Low Energy modules. It also describes the different options for debugging
EVK-NINA-B1
Evaluation kit for NINA-B1 modules
User guide
Abstract
This document describes how to set up the EVK-NINA-B1 evaluation kit to evaluate NINA-B1 series
standalone Bluetooth
and the development capabilities included in the evaluation board.
Kit includes ................................................................................................................................................... 5
1.7.1 Power supply ........................................................................................................................................ 9
1.7.2 Disconnecting the debug MCU interface and LEDs .................................................................. 10
Starting up ................................................................................................................................................. 13
2.2.2 Getting the latest u-connectXpress software ............................................................................ 13
2.2.3 Open CPU............................................................................................................................................ 13
A Schematics ........................................................................................................................................ 15
B Glossary .............................................................................................................................................. 20
Related documents ................................................................................................................................ 21
Revision history ....................................................................................................................................... 22
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1 Product description
Overview
The EVK-NINA-B1 evaluation kit includes an evaluation board, which can be used as a reference
design for the NINA-B1 series modules, a quick start guide, an NFC antenna, and a USB cable. For the
NINA-B111 module, the evaluation board has a U.FL coaxial connector for connecting to the external
antenna. The NINA-B112 module has an onboard antenna; thus the evaluation board does not have a
U.FL connector.
The main features of the EVK-NINA-B1 are:
• Available in two variants - NINA-B111 and NINA-B112
• All the NINA-B1 module pins are available at connectors
• Can be powered through USB, external power supply, or coin cell battery
• Has an onboard debug MCU that allows serial communication and flashing/debugging over USB.
The EVK-NINA-B1 evaluation kits are available in the following two different versions depending on
the NINA-B1 series module that is mounted:
• EVK-NINA-B111 – Evaluation kit for NINA-B111module with antenna pin
• EVK-NINA-B112 – Evaluation kit for NINA-B112 module with onboard antenna
This section describes the main connectors and settings that are required to get started. Figure 1
shows the EVK-NINA-B1 evaluation board.
Figure 1: EVK-NINA-B1 evaluation board
⚠ Take care when handling the EVK-NINA-B112. Applying force to the NINA-B112 module might
damage the internal antenna.
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Kit includes
The EVK-NINA-B1 evaluation kit includes the following:
• NINA-B1 evaluation board
• 2.4 GHz antenna with U.FL connector (only in EVK-NINA-B111)
• NFC antenna
• USB cable
• Quick Start card
Jumper description
Parameter Description Name Default
Power source
selector
Peripheral
connections
Table 1: EVK-NINA-B1 jumper description
Selects the source from where the board is powered J7 External/USB
Selects the signals that will be connected to the
module peripherals such as LEDs and MCU
interface
J9 All mounted
LEDs
Function Description Name Color
Orange Debugger
LED
Green Debugger LED Non blinking LED shows comunication link between the
UART Rx Blinking LED shows UART Rx activity DS7 Green
UART Tx Blinking LED shows UART Tx acitivty DS8 Orange
UART CTS Blinking LED shows CTS activity DS1 Green
UART RTS Blinking LED shows RTS activity DS2 Orange
RGB LED RGB LED shows status for
Table 2: EVK-NINA-B1 LEDs description
Red when EVK (both module and debug chip) is in reset DS5 Orange
DS6 Green
debug chip and the PC.
DS9 RGB
u-connectXpress
☞ See the NINA-B1 data sheet [1] for additional
information.
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Figure 2: LED placement on the EVK-NINA-B112
Connectors
The available connectors on the EVK-NINA-B1 evaluation board are shown in Figure 3.
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Figure 3: EVK-NINA-B1 connectors
Connector Description
J1, J2, J3, J4 and J18 Connectors for accessing all GPIOs on NINA-B1
J12 Serial wire debug connector for NINA-B1 module
J10 U.FL connector for external antenna (EVK-NINA-B111 only)
J11 Pin header for NFC antenna connection
J5 Power jack
BT1 Battery holder
J8 USB connector
J15 Module VCC power rail header
J6 Module VCC_IO power rail header
J17 External 5-12V supply pin
Table 3: EVK-NINA-B1 connector description
Conn. NINA-B1
Pin No.
