u-blox EVK-VERA-P174 User Manual



EVK-VERA-P174

Evaluation kit for VERA-P1 host-based V2X transceiver
modules

User guide

Abstract

This document describes how to set up the EVK-VERA-P174 evaluation kit to evaluate the VERA­P1 series host-based 802.11p V2X transceiver modules.

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EVK-VERA-P174 - User guide

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Document information

Title EVK-VERA-P174

Subtitle Evaluation kit for VERA-P1 host-based V2X transceiver modules

Document type User guide

Document number UBX-17048707

Revision and date R08 6-Nov-2020

Disclosure Restriction C1 Public

This document applies to the following products:

Product name Type number Firmware version PCN reference

EVK-VERA-P174 EVK-VERA-P174-00A-00 N/A

ocuments, visit www.u-blox.com.

-blox AG.

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or disclosure to third parties of this document or any part thereof is only

-blox.

-blox assumes no liability for its use. No warranty, either express or

to, with respect to the accuracy, correctness, reliability and fitness for a particular

-blox at any time without notice. For the most recent

EVK-VERA-P174 - User guide

Contents

Document information ............................................................................................................................. 2

Contents ....................................................................................................................................................... 3

1 Evaluation kit description ................................................................................................................ 5

1.1 Overview ........................................................................................................................................................ 5

1.2 Kit includes ................................................................................................................................................... 6

1.3 Software and documentation ................................................................................................................... 6

1.4 System requirements ................................................................................................................................ 6

1.5 Specifications .............................................................................................................................................. 7

2 Getting started .................................................................................................................................... 8

3 Board description ................................................................................................................................ 9

3.1 Block diagram .............................................................................................................................................. 9

3.2 Overview ........................................................................................................................................................ 9

3.2.1 Main board ......................................................................................................................................... 10

3.2.2 USB and power supply board .......................................................................................................... 11

3.3 Connectors ................................................................................................................................................. 12

3.3.1 Power supply and configuration .................................................................................................... 12

3.3.2 USB interface ..................................................................................................................................... 12

3.3.3 Bootstrapping .................................................................................................................................... 12

3.3.4 SPI interface ...................................................................................................................................... 12

3.3.5 SPI chip select ................................................................................................................................... 13

3.3.6 1PPS interface ................................................................................................................................... 13

3.3.7 GNSS interface .................................................................................................................................. 13

3.3.8 SMA connectors ............................................................................................................................... 14

3.3.9 Host interface connector ................................................................................................................ 14

3.4 LEDs ............................................................................................................................................................. 14

3.5 Buttons ........................................................................................................................................................ 14

3.6 Design files ................................................................................................................................................. 15

4 Software ............................................................................................................................................. 20

4.1 Quick start instructions ........................................................................................................................... 20

4.2 Module calibration .................................................................................................................................... 22

4.3 Usage examples ........................................................................................................................................ 22

4.3.1 Transmit and receive counters ...................................................................................................... 23

4.3.2 Channel configuration ..................................................................................................................... 24

4.3.3 Transmitter test ............................................................................................................................... 24

4.3.4 Receiver test ...................................................................................................................................... 25

4.3.5 LLC native IPv6 functionality ......................................................................................................... 26

4.4 Building the software for a different target platform ....................................................................... 27

Appendix .................................................................................................................................................... 28

A Glossary .............................................................................................................................................. 28

Related documents ................................................................................................................................ 29

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Revision history ....................................................................................................................................... 30

Contact ....................................................................................................................................................... 31

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EVK-VERA-P174 - User guide

1 Evaluation kit description

1.1 Overview

VERA-P1 is a compact, embedded transceiver module that enables development of electronics for
Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) communication systems. The module includes an integrated
MAC/LLC/Baseband processor and the required RF front-end components. It connects to a host
processor through USB or SPI interface.

The EVK-VERA-P174 evaluation kit provides a simple way to evaluate the VERA-P1 series host­based V2X transceiver modules. The evaluation kit serves as an evaluation and development
platform providing full access to the interfaces of the VERA-P1 radio module, and allows integration
of the VERA-P1 module with an external PC or host processor development platform.

