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l-LTE ** 4G [LTE] shield ARDUINO, BEAGLEBONE & RASPBERRY PI



Read our last post: Modems and RaspberryPI 5. RaspberryPI OS [Debian 12 bookworm] notes.. Order u-GSM modems.

l-LTE - 4G LTE shield :: FEATURES AT A GLANCE

4G / LTE engine performances:
High speed 4G LTE CAT4 module - Quectel EC25, for the LLTE107-CAT4#xxx-yyy variants:
  • North American FDD LTE B2/B4/B12 and WCDMA B2/B4/B5, with speeds up to LTE FDD Max 150Mbps (DL) Max 50Mbps (UL), or
  • European versions with FDD LTE B1/B3/B5/B7/B8/B20, TDD LTE B38/B40/B41, WCDMA B1/B5/B8 and GSM B3/B8, with speeds up to LTE FDD Max 150Mbps (DL) Max 50Mbps (UL) / LTE TDD Max 130Mbps (DL) Max 35Mbps (UL).

or,

IoT/M2M-optimized 4G LTE CAT4 module - Quectel EC21, for the LLTE107-CAT1#xxx-yyy variants :
  • North American FDD LTE B2/B4/B12 and WCDMA B2/B4/B5, with speeds up to LTE FDD Max 10Mbps (DL) Max 5Mbps (UL), or
  • European versions with FDD LTE B1/B3/B5/B7/B8/B20, WCDMA B1/B5/B8 and GSM B3/B8, with speeds up to LTE FDD Max 10Mbps (DL) Max 5Mbps (UL).

GNSS [GPS + GLONASS] engine: High performances GNSS engine embedded having parallel GPS and Glonass satellites interpolation for best sensitivity and accuracy.

Very compact and light weight: 1.35"x1.93" (34.29 x 49.02mm), around 11 grams, the best in class.
Embedded USB adapter with SERIAL to USB bridge adapter - with mini-USB type B socket (you can connect the l-LTE shield, via USB or SERIAL UART with your Raspberry PI or with your BeagleBone or you can use it as wireless USB modem with your Windows or Linux PC) (not so common feature).
Digital interface (SERIAL and CONTROL interfaces): 3-5V auto-level (UART TX+RX / RESET / POWER ON-OFF / RI / STS / RTS / CTS / SLP); you can directly connect (without the need for any level adapter board) your l-LTE shield with any 3/5V Arduino shield or any version of RASPBERRY PI, BEAGLEBONE, BANANA PI or any other 3V up to 5V compatible microcontroller. The digital (and powering) interface it is available in standard 0.1"(2.54mm) pin header and it is compliant with the ITBMM interface [itbrainpower.net modular modem interface]; in other words, the digital and powering l-LTE interface it is compatible with the interface used by any of our modular modems [c-uGSM dual SIM shield, h-nanoGSM shield and d-u3G shield].
Embedded LiPol battery charger - the l-LTE shield can run in configurations with or without LiPolimer battery, depending on chosen powering schema.
STANDARD SIZE SIM 1 x 4G STANDARD SIM/USIM format.
Multiple powering schemas: - via USB, via POWERING, SERIAL and CONTROL interface (digital inteface) or via optional external(20.3x34.29mm) pin to pin plugable 5-25V switching power supply
Digital audio interface - via standard 0.1"(2.54mm) pin header
Two embedded switches: control for modem POWER ON/OFF & modem RESET
Extended Arduino, BeagleBone and RaspberryPI code examples support files: - 4G, LTE, 3G, UMTS, GSM, SMS, DTMF, TCP/UDP, HTTPS and HTTP over 4G/3G/GPRS*, smart features like RAM DISK SYSTEM for FILE STORAGE and other. RaspberryPI and BeagleBone PPP and TCPIP routing support (Debian distribution based) trough easy installation and usage scripts. And, last but not least, l-LTE it is supported by our "mobile IoT 2 CLOUD" for Arduino prototype - quite tiny IoT implementation (~16Kb free on ATMEGA328)
*   4G/LTE depending on the l-LTE model [read up-here]
     3G/UMTS HSDPA Release 7 (category 8) 7.2Mbps max. and 3G/UMTS HSUPA Release 7 (category 6) 5.76Mbps max.
     High Speed GPRS Multi-slot class 12 (configurable 1~12) Downlink and uplink speed - 85.6 kbps max.

