When turned ON, applies 3.9VDC to the center conductor of the Notecard GPS antenna connector to power the low-noise amplifier (LNA) of an active GPS antenna. This switch must be OFF if Notecard is used with a passive GPS antenna! However, we recommend an active antenna for best performance.
SERIAL TXRX - When turned ON, enables serial communication with Notecard via Notecard AUX_RX and AUX_TX via Raspberry Pi GPIOs 14 and 15 (Pins 8 and 10). Typical applications will use I2C for Notecard interactions, with this AUX serial port providing useful debugging features for developers.
ATTN - When turned ON, connects Notecard ATTN to Raspberry Pi GPIO 6 (Pin 31).

Specifications

Electrical Characteristics

DC Characteristics

Description	Minimum	Maximum	Unit
Supply Voltage	2.5	5.5	V
Supply Current	500	2000	mA

Absolute Maximum Ratings

Description	Minimum	Maximum	Unit
Storage temperature	-35	70	°C