Ublox EVK-NINA-B4 User Manual
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Ublox EVK-NINA-B4 User Manual

Ublox EVK-NINA-B4 User Manual

Evaluation kit for nina-b4 modules
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EVK-NINA-B4
Evaluation kit for NINA-B4 modules
User guide
Abstract
This document describes how to set up the EVK-NINA-B4 evaluation kit to evaluate NINA-B4 series
standalone Bluetooth
and testing the development capabilities included in the evaluation board.
UBX-19054587 - R03
C1 - Public
®
5.1 low energy modules. It also describes the different options for debugging
www.u-blox.com

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Summary of Contents for Ublox EVK-NINA-B4

  • Page 1 EVK-NINA-B4 Evaluation kit for NINA-B4 modules User guide Abstract This document describes how to set up the EVK-NINA-B4 evaluation kit to evaluate NINA-B4 series standalone Bluetooth ® 5.1 low energy modules. It also describes the different options for debugging and testing the development capabilities included in the evaluation board.

  • Page 2: Document Information

    EVK-NINA-B4 - User guide Document information Title EVK-NINA-B4 Subtitle Evaluation kit for NINA-B4 modules Document type User guide Document number UBX-19054587 Revision and date 15-Sep-2020 Disclosure restriction C1 - Public This document applies to the following products: Product name EVK-NINA-B400...

  • Page 3: Table Of Contents

    Product description ..........................6 2.1 Overview ................................ 6 2.2 Kit includes ..............................7 2.3 Key features ..............................7 2.4 EVK-NINA-B4 block diagram ........................8 2.5 Connectors ..............................9 Setting up the evaluation board ....................10 3.1 Evaluation board setup ..........................10 3.2 Starting up ..............................
  • Page 4 EVK-NINA-B4 - User guide Schematics ............................32 Glossary ..............................36 Related documents ........................... 37 Revision history ............................37 Contact ................................38 UBX-19054587 - R03 Contents Page 4 of 38 C1 - Public...

  • Page 5: Quick Start Guide

    Follow the procedure outlined below to install the J-Link drivers needed for programming the module. 1. Connect the EVK-NINA-B4 board to your PC using the USB cable provided with the product. 2. Verify that the USB drivers are installed successfully. If the drivers do not install automatically, see section 3.1.

  • Page 6: Product Description

    EVK-NINA-B4 - User guide Product description 2.1 Overview The u-blox EVK-NINA-B4 evaluation kit is a versatile development platform that allows quick prototyping of a variety of extremely low-powered Internet of Things (IoT) applications, using full Bluetooth 5.1, NFC, and IEEE 802.15.4.

  • Page 7: Kit Includes

    -M4F microcontroller with a 64 MHz system clock, 512kB internal flash and 128 kB RAM. EVK-NINA-B4 evaluation boards provide access to the 38 GPIO pins and interfaces that are supported on NINA-B4 modules. The interfaces are available through a variety of connectors, including Arduino™...

  • Page 8: Evk-Nina-B4 Block Diagram

    5 V USB supply 5-12 V Arduino VIN input • Battery holder supporting CR2032 coin cell batteries 2.4 EVK-NINA-B4 block diagram Figure 3 shows the major interfaces and internal connections of the EVK-NINA-B4. NINA Connectivity Software function UART UART GPIO/Dig. Int.

  • Page 9: Connectors

    EVK-NINA-B4 - User guide 2.5 Connectors Table 1 describes the available connectors of the EVK-NINA-B4 shown in Figure 4. Connector Function Description Power supply 2.1 mm power jack, the center pin is the positive terminal. 5 – 12 V input.

  • Page 10: Setting Up The Evaluation Board

    (see section 1) and set the baud rate to 115200, 8N1 with flow control. All available AT commands are described in the u-connect AT commands manual [5]. To get started with the basic use case set up of the EVK-NINA-B4 with u-blox u-connect software, see the u-connectXpress user guide [7].

  • Page 11: Evk-Nina-B40X

    ☞ Go to the u-blox support webpage to obtain the latest available software. Instructions on reflashing the EVK-NINA-B4 can be found in the Software section of the NINA-B4 system integration manual [4]. EVK-NINA-B40x 3.2.2.1...

  • Page 12: Using An External Power Supply Or Power Analyzer

    EVK-NINA-B4 - User guide Using an external power supply or power analyzer Connect the terminals of the instrument to the EVK pins, as shown in Figure 5. An ampere meter can also be added in series. Since the external voltage of any connected instrument can never perfectly match the 3.3 V generated by the EVK, some small current leakage is apparent whenever the signal from the NINA module is connected to an EVK peripheral.

