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LTE Cat 1 Pi HAT

Seeed’s LTE CAT.1 Pi HAT is an open sourcecellular extension modem for Raspberry Pi, based on u-blox LARA-R2xx series. Itcompatible with Raspberry Pi 1 Model B+ and later versions.

LTE CAT.1 Pi HAT is designed for LTE Category 1 networks and with 2G fallback(EU version only). Embedding common protocols, like TCP/UDP, HTTP.

LTE CAT.1 Pi HAT supports UART and USB interfaces. By UART, Raspberry Pi communicate with LTE CAT.1 Pi HAT via AT command without any special driver. It’s well suited for building prototyping rapidly.

VersionLinks
Europe

USA-AT&T

USA-VZW

Version

Product VersionChangesReleased Date
LTE Cat 1 Pi HAT(USA-AT&T)InitialDec 2017
LTE Cat 1 Pi HAT(USA-VZW)InitialDec 2017
LTE Cat 1 Pi HAT(Europe)InitialDec 2017

Specifications

  • Compatible with Raspberry Pi 1 Model B+ and later versions
  • LTE CAT.1 and support 2G fallback(EU version only)
  • UART and USB interface for communicate
  • Support Grove I2C and Digital connector
  • Protocols on cellular module
  • Embed TCP/UDP stack
  • Embed HTTP, FTP, SSL
  • Dual stack IPV4/IPV6
  • 3GPP TS 27.007 [8], TS 27.005 [9]standard AT command

Applications

  • IoT gateway
  • Data logger
  • Vending machine
  • POS
  • Smart home devices
  • Robot
  • Advertising
  • Other scenario need cellular networks

Hardware Overview

Interfaces

  • LTE CAT.1: U-blox LARA-R2xx series LTE CAT.1 module, please refer to u-blox LARA-R2 series product page for more information.
  • Grove Port: 2 Grove I2C/Digital Port, connected to SDA_RPI, SCL_RPI, it can be used as I2C or GPIO port.
  • Switcher: Control Grove port voltage as 5V or 3.3V
  • USB Interface: It can be used to power up the LTE Cat.1 Pi HAT and raspberry together, and used for debug port as well. Please refer to FAQ Q1 about how to use as debug port.
  • Battery Holder: MP2617 is used for battery power management. If the battery is not connected, the CHG led will flash by 6HZ frequency. It will be off when under charging and on when finish charging. The connector is JST2.0 standard.
  • Lara-R2XX Reset button: Reset Lara-R2xx module.
  • Lara-R2XX Power on button: Press 2 seconds to power on the Lara-R2xx module.
  • Antenna: It includes 2 antennas, one is main and other is div. The main antenna is used for both sending and receiving signals. It must be connected. The div antenna is used for the receving only and to improve receiver sensitivity. It is optional.
  • Rpi 40 pins: Refer to pinout.
  • SIM card slot: Follow silk screen direction to plug LTE SIM card.
caution
For the battery, we suggest 3.7V Li-ion battery and connect to JST2.0. Especially for Lara-R211(Europe) Pi HAT, it includes the GSM function with high power consumption. If there is no LTE signal around, the LTE CAT.1 Pi HAT also consumes a lot of power supply. So we highly suggest attach the battery.

Pinout

Pin UsedPython (BCM)WiringPi GPIONameP1 Pin NumberNameWiringPi GPIOPython (BCM)Pin Used
3V3_RPI3.3v DC Power125v DC Power5V_RPI
SDA_RPI8GPIO02 (SDA1, I2C)345v DC Power5V_RPI
SCL_RPI9GPIO03 (SCL1, I2C)56GroundGND
FREE47GPIO0478GPIO14 (TXD0)15TX_RPI
GNDGround910GPIO15 (RXD0)16RX_RPI
RTS_RPI170GPIO171112GPIO18118FREE
FREE272GPIO271314GroundGND
FREE223GPIO221516GPIO23423FREE
3V3_RPI3.3v DC Power1718GPIO24524FREE
FREE12GPIO10 (SPI0_MOSI)1920GroundGND
FREE13GPIO09 (SPI0_MISO)2122GPIO25 625FREE
FREE14GPIO11 (SPI0 SCLK)2324GPIO08 (SPI0_CS0)10FREE
GNDGround2526GPIO07 (SPI0_CS1)11FREE
FREE30Reserved2728Reserved31FREE
LARA_PWR521GPIO052930GroundGND
LARA_RST622GPIO063132GPIO122612FREE
FREE1323GPIO133334GroundGND
FREE1924GPIO19(SPI1 MISO)3536GPIO16(SPI1 CS0)2716CTS_RPI
FREE2625GPIO263738GPIO20(SPI1 MOSI)2820FREE
GNDGround3940GPIO21(SPI1 SCLK)2921FREE

Dimensions

Versions

Now we have made three versions of the LTE Cat 1 Pi HAT. In addition to supporting different networks, they are almost the same. And you may pay attention that the only the Europe version support 2G net.

