RAK4631
Overview
RAK4631 is a WisBlock Core module for RAK WisBlock. It extends the WisBlock series with a powerful Nordic nRF52840 MCU that supports Bluetooth 5.0 (Bluetooth Low Energy) and the newest LoRa transceiver from Semtech, the SX1262. The Semtech SX1262 has compared to the older SX127x series a lower power consumption at the same TX power. This makes the RAK4631 an ultra-low power communication solution. RAK4631 can be comfortably programmed with ZephyrRTOS.
Hardware
To use a RAK4631, you need at least a WisBlock Base to plug the module in. WisBlock Base is the power supply for the RAK4631 module and has the programming/debug interface.
nRF52840 ARM Cortex-M4F Processor
64 MHz CPU clock
1 Micro-AB USB OTG host/device
Semtech SX1262 low power high range LoRa transceiver
iPEX connectors for the LORA antenna and BLE antenna.
Multiple interfaces, I2C, UART, GPIO, ADC
2 user LEDs on RAK5005 mother Board
Powered by either Micro USB, 3.7V rechargeable battery or a 5V Solar Panel Port
Supported Features
The rak4631 board supports the hardware features listed below.
- on-chip / on-board
- Feature integrated in the SoC / present on the board.
- 2 / 2
-
Number of instances that are enabled / disabled.
Click on the label to see the first instance of this feature in the board/SoC DTS files. -
vnd,foo -
Compatible string for the Devicetree binding matching the feature.
Click on the link to view the binding documentation.
Type |
Location |
Description |
Compatible |
|---|---|---|---|
CPU |
on-chip |
ARM Cortex-M4F CPU1 |
|
ADC |
on-chip |
Nordic Semiconductor nRF family SAADC node1 |
|
ARM architecture |
on-chip |
Nordic UICR (User Information Configuration Registers)1 |
|
on-chip |
Nordic EGU (Event Generator Unit)6 |
||
on-chip |
Nordic nRF family ACL (Access Control List)1 |
||
on-chip |
Nordic nRF family MWU (Memory Watch Unit)1 |
||
Audio |
on-chip |
Nordic PDM (Pulse Density Modulation interface)1 |
|
Clock control |
on-chip |
Nordic nRF clock control node1 |
|
Comparator |
on-chip |
Nordic nRF COMP (analog COMParator)1 |
|
Counter |
on-chip |
Nordic nRF timer node5 |
|
Cryptographic accelerator |
on-chip |
Nordic ECB (AES electronic codebook mode encryption)1 |
|
on-chip |
Nordic nRF family CCM (AES CCM mode encryption)1 |
||
on-chip |
ARM TrustZone CryptoCell 3101 |
||
Debug |
on-chip |
ARMv7 instrumentation trace macrocell1 |
|
Flash controller |
on-chip |
Nordic NVMC (Non-Volatile Memory Controller)1 |
|
on-chip |
Properties defining the interface for the Nordic QSPI peripheral1 |
||
GPIO & Headers |
on-chip |
NRF5 GPIOTE1 |
|
on-chip |
NRF5 GPIO2 |
||
I2C |
on-chip |
||
I2S |
on-chip |
Nordic I2S (Inter-IC sound interface)1 |
|
IEEE 802.15.4 |
on-chip |
Nordic nRF IEEE 802.15.4 node1 |
|
Interrupt controller |
on-chip |
ARMv7-M NVIC (Nested Vectored Interrupt Controller)1 |
|
LED |
on-board |
Group of GPIO-controlled LEDs1 |
|
LoRa |
on-board |
Semtech SX1262 LoRa Modem1 |
|
Miscellaneous |
on-chip |
Nordic FICR (Factory Information Configuration Registers)1 |
|
on-chip |
Nordic nRF family PPI (Programmable Peripheral Interconnect)1 |
||
MTD |
on-chip |
Flash node1 |
|
on-chip |
Fixed partitions of a flash (or other non-volatile storage) memory1 |
||
Networking |
on-chip |
Nordic nRF family RADIO peripheral1 |
|
on-chip |
Nordic nRF family NFCT (Near Field Communication Tag)1 |
||
Pin control |
on-chip |
The nRF pin controller is a singleton node responsible for controlling pin function selection and pin properties1 |
|
Power management |
on-chip |
Nordic nRF power control node1 |
|
PWM |
on-chip |
nRF PWM4 |
|
on-chip |
nRFx S/W PWM1 |
||
Regulator |
on-chip |
Nordic nRF5X regulator (fixed stage of the core supply)1 |
|
on-chip |
Nordic nRF52X regulator (high voltage stage of the main supply)1 |
||
Retained memory |
on-chip |
Nordic GPREGRET (General Purpose Register Retention) device2 |
|
RNG |
on-chip |
Nordic nRF family RNG (Random Number Generator)1 |
|
RTC |
on-chip |
Nordic nRF RTC (Real-Time Counter)3 |
|
Sensors |
on-chip |
Nordic nRF family TEMP node1 |
|
on-chip |
Nordic nRF quadrature decoder (QDEC) node1 |
||
Serial controller |
on-chip |
Nordic nRF family UART1 |
|
on-chip |
Nordic nRF family UARTE (UART with EasyDMA)1 |
||
SPI |
on-chip |
Nordic nRF family SPIM (SPI master with EasyDMA)3 |
|
on-chip |
Nordic nRF family SPI (SPI master)1 |
||
SRAM |
on-chip |
Generic on-chip SRAM description1 |
|
Timer |
on-chip |
ARMv7-M System Tick1 |
|
USB |
on-chip |
Nordic nRF52 USB device controller1 |
|
Watchdog |
on-chip |
Nordic nRF family WDT (Watchdog Timer)1 |
Connections and IOs
LED
LED1 (green) = P1.3
LED2 (blue) = P1.4
Programming and Debugging
The RAK4631 board shall be connected to a Segger Embedded Debugger Unit J-Link OB. This provides a debug interface to the NRF52840 chip. You can use JLink to communicate with the NRF52840.
Flashing
Download JLink from the Segger JLink Downloads Page [1]. Go to the section “J-Link Software and Documentation Pack” and install the “J-Link Software and Documentation pack for Linux”. The application JLinkExe needs to be accessible from your path.
Run your favorite terminal program to listen for output. Under Linux the terminal should be
/dev/ttyACM0. For example:$ minicom -D /dev/ttyACM0 -o
The -o option tells minicom not to send the modem initialization string. Connection should be configured as follows:
Speed: 115200
Data: 8 bits
Parity: None
Stop bits: 1
Connect the RAK4631 board to your host computer using the USB debug port. Then build and flash the Hello World application.
# From the root of the zephyr repository west build -b rak4631/nrf52840 samples/hello_world west flash
You should see “Hello World! rak4631_nrf52840” in your terminal.
Debugging
You can debug an application in the usual way. Here is an example for the Hello World application.
# From the root of the zephyr repository
west build -b rak4631/nrf52840 samples/hello_world
west debug