  • Page 13: Board Configuration

    Figure 6: Block diagram of the power net distribution Selecting the power configuration jumpers EVK-NINA-B4 offers flexible powering options for the NINA-B4 module and the board itself. To configure this, jumpers are added or removed to pin headers, shorting two of the pins together and connecting or disconnecting different power nets on the evaluation board.
  • Page 14 EVK-NINA-B4 - User guide Sources Net names Targets DC/DC VDD_MCU Onboard 3.3 V PC communication converter 3V3_PI VBAT Raspberry Pi expansion board Battery VBAT_DIODE VDD_IO Battery with Board I/O power: protection diode Level shifters, LEDs etc. -.-- V Any power net...
  • Page 15 EVK-NINA-B4 - User guide Connector Pin no. Schematic net Description Regulated 3.3 V net. This net is supplied by the board and will always be powered as long as a power source is connected. 3V3_PI Connects to the Raspberry Pi header’s (J14) 3V3 pins. If a Raspberry Pi is connected, this net must be unconnected to prevent back currents.

  • Page 16: Default Power Configuration, 3.3 V

    EVK-NINA-B4 - User guide Default power configuration, 3.3 V This is the default power configuration for the evaluation board, and the jumpers are installed out of the box with this power configuration. All board peripherals are powered up, the NINA module is directly supplied by the board and everything is running at 3.3 V.

  • Page 17: Battery Powered, 3 - 1.7 V

    EVK-NINA-B4 - User guide Battery powered, 3 – 1.7 V When using a battery, Figure 10 shows the default configuration. The battery voltage is connected to VDD_NINA, which in turn, is connected to the NINA-B4 VCC supply. If needed, a jumper can be added to J22 pins - 2 and 4 to supply LEDs and other peripherals with power, as long as this does not exceed the maximum current rating of the battery.

  • Page 18: Battery Powered With Protection Diode, 2.7 - 1.7 V

    EVK-NINA-B4 - User guide Battery powered with protection diode, 2.7 – 1.7 V This use case is meant to protect the battery from current back surges. When using the NFC interface, there is a risk that the applied electromagnetic field can cause back surges on the module’s power supply lines that will typically damage a non-chargeable battery.

  • Page 19: External Supply, 3.6 - 1.7 V

    EVK-NINA-B4 - User guide External supply, 3.6 – 1.7 V When measuring current consumption or performing other NINA-B4 module characterization measurements, it can be useful to power the module with an external source such as a lab power supply. In such cases, all jumpers can be removed and the required supply nets can be fed externally by connecting to the pin headers.

  • Page 20: Raspberry Pi Hat

    EVK-NINA-B4 - User guide Raspberry Pi HAT When connecting a HAT to the Raspberry Pi interface, the following jumper configuration can be used. Depending on how the NINA module is to communicate with a test PC over USB or with the HAT, the VDD_MCU net could be left unpowered.
  • Page 21 EVK-NINA-B4 - User guide NINA Signal Jumper Headers J1 9 J1 9 Figure 14: Jumper headers J19 and J9 that are used to isolate specific NINA signals Connector Pin no. Schematic net name Description RESET_N NINA reset signal, active low RESET_N_I Connects to the Interface MCU’s reset line...

  • Page 22: Interfaces And Peripherals

    J19. The RGB LED shows the status for the u-connect applications. ☞ See the NINA-B4 data sheet [3] for additional information. Table 10: EVK-NINA-B4 LED indicators UBX-19054587 - R03 Interfaces and peripherals Page 22 of 38 C1 - Public...

  • Page 23: Arduino Interface

    EVK-NINA-B4 - User guide 5.2 Arduino interface The EVK-NINA-B4 includes a set of pin headers and mounting holes that are compatible with certain Arduino or Arduino inspired shields. Figure 16 shows the layout of the Arduino interface described in Table 11. Section 5.2.1 describes the specifications that must be met for a shield to be compatible for use with the EVK-NINA-B4.
  • Page 24 EVK-NINA-B4 - User guide Conn. Arduino Description Schematic nRF52 Alternate functions and notes net name Analog input GPIO_25 P0.04 Analog function capable GPIO Analog input GPIO_24 P0.30 Analog function capable GPIO Analog input GPIO_27 P0.05 Analog function capable GPIO Analog input SWITCH_2/ P0.02...

