blox for
s-center
Evaluation software for short range modules
User guide
Abstract
This document explains how to use s-center, the powerful and easy-to-use tool from uevaluation and configuration of u-blox short range modules.
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s-center - User guide
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Document information
Title s-center
Subtitle Evaluation software for short range modules
Document type User guide
Document number UBX-16012261
Revision and date R04 19-Mar-2021
Disclosure Restriction C1-Public
This document applies to the following products:
Product name Type number Firmware version PCN reference
s-center
Product status
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reproduction, modification 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
-blox.com.
-blox AG.
s-center - User guide
Contents
Document information ............................................................................................................................. 2
Contents ....................................................................................................................................................... 3
1 Overview ................................................................................................................................................ 5
1.1 Getting started ............................................................................................................................................ 5
2 Connecting to another wireless module ....................................................................................... 7
2.1 Classic Bluetooth (SPP) ............................................................................................................................. 7
2.2 Bluetooth Low Energy (SPS) ..................................................................................................................... 7
2.3 Wi-Fi (TCP) ................................................................................................................................................... 8
3 Sending and receiving data .............................................................................................................. 9
4 Settings for connecting to other modules ............................................................................... 10
4.1 Bluetooth .................................................................................................................................................... 10
4.2 Wi-Fi ............................................................................................................................................................. 10
4.2.1 Station ................................................................................................................................................ 10
4.2.2 Access point ...................................................................................................................................... 11
4.3 Enable servers ........................................................................................................................................... 11
5 Updating software ........................................................................................................................... 12
6 Configuring settings ....................................................................................................................... 13
6.1 Saving and downloading all settings .................................................................................................... 13
6.2 Other settings ............................................................................................................................................ 13
6.3 Retain or restore settings ....................................................................................................................... 14
7 Miscellaneous features .................................................................................................................. 15
7.1 Serial Settings ........................................................................................................................................... 15
7.2 Data Mode settings .................................................................................................................................. 15
7.3 GATT Server ............................................................................................................................................... 16
7.4 GATT Client ................................................................................................................................................ 16
7.5 Console Window ........................................................................................................................................ 17
7.6 User Defines ............................................................................................................................................... 17
7.7 GPIO ............................................................................................................................................................. 18
7.8 Wi-Fi Certificate ........................................................................................................................................ 18
7.9 NFC .............................................................................................................................................................. 19
7.10 Bluetooth PAN ........................................................................................................................................... 19
7.11 Ethernet ...................................................................................................................................................... 19
7.12 Bridge ........................................................................................................................................................... 20
7.13 Network ....................................................................................................................................................... 20
7.14 Bind Streams ............................................................................................................................................. 20
7.15 MQTT ........................................................................................................................................................... 20
7.16 EDM .............................................................................................................................................................. 21
7.17 HTTP ............................................................................................................................................................ 21
Appendix .................................................................................................................................................... 23
A Glossary .............................................................................................................................................. 23
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Related documents ................................................................................................................................ 24
Revision history ....................................................................................................................................... 25
Contact ....................................................................................................................................................... 26
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1 Overview
s-center is a powerful and easy-to-use tool for evaluating, configuring, and testing u-blox short range
modules running the u-connectXpress SW based on AT commands.
This user guide provides a description of the features of s-center and its usage for simple
configuration of the u-connectXpress based module.
☞ s-center works with all u-connectXpress-based products.
1.1 Getting started
Having downloaded s-center client from the u-blox website and started the software, the initial
display window prompts you to select a COM port, as shown in Figure 1. For new modules, you can
keep the default values shown in the window. Ensure that you select the correct COM Port.
Once you select the COM port and click Open Port, s-center attempts to connect to the COM port.
The main screen is displayed if the connection is successful, as shown in Figure 2.
If the module is in command mode, s-center reads out some information to you. s-center may
additionally disable some controls if the module does not support those features.
Figure 1: Selecting COM port
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Figure 2: Main s-center screen
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2 Connecting to another wireless module
2.1 Classic Bluetooth (SPP)
The act of searching for other Bluetooth devices is called an “inquiry” and is shown in Figure 3. s-center
displays a list of devices that was found in a drop-down list. You can select the module you want to
connect to from the list and its Bluetooth address is automatically be entered in the form, as shown
in Figure 4. SPP is the default protocol, so you must select Connect Peer only.
