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LoRa-E5 STM32WLE5JC Module embedded SX126X & MCU

Product Introduction

Notes

We has recently released the LoRa-E5 Series based on LoRa-E5 module. Click here to meet new members of the LoRa-E5 family from the Grove module, mini Dev boards to Development Kit. To learn more on creating a LoRaWAN End Node with STM32Cube MCU Package for STM32WL series(SDK), to join and to send data to LoRaWAN Network, read more on wiki pages for mini Dev boards and Development Kit.

LoRa-E5 is a low-cost, ultra-low power, extremely compact, and high-performance LoRaWAN Module designed by Seeed Technology Co., Ltd. It contains ST system-level package chip STM32WLE5JE, which is the world first SoC integrated with the combo of LoRa RF and MCU chip. This module is also embedded with ARM Cortex M4 ultra-low-power MCU and LoRa SX126X, and therefore supports (G)FSK mode and LoRa. 62.5kHz, 125kHz, 250kHz, and 500kHz bandwidth can be used in LoRa® mode, making it suitable for the design of various IoT nodes, supporting EU868 and US915.

This LoRa E5 module is designed with industrial standards, hence it's highly suitable to be used in designing industrial IoT products, with a wide working temperature at -40℃ ~ 85℃.

If you are not quite familiar with LoRa and LoRaWAN, check out this article LoRapedia for detail.

(extremely compacted size, smaller than 1 euro coin)

Features

• Ultra-low Power Consumption: as low as 2.1uA sleep current (WOR mode)

• Extremely Compacted Size: 12mm * 12mm * 2.5mm 28 pins SMT

• High Performance: TXOP=22dBm@868/915MHz; -136.5dBm sensitivity for SF12 with 125KHz BW

• Long Distance Use: 158dB link budget

• Wireless Connectivity: Embedded LoRaWAN® protocol, AT command, support global LoRaWAN® frequency plan

• Worldwide Compatibility: wide frequency range; EU868 / US915 / AU915 / AS923 / KR920 / IN865

• Great Flexibility: For users who want to develop software on the MCU of the module, other GPIOs of the MCU can be easily manipulated, including UART, I2C, ADC, etc. These rich GPIO interfaces are useful for users who need to expand peripherals.

• FCC and CE Certified

Applications

• Works for LoRaWAN sensor nodes and any wireless communication application.

Application Notes

1. Factroy AT Firmare

LoRa-E5 series has a built-in AT command firmware, which supports LoRaWAN Class A/B/C protocol and a wide frequency plan: EU868/US915/AU915/AS923/KR920/IN865. With this AT command firmware, developers can easily and quickly build their prototype or application.

The AT command firmware contains a bootloader for DFU and the AT application. The "PB13/SPI_SCK/BOOT" pin is used to control LoRa-E5 to stay in the bootloader or jump to the AT application. When PB13 is HIGH, the module will jump to AT application after reset, with a default baud rate of 9600. When PB13 is LOW (press the "Boot" button on LoRa-E5 Dev Board or LoRa-E5 mini), the module will stay in the bootloader, and keep transmitting "C" character every 1S at baud rate 115200.

Attention

• Factory AT Firmware is programmed with RDP(Read Protection) Level 1, developers need to remove RDP first with STM32Cube Programmer. Note that regression RDP to level 0 will cause a flash memory mass to erase and the Factory AT Firmware can't be restored again.
• The "PB13/SPI_SCK/BOOT" pin on the LoRa-E5 module is just a normal GPIO, not the "BOOT0" pin of the MCU. This "PB13/SPI_SCK/BOOT" pin is used in the bootloader of the Factory AT firmware, to decide to jump to APP or stay in bootloader(for DFU). The real "BOOT0" pin doesn't pinout to the module, so users need to be careful when developing the low-power applications.

