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MAX-7 / NEO-7
u-blox 7 GNSS modules
Hardware Integration Manual
Abstract
This document describes the features and specifications of the cost
effective and high-performance MAX-7 and NEO-7
GPS/GLONASS/QZSS modules featuring the u-blox 7 positioning
engine.
These compact, easy to integrate stand-alone GNSS receiver
modules combine exceptional GNSS performance with highly
flexible power, design, and connectivity options. Their compact
form factors and SMT pads allow fully automated assembly with
standard pick & place and reflow soldering equipment for cost-
efficient, high-volume production enabling short time-to-market.
www.u-blox.com
UBX-13003704 - R09
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Table of Contents
Related Manuals for Ublox MAX-7C-0
Summary of Contents for Ublox MAX-7C-0
- Page 1 MAX-7 / NEO-7 u-blox 7 GNSS modules Hardware Integration Manual Abstract This document describes the features and specifications of the cost effective and high-performance MAX-7 and NEO-7 GPS/GLONASS/QZSS modules featuring the u-blox 7 positioning engine. These compact, easy to integrate stand-alone GNSS receiver modules combine exceptional GNSS performance with highly flexible power, design, and connectivity options.
- Page 2 MAX-7 and NEO-7 complies with all relevant requirements for RED 2014/53/EU. The MAX-7 andNEO-7 Declaration of Conformity (DoC) is available at www.u-blox.com within Support > Product resources > Conformity Declaration This document applies to the following products: Product name Type number ROM/FLASH version PCN reference MAX-7C-0 ROM1.00 MAX-7Q-0 ROM1.00 MAX-7W-0 ROM1.00 NEO-7N-0 FLASH1.00...
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Page 3: Preface
MAX-7 / NEO-7 - Hardware Integration Manual Preface u-blox Technical Documentation As part of our commitment to customer support, u-blox maintains an extensive volume of technical documentation for our products. In addition to our product-specific technical data sheets, the following manuals are available to assist u-blox customers in product design and development. -
Page 4: Table Of Contents
MAX-7 / NEO-7 - Hardware Integration Manual Contents Preface ..........................3 Contents ..........................4 Quick reference ......................7 Hardware description ....................8 Overview .............................. 8 Architecture ............................8 Operating modes ..........................8 2.3.1 Continuous Mode ......................... 8 2.3.2 Power Save Mode ......................... 9 Configuration ............................ - Page 5 MAX-7 / NEO-7 - Hardware Integration Manual 3.1.2 Layout checklist ........................... 15 3.1.3 Antenna checklist ........................16 Design considerations for minimal designs ..................16 3.2.1 Minimal design (NEO-7N) ......................17 3.2.2 Minimal design (MAX-7Q) ......................18 Layout ..............................19 3.3.1 Footprint and paste mask ......................
- Page 6 MAX-7 / NEO-7 - Hardware Integration Manual 7.2.6 Wave soldering..........................41 7.2.7 Hand soldering ..........................41 7.2.8 Rework ............................41 7.2.9 Conformal coating ........................41 7.2.10 Casting ............................41 7.2.11 Grounding metal covers ......................41 7.2.12 Use of ultrasonic processes ......................42 EOS/ESD/EMI precautions ........................
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Page 7: Quick Reference
MAX-7 / NEO-7 - Hardware Integration Manual 1 Quick reference When using this manual for a design, make sure you also have the data sheet for the specific positioning module (see Related documents). For information about migration, see sections 4.2.3 (MAX-7) and 4.2.2 (NEO-7). Layout Power Interfaces... -
Page 8: Hardware Description
MAX-7 / NEO-7 - Hardware Integration Manual 2 Hardware description 2.1 Overview u-blox 7 modules are standalone GNSS positioning modules featuring the high performance u-blox 7 positioning engine. Available in industry standard form factors in leadless chip carrier (LCC) packages, they are easy to integrate and they combine exceptional positioning performance with highly flexible power, design, and connectivity options. -
Page 9: Power Save Mode
MAX-7 / NEO-7 - Hardware Integration Manual again to guarantee a quick reacquisition. Even if the acquisition engine powers off, the tracking engine continues to acquire satellites. For best performance, use continuous mode. 2.3.2 Power Save Mode Two Power Save Mode (PSM) operations called ON/OFF and Cyclic tracking are available. These use different ways to reduce the average current consumption in order to match the needs of the specific application. -