☞ The other module must have the SPP server running to connect to SPP.
☞ If the other module has any security enabled, additional steps may be necessary.
Figure 3: Bluetooth Inquiry
Figure 4: Connecting to peer with SPP
2.2 Bluetooth Low Energy (SPS)
Start searching for other Bluetooth LE devices by running a discovery, as shown in Figure 5.
s-center collects all devices in the drop-down list. Selecting an entry from this list fills in the Bluetooth
address, as shown in Figure 6. SPS is the default and only protocol available for Bluetooth Low Energy
(LE), so you only need to select Connect Peer.
The selected Bluetooth LE device can also be used in the GATT client tab, as described in section 7.4.
☞ To establish a low energy connection, the module used must be in the Central mode.
☞ The device that is connected to must have the SPS server running.
More information about SPS is provided in the u-connectXpress Low Energy Serial Port Service
Protocol Specification [1].
Figure 5: Low Energy discovery
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Figure 6: Connecting to peer with SPS
2.3 Wi-Fi (TCP)
Connecting to another module over Wi-Fi involves several more steps, as you first need to connect to
an access point and then to the module. The module can also be an access point, but it is important
to separate the roles.
Start by performing a Wi-Fi scan as shown in Figure 7. The results are displayed in the drop-down list.
Selecting an access point fills in its corresponding SSID, as shown in the form in Figure 8. The majority
of values in this form can be left as default, but you may need to set the security mode and enter a
passkey or password for that security mode before selecting Activate Wi-Fi. In this example, the
security mode is WPA2 and the password is TOGRI-WIFI.
Figure 7: Scanning for Wi-Fi
Figure 8: Connecting to a Wi-Fi access point
Once the connection is established with an access point, you can attempt to connect to a peer over
TCP, as shown in Figure 9. The default protocol is TCP; enter only the IP address or host name and a
port, then select Connect Peer.
☞ The other module must have a TCP server running to connect over TCP.
Figure 9: Connecting to peer with TCP
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3 Sending and receiving data
Once connected to a peer you can send data to the peer. Select Data Mode to send data , as shown in
Figure 10.
In Data mode, the module sends raw bytes to the peer and no longer accepts AT commands. Any
command is interpreted as raw bytes to send to the peer. Select AT Mode to return the module to
command mode, as shown in Figure 10.
Figure 10: Mode buttons, Data mode highlighted
In Data mode, you select Data Pump to test the throughput performance of the module, as shown in
Figure 11. The default values are good, so you need only select Start, as shown in Figure 12. The data
pump sends and expects to receive a sequence of bytes [0, 1, 2, …] (0 resets the sequence) and
reports any deviations on the received data as byte errors. Only if the peer device is pumping data in
this manner, can you rely on the byte errors (or lack of) to represent the link quality.
Figure 11: Data Pump highlighted
Figure 12: Data Pump
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4 Settings for connecting to other modules
4.1 Bluetooth
To establish Bluetooth connections, the module must be discoverable, connectable, and pairable.
Though it is not mandatory, setting a local name can help to easily find your device. To establish a low
energy connection, low energy must be active. To initiate a low energy connection, the module must
be in the Central mode while to allow incoming connections, the module must be in the Peripheral
mode.
Figure 13: Bluetooth connection settings (scaled to fit)
4.2 Wi-Fi
4.2.1 Station
Figure 14 shows the settings for Wi-Fi station. It contains more settings than those shown in the
Basic Connection tab. Most notable is the ability to store and load the settings when you need to reset
(restart) the module.
Figure 14: Wi-Fi station settings (scaled to fit)
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4.2.2 Access point
Figure 15 shows the Wi-Fi access point settings, including:
• SSID (the name “seen” by other modules)
• Security mode
• DHCP (If this module is to act as a DHCP server so that other connecting modules can be granted
an IP address)
You can also store and load the settings in case you need to reset the module.
Figure 15: Wi-Fi access point (scaled to fit)
4.3 Enable servers
Figure 16 shows the server configuration. Here, you can view the currently running servers and set
new ones. You must remove a server to set a new one in its place. In the example shown in Figure 16,
the module is running an SPP server and TCP server and is about to set an SPS server.
