u-blox C030 User Manual
UBX-17015029 - R06
C1-Public www.u-blox.com
C030
LTE Cat 1, Cat M1, NB-IoT and 2G/3G mbed-enabled IoT
starter kit
User guide
Abstract
This guide explains how to set up the C030 Arm® Mbed Enabled™ Internet of Things Starter Kit to
begin evaluating u-blox 2G/3G/4G cellular and GNSS modules.
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Document information
Title
C030
Subtitle
LTE Cat 1, Cat M1, NB-IoT and 2G/3G mbed-enabled IoT starter kit
Document type
User guide
Document number
UBX-17015029
Revision and date
R06
03-Feb-2021
Disclosure restriction
C1-Public
Product status
Corresponding content status
Functional sample
Draft
For functional testing. Revised and supplementary data will be published later.
In development /
Prototype
Objective Specification
Target values. Revised and supplementary data will be published later.
Engineering sample
Advance Information
Data based on early testing. Revised and supplementary data will be published later.
Initial production
Early Production Information
Data from product verification. Revised and supplementary data may be published later.
Mass production /
End of life
Production Information
Document contains the final product specification.
This document applies to the following products:
Product name
Type number
Firmware version
PCN reference
Product status
C030
C030-U201-0-00
G0.V.00.00.10R
UBX-18007786
Initial production
C030-N211-0-00
G0.V.00.00.10R
UBX-18007786
Obsolete
C030-R410M-0-00
N.A.
UBX-18047677
Obsolete
C030-R3121-0-00
N.A.
UBX-18047677
Obsolete
u-blox or third parties may hold intellectual property rights in the products, names, logos and designs included in this
document. Copying, reproduction, modification or disclosure to third parties of this document or any part thereof is only
permitted with the express written permission of u-blox.
The information contained herein is provided “as is” and u-blox assumes no liability for its use. No warranty, either express or
implied, is given, including but not limited to, with respect to the accuracy, correctness, reliability and fitness for a particular
purpose of the information. This document may be revised by u-blox at any time without notice. For the most recent
documents, visit www.u-blox.com.
Arduino® is a trademark of Arduino Srl or Arduino LLC registered and/or used in the EU, the U.S. and other countries/regions.
Arm and Mbed™ are registered trademarks of Arm Limited (or its subsidiaries) in the US and/or elsewhere.
JT® is a registered trademark of JTGlobal Limited in the EU, the U.S. and other countries/regions
Copyright © u-blox AG.
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Contents
Document information ................................................................................................................................ 2
Contents .......................................................................................................................................................... 3
1 Overview ................................................................................................................................................... 4
Using this guide .................................................................................................................................................... 4
Warnings and certifications .............................................................................................................................. 5
2 Hardware description ........................................................................................................................... 6
2.1 C030 block diagram .................................................................................................................................... 9
2.2 Buttons, jumpers and switches ............................................................................................................. 16
2.2.1 Utilization of cellular modem USB sniffer (and programmer) .................................................. 17
2.3 LED indicators ........................................................................................................................................... 18
2.4 Connectors ................................................................................................................................................. 19
2.5 Configuration links / components ......................................................................................................... 20
2.6 Test, break out points, and debug interfaces ..................................................................................... 24
2.7 Arduino™ UNO R3 compatible interface pin out ................................................................................. 25
2.8 Power supply options and LiPo battery usage .................................................................................... 26
2.9 C030-N211 variant cellular module firmware upgrade ...................................................................... 27
3 Getting started .................................................................................................................................... 28
3.1 eUICC (embedded SIM) activation ......................................................................................................... 28
3.2 C030 board setup ..................................................................................................................................... 28
3.3 Development PC USB driver configuration .......................................................................................... 28
3.4 Getting started with Mbed ...................................................................................................................... 29
4 Approvals ............................................................................................................................................... 30
4.1 C030-U201 European Conformance CE mark .....................................................................................30
4.2 C030-N211 European Conformance CE mark ...................................................................................... 31
Appendix ....................................................................................................................................................... 32
A Glossary ................................................................................................................................................. 32
Related documentation ........................................................................................................................... 33
Revision history .......................................................................................................................................... 33
Contact .......................................................................................................................................................... 34
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1 Overview
The u-blox C030 LTE Cat 1, Cat M1, NB-IoT and 2G/3G mbed-enabled IoT starter kit is a versatile
development platform that allows quick prototyping of a variety of applications for low-power Internet
of Things (IoT) devices.