  • Page 25: Arduino Shield Compatibility

    Arduino shield compatibility ☞ As EVK-NINA-B4 has an I/O voltage range of 1.7-3.6 V, it can only be used with shields that support an I/O voltage in this range. The EVK-NINA-B4 has a pinout that is compatible with some Arduino, or Arduino-inspired, shields.
  • Page 26 EVK-NINA-B4 - User guide Figure 17 shows the layout of the Raspberry Pi interface described in Table 13. Three mounting holes can be used for increasing the mechanical stability. The two holes on each side of connector J14 are common to all Raspberry Pi boards, but the third one is only compatible with the Pi Zero boards.
  • Page 27 EVK-NINA-B4 - User guide Conn. Raspberry Description Schematic nRF52 Alternate functions and notes Pi pin net name To connect GPIO 2 to J4 header instead of LPO clock, remove R66 and add R64 (zero ohm resistor) GPIO18 Digital I/O GPIO_1 P0.13...

  • Page 28: Powering Considerations

    RX pins between GPIO14 and GPIO15. If a NINA-B40 is used, this switch can also be made in the software. By default, the EVK-NINA-B4 is configured to simulate a HAT, with GPIO14 connected to the NINA UART_RXD pin and GPIO15 connected to the NINA UART_TXD pin.
  • Page 29 EVK-NINA-B4 - User guide Additional Interfaces External Flash UART U1 0 SPI_CS VDD_IO SPI_MISO GPIO_47 GPIO_49 SPI_CLK Trace SPI_MOSI UART U1 0 Debug and Trace Flash Memory Figure 18: Additional interfaces that require some soldering before use Connector Schematic net name...

  • Page 30: Extra Memory - External Flash

    EVK-NINA-B4 - User guide Connector Schematic net name nRF52 pin Description annotation number Not connected TRACE_CLK/GPIO_45 P0.07 Parallell trace clock signal Not connected TRACE_D0/SWO/ P1.00 Serial trace data signal / Parallell trace data signal GPIO_8 Ground TRACE_D1/GPIO_46 P0.12 Parallell trace data signal...

  • Page 31: Cpu Trace Interface

    EVK-NINA-B4 - User guide CPU trace interface The Arm Cortex-M4Fprocessor in NINA-B4 modules supports tracing of CPU instructions through the 20-pin, 50 mil pitch, Cortex Debug + ETM connector. This extended connector has the same features as J12, but also accommodates instruction trace operations through the Embedded Trace Macrocell (ETM) of the Cortex-M4 microcontroller in the NINA-B4 module.

  • Page 32: Appendix

    EVK-NINA-B4 - User guide Appendix A Schematics UBX-19054587 - R03 Appendix Page 32 of 38 C1 - Public...
  • Page 33 EVK-NINA-B4 - User guide UBX-19054587 - R03 Appendix Page 33 of 38 C1 - Public...
  • Page 34 EVK-NINA-B4 - User guide ☞ For the first prototype build (marked PT1) EVK-NINA-B3 schematic can be used as a reference. UBX-19054587 - R03 Appendix Page 34 of 38 C1 - Public...
  • Page 35 EVK-NINA-B4 - User guide ☞ For the first prototype build (marked PT1) EVK-NINA-B3 schematic can be used as a reference. ☞ Pages 2 and 6 of the schematic are intentionally omitted. UBX-19054587 - R03 Appendix Page 35 of 38 C1 - Public...

  • Page 36: B Glossary

    EVK-NINA-B4 - User guide B Glossary Abbreviation Definition Application programming interface Clear To send Evaluation kit Ground GPIO General-Purpose Input/Output Light-Emitting Diode Micro controller unit Mass storage device Near Field Communication U.FL Coaxial RF connector Universal serial bus Request To send...

  • Page 37: Related Documents

    EVK-NINA-B4 - User guide Related documents [1] Arduino – https://www.arduino.cc [2] Raspberry Pi - https://www.raspberrypi.org/ [3] NINA-B4 data sheet, UBX-19049405 [4] NINA-B4 series system integration manual, UBX-19052230 [5] u-blox Short range AT commands manual, UBX-14044127 [6] SEGGER J-Link software - https://www.segger.com/jlink-software.html...

  • Page 38: Ubx-19054587 - R03

    EVK-NINA-B4 - User guide Contact For complete contact information, visit us at www.u-blox.com. u-blox Offices North, Central and South America Headquarters Asia, Australia, Pacific Europe, Middle East, Africa u-blox America, Inc. u-blox Singapore Pte. Ltd. u-blox AG Phone: +1 703 483 3180...

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