TS-7180 Nimbelink Socket

The CN5 header is a 2mm pitch 2x10 header which supports XBEE form factor modules. These include NimbeLink and Digi cell modems, Zigbee, Digi mesh, and other third party radios.

For Cell radios that use USB this must be enabled. This turns off USB to the bottom port on the dual high type A connector. Only enable if this is compatible with your module:

# Turn on the USB
gpioset 2 12=0

This header can provide 3.3V or 4V as some cell radios require higher voltage. Check the datasheet of your module before turning on any power to this header. Most cell modems require 4V, while most other radios require 3.3V.

# Only turn on one at a time.
# For 4V modules:
gpioset 5 17=1

# For 3.3V modules:
# gpioset 5 18=1

Many NimbeLink modems require NIMBEL_PWR_ON to be toggled before they "turn on". If one thinks of turning on the power (above) as "attaching the battery" of a cellphone, toggling NIMBEL_PWR_ON is analogous to "pressing the power button" for a second. Here's a script to do exactly that.

gpioset 2 19=1
sleep 1
gpioset 2 19=0

If your device doesn't turn on or off as expected, be sure to consult the manual for it. There are often device-specific procedures for powering on and sometimes even custom AT command sequences needed in order to safely power off.

By default there is no UART mapped to this header. Map ttymxc2 with:

tshwctl --addr 307 --poke 1 # Claim bluetooth UART3 (ttymxc2) for modem

See the #FPGA Registers address 307 for more UART options.

For serial modules refer to these related links:

• Technologic Systems: A friendly introduction to XBEE
• Digi's C library for XBEE API mode
• Digi's Python XBEE library
• Digi's C# Library
• Digi's Java Library
• libxbee3 (community XBEE library)

This sample code can be used to verify connectivity to the serial-based XBee modules:

wget https://files.embeddedTS.com/ts-arm-sbc/ts-7840-linux/samples/xbeetest.c
gcc xbeetest.c -o xbeetest

gpioset 5 18=1 # Turn on only 3.3V
tshwctl --addr 307 --poke 1 # Claim bluetooth UART3 (ttymxc2)
./xbeetest /dev/ttymxc2

This will print out the module information such as:

XBee3 Zigbee TH RELE: 100A
Build: Apr 16 2020 19:00:33
HV: 424E
Bootloader: 181 Compiler: 8030001
Stack: 6710
OK

Signals	Pin Layout
Pin Signal 1 VCC (XBEE_3.3V or NIMBEL_4.7V) 2 RXD_MODEM_5V 3 TXD_MODEM_3.3V 4 GND 5 NC 6 NIMBEL_4.7V 7 USB_MULTI_P 8 USB_MULTI_N 9 GND 10 GND 11 GND 12 XBEE_CTS / GPIO bank 2 io 15 13 NC 14 3.3V VREF 15 GND 16 GND 17 NC 18 NC 19 NC 20 NIMBEL_PWR_ON / GPIO bank 2 io 19