The u-blox C030 boards are delivered in several variants based on the type of u-blox cellular module
employed, such as:
• C030-U201: SARA-U201 HSPA module with 2G fallback
• C030-N211: SARA-N211 NB-IoT (LTE Cat NB1) module
• C030-R410M: SARA-R410M LTE Cat M1 / Cat NB1 module
• C030-R3121: LARA-R3121 LTE Cat 1 single-mode module with GNSS receiver
The u-blox C030 application boards, except C030-R3121, have a u-blox MAX-M8C module or a ZOE
GNSS IC as a concurrent GNSS receiver, thereby enabling straight forward development of locationaware, globally communicating applications.
The u-blox C030 board provides access to a variety of hardware interfaces (10/100 Mb/s Ethernet, 22
GPIOs with SPI, I2C, UART, PWM) through the Arduino™ Uno R3 compatible header connector.
An eUICC (embedded SIM) is integrated on the u-blox C030-U201 / C030-R3121 variants. The eUICC
comes with International Data Roaming Cellular Connectivity Service by JT® JTGlobal (formerly
Jersey Telecom) with 50 MB of data for the period of 90 days, which can be topped up and extended
on demand.
The u-blox C030 board is powered by an Arm® Cortex-M4 based ST® STM32F437VGT Host
microcontroller, which is fully supported by the Arm® Mbed™ platform. The microcontroller has 512 kB
flash, 64 kB RAM, and runs an up-to-96 MHz system clock. The board provides simple USB drag-ndrop programming and ST-Link debug interface for the Host microcontroller. The Arm Mbed platform
provides free software libraries and online tools for professional rapid prototyping. The programming
is done using a standard-based C/C++ SDK. The Arm Mbed compiler also supports full export to
various tool chains, for projects that demand it as they go into production.
The u-blox C030 also works with wide choice of Integrated Development Environments (IDEs)
including but not limited to Arm® Keil®, GCC-based Eclipse IDEs.
Using this guide
This guide assumes the user has basic computer skills and is familiar with the Windows Graphical
User Interface (GUI) and cellular modem environments.
The following symbols are used to highlight important information in the document:
☞ An index finger points out key information pertaining to device operation and performance.
⚠ A warning symbol indicates actions that could negatively impact or damage the device.
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Warnings and certifications
C030 is an Electrostatic Sensitive Device (ESD).
CAUTION! Risk of short circuit of the battery when touching it with conducting
parts. In the unlikely event of a failure in the internal protection circuitry, there is
a risk of an explosion when charging fully or partially discharged batteries.
Replace the battery if it no longer has sufficient charge for unit operation. Control
the battery before using it if the device has not been operated for an extended
period of time.
Products marked with this lead-free symbol on the product label comply with the
“Directive 2002/95/EC of the European Parliament and the Council on the
Restriction of Use of certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic
Equipment” (RoHS).
C030 application boards are RoHS compliant and green (no halogens).
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2 Hardware description
The u-blox C030 has the following onboard hardware features:
• u-blox cellular functionality
o On C030-U201 – u-blox SARA-U201 HSPA/GSM module, with eUICC (embedded SIM)
o On C030-N211 – u-blox SARA-N211 LTE Cat NB1 (NB-IoT) module, with MicroSIM socket
o On C030-R410M – u-blox SARA-R410M-02B LTE Cat M1 / NB1 module, with MicroSIM socket
o On C030-R3121 – u-blox LARA-R3121 LTE Cat 1 module, with eUICC (embedded SIM)
• u-blox GNSS functionality
o On C030-U201 – u-blox MAX-M8C LCC module able to utilize concurrent reception of up to
three GNSS systems (GPS / Galileo together with GLONASS or BeiDou)
o On C030-N211 – u-blox MAX-M8C LCC module able to utilize concurrent reception of up to three
GNSS systems (GPS / Galileo together with GLONASS or BeiDou)
o On C030-R410M – u-blox ZOE-M8B SiP module able to utilize concurrent reception of up to
three GNSS systems (GPS / Galileo together with GLONASS or BeiDou)
o On C030-R3121 – GPS receiver integrated in u-blox LARA-R3121 module
• STM32F437VG Cortex-M4 Arm host MCU with 1024 kB Flash, 256 kB SRAM and SWD connector
o 12 MHz crystal oscillator for system clock
o 32.768 kHz crystal oscillator for real-time clock
o 1.8 V operation
• On-board ST-Link/V2-1 debugger/programmer with SWD connector
o ST-Link/V2-1 standalone development and debug capability
o USB re-enumeration; Virtual COM port, mass storage device and debug port
o 5V from ST-Link/V2-1 Debug USB VBUS, 3.3V operation
o (CMSIS-DAP variant of the FW with extended features will be available in the future)
• On-board TI
®
bq24295 single cell LiPo battery charger and TI® bq27441-G1 battery fuel gauge
• Molex
®
SPOX™ 5268-03A LiPo battery connector
o Supports battery types like BAK –LP-503759-IS-3 (battery is not included)
