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RAK4260 Module Quick Start Guide
Prerequisites
What Do You Need?
Before going through the quick start guide of the RAK4260 WisDuo LPWAN Module, make sure to prepare the
necessary items listed below:
Hardware Tools
1. RAK4260 LPWAN Module
2. USB to TTL Converter
3. RAKDAP1 DAPLink Tool
4. Gateway in range for testing
5. Windows PC
Software Tools
1.
RAK Serial Port Tool
2.
RAK Device Firmware Upgrade (DFU) Tool
3.
Atmel Studio
4.
Sample Code
Product Configuration
Interfacing with RAK4260
During the configuration of the module, a guided setup is available on the console output. You can connect to the
console of the RAK4260 module through the UART interface.
Connect to the RAK4260
In this document, a RAK4260 module is used as an example. Use a USB to TTL converter to connect to the
module.
1. Connect the RAK4260 to the USB port of a general-purpose computer (Windows PC) using a USB to TTL
module (3.3 V), as shown in Figure 1.
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Related Manuals for RAK RAK4260
Summary of Contents for RAK RAK4260
- Page 1 RAK4260 module through the UART interface. Connect to the RAK4260 In this document, a RAK4260 module is used as an example. Use a USB to TTL converter to connect to the module. 1. Connect the RAK4260 to the USB port of a general-purpose computer (Windows PC) using a USB to TTL...
- Page 2 Stop Bits: 1 stop bit Parity: NONE 4. The RAK4260 console output can now be read in the RAK serial port tool, as shown in Figure 2. Figure 2: RAK Serial Port Tool Connected to RAK4260 Module Before establishing a LoRa Connection using the RAK4260 Module, several configurations must be set first, which will be discussed in the next sections.
- Page 3 Figure 3: RAK4260 in the context of the TTN As shown in Figure 3, the RAK4260 module is one of the devices located on the left side. In the context of an IoT solution, the objective is to deploy devices to sense the relevant process variables and transmit the data to the backend servers located in the cloud.
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Page 4: Create A New Application
Documentation Center Figure 4: The Things Network Home Page Figure 5: TTN Console Page Create a New Application 1. Choose the APPLICATIONS. Figure 6: Application Section 2. Click the “add application” button. - Page 5 Documentation Center Figure 7: Adding an Application Here are the things that you should take note of in adding an application: Application ID - this will be the unique ID of your application in the Network. Note that the characters should be in lower case, no spaces are allowed.
- Page 6 Configuring RAK4260 LPWAN Module To connect the RAK4260 module to a LoRa P2P Connection or a LoRaWAN network, the module must be configured and LoRa parameters must be set properly. This can be done by modifying the LoRa parameters on...
- Page 7 Documentation Center the firmware source code and flashing it into the module. The following section will guide you through the process of doing this using Atmel Studio. Parameter and Firmware Setup To connect your device with TTN, execute the following steps. To do this, fill in the parameters obtained when setting up the TTN.
- Page 8 Documentation Center Figure 13: Open the sample project 3. Go to the folder where you downloaded the GitHub repository, and select the "APPS_ENDDEVICE_DEMO1" project file (it is in the directory with the same name as the file). Then click Open.
- Page 9 Documentation Center Figure 14: Demo firmware project file 4. Once your project has loaded up, you will be presented with a file structure that contains folders and files that you can edit. You need to copy the values of the three (3) parameters shown in Figure 11 (Device, Application EUI, and Application Key) into the corresponding fields in the “conf_app.h”...
- Page 10 Documentation Center Figure 15: Device configuration file (OTAA parameters) 5. After replacing the default values with the one for the device you registered with TTN, you can proceed to compile the project. There is no need to edit anything else in order to compile firmware that will allow you to connect to the TTN network.
- Page 11 Tool. Connecting to TTN 1. Connect your USB to the TTL adapter to the corresponding pins of RAK4260, which have been discussed in the earlier section. Refer to Figure 1. Use the serial communication tool to use the guided setup. Based on the firmware you flashed to the RAK4260 Module, it is configured in OTAA Mode.
- Page 12 Figure 19: Demo application response 2. Make sure to set the proper configuration in-line with the LoRa Gateway settings to successfully connect the RAK4260 module to a LoRa network. Figure 20: Join request which shows configured parameters Figure 21: Connection successful for OTAA mode...
- Page 13 Figure 23: Received data on TTN side Connecting to ChirpStack This section shows how to connect the RAK4260 LPWAN Module to the ChirpStack platform. As described in the ChirpStack website: “ChirpStack provides open-source components for LoRaWAN networks. Together they form a ready-to-use solution including a user-friendly web interface for device management and APIs for integration.
- Page 14 The architecture of the ChirpStack platform is shown in the previous figure. Similar to the case of TTN, the RAK4260 Module is an End Device and will transmit the data to the backend servers through a LoRa gateway. For a more technical understanding of the ChirpStack components, refer to the Architecture page of ChirpStack.
- Page 15 ChirpStack LoRaServer supports multiple system configurations, with only one by default. By default, a new Application should be created, although it is possible to reuse the existing ones. Application Name: rak4260_node Application Description: RAK4260 Module application Service profile: This field will select the system profile. The Application Description field is just a descriptive text.
- Page 16 Documentation Center Figure 28: Device tab of an Application 3. Inside the “DEVICES” tab, create a new device (LoRa node) by clicking on the “+ CREATE” button. Figure 29: Add a new device at the Devices tab Figure 30: New device registration form 4.
- Page 17 Documentation Center Device EUI: This interface allows you to generate a Device EUI automatically by clicking the icon highlighted in red in Figure 31. You can also add a specific Device EUI directly in the form. Device-profile: To join in OTAA mode, select “device_profile_otaa” or "device_profile_abp" to join in ABP mode.
- Page 18 Documentation Center Figure 32: Choosing OTAA mode in the device registration form 2. A previously created “Application Key” can be entered here, or a new one can be generated automatically by clicking the icon highlighted in red. Figure 33: Application Key for the OTAA mode in the device registration form 3.
- Page 19 Documentation Center Figure 34: New crated device listed in the DEVICES tab 4. To end the process, it is a good practice to review that the Application Key” is properly associated with this device. The “Application Key” can be verified in the “KEYS(OTAA)” tab. Figure 35: Application Key associated to the new device NOTE: Standard OTAA mode requires the Device EUI, Application Key, and the Application EUI.
- Page 20 Documentation Center Device EUI: You can also add a specific Device EUI directly in the form. 2. Once these parameters are filled, click the “CREATE DEVICE” button. NOTE: Check the Disable frame-counter validation to prevent the node-side counting the frame starting from zero after the node is powered on during the test, and the server cannot synchronize the node-side counting, causing the transmission to fail.
- Page 21 Documentation Center View LoRaWAN OTAA Frames 1. Go to Applications -> rak4260-node -> Devices -> rak4260-node, then select the “LORAWAN FRAMES” tab. Figure 38: OTAA activation frame 2. Go to Applications -> rak4260-node -> Devices -> rak4260-node, then select “DEVICE DATA” tab.
- Page 22 Documentation Center Figure 40: LoRaWAN ABP frame 2. Go to Applications -> rak4260-node -> Devices -> rak4260-abp, then select “DEVICE DATA” tab. Figure 41: Device data ABP frame Miscellaneous Firmware Upgrade Through DAPLink Refer to the RAKDAP1 Flash and Debug Tool guide in the Accessories Category.