VersionModuleNetwork
EuropeLARA-R2112G/4G
USA-AT&TLARA-R2034G
USA-VZWLARA-R2044G

Getting Started

Hardware

note
We use the Raspberry Pi3 with 2018-04-18 [RASPBIAN STRETCH WITH DESKTOP](https://www.raspberrypi.org/downloads/raspbian/) for below demo.
  • Step 1. Stack LTE Cat 1 Pi HAT on top of Raspberrry and connect the 2 antennas.

  • Step 2. Connect the mouse, keyboard and monitor as well.
  • Step 3. Power the Raspberry Pi.

Software

  • Step 1. Use dtoverlay=pi3-disable-bt to enable Raspberry Pi3/Pi4 UART0.
sudo nano /boot/config.txt

Then add dtoverlay=pi3-disable-bt and enable_uart=1 to bottom of the config.txt. it should look like this.

[all]
#dtoverlay=vc4-fkms-v3d
dtoverlay=pi3-disable-bt
enable_uart=1
  • Step 2. Disable the system serivce to use the UART0.
sudo systemctl disable hciuart 
note
Pi3-disable-bt disables the Bluetooth device and restores UART0/ttyAMA0 to GPIOs 14 and 15. It is also necessary to disable the system service that initialises the modem so it doesn't use the UART: sudo systemctl disable hciuart.
  • Step 3. Delete the console=serial0,115200 in cmdline.txt.
sudo nano /boot/cmdline.txt

Then delete console=serial0,115200 from the string.

  • Step 4. Reboot the Raspberry Pi3/Pi4
sudo reboot
  • Step 5. Run below commands to run the demo
cd ~
git clone https://github.com/Seeed-Studio/ublox_lara_r2_pi_hat.git
cd ublox_lara_r2_pi_hat
sudo python setup.py install
cd test
sudo python test01.py
  • Step 6. Here is the output from terminal.
pi@raspberrypi:~/Desktop/ublox_lara_r2_pi_hat/examples $ sudo python test01.py
40-pin GPIO header detected
Enabling CTS0 and RTS0 on GPIOs 16 and 17
rts cts on
waking up...
module name: LARA-R211
RSSI: 3

FAQ

Q1: Can we communicate with LTE Cat 1 Pi HAT directly with PC?

A1: Yes, there are 2 ways. One is USB and other is UART port.

  • For the UART port, Please use the usb to serial adaptor, follow below connection and use the baudrate as 115200. We can use any Serial COM monitor tool to run AT commands.
USB to UART AdaptorLTE Cat1 Pi HAT
GNDPin6-GND
TXPin8-TX_RPI
RXPin10-RX_RPI
NAPin11-RTS_RPI Connect to Pin9-GND

caution
Please do connect the RTS_RPI to GND as marked as red at above picture if we use the UART port for communication.

Q2: Do you have AT command list?

A2: Here is u-blox-CEL_ATCommands.

Q3: What is differences between the Lara-R203/204/211?

A3: Please refer to u-blox LARA-R2 series product page.

Q4: How to register to AT&T network for LARA-203?

A4: Please run below commands.

AT+COPS=2
AT+UMNOCONF=2
AT+COPS=0

You can try below command to verify AT&T network connection.

AT+UPSD=0,1,"AT&T"
AT+UPSDA=0,3
AT+UPING="www.google.com"

Q5: How to register to Verizon network for LARA-204?

A5: Please run below commands.

AT+COPS=2
AT+UMNOCONF=3
AT+COPS=0

You can try below command to verify Verizon network connection.

AT+UPSD=0,1,"vzwinternet"
AT+UPSDA=0,3
AT+UPING="www.google.com"

Resource

We have this part available in geppetto, easy modular electronic design with Seeed and Geppeto. Build it Now. geppetto.seeedstudio.com

Projects

Face Recognization Smart Lock with LTE Pi HAT: Face recognition is becoming more and more widely used, we can use it to make a smart lock.

Tech Support & Product Discussion

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