LoRa-E5-mini
| Project LoRa E5 | |
|---|---|
| Arduino on the LoRa-E5 module | |
| Status | In progress |
| Contact | bertrik |
| Last Update | 2021-10-09 |
The plan
This page is about the LoRa-E5 module and getting it to work as a LoRaWAN node with Arduino and the BasicMac stack.
- replace the original "AT" firmware with Arduino based firmware
- use the BasicMac library for LoRaWAN
- use platformio as the build system
- create some basic examples for use as a LoRaWAN node on TheThingsNetwork
Interesting post about this module: https://www.disk91.com/2021/technology/lora/lora-e5-the-seeed-studio-stm32-wl-module/
Hardware
The hardware is the LoRa-E5 module from seeed studio, contains the STM32WLE5JC:
- LoRa E5 module (just the chip): https://www.seeedstudio.com/LoRa-E5-Wireless-Module-p-4745.html
- LoRa E5 mini dev board: https://www.seeedstudio.com/LoRa-E5-mini-STM32WLE5JC-p-4869.html
- LoRa E5 wiki page: https://wiki.seeedstudio.com/LoRa-E5_STM32WLE5JC_Module/
- FCC information about the module: https://fccid.io/Z4T-LORA-E5/
Overview of pins used on this board (not completely standard): https://wiki.seeedstudio.com/LoRa_E5_mini/#22-gpio-configuration-overview
Software
https://github.com/bertrik/lora-e5
There appears to be support for various kinds of WL55 boards: https://github.com/stm32duino/Arduino_Core_STM32/blob/main/boards.txt
Support for this board in this archive: https://github.com/dolfandringa/Arduino_Core_STM32/blob/master/variants/STM32WLxx/WL54JCI_WL55JCI_WLE4J(8-B-C)I_WLE5J(8-B-C)I/boards_entry.txt#L62 ???
Development environment
- Install Arduino IDE, from https://www.arduino.cc/en/software
- Add a board URL: https://github.com/stm32duino/BoardManagerFiles/raw/main/package_stmicroelectronics_index.json
- Under menu Tools/Board/Boards manager, search for STM32 and install 'STM32 MCU based boards'
- Under menu Tools/Board/STM32 boards, choose 'Generic STM32WL series', then 'Generic STM32WL series'
- Under menu Tools/Board part number, choose Generic WLE5JCIx'
Load the .ino file. Compile with ctrl-R.
Programming over SWD
Connect an ST-LINKv2 as follows:
- SWDIO to PA13
- SWCLK to PA14)
- GND to GND
Node configuration in TheThingsNetwork
The information on the website of Seeed studios is outdated. It refers to the "v2" version of TheThingsNetwork, which is being phased out. It is already impossible to add new nodes on TTNv2, since it was set to read-only.
Nodes should be configured for TheThingsNetwork v3 instead.