LN920 Hardware Design Guide CONTENTS APPLICABILITY TABLE CONTENTS INTRODUCTION Scope Audience Contact Information, Support Symbol Conventions Related Documents GENERAL PRODUCT DESCRIPTION Overview Product Variants and Frequency Bands Main Features 2.3.1. Configuration Pins Block Diagram Transmit Output Power RX Sensitivity Supported Carrier Aggregation Combinations 2.7.1.
Page 4
LN920 Hardware Design Guide LN920 Signals for Debugging Purposes Pin Layout POWER SUPPLY Power Supply Requirements Power Consumption 4.2.1. Idle Mode 4.2.2. LN920 Connected Mode Current Consumption General Design Rules 4.3.1. Electrical Design Guidelines 4.3.1.1. +5V Source Power Supply Design Guidelines ....... 28 4.3.2.
Page 5
GNSS Antenna Specifications 8.2.2. GNSS Antenna – Installation Guidelines GNSS Characteristics MECHANICAL DESIGN General Drawing APPLICATION GUIDE Debugging the LN920 Module in Production Bypass Capacitor on Power Supplies EMC Recommendations PACKAGING Tray CONFORMITY ASSESSMENT ISSUES Approvals Compliance Summary 1VV0301730 Rev. 17...
This document introduces the Telit LN920 module and presents possible and recommended hardware solutions for the development of a product based on this module. Features and solutions described in this document apply to all LN920 variants listed in the applicability table.
All dates are in ISO 8601 format, that is YYYY-MM-DD. Related Documents • LN920 SW User Guide, 1VV0301712 • LN920 AT Commands Reference Guide, 80675ST11077A • LN920 Interface Board HW User Guide, 1VV0301735 • Generic EVB HW User Guide, 1VV0301249 1VV0301730 Rev. 17 Page 9 of 83 2024-07-11...
This document aims to present possible and recommended hardware solutions useful for developing a product integrating Telit LN920 M.2 module. • LN920 is Telit’s M.2 form factor platform for applications, such as CPEs, routers, and gateways, based on the following technologies: •...
Configuration Pins Based on PCI Express M.2 Specification, LN920 has 4 configuration pins: they allow the host to identify the presence of an LN920 data card in the M.2 socket and identify the main host interface and port configuration. The state of the configuration pins is as follows:...
Page 12
Note: On the host side, each of the CONFIG_0 to CONFIG_4 pins requires a pull-up resistor. Based on the configuration pins state on the LN920, being tied to GND or lifted to No Connect (NC), the sensed pins will create a 4-bit logic state.
LN920 Hardware Design Guide Block Diagram The diagram below shows an overview of the internal architecture of the LN920 data card. Figure 1: LN920 Block Diagram Transmit Output Power Band Power class 3G WCDMA Class 3 (0.2W) LTE All Bands (except B41) Class 3 (0.2W)
Temperature Range Table 11: Temperature Range 2.9.2. RoHS Compliance As a part of the Telit corporate policy of environmental protection, the LN920 complies with the RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances) directive of the European Union (EU directive 2011/65/EU). 1VV0301730 Rev. 17...
LN920 Hardware Design Guide 3. PINS ALLOCATION Pin-out Signal Function Type Comment USB HS 2.0 COMMUNICATION PORT (FW upgrade and Data) USB_D+ USB differential Data (+) Analog USB_D- USB differential Data (-) Analog USB3.0_TX- USB 3.0 super-speed transmit - Minus Analog USB3.0_TX+...
Page 22
LN920 Hardware Design Guide Signal Function Type Comment WOW# Wake Host 1.8V Dynamic Power Reduction 1.8V Active Low GPS_DISABLE# GPS disable 3.3V Internal PU Active Low RESET# Reset Input 1.8V Internal PU DIGITAL IO GPIO11 General Purpose I/O 1.8V GPIO5 General Purpose I/O 1.8V...
Warning: Unless otherwise specified, RESERVED pins must be left unconnected (Floating). LN920 Signals for Debugging Purposes The table below specifies the LN920 signals that must be connected for debugging purposes, even if not used by the end application. Signal Notes...