 

l-LTE - 4G LTE shield :: INTERFACES, SWITCHES and CONNECTORS

l-LTE shield v1.07 - Arduino BEAGLEBONE RASPBERRY PI 3G UMTS SHIELD - top interface description

4G [LTE] SHIELD l-LTE v 1.07 top PCB view



l-LTE shield v1.07 - Arduino BEAGLEBONE RASPBERRY PI 3G UMTS SHIELD  - bottom interface description

4G [LTE] SHIELD l-LTE v 1.07 bottom PCB view

4G LTE SHIELD POWERING, SERIAL and CONTROL INTERFACE

In the left edge of the top PCB side, top to bottom:
1. RX(TXD) - modem TX - output
2. TX(RXD) - modem RX - input

3. RESET - 4G SHIELD RESET - input, active HIGH*
4. POWER ON - 4G SHIELD POWER ON - input, active HIGH*

5. Vusb - POWER PIN - output +5V (USB +5V)
6. Vin - POWER PIN - input +5V for LiPol charger only
7. Vcc - POWER PIN - input/output +4V**

8. GND - POWER and DIGITAL GROUND
9. RI - 4G SHIELD RING INDICATOR - output
10. STATUS - 4G SHIELD STATUS - output
11. RTS - 4G SHIELD READY TO SEND - output
12. CTS - CLEAR TO SEND - input
13. SLP - SLEAP - input, active HIGH
* min. 200msec. pulse

4G LTE SHIELD ANTENNAS

In the right edge of the top PCB side, top to bottom:
1. 4G/LTE antenna connector - uFL or SMA F
2. GNSS [GPS+GLONASS] antenna connector - uFL


4G SHIELD DIGITAL AUDIO INTERFACE

In the top edge of the top PCB side, left to right:
1-8. DIGITAL AUDIO interface**
** pin2 on DIGITAL AUDIO interface can be used as secondary GND connection on the board.

4G LTE SHIELD SIM and SWITCHES

In the top edge of the top PCB side, left to right:
1. RESET SWITCH - 4G SHIELD RESET
2. SIM SOCKET - STANDARD SIZE 1.8-3V, 4G SIM/USIM supported
3. POWER ON/OFF SWITCH - 4G SHIELD POWER ON / OFF


4G LTE SHIELD USB PORT, LiPO battery and AUX GNSS POWER

In the bottom PCB side, left to right:
1. USB PORT - mini USB type B - 4G SHIELD POWERING and SERIAL to USB bridge adapter

2. LiPol - connect - pole of the LiPo battery [GND]
3. LiPol - connect + pole of the LiPo battery

4. Auxiliary GNSS antenna power - may connect the positive pole of aux power supply for the GNSS antenna powering.
5. Auxiliary LiPol - connect + pole of the LiPo battery
6. Auxiliary LiPol - connect - pole of the LiPo battery [GND]

 

l-LTE - 4G LTE shield :: Arduino /Raspberry PI logical interfacing


l-LTE shield PIN NAME UNO/MINI/NANO (Mega328) MEGA2560 software serial DUE or MEGA2560
hardware serial
Raspberry PI B+, II, 3, 3+, ZERO,
ZERO W
1. RX[TXD]* D2 (RX soft) D10 (RX soft) D19(RX1) PIN10 (RX)
2. TX[RXD]* D3 (TX soft) D3 (TX soft) D18(TX1) PIN08 (TX)
3. RESET D6 D6 D6 PIN18
4. ON/OFF D7 D7 D7 PIN16
6. Vin (5V LiPol)** +5V +5V +5V PIN02 or 04
8. GND GND GND GND PIN04 or 14
10. STS [STATUS] D5 D5 D5 PIN 12
 
* Raspberry PI: do not wire 1 and 2 (serial TX and RX) if USB comunication is used!
** WITH Lithium Polymer batteries configuration: wire 6 (Vin) OR do not wire it and use via USB powering placing a jumper between PIN5 (Vusb) and PIN6 (Vin). Read more about l-LTE how to start and powering configuration on:
- itbp modular modems block schema [l-LTE 1.07 by itbrainpower.net]

- kick-start for l-LTE 1.07 by itbrainpower.net
- ITBP modular modem shields how to start - tutorial RECOMMENDED READING
- gSPS adapter board - plug and run switching power supply for the ITBP modular modems
 

Arduino Zero or xyz-mIoT modem-less shield interfacing:

1. RX(TXD)       <----->       RX0
2. TX(RXD)       <----->       TX1

3. RESET          <----->       D6
4. ON/OFF        <----->       D7

6. Vin               <----->       5V power supply
8. GND             <----->       GND
10. STS            <----->       D5

 

l-LTE - 4G LTE shield :: BeagleBone logical interfacing

Read: BeagleBone Black [Debian] and ITBP modular modem interfacing how to.

 

l-LTE - 4G LTE shield :: ARDUINO, BeagleBone & RASPBERRY PI CODE EXAMPLES and UTILITIES 

Resources marked with "#", requires for download the following information: your name, email address and the modem IMEI. The modem IMEI can be found printed on the Quectel GSM module, or run AT+GMGS command.

l-LTE shield code examples for Arduino, Raspberry PI and BeagleBone Black can be downloaded from our download page.


l-LTE - 4G LTE shield :: DOCUMENTATION DOWNLOAD/ONLINE

The l-LTE shield documentation can be found here.


l-LTE - 4G LTE shield :: ARDUINO, BEAGLEBONE & RASPBERRY PI PROJECTS

Arduino & RaspberryPI projects based on itbrainpower.net products

 

l-LTE - 4G LTE shield :: ORDER ONLINE

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document version 0.971 / 2020-04-02 © R&D Software Solutions srl