Important update regarding LTE modem updates

[tuftec]

@xykon thanks.
Please give this a high priority.
It appears that there are quite a number of customers experiencing similar levels of frustration and difficulty in getting NB-IoT to work with any network.

Peter.

[danielm]

Just fyi, I am able to successfully connect to NB-IoT network of Slovak Telekom (Ericsson eNodeB, band 20) using Sequans firmware 37781 running on FiPy.

[robert-hh]

@danielm What is your command sequence?

[danielm]

@robert-hh
I will post the sequence tomorrow. I left both FiPy and my notebook in the office.

[robert-hh]

@tuftec said in Important update regarding LTE modem updates:

I do not see any transmissions in the band 8 uplink frequency area

Same for me at Band 20. No RF send activity at all.AT least a cell is acquired in Band 20 (commands 'AT!="showphy"' and 'AT+CSQ')

[JoseDLopez]

Hello,

I just updated to 37781 NB-IoT firmware my GPy. But i just realized that it will only works with Ericsson or Huawei Nodes.

Here in Chile we only have available one NB-IoT working node and it is Nokia, should it work?

Best regards,

[danielm]

@robert-hh
This is the sequence which works for me (method is part of class):

def test1(self):
	self.lte = LTE()
	self.lte.send_at_cmd('AT+CFUN=0')
	self.lte.send_at_cmd('AT!="clearscanconfig"')
	self.lte.send_at_cmd('AT!="addscanfreq band=20 dl-earfcn=6190"')
	self.lte.send_at_cmd('AT!="zsp0:npc 1"')
	self.lte.send_at_cmd('AT+CGDCONT=1,"IP","nbiot.telekom.sk"')
	self.lte.send_at_cmd('AT+CFUN=1')

	pycom.rgbled(0xff0000)
	
	while not self.lte.isattached():
		print('Attaching…')
		time.sleep(0.25)

	pycom.rgbled(0x0000ff)

	self.lte.connect()
	while not self.lte.isconnected():
		print('Connecting…')
		time.sleep(0.25)

	pycom.rgbled(0x008000)

[tuftec]

@danielm thanks for that.
I gather you are not using the latest firmware revisions?
The zsp0:npc 1 command does not seem to work anymore.

I have tried something similar, but modified for my local carrier (Vodafone) and just can not get it to attach.
Nothing seems to get transmitted in the band that I need to select (band 8).

Peter.

[robert-hh]

@danielm Thanks. But, as @tuftec said above, at least the zsp0::npc command does not exist in the new firmware. I could try with the old firmware, which is now available again.

[danielm]

Pycom FW release on my FiPy is 1.18.1.r1. I used built-in script to upgrade Sequans modem via UART to NB1 firmware version 37781.

>>> node.lte.send_at_cmd("AT+CGMR")
'\r\nUE6.0.0.0\r\n\r\nOK\r\n'

Is there any command for more detailed version information?

[peterv]

@danielm AT!="showver"

[robert-hh]

@danielm
AT+CLAC
returns a list of all supported AT commands,
AT!="help"
returns a list of all Sequans specific commands. These are quite a few, like 400. Since the help list is longer than the buffer, you can get sections of it with:

AT!="help startIdx=nn qty=nn" e.g.
AT!="help startIdx=1 qty = 20" for the first 20 commands.
AT!="help help" shows how to use help

Interesting is the commands which returns the internal file tree, which is structured like a linux file tree. So maybe the device runs an embedded linux.

[danielm]

@peterv @robert-hh
Thanks, will try that tomorrow and verify current Sequans modem firmware version.

Any ideas how to achieve reasonable power consumption without eDRX and PSM?
I was thinking to put ESP32 to light sleep for 5-10s after sending AT+CFUN=1 and then check if the modem is attached and connected.

[Jiemde]

Just successfully connect to NB-IoT network Orange in Belgium with a Gpy in about 14 secondes!
Now can continue to develop the application! :))

[tuftec]

@jiemde did you have to do anything special?
What band are you using? What is your connection command sequence?

[peterv]

@tuftec I posted my command sequence for Orange Belgium in https://forum.pycom.io/topic/3476/orange-belgium-gpy/7

[danielm]

@peterv @robert-hh

This is Sequans modem version info using "showver" command:

FIRMWARE VERSION
Bootloader0 : 5.1.1.0 [33080]
Bootloader1* : 5.1.1.0 [38638]
Bootloader2 : 5.1.1.0 [38638]
NV Info : 1.1,0,0
Software : 6.0.0.0 [37781] by robot-soft at 2018-07-05 20:21:02
UE : 6.0.0.0
COMPONENTS
ZSP0 : 1.0.99-319
ZSP1 : 1.0.99-302

Today I will test the conenctivity again to be sure. NB-IoT network coverage is not nation-wide yet (should be until end of 2018) so I will travel to different city to try it. In the meantime I installed my development FiPy board into custom PCB and housing.

[Jiemde]

@tuftec Here is the sequence I've used for connecting the Gpy to the Orange network in Belgium.```

from network import LTE
import pycom
import time

pycom.heartbeat(False)
​
lte = LTE()
lte.send_at_cmd('AT+CFUN=0')
# print("OK line 1")
lte.send_at_cmd('AT!="clearscanconfig"')
# print("OK line 2")
lte.send_at_cmd('AT!="addscanband band=20"')
# print("OK line 3")
lte.send_at_cmd('AT!="disablelog 1"')
# print("OK line 4")
lte.send_at_cmd('AT+CGDCONT=1,"IP","nbiot.iot"')
# print("OK line 5")
lte.send_at_cmd('AT+CFUN=1')
# print("OK line 6")

pycom.rgbled(0xff0000)
	
while not lte.isattached():
	print('Attaching…')
	time.sleep(0.25)

pycom.rgbled(0x0000ff)

lte.connect()

while not lte.isconnected():
	print('Connecting…')
	time.sleep(0.25)

print("lte is connected")

pycom.rgbled(0x008000)

# Print line are just there to verify if the AT command are executed or not

[arneme]

@arneme I can confirm that we have managed to connect the FiPy to our guard band NB-IoT Huawei eNodeB based RAN (Telenor Norway). We do however see some strange signalling behaviour when the FiPy tries to connect to the network. It would help if the documentation could be updated (so that we might be able to get the FiPy to behave correct) or if we could get someone in Pycom or Sequans to discuss this with. We are officially launching a country wide NB-IoT (and Cat M1) network in a few weeks so it would be great if we could get this sorted out asap.

[Xykon]

@arneme As a network operator please email bettina(at)pycom.io as we can provide special hardware & software to allow access to the DCP port.

For everyone else, NB1 firmware 38729 is now available for download at https://software.pycom.io/downloads/sequans2.html with the same updater.elf file as all the other packages.