The contents of the Evaluation Kit are described in the table below:

Table 1. Evaluation Kit Contents

Supplied items	GC02S1 EVK Board
One EVK board	✔
One USB-C cable	✔
One SIM card	✔

The GC02S1 EVK is designed to operate in the following conditions:

Table 2. Operating Parameters

Parameter	Range	Note
Temperature	-36 to +73 °C	3GPP Compliant Operating Temperature Range

1. Connect a microUSB cable between the PC and the EVK¹.
2. Under device manager you should see four COM ports enumerated.

   

   If the driver fails to auto-install, please download it manually from the ftdichip website, under the name ‘UART/USB’ and install it. Once the driver installation is done, unplug the EVK and reboot your PC. Sequans recommends the use of the FTDI’s royalty-free Virtual Com Port (VCP).

   Once this is done, every time you plug the µUSB cable, the devices should show up in the device manager as shown in Figure 3.

The COM ports are allocated according to the following table:

Table 3. COM Ports Setting

Port Enum	Mapping	Use	Baud Rate	Data Bits	Flow Control	Parity	Stop Bit
COM n	UART 0	AT Commands	115200	8	Hardware	None	1
COM n+1	UART 1	AT Commands	921600	8	Hardware	None	1
COM n+2	UART 2	Console	115200	8	None	None	1
COM n+3	Unused

Sending AT Commands to the EVK requires the use of a terminal emulator program such as TeraTerm™ or PuTTY™.

• Connect the software to the UART 0, corresponding to the first COM port in the Windows™ enumeration.
• Under Setup → Serial Port, choose the appropriate configuration according to the table above.
• To display the characters you type, you must either activate Local echo in the Setup → Terminal configuration screen, or turn remote echo on by entering ATE1 then [ENTER].

1. First, download the Windows™ drivers from Sequans's cloud. Please ask your nearest Sequans representative for the download URL. The file is named sqn_setup_<build version>-usb-drivers-pst.exe, where <build> varies according to the most recent releases. For example: LR9.0.4.1-UE9.0.4.1a.
2. Open the Device manager.
3. Connect USB-C cable between the PC and the EVK (Native USB interface of the GC02S1).
4. In the device manager you should see SqnUsbV Device under the Network adapters and Sequans CDC/ACM USB COM Port under Ports (COM & LPT).

   

5. At this point, after attaching a terminal emulator software (Tera Term™, PuTTY™, etc.) to COM3, you should be able to type AT commands and get a meaningful response.
6. The second ACM endpoint needs manual installation. Proceed as follows:
   1. Open Windows™ Device Manager.
   2. Look for SqnUsbV Device #2 under the Network adapters category. This entry should be decorated with a warning sign because it is not properly configured.
   3. Right click over SqnUsbV Device #2 and select Properties.
   4. In the Properties dialogue, select the Driver tab.

      

   5. Now click on the Update Driver button on the left.
   6. In the new dialogue box, select the bottom option Browse my computer for drivers.

      

   7. In the next dialogue box, select Let me pick from a list of available drivers on my computer.

      

   8. In the list of possible drivers that appears, select the upper USB Serial Device.

      

   9. Windows™ should now report the driver update as successful.

      

   10. Finally check in the Device Manager window that a new COM driver has appeared in the Ports(COM&LPT) category.

       

       You should be able to use the new COM port to send AT commands to the module using your preferred terminal emulator software.

The GC02S1 EVK comes with a Soracom™ SIM card and $30 of free credit. First, activate it as detailed in appendix A. Once the SIM is registered and active, insert it into the µSIM card slot.

1. Connect the µUSB cable to the EVK.
2. Under Windows™, set up a TeraTerm session as described above and connect it on the lowest COM port. Under Linux™ or MacOS™, use screen or any other terminal emulator and open the lowest /dev/tty pseudo-device corresponding to the EVK's UARTs.
3. Insert the SIM into the EVK's slot (if not done already).
4. Enable Echo using ATE1 command (for ease of use).
5. Enter the AT command AT+CFUN=4 and check the SIM card interface state with AT+CPIN? The response can be either:
   • +CPIN: READY: SIM card is present and unlocked.
   • +CPIN: SIM PIN: The modem is waiting for the PIN code.
   • +CPIN: SIM PUK: The modem is waiting for the PUK code.
   • ERROR: The SIM is not inserted or not detected.
6. Control the reception of an unsolicited result code by sending AT+CEREG=2. This command turns on the notification of any network registration status change.
7. Power on the modem with AT+CFUN=1. The modem responds OK followed by +CEREG=<stat>.

   Value	Meaning	Comment
   0	The modem is not registered and is not currently scanning for a network to register on.	Possible cause: SIM card error or registration ongoing.
   1	The modem is registered on the network. The kit is connected.
   2	The modem is not yet registered, but is actively trying to attach or is searching for an operator to register at.	Possible causes: No network available, RSS too low, PLMN available but registration rejected.
   3	Registration denied.	Possible causes: Illegal mobile equipment IMSI unknown at HLR, PLMN not allowed, location area not allowed, roaming not allowed in this location area, network failure, network congestion.
   4	Unknown.	Transient value.
   5	Modem registered in roaming mode.
   80	Transient connection loss.	The modem will reconnect at the earliest opportunity.