J1 1 - N/C Not Connected - Not connected
2 - IOREF I/O reference voltage level.
3 P0.21 RESET Reset signal input. Active low logic RESET_N
4 - 3.3V 3.3 V DC regulated supply output 3V3
nRF52
pin
Arduino
pin
Description Schematic
net name
VDD_IO See section 1.7.1
Selectable by user to 1.7 – 3.6 V
Alternate functions and notes
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Conn. NINA-B1
Pin No.
5 - 5V 5 V regulated supply output 5V Cannot be used as supply input, use
6 GND GND Ground GND
7 GND GND Ground GND
8 - VIN External DC supply input, 5 – 12 VDC VIN
J2 1 P0.03 A0 Analog input GPIO_25 Analog function capable GPIO
2 P0.02 A1 Analog input GPIO_24 Analog function capable GPIO
3 P0.04 A2 Analog input GPIO_27 Analog function capable GPIO
4 P0.30 A3 Analog input SWITCH_2/
5 P0.29 A4 Analog input UART_DSR/
6 P0.28 A5 Analog input UART_DTR/
J3 1 P0.05 D0/RX Digital I/O, UART RX UART_RXD/
2 P0.06 D1/TX Digital I/O, UART TX UART_TXD/
3 P0.07 D2 Digital I/O UART_CTS/
4 P0.31 D3 Digital I/O UART_RTS/
5 P0.18 D4 Digital I/O GPIO_8 SWO signal on NINA-B1
6 - D5 Digital I/O GPIO_15 SWDIO
7 P0.09 D6 Digital I/O GPIO_28 Configured for NFC use
8 P0.10 D7 Digital I/O GPIO_29 Configured for NFC use
J4 1 - D8 Digital I/O GPIO_11 SWDCLK
2 P0.08 D9 Digital I/O GPIO_1
3 P0.11 D10 Digital I/O GPIO_2
4 P0.13 D11 Digital I/O GPIO_4
5 P0.12 D12 Digital I/O GPIO_3
6 P0.14 D13 Digital I/O GPIO_5
7 GND Ground GND
8 - AREF Analog reference voltage level - Not connected
9 P0.02 SDA I2C data signal GPIO_24
10 P0.03 SCL I2C clock signal GPIO_25
Table 4: Pin number mapping of NINA-B1 Module and nRF52
nRF52
pin
Arduino
pin
Description Schematic
net name
GPIO_18
GPIO_17
GPIO_16
GPIO_23
GPIO_22
GPIO_21
GPIO_20
Alternate functions and notes
VIN instead. Only supplied by USB
VBUS.
Analog function capable GPIO,
SWITCH_2 on NINA-B1.
This signal is pulled low when the
button SW2 is pressed
Analog function capable GPIO,
UART_DSR signal on NINA-B1
Analog function capable GPIO,
UART_DTR signal on NINA-B1
UART_RXD signal on NINA-B1
UART_TXD signal on NINA-B1
UART_CTS signal on NINA-B1
UART_RTS signal on NINA-B1
☞ The EVK-NINA-B1 has an I/O voltage range of 1.7-3.6 V. It can therefore be used only with
shields that support an I/O voltage within this range.
The EVK-NINA-B1 has a pinout that is compatible with some Arduino or Arduino inspired shields. This
section describes the features of the EVK pins that a shield has to comply with:
• IOREF: The I/O voltage level of the NINA-B1 module. Is 3.3 V by default, but the EVK can be modified
to allow for other voltages (1.7-3.6 V).
• RESET: Is connected to the RESET button (SW0).