The main features of the EVK-VERA-P174 evaluation kit are:

• Enables host communication via Micro USB connector or SPI pin header

• Provides two SMA antenna connectors for the VERA-P1 module

• Has an integrated u-blox NEO-M8U GNSS module with SMA antenna connector

• Has an on-board SPI flash for evaluating different boot options

• Provides an integrated USB 2.0 hub to access VERA-P1, GNSS, and SPI flash via a single

connector

• Has 9 – 28 V DC power supply input with the option to provide external supplies separately and
measure current consumption

Table 1 lists the available versions of the evaluation kit:

Evaluation kit Description Suitable for evaluation of

EVK-VERA-P174 Evaluation kit for the VERA-P1 module VERA-P173 (with single radio firmware)

VERA-P174 (with dual radio firmware)

Table 1: EVK-VERA-P174 evaluation kit

☞ For further information about the features supported by VERA-P1 series V2X modules, see the

VERA-P1 series data sheet [1] and VERA-P1 series system integration manual [2].

The EVK-VERA-P174 consists of two boards, which are connected by a board-to-board connector.
The upper main board contains the VERA-P174 and the NEO-M8U GNSS module. The USB interface
and main power supply are included on the lower power supply board. The board-to-board connector
allows the main board to be directly connected to a compatible host board.

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EVK-VERA-P174 - User guide

Figure 1: EVK-VERA-P174 main board

1.2 Kit includes

The EVK-VERA-P174 evaluation kit includes the following:

• Evaluation board with the VERA-P174 module (main and power supply boards)

• Two 5.9 GHz DSRC antennas (Triton TD.10 5 dBi)

• Micro USB cable

• Quick Start card

1.3 Software and documentation

The Linux drivers, firmware, and basic evaluation tools for the VERA-P1 series modules are available
via u-blox support. Distribution of the software requires signing of the u-blox Limited Use License
Agreement (LULA-N).

☞ Contact u-blox support for your area as listed in the Contact section to obtain the software

package.

1.4 System requirements

• Host PC with a USB 2.0 interface

• Native Linux OS or virtual machine for building and running the software (for example, Ubuntu

18.04)

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1.5 Specifications

Table 2 and Table 3 list the absolute maximum ratings and operating conditions for the
EVK-VERA-P174:

Symbol Description Min. Max. Unit

V_Sys Main power supply 9 – 28 V -0.3 28.0 V

5V0_A1,
5V0_A2

3V3 Power supply voltage 3.3 V -0.3 3.9 V

VIO I/O supply voltage 1.8 V/3.3 V -0.3 3.9 V

T

Table 2: Absolute maximum ratings

Symbol Description Min. Typ Max. Unit

V_Sys Main power supply voltage 9 12 28 V

5V0_A1,
5V0_A2

3V3 Power supply voltage 3.3 V 3.0 3.3 3.6 V

VIO I/O supply voltage 1.8 V/3.3 V 1.65 1.8 1.95 V

3.0 3.3 3.6 V

TA Ambient operating temperature - 40 - + 95 ºC

Ripple Noise Peak-to-peak voltage ripple on 3V3 supply lines - - 175 mV

Peak-to-peak voltage ripple on 5V0 supply lines. 125 mV

Table 3: Operating conditions

Storage temperature -40 +95 ºC

STORAGE

Power supply voltage 5 V -0.3 6.0 V

Power supply voltage 5.0 V 4.5 5.0 5.5 V

Symbol Description Conditions Typ Max. Unit

VIH Input high voltage 0.7*VIO1 VIO1 V

VIL Input low voltage -0.3 0.62 V

V

Input hysteresis 0.18 - V

HYS

VOH Output high voltage IOmax = 5 mA VIO - 0.4 - V

VOL Output low voltage IOmax = -5 mA - 0.4 V

Table 4: Digital pad ratings

1

1PPS pad always uses 1.8 V internally generated IO supply regardless of the VIO pad voltage.