Figure 16: Servers
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5 Updating software
Selecting Software Update (shown in Figure 17) opens the software update dialog shown in Figure
18. Select File allows you to browse for a new software file, and the Software Update dialog
remembers the last 5 files used. The appropriate method is selected automatically once you select a
file. In most cases, you must select Software Update.
⚠ A software update undoes all configurations on the device; consider saving them as described in
section 6.
Figure 17: Software Update button
Figure 18: Software Update dialog
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6 Configuring settings
6.1 Saving and downloading all settings
To save the device configuration for later use, select Save Configuration from the File menu, as shown
in Figure 19. You specify the location for saving the configuration in the prompt dialog.
The configuration is saved as a list of AT commands that can be used to recreate the current
configuration. Selecting Download Configuration opens a dialog box from which you can select the
specified file. The s-center software then runs all the AT commands to recreate the configuration. As
it is run as a script, you can use this function to script procedures.
Figure 19: File Menu
6.2 Other settings
The rest of the tabs under Bluetooth and Wi-Fi contain various settings for different functionalities.
The Advanced Connections and Settings tabs contain more general purpose settings and some
specialized settings. The settings are labeled with their respective AT command and all commands
sent to the device are visible in a console window. For more detailed information about these
commands, see the u-connectXpress short range AT commands manual [2]. Each tab can get and set
their own subset of settings; select Get All and Set All to get and set all device settings, as shown in
Figure 20.
☞ s-center populates some fields with default values until read. Select Set All to set the values in the
module but note that these are not stored. Reset the module to undo any changes.
Figure 20: Get and set all settings
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6.3 Retain or restore settings
Settings are first stored in volatile memory and are undone during module reset (restart). You must
select Store to retain the settings in permanent memory, as shown in Figure 21. The module must be
reset before the settings take effect.
Selecting Store conveniently resets the module after writing. You select Factory to undo the stored
settings and restore factory defaults.
☞ Some settings are permanently stored through a separate command; these tabs have a separate
option to store.
Figure 21: Store and factory settings
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7 Miscellaneous features
7.1 Serial Settings
Figure 22 shows the Serial Settings tab. From here you can change settings of the serial port (baud
rate, flow control, parity) as well as change which characters to use as command characters.
Figure 22: Serial Settings (scaled to fit)
7.2 Data Mode settings
From the Data Mode tab shown in Figure 23 you can set the module start up mode and configure how
the module handles and interprets the DSR and DTR pins.
Figure 23: Data Mode settings (scaled to fit)
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7.3 GATT Server
Figure 24 shows the GATT Server settings. Form here you define the services and characteristics
that clients interact with, read values clients have written to characteristics, and notify or indicate
new values to the client. Characteristics are added to the latest service defined.
Figure 24: GATT Server (scaled to fit)
7.4 GATT Client
Figure 25 shows the GATT Client settings. From here you can establish an ACL link to a server by
entering a Bluetooth address and selecting Connect GATT. Once connected to a server, you can
Discover Services of that server and the services associated characteristics. You can then write the
characteristics to the server or register to receive notifications.
Figure 25: GATT Client (scaled to fit)
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7.5 Console Window
The console window shown in Figure 26 allows you to enter raw AT commands to the module and view
the response. The console window also echoes the responses of AT commands sent as a result of
interacting with the features of s-center. The console does not echo the sent commands, but the
default behavior of the device is to send the command as part of the response.
Figure 26: Console Window (scaled to fit)
7.6 User Defines
Figure 27 shows the User Defines tab. From here you can define and execute rudimentary macros.
These macros consist of a list of AT commands delimited by <LF> in upper case. When executing a
user define, s-center simply executes the AT commands in order with no special handling.
Figure 27: User defines (scaled to fit)
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7.7 GPIO
Allows you to configure the GPIO pins of the modules. As shown in Figure 28, select a pin first, then
specify whether it is to be configured as Output, Input or Disabled, and finally how to configure it.
Output pins can be configured with an initial value, low or high. Input pins can be configured regardless
of whether pull resistors are used. Output pins can have a new value written to them and both input
and output pins can be read.
☞ Different GPIO pins are available for each module, as mentioned in the corresponding module
documentation.
Figure 28: GPIO configuration (scaled to fit)
7.8 Wi-Fi Certificate
The Wi-Fi certificate tab allows you to upload and view certificates and keys for use with Wi-Fi station,
as shown in Figure 29.