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• 3.3 V: A regulated 3.3 V output or the battery supply voltage, depending on the power configuration
used. May only be used as a 3.3 V input if no jumpers are mounted on jumper J7.
• 5 V: Is only a 5 V supply output if the EVK is being powered by USB. If any other power configuration
is used, this pin will be unconnected (floating). It is safe to connect an external 5 V supply to this
pin when the USB power configuration is not used.
• VIN: May be used as a 3.8-12 V supply input to power the EVK-NINA-B1.
• A0: Is also connected to the EVK pin SCL (NINA pin 25).
• A1: Is also connected to the EVK pin SDA (NINA pin 24).
• Pin 0 (RX): Is connected to the NINA-B1 UART RX pin (NINA pin 23).
• Pin 1 (TX): Is connected to the NINA-B1 UART TX pin (NINA pin 22).
• SDA: Is also connected to the EVK pin A1.
• SCL: Is also connected to the EVK pin A0.
☞Note on SCL/SDA: On some Arduino boards, the I
2
C signals, SCL and SDA, are connected to
the pins A4 and A5 while on some other boards, it is connected to the SCL and SDA pins in the
top right hand corner. Some shields therefore short these pins together. This can cause
problems when using the EVK-NINA-B1 as in this scenario, the SCL/SDA pins are also
connected to the A0/A1 pins.
☞Note on digital I/O pins: Some of the digital I/O pins can be connected to the
on-board debug MCU, thus allowing serial communication and flashing/debugging over USB.
This can cause interference on signals that are also used by an Arduino shield. See Section
1.7.2 on how to disconnect these signals from the debug MCU.
Buttons
The EVK-NINA-B1 evaluation board has four buttons. Three of them are directly connected to NINAB1 pins. The fourth button is connected to the debug MCU interface.
Button Description
SW0 NINA-B1 reset button connected to pin 19
SW1 General function button connected to pin 7
SW2 General function button connected to pin 18
Table 5: EVK-NINA-B1 buttons description
Configuration options
1.7.1 Power supply
The EVK-NINA-B1 can be powered the following different ways:
• USB
• External power supply
• CR2032 coin cell battery
Depending on the selected power source, and whether or not NFC will be used, you must fit the jumper
on pin header J7 in one of the three different positions as shown in Figure 4.
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Figure 4: Power supply jumper positions of EVK-NINA-B1
1. To power the board from USB or external power supply, the jumper on J7 should be in position
1 as shown in Figure 4.
2. To power the board from the CR2032 coin cell battery for applications where NFC is not used,
the jumper on J7 should be in position 2.
3. To power the board from the CR2032 coin cell battery for applications where NFC will be used,
the jumper on J7 should be in position 3. The rationale for this is that the high field strength
on the NFC antenna can cause reverse current flow to the coin cell battery – hence the
possibility to connect the D4 diode as a protection for the reverse current.
If you would like to utilize the flexible input voltage 1.7-3.6 V of the NINA-B1 module, the power source
has to be connected to header J7. Connect the positive voltage to one of the pins - 1, 2 or 3 (bottom
row in Figure 4) and connect the ground to one of the two pins marked “GND” in Figure 4.
Coin cell battery considerations
When powering the EVK with a coin cell battery, keep in mind that the debug MCU will also have to be
powered by the battery. This will drain the battery faster than needed for a realistic solution. The
debug chip can be disabled to minimize the leakage during a battery powered setup. This is done by
removing resistor R9; R9 is shown in Figure 5.
Figure 5: Resistor R9
1.7.2 Disconnecting the debug MCU interface and LEDs
The J9 pin header includes all signals that are passed between the NINA-B1 module, MCU interface,
and LEDs.
If these connections are not required, you can disconnect these signals separately by removing the
jumpers for that particular connection. This could be useful in a current measurement scenario for
example.