2

RSTn pad is internally pulled high to VIO voltage by 100k. During reset, it should be below 0.2 V.

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EVK-VERA-P174 - User guide

5V
3V3

VIO

Boot
mode

2 Getting started

The basic steps to evaluate the VERA-P1 series modules using the EVK-VERA-P174 evaluation kit
are provided below:

1. Make sure that jumpers are placed on the current measurement pin headers on the main board
as shown in Figure 2. The jumpers for 5 V, 3.3 V, and 1.8 V supply must be placed on the power
supply board to use the on-board voltage regulators. The jumper for VIO voltage selection on the
power supply board is set to 3.3 V by default. See the description on the back of the board for the
jumper locations.

Figure 2: Jumper locations on the main board

2. Place jumpers on Boot_0 and Boot_1 to select the USB DFU boot mode.

3. Connect two external 5.9 GHz antennas to the SMA antenna connectors of the VERA-P1 series
module.

⚠ Always make sure that the RF ports are properly terminated to a 50 Ω load such as an antenna,

spectrum analyzer or 802.11p receiver. If you directly connect the RF ports of the two
EVK-VERA-P174 evaluation kits, include a minimum attenuation of 50 dB, to avoid damage to
the modules.

4. Connect a 9 – 28 V, 12 W power adapter to the 2.5 x 5.5 mm barrel power connector ( ) on
the power supply board. The power and reset LEDs will be on.

5. Connect the micro USB connector on the power supply board to a host processor or a PC. The
USB LED will be on.

6. Follow the quick start instructions in section 4.1 to build the Linux driver and applications for the
VERA-P1 series modules and download the firmware to the VERA-P1 series module.

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VERA-P1

GNSS

SMA

SMA

SMA

8 MBit Flash

SPI

USB-to-UART

Bridge

UART

USB

Hub

USB-to-SPI

Bridge

Power Supply

9V ... 28V

USB

USB

USB & Power Board

VERA-P1 Main Board

Host Connector

& Pin Header

5V

3.3V

1.8V

1PPS

3 Board description

This section describes the EVK-VERA-P174 evaluation board, the available connectors, and
configuration settings.

3.1 Block diagram

Figure 3 shows a general block diagram of the evaluation board.

Figure 3: Block diagram of the EVK-VERA-P174 evaluation board

3.2 Overview

Table 5 lists the available connectors on the upper main board of the EVK-VERA-P174 and their
functions. Table 6 lists the available connectors on the lower power supply board of the
EVK-VERA-P174 and their functions.

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3.2.1 Main board

Bootstrapping
(J112)

1PPS
(J108)

Reset
button

VERA-P1 ANT 1
(J102)

VERA
(J103)

GNSS antenna
connector

GNSS (J106)

Reset LED

Firmware LED

1PPS LED

5V (J111)

3V3
(J109)

SPI CS
(J113)

SPI (J105)

VIO (J110)

EVK-VERA-P174 - User guide

-P1 ANT 2

Figure 4: EVK-VERA-P1 Main board assembly overview

Designator Connector Description

J112 Bootstrapping Jumpers to select the VERA-P1 boot mode

J105 SPI SPI interface connector

J108 1PPS Jumper and connector for the internal or external 1PPS signal

J109 3V3 current measure Pin header to measure current on 3V3 rail

J110 VIO current measure Pin header to measure current on VIO rail

J111 5V current measure Pin header to measure current on 5V rail

J102 ANT1 SMA connector for antenna 1 of VERA-P1

J103 ANT2 SMA connector for antenna 2 of VERA-P1

J113 SPI CS Jumper to configure SPI chip select routing between VERA-P1, SPI flash, and host

J104 GNSS antenna SMA connector for the GNSS antenna

J106 GNSS connector Connector for GNSS UART/1PPS signals

J101 Host interface

connector

Table 5: EVK-VERA-P174 Main board connector description

Board-to-board connector to the power supply board

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