8. Wait for the modem to register and report +CEREG: 1 (registered, home network) or 5 (registered, roaming).

   

9. Check the IP address and the active PDP context using AT+CGPADDR command.
10. A quick connectivity check could be done using AT+PING command.

Under MacOS™, the ECM interface appears as an additional interface in the Network tab of the System Settings. Under Linux™ use ifconfig and route to redirect IP traffic to the ECM interface which should appear as an enXX device (this is also possible under MacOS™). On Windows™, open Control Panel\Network and Internet\Network Connections and check for the presence of the Ethernet adapter with SqnUsbV Device. Then follow these steps:

1. Connect the PC to the EVK using a USB-C cable. On Windows™, as long as the modem is unregistered or has not be assigned an IP address, the SqnUsbV device status remains ‘Network cable unplugged’. On Linux™ and MacOS™, the corresponding interface is inactive (down).
2. Open a terminal emulator and connect it to the UART device/tty corresponding to an ACM endpoint (see Install the Drivers).
3. Go through steps 3 to 9 of the previous section.
4. Once the modem has registered and obtained a valid IP address, the device/interface becomes active (up) and the ECM endpoint is available for data exchange. To test the connection, deactivate all the other IP interfaces (Ethernet, WiFi…) and use, e.g. ping, from the host.

   

The GC02S1 EVK has two power domains:

1. One for the entire auxiliary and debug circuitry (AUX).
2. One for the LTE modem (CORE).

The LTE modem can be powered in three different ways: USB, VBAT_IN, VBAT_CORE.

• USB: When USB (µUSB or USB-C) is connected and no other voltage is applied to the board, a regulator generates 3V3_AUX which is used to power the LTE modem
• VBAT_CORE: The module VBAT_CORE is available on the SiP Power Supply jumper ST3. By disconnecting jumper ST3, the LTE module can be powered directly using an external supply. This setup is recommended when measuring the module absolute lowest power consumption.
• VBAT_IN: VBAT_IN is available on J4 connector and on the GC02S1 EVK’s expansion connector (pin 2 on connector P3). VBAT_IN must respect the voltage range of the GC02S1 (3.3 V ≤ VBAT_IN ≤ 5.5 V). When VBAT_IN is above 3.1 V, the module power VBAT_CORE is automatically switched from 3V3_AUX to VBAT_IN.
  Note:

  When powering the LTE module via VBAT_IN, there is some extra leakage on the power supply circuitry itself. It is therefore not recommended to use this power supply when measuring the LTE module’s floor current.

See also the figures in sections How to Connect an External Power Supply, How to Connect an Ammeter and How to Connect an Ammeter.

The GC02S1 EVK board has one reset push button (S1). It resets the module when pressed.

The GC02S1 EVK supports either a MFF2 SIM (U11) or a SIM inserted into the slot (J6).

• The SIM slot is a 3FF micro SIM holder with push-eject function. The slot is connected to GC02S1’s SIM0 interface. This is the default SIM interface used by the GC02S1.
• In addition, a MFF2 SIM can be soldered on the U11 footprint, connected to the SIM1 interface on the EVK board. If this interface is used, please check the AT Commands Reference Manual to configure SIM1 as the default SIM interface. See the figure below for proper placement of the eSIM.

There are two LEDs on the GC02S1 EVK board:

• The power LED (D1), green: turns on whenever there is USB power
• The activity LED (D2), amber: follows the network activity if the ST2 jumper is fitted and the ACTIVITY LED function is enabled on the module (using the AT command AT+SQNLED, please refer to AT Commands Reference Manual for details)

• Pushing the User Button (S4) grounds WAKE0. The button is shunted by a fixed 100 kΩ pull-up.
• The User Switch (S5) connects GPIO11 either to 1V8 (Hi) or GND (Lo) through a 100 kΩ resistor. The median position (NULL) isolates the signal from both sources.

The expansion connectors of the EVK board are intended to:

• Allow hardware designers to connect external peripherals for prototyping
• Piggybacking the daughter board, called NEKTARINE. If you want to design your own daughter board, please check Section Daughter Board Design Guidelines

Two expansion connectors are available on the GC02S1 EVK board. They provide access to all modem interfaces.

In addition, the GC02S1 EVK board features an RF connector (J1) to tie the board to an external antenna or test equipment. This connector is compatible with Murata®’s MXHS83QE3000 cable.

Default factory position of all the board’s jumpers and switches are summarised below:

• ST2 and ST3 jumpers are fitted
• S3 is set in ‘UART’ position in order to redirect the UARTs to the micro-USB port

The external power supply can be connected to ST3 VBAT_CORE for the module VBAT 1 to supply and measure power as shown in Figure 26.

The remote reset consists in toggling the UART1 DTR function from high to low, then back to high. The TeraTerm™ script below does this:

; change flow control to ‘none’ 
setflowctrl 3
; DTR Reset 
setdtr 0
pause 1 
setdtr 1 
pause 1 
setdtr 0

This script sets DTR high for 1 second, then low for 1 second, and finally high again (to reset the platform).