2. Clock Configuration

2.1 HSE

• 32MHz TCXO

• TCXO power supply: PB0-VDD_TCXO

2.2 LSE

• 32.768KHz crystal oscillator

3. RF Switch

LoRa-E5 module ONLY transmits through RFO_HP:

• Receive: PA4=1, PB5=0

• Transmit(high output power, SMPS mode): PA4=0, PB5=1

Hardware Pinout

Specifications

ITEMs	Parameter	Specifications				Unit
Structure	Size	12(W)*12(L)*2.5(H)				mm
	Package	28 pins, SMT
Electrical Characteristics	power supply	3.3V type				V
	sleep current	2.1uA(WDT on)				uA
	Operation current (Transmitter+MCU)	50mA @10dBm in 434MHz type				mA
		111mA @22dBm in 470MHz type
		111mA @22dBm in 868MHz type
	Operation current (Receiver+MCU)	6.7mA @BW125kHz, 868MHz type				mA
		6.7mA @BW125kHz, 434MHz type
		6.7mA @BW125kHz, 470MHz type
	Output power	10dBm max @434MHz				dBm
		22dBm max @470MHz
		22dBm max @868MHz
	Sensitivity	@SF12, BW125kHz				dBm
		Fr(MHz)	min	type	max
		434	-	-134.5	-136
		470	-	-136.5	-137.5
		868	-	-135	-137
	Harmonics	< -36dBm below 1GHz				dBm
		< -40dBm above 1GHz				dBm
Interface	RFIO	RF port
	UART	3 group of UART, include 2 pins
	I2C	1 group of I2C, include 2 pins
	ADC	1 ADC Input, include 1 pins, 12-bit 1Msps
	NRST	Manual reset pin input
	SPI	1 group of SPI, include 4 pins

Getting Started

1. Quick start of AT Commands

1.1 Preparation

• Step 1. Connect LoRa-E5 Development Board to PC via a Type-C cable

• Step 2. Open a serial tool(eg. Arudino Serial Monitor), select the right COM port, set baudrate to 9600 and select Both NL & CR

• Step 3. Try to send "AT" and you will see the response.

1.2 Basic AT Commands

• AT+ID // Read all, DevAddr(ABP), DevEui(OTAA), AppEui(OTAA)

• AT+ID=DevAddr // Read DevAddr

• AT+ID=DevEui // Read DevEui

• AT+ID=AppEui // Read AppEui

• AT+ID=DevAddr,"devaddr" // Set new DevAddr

• AT+ID=DevEui,"deveui" // Set new DevEui

• AT+ID=AppEui,"appeui" // Set new AppEui

• AT+KEY=APPKEY,"16 bytes length key" // Change application session key

• AT+DR=band // Change the Band Plans

• AT+DR=SCHEME // Check current band

• AT+CH=NUM, 0-7 // Enable channel 0~7

• AT+MODE="mode" // Select work mode: LWOTAA, LWABP or TEST

• AT+JOIN // Send JOIN request

• AT+MSG="Data to send" // Use to send string format frame which is no need to be confirmed by the server

• AT+CMSG="Data to send" // Use to send string format frame which must be confirmed by the server

• AT+MSGHEX="xx xx xx xx" // Use to send hex format frame which is no need to be confirmed by the server

• AT+CMSGHEX="xx xx xx xx" // Use to send hex format frame which must be confirmed by the server

1.3 Connect and send Data to TTN

• Step 1: Load into TTN website: https://www.thethingsnetwork.org and create your account, then access "Console" and first click on "APPLICATIONS"

• Step 2: Add an Application

• Step3: Copy the APPLICATION EUIS and click "register device" button to add your device to TTN

• Step4: Send AT command AT+ID=DevEui to get your Device EUI, send AT command AT+KEY=APPKEY,"11223344556677889900112233445566" to set the App Key, and send AT command AT+ID=AppEui,"APPLICATION EUIS you copy just now" to set the App EUI, finally fill all these EUIs and Key to the page to register your device