LN920. The minimum voltage must be at least VBATT to power the module. Power Consumption The below table provides typical current consumption values of LN920 for various operation modes. 4.2.1. Idle Mode Mode Average Mode Description IDLE mode No Call Connection.
3DL (2x2 MIMO) CA_7C-28A 800mA 830mA Full RB, 256QAM DL/64QAM UL(600Mbps DL/75Mbps UL) Table 16: LN920 Connected Mode Current Consumption General Design Rules The main guidelines for the Power Supply Design include three different design steps: • Electrical design of the power supply •...
Module, a 100μF capacitor is usually suitable. • Make sure the low ESR capacitor on the power supply output is rated at least 10V. • A protection diode must be inserted close to the power input to protect the LN920 module from power polarity inversion.
A misplaced component can be useless or can even decrease the power supply performance. • The Bypass low ESR capacitor must be placed close to the LN920 power input pins. In the case the power supply is a switching type, it can be placed close to the inductor to reduce ripple, provided the PCB trace from the capacitor to the LN920 is wide enough to ensure a voltage dropless connection even during a 2.5A current...
RTC (Real Time Clock) The RTC function is provided to keep time information with low power consumption even when the LN920 is turned off. It is also provided to enable alarm wake-up when the LN920 is turned off. 1VV0301730 Rev. 17...
LN920 module. Parameter Parameter Unit VBATT Battery supply voltage on pin VBATT -0.5 +4.2 Table 17: LN920 Absolute Maximum Ratings – Not Operational Recommended Operating Conditions Parameter Parameter Unit Ambient temperature [° C] VBATT Battery supply voltage on pin VBATT...
• OFF state: Vbatt is applied and only RTC is running. Baseband is switched OFF and the only transition possible is the ON state. • ON state: Baseband is fully switched on and LN920 is ready to respond to AT commands. The modem can be idle or connected.
6.2.1. Initialization and Activation State After turning on the LN920, the module is not instantly activated because the SW initialization For this reason, it is recommended not to process takes some time to complete. communicate with the LN920 during this initialization phase.
LN920 Hardware Design Guide Figure 3: LN920 Initialization and Activation As shown in the diagram above, Boot OK* pin will indicate when the module is activated. When the line status transitions to high, the module has completed boot-up. * Boot OK (Shutdown indicator) is an optional function and is disabled by default.
6.3.1. Graceful Shutdown To safely power off the LN920 module, the host can use the graceful shutdown function. To gracefully shutdown the LN920 module, FULL_CARD_POEWR_OFF# should be asserted as Low. Once FULL_CARD_POWER_OFF# is asserted LOW, the LN920 module enters the finalization state, terminates active processes, and prepares to turn off safely.
Page 36
Once the Fast Shutdown Trigger senses a HIGH to LOW transition, the fast shutdown is triggered. Then the LN920 module enters the finalization state, it terminates active processes and prepares to turn off safely. As shown in the diagram below, when the module is ready to be turned off, it will be indicated via the Shutdown Indicator*.
Device reset can be triggered by an Unconditional reset using the RESET#. 6.4.1. Unconditional Hardware Reset To unconditionally restart the LN920 module, the RESET# pin must be asserted LOW for more than 1 second, then released. As shown in the diagram below,...
Revision 3.0 and can be used for control and data transfers as well as for diagnostic monitoring and firmware update. The USB port is the main interface between the LN920 module and the host controlling the modem hardware. 1VV0301730 Rev. 17...
Page 39
USB 3.0 needs AC coupling series capacitors on the TX lines in both directions. To interface USB 3.0 with the application board controlling the modem, 0.1uF capacitors should be installed on the USB_SS_RX_P/M lines of the LN920. Series capacitors are already placed on USB_SS_TX_P/M lines inside the LN920 module.
6.5.2.1. SIM Schematic Example The following diagrams illustrate how the application interface should be designed. Figure 9: SIM Schematics Note: LN920 contains an internal pull-up resistor on SIMIO lines, thus it is not necessary to install external pull-up resistors. 6.5.3. Control Signals The LN920 supports the following control signals: •...
LN920 Hardware Design Guide Figure 10: Recommended LED connection R1 and VDD determine the brightness of the LED and forward current. When VDD is 3.3V and LED’s forward voltage is 2.0V, it is recommended to use the value of R1 from 66 ohms to 250 Ohms.