Page 10: Connecting Power
MAX-7 / NEO-7 - Hardware Integration Manual USB bus powered / UART Baud Rate 1200 B5 62 06 41 09 00 01 01 30 81 00 00 00 00 F6 F9 1A USB bus powered / UART Baud Rate 2400 B5 62 06 41 09 00 01 01 30 81 00 00 00 00 F5 F8 19 USB bus powered / UART Baud Rate 4800 B5 62 06 41 09 00 01 01 30 81 00 00 00 00 F4 F7 18... -
Page 11: Vdd_Usb: Usb Interface Power Supply (Neo-7)
MAX-7 / NEO-7 - Hardware Integration Manual As long as the u-blox 7 module is supplied to VCC and VCC_IO, the backup battery is disconnected from the RTC and the BBR to avoid unnecessary battery drain (see Figure 2). In this case, VCC supplies power to the RTC and BBR. -
Page 12: Display Data Channel (Ddc)
MAX-7 / NEO-7 - Hardware Integration Manual u-blox provides Microsoft® certified USB drivers for Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7 operating systems (also Windows 8 compatible). These drivers are available at www.u-blox.com. 2.6.2.1 USB external components The USB interface requires some external components to implement the physical characteristics required by the USB 2.0 specification. -
Page 13: Spi (Neo-7)
MAX-7 / NEO-7 - Hardware Integration Manual behavior. After every byte is read from register 0xFF the internal address counter is incremented by one, saturating at 0xFF. Therefore, subsequent reads can be performed continuously. 2.6.4 SPI (NEO-7) With NEO-7 modules, an SPI interface is available for communication to a host CPU. SPI is not available in the default configuration, because its pins are shared with the UART and DDC interfaces. -
Page 14: Tx Ready Signal
MAX-7 / NEO-7 - Hardware Integration Manual 2.7.4 TX Ready signal The TX Ready signal indicates that the receiver has data to transmit. A listener can wait on the TX Ready signal instead of polling the DDC or SPI interfaces. The UBX-CFG-PRT message lets you configure the polarity and the number of bytes in the buffer before the TX Ready signal goes active. -
Page 15: Design
MAX-7 / NEO-7 - Hardware Integration Manual 3 Design 3.1 Design checklist Designing-in a u-blox 7 module is easy, especially when based on a u-blox reference design. Nonetheless, it pays to do a quick sanity check of the design. This section lists the most important items for a simple design check. The design checklist can also help to avoid an unnecessary PCB respin and achieve the best possible performance. -
Page 16: Antenna Checklist
MAX-7 / NEO-7 - Hardware Integration Manual 3.1.3 Antenna checklist The total noise figure should be well below 3 dB. If a patch antenna is the preferred antenna, choose a patch of at least 15x15x4 mm for standalone GPS/QZSS, or choose a patch of at least 25x25x4 mm for GPS + GLONASS. -
Page 17: Minimal Design (Neo-7N)
MAX-7 / NEO-7 - Hardware Integration Manual 3.2.1 Minimal design (NEO-7N) Figure 5: NEO-7 passive antenna design Function Description Remarks Power Supply voltage Provide clean and stable supply. 10,12, Ground Assure a good GND connection to all GND pins of the module, 13, 24 preferably with a large ground plane. -
Page 18: Minimal Design (Max-7Q)
MAX-7 / NEO-7 - Hardware Integration Manual 3.2.2 Minimal design (MAX-7Q) Figure 6: MAX-7 passive antenna design For information on increasing immunity to jammers such as GSM, see section 5.3.7. Function Description Remarks Power Supply voltage Provide clean and stable supply. 1,10,12 Ground Assure a good GND connection to all GND pins of the module,... -
Page 19: Layout
MAX-7 / NEO-7 - Hardware Integration Manual 3.3 Layout This section provides important information for designing a robust GNSS system. GNSS signals at the surface of the Earth are about 15 dB below the thermal noise floor. Signal loss from the antenna to RF_IN pin of the module must be minimized as much as possible. -
Page 20: Placement
MAX-7 / NEO-7 - Hardware Integration Manual 3.3.2 Placement A very important factor in achieving maximum performance is the placement of the receiver on the PCB. The connection to the antenna must be as short as possible to avoid jamming into the very sensitive RF section. Make sure that the RF critical circuits are separated from any other digital circuits on the system board. -
Page 21: General Design Recommendations
MAX-7 / NEO-7 - Hardware Integration Manual Figure 12: Recommended layout As seen in Figure 12, an isolated ground area exists around and below the RF connection. This part of the circuit MUST be kept as far from potential noise sources as possible. Make certain that no signal lines cross, and that no signal trace vias appear at the PCB surface within the area of the red rectangle. -