  Tx: AT+ID=DevEui
  Rx: +ID: DevEui, 2C:F7:F1:20:24:90:16:1D
  Tx: AT+KEY=APPKEY,"11223344556677889900112233445566"
  Rx: +KEY: APPKEY 11223344556677889900112233445566
  Tx: AT+ID=AppEui,"70B3D57ED003F06A"
  Rx: +ID: AppEui, 70:B3:D5:7E:D0:03:F0:6A
  

  

• Step 5: Register your LoRaWAN Gateway on TTN Console, please refer to the instruction shown in The Things Indoor Gateway wiki page: The Things Indoor Gateway Get Started with SenseCAP

• Step 6: Type the following AT Commmand to connect to TTN

Tx: AT+ID
Rx: +ID: DevAddr, 24:90:16:1D
+ID: DevEui, 2C:F7:F1:20:24:90:16:1D
+ID: AppEui, 70:B3:D5:7E:D0:03:F0:6A

Tx: AT+DR=EU868
Rx: +DR: EU868

Tx: AT+CH=NUM,0-2
Rx: +CH: NUM, 0-2

Tx: AT+MODE=LWOTAA
Rx: +MODE: LWOTAA

Tx: AT+JOIN
Rx: +JOIN: Start
+JOIN: NORMAL
+JOIN: Network joined
+JOIN: NetID 000013 DevAddr 26:01:5F:66
+JOIN: Done

If you see +JOIN: Network joined in your serial console, congratulations, your device have already connect to TTN! You can also check your device status at the "overview" page.

• Step 7: Type the following AT Command to send data to TTN

// send string "HELLO" to TTN 
Tx: AT+MSG=HELLO
Rx: +MSG: Start
+MSG: FPENDING
+MSG: RXWIN2, RSSI -112, SNR -1.0
+MSG: Done
// send hex "00 11 22 33 44" 
Tx: AT+MSGHEX="00 11 22 33 44"
Rx: +MSGHEX: Start
+MSGHEX: Done

• Step 8: For more information about AT Commands, please refer to LoRa-E5 AT Command Specification

2. Develop with STM32Cube MCU Package

2.1 Erase Factory AT Firmware

LoRa-E5 has a built-in AT command firmware, which supports LoRaWAN Class A/B/C protocol and wide frequency plan: EU868/US915/AU915/AS923/KR920/IN865. With this AT commond firmware, developers can easily and quickly build their prototype or application.

But for those uesr who perfer to directly develop applications on LoRa-E5 module, with STM32Cube MCU packege for STM32WL series, there are several areas to pay attention to:

• Read Protection is needed to remove first, after you connect the MCU via SWD. STM32Cube Programmer is the recommended tool to do this.

• Once the factory AT firmware is erased, it can't be flashed to the MCU again

• The "PB13/SPI_SCK/BOOT" pin on the LoRa-E5 module is just a normal GPIO, not the "BOOT0" pin of the MCU. This "PB13/SPI_SCK/BOOT" pin is used in the bootloader of the Fatory AT firmware, to decide to jump to APP or stay in bootloader(for DFU). The real "BOOT0" pin doesn't pinout to the module, so users need to be careful when develop low power application.

2.2 Hardware

• Clock Configuration:
• HSE
  • 32MHz TCXO
  • TCXO power supply: PB0-VDD_TCXO
• LSE
  • 32.768KHz crystal oscillator
• RF Switch
  • Receive: PA4=1, PB5=0
  • Transmit(high output power, SMPS mode): PA4=0, PB5=1

More demos coming soon...

Sources

• LoRa-E5 datasheet and specifications

• LoRa-E5 AT Command Specification

• STM32WLE5JC Datasheet

Certifications:

• LoRa-E5-HF Certification CE-VOC-RED

• LoRa-E5-HF FCC Certification -DSS

• LoRa-E5-HF FCC Certification -DTS

Library:

• LoRa-E5 kicad library

• LoRa-E5 HF 3D File

• LoRa-E5 Eagle Library

Relevant SDK:

• STM32Cube MCU Package for STM32WL series

Tech Support

Please submit any technical issue into our forum.