1.8V CMOS levels of the GPIO. If the digital output of the device to be connected with the GPIO input pin of LN920 has interface levels different from the 1.8V CMOS, then it can be buffered with an open collector transistor with a 47K pull-up to 1.8V.
LN920 Hardware Design Guide Figure 11: GPIO Output Pin Equivalent Circuit I2C – Inter-integrated circuit The LN920 supports an I2C interface on the following pins: Signal Function Type NOTE I2C_SDA I2C Data CMOS 1.8V I2C_SCL I2C Clock CMOS 1.8V Table 26: Module I2C Signals The I2C interface is used for controlling peripherals from within the module (such as sensors, codecs, and so on).
Page 45
LN920 Hardware Design Guide Figure 12: Antenna Configurations Note: The DPR function is by default disabled. To use the DPR function, refer to LN920 AT Commands Reference Guide. 1VV0301730 Rev. 17 Page 45 of 83 2024-07-11...
Hence, please read carefully and follow the requirements and guidelines for a proper design. The antenna and RF transmission line on the host PCB for a Telit LN920-based device shall fulfill the following requirements:...
Table 32: LN920 Antenna and Antenna Transmission Line on PCB 7.4.1. Antenna Configuration LN920 modems provide two MHF-4 type RF connectors for LTE/WCDMA and GNSS bands and one MHF-4 type RF connector dedicated to the GNSS receiver. The diagram below shows the connector’s position on the modem board.
Glonass, QZSS Table 33: Antenna Configurations 7.4.2. Antenna Connector The LN920 Family is equipped with a set of 50 Ω RF MHF-4 Receptacles from I-PEX 20449-001E. https://www.i-pex.com For more information about mating connectors, please refer to: Figure 14: MHF-4 RF connector 1VV0301730 Rev.
LN920 Hardware Design Guide Figure 15: MHF-4 Receptacle If FCC certification is required for an application using LN920, according to FCC KDB 996369 for modular approval requirements, the transmission line must be similar to the one implemented on the LN920 interface board and described in the following chapter.
LN920 Hardware Design Guide 7.4.2.2. Antenna Installation Guidelines • Each antenna must be installed with 20dB isolation. • Install the antenna in a location with access to the network radio signal. • The Antenna must not be installed inside metal cases.
LN920 Hardware Design Guide 8. GNSS SECTION The LN920 module includes a state-of-art receiver that can simultaneously search and track satellite signals from multiple satellite constellations. This multi-GNSS receiver uses the entire spectrum of GNSS systems available: GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, and QZSS.
LTE out-of-band emissions, as described in the schematic below. When the GNSS receiver embedded in the LN920 module is used, the LTE transmitter and the GNSS receiver are never simultaneously active, thus filtering on the LTE side is not needed.
LN920 Hardware Design Guide Note: In the case of a GNSS antenna placed close to the module, a 15dB gain is sufficient. In the case of a long RF cable, the gain must be increased up to 30dB. 8.2.2. GNSS Antenna – Installation Guidelines •...
LN920 Hardware Design Guide 9. MECHANICAL DESIGN General The LN920 module was designed to be compliant with a standard lead-free SMT process. Drawing Figure 17: Mechanical Design Drawing 1VV0301730 Rev. 17 Page 56 of 83 2024-07-11...
10. APPLICATION GUIDE Debugging the LN920 Module in Production To test and debug the LN920 module integration, it is strongly recommended to add test points on the host PCB for the following purposes: • Checking the connection between the LN920 itself and the application •...
And if the fast power-down function is used, additional bypass capacitors should be mounted on the application board. EMC Recommendations EMC protection on all the pins of LN920 should be designed by the application side according to the customer’s requirement. ESD rating on all pins of the LN920 Family: •...
LN920 Hardware Design Guide 11. PACKAGING Tray The LN920 module is packaged in trays of pieces each. These trays can be used in SMT processes for pick and place handling. Figure 18: Tray Packaging 1VV0301730 Rev. 17 Page 59 of 83...
