NM1-GL Module Datasheet

Developed by Tuya, NM1-GL is a low-power embedded LPWA module in the NB-IoT series. It supports the NB-IoT radio communication protocol (3GPP Rel.13, Rel.14). NM1-GL contains a highly integrated SoC MT2625 that consists of an application processor, a low-power multi-band NB-IoT transceiver, and a power management unit (PMU)) and a few peripherals.

Overview

NM1-GL further contains an embedded low-power 32-bit central processing unit (CPU), is integrated with 32-Mb pseudo static random access memory (PSRAM), and 32-Mb flash memory and supports interfaces including UART, I2C, SPI, PWM, ADC, USB, keyboard, and USIM.

Features

• Embedded low-power 32-bit ARM Cortex-M4 processor
• CPU operation frequency: 156MHz
• Power supply voltage
  • Working voltage: 2.1 to 3.63V
  • Typical working voltage: 3.3V
• Peripherals: 26 GPIOs, 3 universal asynchronous receiver/transmitters (UART), 4 pulse width modulations (PWM), 1 analog-to-digital converter (ADC), 1 serial peripheral interface (SPI), and 1 inter-integrated circuit (I2C)
• SIM: 1.8V SIM card
• USB interface: USB 1.1
• NB-IoT network
  • Cat NB 1/Cat NB2
  • Frequency band: B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B8/B12/B13/B14/B17/B18/B19/B20/B25/B26/B28/B66/B70/B85
  • Maximum transmit power: 23 dBm±2 dB
  • Receiving sensitivity ＜-123 dBm/15 kHz (not retransmission)
  • 50Ω characteristic impedance, an antenna provided by the third party
  • Data rate
    • R13:
      • Single-tone: 25.5 kbps (downlink) and 16.7 kbps (uplink)
      • Multi-tone: 25.5 kbps (downlink) and 62.5 kbps (uplink)
    • R14: Multi-tone: 102 kbps (downlink) and 157 kbps (uplink)
  • Network protocol features: UDP/TCP/CoAP/LwM2M/DTLS/ HTTP
  • Working temperature: -40°C to +85℃
  • Storage temperature: -40°C to +90℃
• Support OTA firmware upgrade

Applications

• Public utilities: meter reading (water, gas, and electricity), intelligent water affairs (pipe network, leakage and quality inspection), smart fire extinguisher, fire hydrant, etc.
• Smart health: drug traceability, remote medical monitoring, blood pressure meter, blood glucose meter, heart armor monitoring, baby monitor, etc.
• Smart city: smart street lights, smart parking, urban trash can management, public safety alarms, urban environment monitoring (water pollution, noise, air quality PM2.5, etc.)
• Consumers: wearable devices, bicycles, mopeds anti-theft, smart luggage, VIP tracking (children, elderly, pets and vehicle rental), and payment/POS machines
• Agricultural environment: precision planting (environment parameters: water, temperature, sunshine, biocide, and fertilizer), animal husbandry (health and tracking), aquaculture and food safety traceability
• Logistics warehousing: asset, container tracking, warehouse management, fleet management tracking, and logistics status tracking
• Smart building: access control, smart HVAC, smoke detection, fire detection, and elevator failure/repair
• Manufacturing industry: production, equipment status monitoring, energy facilities, oil and gas monitoring, chemical park monitoring, large-scale rental equipment, and predictive maintenance (home appliances, machinery, etc.)

Change history

Module interfaces

Pin distribution

NM1-GL has 66 pins in total. Among them, there are 52 LCC pins and 14 LGA pins.

This part illustrates module interfaces and their definitions in detail.

Pin definition

Note: the asterisk (*) indicates that the function is not supported at present.

Electrical parameters

Absolute electrical parameters

Normal working conditions

TX and RX Power consumption

RF parameters

Basic RF features

TX performance

RX performance

Antenna

Antenna type

The module does not have its onboard PCB antenna, and the third party needs to provide an antenna.

