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Version History

Components

The NB | DEV KIT hardware consists of two boards:

1. The EX-COM210 NB-IoT communication board, including the NB-IoT modem, a microcontroler, an SMA Antenna connector and and a micro SIM card slot.
2. The EX-EVL210 USB/RS232 serial adapter board, including three different external connectors to be able to communicate with the EX-COM210 board.

Both boards are plugged in together via header pins. The following figure shows the complete NB | DEV KIT and its components.

EX-EVL210 USB/RS232 serial adapter board

• Serial Interfaces
  • Micro USB Connector
    • Used to power the complete NB | DEV KIT
    • UART interface to EX-COM210 via 5V Micro USB
    • Must always be connected to power the device, even if USB UART connection is not used
  • RS232 Connector
    • UART interface to EX-COM210 via 12V RS232 serial port
  • 3.3V UART Connector
    • UART interface to EX-COM210 via 3.3V pins
      • Pin U1: TX
      • Pin U2: RX
      • Pin U3: Ground
• Serial Interface Selection Jumper
  • Set jumper to select one of three available UART interfaces to be used
  • Pin J1 and J2: Micro USB UART
  • Pin J2 and J3: RS232 UART
  • Pin J2 and J4: 3.3V UART
• Reset Button
  • Triggers a reset of the EX-COM210 board
• LEDs
  • signals status of the microcontroller on the EX-COM210 board
  • LED1: turned on if device is powered on
  • LED2: turned on if microcontroller is updating its status; in normal situations the LED should blink every second
  • LED3: turned on if modem is attached to a NB-IoT cell
  • LED4: turned on if a modem procedure (attach, transmit, receive, ...) is ongoing

The EX-COM210 NB-IoT communication board

• Microcontroller
  • Controls the modem
  • Communicates with user via UART interface
• NB-IoT Modem
  • Attaches device to NB-IoT nework
  • Transmit & receives data via NB-IoT network
  • Reads cell information (if attached)
• Micro SIM card slot
  • Micro NB-IoT SIM card to be inserted to be able to attach to NB-IoT network
  • Cut corner of SIM card to be positioned in the left bottom corner of the card slot
• SMA Antenna connector
  • Attach antenna to be able to transmit and receive NB-IoT signals

UART Interface

When using the UART interface to communicate with the device, then the following parameter shall be used:

EX-COM210 Stand-alone usage

The EX-COM210 can be used as a standalone device when unplugged from the EX-EVL210. Then the user needs to take care of the correct PIN connection and power supply.
The following figure shows the PIN assignments.