LN920 Hardware Design Guide The equipment is not compliant Americas Approvals 12.2.1. USA FCC 12.2.1.1. FCC Certificates https://www.fcc.gov/oet/ea/fccid The FCC Grants can be found here: 12.2.1.2. Applicable FCC Rules Model Applicable FCC Rules LN920A12-WW LN920A6-WW 47 CFR Part 2, 22, 24, 27, 90...
Page 63
LN920 Hardware Design Guide FCC Class B digital device notice This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital device, according to part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential installation.
LN920 Hardware Design Guide Manual Information to the End User The OEM integrator should be aware not to provide information to the end-user on how to install or remove this RF module in the user’s manual of the end product which integrates this module.
LN920 Hardware Design Guide LN920A12-WW LN920A6-WW Contains FCC ID: RI7LN920 LN920A13-WW LN920A6-NA Contains FCC ID: RI7LN920NA Table 42: Host device FCC Label 12.2.2. Canada ISED 12.2.2.1. ISED Database The products ISED certified can be found here: Les produits certifié s ISED peuvent ê tre trouvé s ici : https://sms-sgs.ic.gc.ca/equipmentSearch/searchRadioEquipments?execution=e1s1&lang=en...
Page 67
LN920 Hardware Design Guide This device complies with Industry Canada licence-exempt RSS standard(s). Operation is subject to the following two conditions: (1) this device may not cause interference, and (2) this device must accept any interference, including interference that may cause undesired operation of the device.
Page 68
LN920 Hardware Design Guide Gain maximum pour ISDE (dBi) Gain maximum pour ISED (dBi) / LTE B41 9.50 9.50 9.50 9.50 LTE B41 HPUE 6.50 6.50 6.50 6.50 LTE B48 1.00 1.00 1.00 LTE B66 6.50 6.50 6.50 6.50 LTE B71 6.99...
Page 69
LN920 Hardware Design Guide The module has been evaluated in mobile stand-alone conditions. For operational conditions other than a stand-alone modular transmitter in a host (multiple, simultaneously transmitting modules or other transmitters in a host), additional testing may be required (collocation, retesting…) If this module is intended for use in a portable device, you are responsible for separate approval to satisfy the SAR requirements IC RSS- 102.
Brazil ANATEL 12.2.3.1. ANATEL Regulatory Notices The LN920 module is certified in Brazil by Anatel. "Este equipamento nã o tem direito à proteç ã o contra interferê ncia prejudicial e nã o pode causar interferê ncia em sistemas devidamente autorizados"...
LN920 Hardware Design Guide 12.3.2. Taiwan NCC 12.3.2.1. NCC Regulatory Notices According to National Communication Commission (NCC) Taiwan requirements, the module, and the packaging shall be identified as described in the following lines. Shall be added also the specified safety warning statement.
LN920 Hardware Design Guide 12.5.2. REACH Info Any requests on information related to REACH certifications can be addressed to Chemical.Certifications@telit.com. 1VV0301730 Rev. 17 Page 73 of 83 2024-07-11...
LN920 Hardware Design Guide 14. PRODUCT AND SAFETY INFORMATION Copyrights and Other Notices SPECIFICATIONS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE Although reasonable efforts have been made to ensure the accuracy of this document, Telit assumes no liability resulting from any inaccuracies or omissions in this document, or from the use of the information contained herein.
LN920 Hardware Design Guide computer programs, including – but not limited to - the exclusive right to copy or reproduce in any form the copyrighted products. Accordingly, any copyrighted computer programs contained in Telit’s products described in this instruction manual shall not be copied (reverse engineered) or reproduced in any manner without the express written permission of the copyright owner, being Telit or the Third Party software supplier.
LN920 Hardware Design Guide 14.2.4. Trademarks TELIT and the Stylized T-Logo are registered in the Trademark Office. All other product or service names are property of their respective owners. 14.2.5. 3rd Party Rights The software may include Third Party’s software Rights. In this case the user agrees to comply with all terms and conditions imposed in respect of such separate software rights.
LN920 Hardware Design Guide Safety Recommendations Make sure the use of this product is allowed in your country and in the environment required. The use of this product may be dangerous and has to be avoided in areas where: • it can interfere with other electronic devices, particularly in environments such as hospitals, airports, aircrafts, etc.
Need help?
Do you have a question about the LN920 and is the answer not in the manual?
Questions and answers