☞ When taking any throughput measurements, we recommend that you disconnect the debug
MCU and connect a USB to serial converter, or similar, to connector J9. This is suggested
because the performance of the UART connection through the debug MCU is not equal to that
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of the NINA-B1 module. This connection arrangement is also recommended when flashing uconnect software using the UART.
Figure 6: EVK-NINA-B1 peripherals connection to the pin header
1.7.3 NFC antenna interface
The NFC antenna interface is available on the J11 connector. The default configuration is shown in
Figure 7. 0 Ω resistors are mounted on R15 and R16. This connects the J11 NFC antenna connector
to pins 28 and 29 of the NINA-B1 module. If NFC is not needed, and pins 28 and 29 are used as GPIOs
available on connector J3, then resistors on R15 and R16 should be removed and instead mounted on
R13 and R14.
Figure 7: NFC antenna interface J11 of EVK-NINA-B1
1.7.4 Current measurement
The EVK-NINA-B1 offers the possibility to measure current consumption for the NINA-B1 module.
Figure 8: Current measurement pin header J15 of EVK-NINA-B1
The current consumption for the NINA-B1 module on the EVK-NINA-B1 can be measured in two ways
as explained in the following subsections.
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Figure 9: Placement of R4 and R6 (10 Ω resistors)
1.7.4.1 Current measurement with ampere-meter
Remove the jumpers on J15 and J6. Remove the 10 Ω resistors R4 and R6 and connect the amperemeter in series between the pins 1 and 2 of the J15 pin header. This will give the NINA-B1 current
consumption reading on the ampere-meter.
1.7.4.2 Current measurement with Oscilloscope
Remove the 10 Ω resistor on R4. Remove the jumpers on J15 and J6 and connect an oscilloscope to
pins 1 and 2 of the J15 pin header. Then, this will display the voltage drop over the R6 resistor. Current
consumption will be proportional to the voltage drop.
If R6=1 Ω, then 1 mV voltage drop equals 1 mA of current. If R6=10 Ω, then 10 mV voltage drop equals
1 mA of current.
⚠ The USB interface, MCU interface, and the LEDs should not be connected during current
consumption measurement.
Software debug options
You can debug the software using the following two options in EVK-NINA-B1:
• Onboard debug solution available on the USB connector
• Using an external debugger connected to J12 connector
An external debugger connected to the J12 connector is useful when powering the evaluation board
with the CR2032 coin cell battery, or through the external power supply connector J5. It could also be
useful in a scenario where the debug MCU interface has been disconnected from the NINA-B1 module
using the jumpers on J9 header. The SEGGER J-Link software [5] is required to debug using the
onboard J-Link hardware on the EVK-NINA-B1.
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2 Setting up the evaluation board
Evaluation board setup
The EVK-NINA-B1 will be delivered with the u-blox Connectivity Software installed on the module.
Before connecting the module, download and install the latest u-blox s-center evaluation software
from the u-blox website.
To use Bluetooth Low Energy on the EVK-NINA-B111, connect a 2.4 GHz antenna to the U.FL antenna
connector (J10). The EVK-NINA-B112 has an onboard antenna.
Plug in either an external power supply in J5 connector or connect to a USB host with a USB cable
attached to J8 connector. You can also power the evaluation board with a CR2032 coin cell battery.
The status light (DS6) will turn green, indicating it has power. The NFC antenna can be connected to
the J11 connector.
⚠ Be careful to check polarity before connecting external power supply to the EVK-NINA-B1
evaluation board. Center conductor is positive (+) and the ring is negative (-).
The operating system will install the correct drivers automatically. The drivers will only need to be
installed the first time you connect the unit to a new computer.
⚠ If the drivers are not installed automatically, download the nRFgo Studio from
www.nordicsemi.com to get the Jlink CDC UART driver.
A COM port will automatically be assigned to the unit by Windows. On Windows 7, open the Control
Panel, click Hardware and Sound. Click Device Manager in Devices and Printers. This will open Device
Manager window where you can view the assigned COM ports.
