u-blox NINA-B4, NINA-B1, NINA-B2, NINA-W1, NINA-B3 User manual

B3, and
NINA module family
Nested design and migration
Application note
Abstract
This application note describes design guidelines for NINA-B1, NINA-B2, NINA-W1, NINA­NINA-B4 short range modules. The guidelines can be used for designing a common PCB that allows assembly of different generations of NINA modules.
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NINA module family - Application note
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Document Information

Title NINA module family
Subtitle Nested design and migration
Document type Application note
Document number UBX-17065600
Revision and date R03 30-Mar-2021
Disclosure Restriction C1-Public
This document applies to the following products:
Product name Type number Software version PCN reference
NINA-B111 All All N/A NINA-B112 All All N/A
NINA-W101 All All N/A NINA-W102 All All N/A
NINA-W106 All All N/A NINA-W131 All All N/A
NINA-W132 All All N/A NINA-W151 All All N/A
NINA-W152 All All N/A NINA-W156 All All N/A
NINA-B221 All All N/A NINA-B222 All All N/A
NINA-B301 All All N/A NINA-B302 All All N/A
NINA-B306 All All N/A NINA-B311 All All N/A
NINA-B312 All All N/A NINA-B316 All All N/A
NINA-B400 All All N/A NINA-B401 All All N/A
NINA-B406 All All N/A NINA-B410 All All N/A
NINA-B411 All All N/A NINA-B416 All All N/A
-blox or third parties may hold intellectual property rights in the products, names, logos and designs included in this
-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
ed by u-blox at any time without notice. For the most recent
-blox.com.
UBX-17065600 - R03 Document Information Page 2 of 17 C1-Public
-blox AG.
NINA module family - Application note

Contents

Document Information ............................................................................................................................. 2
Contents ....................................................................................................................................................... 3
1 Overview ................................................................................................................................................ 4
2 Migration options ................................................................................................................................ 5
2.1 Migration rationales ................................................................................................................................... 5
2.2 Processor migration paths ........................................................................................................................ 6
3 NINA family design ............................................................................................................................. 7
3.1 Physical size and pad placement ............................................................................................................. 7
3.2 Antenna options .......................................................................................................................................... 7
3.3 Footprint and pinout .................................................................................................................................. 8
3.4 Electrical characteristics ........................................................................................................................... 8
3.5 Mechanical outline .................................................................................................................................... 10
3.5.1 NINA-B3x2 .......................................................................................................................................... 10
3.5.2 NINA-B316 ......................................................................................................................................... 12
4 Design considerations .................................................................................................................... 14
4.1 Migration strategy summary ................................................................................................................. 14
4.2 Paste mask ................................................................................................................................................. 14
Appendix .................................................................................................................................................... 15
A Glossary .............................................................................................................................................. 15
Related documents ................................................................................................................................ 16
Revision history ....................................................................................................................................... 16
Contact ....................................................................................................................................................... 17
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NINA module family - Application note

1 Overview

u-blox adheres to a core "nested design" philosophy that allows customers to maintain form factor, mechanical compatibility, and software continuity. This design approach means that application designs can be easily upgraded with future (or previous) generations of most suitable NINA modules – without any necessary change in the PCB layout. With a common pinout and footprint, NINA modules offer a flexible migration path for futureproof applications.
This document highlights the physical differences between NINA module generations and contains the necessary hardware guidelines for designing generic host PCBs that integrate NINA modules.
Use this application note together with the relevant system integration manual [1][5][7][9][11]
and datasheet [4][6][8][10][12] when designing your nested application design or planning for migration to a new module platform.
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NINA module family - Application note

2 Migration options

Product feature adaption and cost reduction are the main objectives for migration. The inclusion or removal of Bluetooth BR/EDR, Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) and Wi-Fi standards, as well the opportunity to reduce costs by descaling to NINA modules with lesser functionality, drive the need to migrate between the various modules in the NINA family.

2.1 Migration rationales

Figure 1 shows the migration options for u-connectXpress module variants.
Figure 1. Possible migration rationales for u-connectXpress variants
Figure 2 shows the migration options for Open CPU module variants.
Figure 2. Possible migration rationales for Open CPU variants
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NINA module family - Application note

2.2 Processor migration paths

NINA module variants comprise either Nordic nRF52 or Espressif ESP32 chipset. These two chip alternatives offer separately exclusive migration paths – although migration between Nordic and Espressif is possible when developing Bluetooth BR/EDR or WiFi solutions.
NINA modules come with either u-blox u-connectXpress software or Open CPU structures that allow custom applications to leverage the full hardware capabilities of the embedded chip.
To learn about the available features of each module, see u-blox short range line card [13].
Expressif migration u-connectXpress Chip Bluetooth BR/EDR Bluetooth LE WiFi GPIO
NINA-B2 ESP32 4.2 Yes No 16
NINA-W15 ESP32 4.2 Yes 2.4G b/g/n 16
NINA-W132 ESP32 4.2 Yes 2.4G b/g/n 16
Table 1: Espressif u-connectXpress
Expressif migration Chip Bluetooth BR/EDR Bluetooth LE Wi-Fi MCU RAM Flash GPIO
NINA-W10 ESP32 4.2 Yes 2.4G b/g/n LX6 520kB 2048/4096 kB 24
Table 2: Espressif Open CPU
Nordic migration Chip Bluetooth BR/EDR Bluetooth LE WiFi GPIO
NINA-B11 nRF52832 v5.0 Yes No 19
NINA-B31 nRF52840 v5.0 Yes No 24
NINA-B41 nRF52833 v5.1 Yes No 28
Table 3. Nordic u-connectXpress
Nordic migration Chip Bluetooth BR/EDR Bluetooth LE WiFi MCU RAM Flash GPIO
NINA-B30 nRF52840 v5.0 Yes No M4F 256kB 1024kB 24
NINA-B40 nRF52833 v5.1 Yes No M4F 128kB 512kB 28
Table 4. Nordic Open CPU
The available memory capacity offered by each chip supplier is another important consideration
as this determines the complexity and scope of features that can be supported in the application product.
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