GSM 5 Click Board™
Product Code: MIKROE-5124
How Does The GSM 5 Click Board™ Work? The GSM 5 Click Board™ as its foundation uses the SARA-G450, a compact quad-band 2.5G GSM/GPRS module from u-blox. Alongside low power consumption, the SARA-G450 module also features a baseband, RF transceiver, power management unit, and power amplifier in a single solution, supporting 2G, 3G, LTE, and LPWA (Cat M1 and Cat NB1) radio access technologies. Covering frequencies of 850/900MHz and 1800/1900MHz, it provides a fully qualified and certified solution, reducing cost and enabling a short time to market. It is ideally suited for M2M applications such as automatic meter reading, remote monitoring automation and control, surveillance, and security, asset tracking, and more. This module has a comprehensive feature set, including an extensive set of internet protocols. It is also designed to provide fully integrated access to u-blox GNSS positioning with embedded A-GPS (AssistNow Online and AssistNow Offline) functionality. Any host processor connected to the cellular module through a single serial port can control both the module and positioning.
The SARA-G450 module also offers extensive audio features, which users can access via an onboard 3.5mm audio jack, all configurable through the AT commands.
The GSM 5 Click Board™ communicates with MCU using the UART interface with commonly used UART RX, TX, and hardware flow control pins UART CTS, RTS, and RI (Clear to Send, Ready to Send, and Ring Indicator) by exchanging standard AT commands. It operates at 115200 bps by default configuration to transmit and exchange data with the host MCU. An additional interface can also be found on the board as a test point for firmware upgrades and trace log capture (diagnostics purposes).
In addition to the UART pins, this Click board™ also has two additional marked as ON and OFF routed to the AN and RST pins of the mikroBUS™ socket used to turn ON/OFF the chip itself. Besides, it uses two orange LED indicators labelled GP1 and GP2 for optional user-configurable network-status visual indications such as registered home network, registered roaming, voice or data call enabled, and no service.
The GSM 5 Click Board™ possesses the SMA antenna connector on which an appropriate antenna connects that MikroE has in its offer. It is also equipped with a USB type C connector, which allows the module to be powered and configured by a personal computer (PC) using FT230X, a compact USB to a serial UART interface bridge, and a Nano-SIM card slot that provides multiple connections and interface options.
The GSM 5 Click Board™ can operate with both 3.3V and 5V MCUs. A proper logic voltage level conversion is performed by appropriate voltage level translators, while the on-board LDO, the TPS7A7002, ensures the recommended voltage levels power module. However, the Click board™ comes equipped with a library containing easy-to-use functions and an example code that can be used, as a reference, for further development.
SPECIFICATIONS
Type
GSM/LTE
Applications
Can be used for 2G cellular module M2M applications such as utility metering and tracking systems
On-board modules
SARA-G450 - quad-band 2.5G GSM/GPRS module from u-blox
Key Features
Industry proven SARA form factor, optimized power consumption for IoT applications, GPRS class 12, standard grade, global region, audio and SIM interfaces, jamming detection, and more
Interface
UART,USB
Compatibility
mikroBUS
Click board size
L (57.15 x 25.4 mm)
Input Voltage
3.3V or 5V
PINOUT DIAGRAM
This table shows how the pinout of the GSM 5 Click Board™ corresponds to the pinout on the mikroBUS™ socket (the latter shown in the two middle columns).
Notes
Pin
Pin
Notes
Module Power-On
ON
1
AN
PWM
16
RI
UART RI
Module Power-Off
OFF
2
RST
INT
15
CTS
UART CTS
UART RTS
RTS
3
CS
RX
14
TX
UART TX
NC
4
SCK
TX
13
RX
UART RX
NC
5
MISO
SCL
12
NC
NC
6
MOSI
SDA
11
NC
Power Supply
3.3V
7
Visit the Debug Store website for more information on GSM 5 Click Board™