• On-board SiLabs
®
CP2105 USB to dual UART bridge as Serial USB Sniffer
o Alternative to ST-Link/V2-1 virtual COM port when ST-LINK/V2-1 is not used/available
o Alternative to main supply and Debug USB 5V VBUS inputs
o Sniffing serial communication between the host MCU and the cellular module
• RGB User LED, and two push buttons: user and reset
• On-board SiLabs
®
Si7034-A10 humidity and temperature sensor
o Utilized temperature sensor only. Cannot be used for humidity measurements
• SD card socket for file storage
• Integrated NB-IoT and GNSS antennas by Antenova
®
on C030-N211’s snap-off antenna section
• SMA RF connectors for 50 Ohm cellular and GNSS active antennas except on C030-N211
• Integrated eUICC including International Data Roaming Cellular Connectivity by JT
®
JTGlobal with
50 MB of data for the first 90 days (except for C030-N211 / C030-R410M)
• MicroSIM card socket on C030-N211 / C030-R410M
• Extension:
o Arduino™ Uno R3 compatible interface
o 6 analog capable inputs
o 8 PWM capable outputs
o 22 GPIOs
o 1 x SPI
o 1 x I2C
o 1 x UART with HW flow control option (RTS, CTS)
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• Flexible board power supply:
o 5 V main supply USB, debug USB, and sniffer USB VBUS inputs
o 2.5 V to 5.5 V Arduino UNO R3 VIN input
o 2.8 V to 4.4 V LiPo battery input
• Support of a wide range of Integrated Development Environments (IDEs), including but not limited
to GCC-based IDEs, Arm Mbed
• Arm Mbed Enabled (see http://mbed.org)
Figure 1: C030-U201 application board overview
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Figure 2: C030-N211 application board overview
Figure 3: C030-R410M application board overview
LTE Cat M1 / NB1
Multi-Band
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Figure 4: C030-R3121 application board overview
2.1 C030 block diagram
The block diagram of the C030 is depicted in Figure 5, Figure 6 and Figure 7.
Figure 5: C030-U201 / C030-N211 block diagram
VCC
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Figure 6: C030-R410M block diagram
Figure 7: C030-R3121 block diagram
Figure 5, Figure 6 and Figure 7 show the major interfaces and internal connections of the C030.
The major component layouts of each board variant are provided in Figure 8, Figure 9, Figure 10 and
Figure 11.
VCC
VCC
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The C030 consists of three sections:
• Utility section
The utility section accommodates the components that provide SW debugging / virtual COM port
(ST-Link/CMSIS-DAP) and Ethernet Interface functions. The SW debugging / virtual COM port
functions are executed by the InterfaceMCU via the “Debug USB” interface.
As this section is only needed during the application development and test activities, it could be
physically snapped off from the application section to decrease the size and power consumption.
The utility section is powered up from the “Debug USB” 5V VBus. When the “Debug USB” is not
connected, SW debugging / virtual COM port and Ethernet Interface functions are turned off and
isolated from the Application section.
The “Auxiliary 5V USB” connector on the Utility section could be used to boost the power input to the
application section if the current input from the “Debug USB” 5V Vbus is not sufficient.
• Application section
The application section accommodates the GNSS and cellular modules, a eUICC (Embedded SIM) /
MicroSIM socket, the HostMCU, the battery charging/management and power supply circuitry, the
SD card interface and socket, the Serial USB Sniffer for communication between the HostMCU to the
cellular module and similarly to the InterfaceMCU. The application section also has a temperature
sensor for measuring ambient temperature of the board. Reset and user buttons, configuration
jumpers and User and system status indication LEDs are placed in the application section.
The application section is designed for minimal power consumption. Unutilized circuitries and
sections could be either turned off by software or inhibited electronically.
The Arduino Uno R3 interface on the application section could be used to integrate sensors, actuators
and power/battery supply circuitries as Arduino Shields/expansion daughter PCBs.
The application section could run standalone when the utility and antenna sections are snapped off.
• Antenna section
The C030 PCB has been designed to accommodate GNSS and cellular antennas on-board depending
on the build variant. The C030-N211 antenna section could be snapped off if the orientation of the
C030 is in an enclosure required by the application. Both application and antenna sections have SMA
edge connector footprints. Therefore, by soldering the SMA Edge connectors, the antenna section
can be connected to the application section through adequate 50 Ω RF cables.
The other C030 variants have SMA Jack edge connectors for cellular and GNSS antennas.
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