The antenna can be an external rod antenna, a spring antenna, an IPEX-FPC antenna, a PCB board antenna, etc. The antenna forms include monopole antenna, PIFA antenna, IFA antenna, loop antenna, etc.

Antenna interference reduction

To ensure optimal NB-IoT performance, it is recommended that the antenna be at least 10 mm away from other metal parts.

Packaging and production instructions

Mechanical dimensions

NM1-GL has 66 pins in total. 52 pins are LCC package, and 14 pins are LGA package.

The NM1-GL dimensions are 17.7 mm (L)×15.8 mm (W) ×2.4 mm (H), which are shown as below:

Note: The module length and width tolerance are ±0.35 mm, the height tolerance is ±0.2 mm, and the PCB thickness tolerance is ±0.1 mm.

Side view

Diagram of PCB packaging-SMT

Top/Bottom/Side view of the module

Production instructions

• The stamp-hole module must be mounted by the SMT machine. After being unpacked, it must be soldered within 24 hours. Otherwise, it must be put into the drying cupboard where the RH is not greater than 10%, or it needs to be packaged under vacuum again and the exposure time needs to be recorded (the total exposure time cannot exceed 168 hours).

  • SMT equipment:
    • Mounter
    • SPI
    • Reflow soldering machine
    • Oven temperature tester
    • Automated optical inspection (AOI) equipment
  • Baking equipment:
    • Cabinet oven
    • Anti-static heat-resistant pallets
    • Anti-static heat-resistant gloves

• Storage conditions for a delivered module are as follows:

  • The moisture-proof bag must be placed in an environment where the temperature is below 40°C and the relative humidity is lower than 90%.
  • The shelf life of a dry-packaged product is 12 months from the date when the product is packaged and sealed.
  • The package contains a humidity indicator card (HIC).
    

• The module needs to be baked in the following cases:

  • Vacuum packing bag was found to be damaged before being unpacked.
  • There is no humidity indicator card (HIC) in the vacuum packing bag.
  • After being unpacked, 10% and above circles on the HIC become pink.
  • The total exposure time has been more than 168 hours since unpacking.
  • More than 12 months have passed since the sealing date of the bag.

• Baking settings:

  • Temperature: 60°C and ≤ 5%RH for reelizing and 125°C and ≤5%RH for palletizing (please use heat-resistant pallet rather than plastic pallet)
  • Time: 48 hours for reelizing and 12 hours for palletizing
  • Alarm temperature: 65°C for reelizing and 135°C for palletizing
  • Production ready temperature after natural cooling: < 36°C
  • The number of drying times: 1
  • Re-baking condition: If a module remains unused for 168 hours after being unpacked, it must be baked again.

    Important: If this batch of modules is not baked within 168 hours, do not use the wave soldering to solder them. Because these modules are 3-level moisture-sensitive components, they are very likely to get damp when exposed outside. In this case, if they are soldered at high temperatures, it may result in component failure or poor soldering.

• In the whole production process, take electrostatic discharge (ESD) protective measures.

• To guarantee the passing rate, it is recommended that you use the SPI and AOI to monitor the quality of solder paste printing and mounting.

Recommended oven temperature curve

Perform mounting with the SMT based on the following reflow oven temperature curve. The highest temperature is 245°C. The reflow temperature curve is as below:

• A: Temperature axis

• B: Time axis

• C: Liquidus temperature: 217 to 220°C

• D: Ramp-up slope: 1 to 3°C/s

• E: Duration of constant temperature: 60 to 120s; the range of constant temperature: 150 to 200°C

• F: Duration above the liquidus: 50 to 70s

• G: Peak temperature: 235 to 245°C

• H: Ramp-down slope: 1 to 4°C/s

  Note: The above curve is just an example of the solder paste SAC305. For more details about other solder pastes, please refer to Recommended oven temperature curve in the solder paste specifications.

Storage conditions

MOQ and packaging information