Starting up
2.2.1 EVK-NINA-B1
Perform the following steps to enable communication with the module:
1. Start the u-blox s-center evaluation software.
2. Use the default baudrate 115200, 8N1 with flow control.
3. You will now be able to communicate with the module through AT-commands.
For a list of available AT commands, see the u-blox Short Range At commands manual [3].
To get started with basic use case setups of the EVK-NINA-B1 with u-blox u-connect Software, see
the u-connectXpress user guide [4].
If you would like to use the EVK-NINA-B1 together with Nordic Semiconductor SDK or Arm
operating system, refer to the Software section of the NINA-B1 system integration manual [2].
2.2.2 Getting the latest u-connectXpress software
®
MbedTM
Go to the u-blox support webpage to obtain the latest available firmware. Instructions on reflashing
the EVK-NINA-B1 can be found in the Software section of the NINA-B1 system integration manual
[2].
2.2.3 Open CPU
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If you would like to use the EVK-NINA-B1 together with Nordic Semiconductor SDK, refer to the
Software section of the NINA-B1 system integration manual [2], where it is described how to
• Create your own board file
• Adapt the examples in the Nordic Semiconductor SDK to use this board file
See also the u-blox short range open CPU github repository [6].
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Appendix
A Schematics
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B Glossary
Abbreviation Definition
API Application programming Interface
CTS Clear To send
EVK Evaluation kit
GND Ground
GPIO General-Purpose Input/Output
LED Light-Emitting Diode
MCU Micro controller unit
MSD Mass storage device
NFC Near Field Communication
U.FL Coaxial RF connector
USB Universal serial bus
RTS Request to send
SDK Software development kit
SPA Serial port application
UART Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter
Table 6: Explanation of the abbreviations and terms used
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Related documents
[1] NINA-B1 data sheet, UBX-15019243
[2] NINA-B1 series system integration manual, UBX-15026175
[3] u-blox u-connect AT commands manual, UBX-14044127
[4] u-connectXpress user guide, UBX-16024251
[5] SEGGER J-Link software - https://www.segger.com/jlink-software.html
[6] https://github.com/u-blox/u-blox-sho-OpenCPU
☞ For product change notifications and regular updates of u-blox documentation, register on our
website, www.u-blox.com.
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). Updated
and
. Updated the section “UART flashing”. Changed the
Included information on Arduino shield compatibility. Added schematics and
table describing Arduino to NINA to nRF pin numbering
Revision history
Revision Date Name Comments
R01 22-Feb-2016 phak,fbro,
kgom
R02 26-May-2016 fbro Updated information about current measurement (section 1.7.4
R03 17-Jun-2016 fbro, kgom Modified the document status to Advance Information. Modified Figure 3
R04 5-Jul-2016 fbro, kgom Included information about how to flash the EVK-NINA-B1.
R05 9-Sep-2016 fbro, kgom Modified Figure 2
R06 24-Oct-2016 apet, kgom Added information about mbed OS.
R07 1-Mar-2017 ajoh, fbro,
kgom, apet
R08 16-May-2017 kgom Minor updates.
R09 23-Nov-2017 kgom Minor changes based on the recent brand guidelines of Arm Mbed.
R10 6-Dec-2018 mwej, fbro,
kgom
R11 21-Oct-2019 flun Clarified the status for RGB LED in Table 2 (section 1.4).
R12 7-Apr-2020 mape Added recommendation to use connector J9 instead of UART via debug chip
R13 6-Nov-2020 mape Clarified open CPU chapter.
Initial release.
the links to Nordic resources in section 2.2. Removed SW3 from section 1.6.
Table 3. Included information about the u-blox NINA-B1 firmware (section 2).
document status to Early Production Information.
placement (Appendix A). Updated all the figures. Replaced Document status
with Disclosure restriction.
Added a new
(Table 4).
for performance measurements and flashing.
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Contact
For complete contact information, visit us at www.u-blox.com.