☞ Only the name and MD5 of certificates and keys may be read, and not the contents.
Figure 29: Wi-Fi certificate tab (scaled to fit)
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7.9 NFC
The NFC tab allows you to enable or disable NFC. When NFC is read, the module sends a response.
Figure 30: NFC (scaled to fit)
7.10 Bluetooth PAN
The Bluetooth PAN tab allows you to configure and establish or join an existing personal area network
over Bluetooth.
Figure 31: PAN settings
7.11 Ethernet
The Ethernet tab allows you to configure and establish an Ethernet connection.
Figure 32: Ethernet settings and connection
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7.12 Bridge
The Bridge tab allows you to bridge two or more interfaces.
Figure 33: Bridge settings
7.13 Network
The Network tab allows you to set various network interfaces with more control. For example, setting
Wi-Fi station to use a specific IP address (static IP).
Figure 34: Network settings
7.14 Bind Streams
The Bind Streams option (as shown in Figure 35) allows you to bind the streams of two peers to each
other, such that the transmissions from peer 1 is received by peer 2 and vice versa. Bind Channel
allows a third peer to be hooked up to an existing bind. Bind Channel also binds the peer displayed in
the left drop-down list to the channel in the drop-down list prior to the Bind Channels button.
Figure 35: Bindings
For more information about streams and channels refer to the u-connectXpress user guide [4].
7.15 MQTT
Figure 36 shows the MQTT form that allows you to establish contact to an MQTT broker. The
placeholder text tells you what each field does. If any field is left blank it is simply not included in the
connection request.
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Figure 36: MQTT form
7.16 EDM
In addition to Command (AT) Mode and Data Mode, the modules can also be placed in Extended Data
Mode (EDM) which acts as sort of simultaneous AT and Data mode. In EDM mode, the commands and
data must be packed in special packets and tagged with type.
Figure 37 shows the button to enter EDM, or if the module is already in EDM sets s-center accordingly.
In EDM, s-center attempts to seamlessly handle the packages so the user can use s-center as normal.
In EDM, you can send data to specific channels (peers) and s-center allows you to select this when it
is applicable.
Figure 37: EDM button highlighted
7.17 HTTP
The HTTP tab can be seen in Figure 38. In the very basic use case of fetching for example a webpage
it is enough to enter the address and select Go. A few options are available, such as changing the fetch
method to ignore HTTP message 300 (redirects) and attaching content with the request – either as
plain text or from a local file.
Figure 39 shows a request in flight. The request is indicated by the message at the bottom of the tab
window, as shown in Figure 39 . Any error is also reported here. After receiving a successful response,
it is displayed in a new window, as shown in Figure 40. Here you can view the response headers and, if
the response body is text based and sufficiently small, a preview. The response body is held entirely
in memory, but only if the window remains open and can be saved permanently to file.
Figure 38: HTTP tab shown
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Figure 39: Request sent, waiting for response
Figure 40: Response received and shown in a new window
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Appendix
A Glossary
Abbreviation Definition
ACL Asynchronous Connection-Less
DHCP Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol
EDM Extended Data Mode
GATT Generic Attribute
GPIO General Purpose Input Output
HTTP Hyper Text Transfer Protocol
IP Internet Protocol
MD5 A hash function
MQTT Message Queueing Telemetry Transport
NFC Near-Field Communication
PAN Personal Area Network
SSID Service Set Identifier
SPP Serial Port Profile
SPS Serial Port Service
TCP Transmission Control Protocol
URI Uniform Resource Identifier
WPA2 Wi-Fi Protected Access II
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Related documents
[1] u-connectXpress low energy serial port service, protocol specification, UBX-16011192
[2] u-connectXpress AT commands manual, UBX-14044127
[3] u-blox extended data mode, protocol specification, UBX-14044126
[4] u-connectXpress user guide, UBX-16024251
☞ For product change notifications and regular updates of u-blox documentation, register on our
website, www.u-blox.com.
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Revision history
Revision Date Name Comments
R01 29-Feb-2018 cmag Initial release
R02 12-Dec-2018 togr, kgom Major updates in all sections.
R03 18-Nov-2020 togr Added MQTT, EDM
R04 19-Mar-2021 togr Added HTTP
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Contact
For complete contact information, visit us at www.u-blox.com.
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