Page 22: Antenna Micro Strip
MAX-7 / NEO-7 - Hardware Integration Manual For multi layer boards the distance between micro strip line and ground area on the top layer should at least be as large as the dielectric thickness. Routing the RF connection close to digital sections of the design should be avoided. ... -
Page 23: Antenna And Antenna Supervision
MAX-7 / NEO-7 - Hardware Integration Manual Figure 15: Micro strip on a 2-layer board (Agilent AppCAD Coplanar Waveguide) Figure 15 shows an example of a 2-layer FR4 board with 1.6 mm thickness (H) and a 35 µm (1 ounce) copper cladding (T). -
Page 24: Active Antenna Design Without Antenna Supervisor (Neo-7N/7M/7P, Max-7C/7Q)
MAX-7 / NEO-7 - Hardware Integration Manual 3.4.1.1 Minimal setup with a good patch antenna Figure 17 shows a minimal setup for a design with a good GPS patch antenna. NEO-7N is optimized for immunity to near field cellular signals. Figure 17: Module design with passive antenna 3.4.1.2 Setup for best performance with passive antenna... -
Page 25: Antenna Design With Active Antenna Using Antenna Supervisor (Max-7W)
MAX-7 / NEO-7 - Hardware Integration Manual 3.4.2.1 Active antenna design, VCC_RF used to supply active antenna Figure 19 shows an active antenna design supplied by VCC_RF. Figure 19: Active antenna design, external supply from VCC_RF 3.4.2.2 Active antenna design powered from external supply Figure 20 shows a design with direct externally powered active antenna. - Page 26 MAX-7 / NEO-7 - Hardware Integration Manual Powerup Disable Supervision Events AADET0_N Active Antenna Super- Enable Supervision User controlled events vision Antenna Periodic connected Short Circuit Disable reconnection detected Supervision attempts open circuit detected, given OCD enabled Open Short Circuit Circuit Short Circuit detected...
- Page 27 MAX-7 / NEO-7 - Hardware Integration Manual Message Description ANTSTATUS=DONTKNOW Active antenna supervisor is not configured and deactivated. ANTSTATUS=OK Active antenna connected and powered ANTSTATUS=SHORT Antenna short ANTSTATUS=OPEN Antenna not connected or antenna defective Table 7: Active antenna supervisor message on startup (NMEA protocol) 3.4.3.2 Module design with active antenna, short circuit protection / detection (MAX-7W) If a suitably dimensioned series resistor R_BIAS is placed in front of pin V_ANT, a short circuit can be detected in...
- Page 28 MAX-7 / NEO-7 - Hardware Integration Manual Figure 23: Module design with active antenna, external supply 3.4.3.3 Antenna supervision open circuit detection (OCD) (MAX-7W) The open circuit detection circuit uses the current flow to detect an open circuit in the antenna. Calculate the threshold current using Equation 1.
- Page 29 MAX-7 / NEO-7 - Hardware Integration Manual For more information about how to implement and configure OCD, see u-blox 7 Receiver Description including Protocol Specification [4] If the antenna supply voltage is not derived from VCC_RF, do not exceed the maximum voltage rating of the AADET_N pin.
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Page 30: Design With Glonass / Gps Active Antenna
MAX-7 / NEO-7 - Hardware Integration Manual 3.4.3.5 External active antenna control (NEO-7N, MAX-7Q, MAX-7C) The ANT_ON signal can be used to turn on and off an external LNA. This reduces power consumption in Power Save Mode (Backup mode). Figure 26: External active antenna control (MAX-7Q / MAX-7C) 3.4.4 Design with GLONASS / GPS active antenna The Russian GLONASS satellite system is an alternative system to the US-based Global Positioning System (GPS). -
Page 31: Design With Glonass / Gps Passive Antenna
MAX-7 / NEO-7 - Hardware Integration Manual 3.4.5 Design with GLONASS / GPS passive antenna In general, GPS patch antennas only receive GPS signals well. A typical return plot (S11 measurement) shows that the GLONASS signal is highly attenuated. (See Figure 28) u-blox 7 modules supporting GLONASS have a GPS &... -
Page 32: Recommended Parts
MAX-7 / NEO-7 - Hardware Integration Manual 3.5 Recommended parts u-blox has tested and recommends the parts listed in Table 8. Other untested components may also be used. Manufacturer Part ID Remarks Parameters to consider Diode ESD9R3.3ST5G Standoff voltage > 3.3 V Low Capacitance <... -
Page 33: Recommended Gps & Glonass Active Antenna (A1)
MAX-7 / NEO-7 - Hardware Integration Manual 3.5.1 Recommended GPS & GLONASS active antenna (A1) Manufacturer Order No. Comments Taoglas (www.taoglas.com) AA.160.301111 36*36*4 mm, 3 to 5V / 30mA Taoglas (www.taoglas.com) AA.161.301111 36*36*3 mm, 1.8 to 5.5V / 10mA at 3V INPAQ B3G02G-S3-01-A 2.7 to 3.9 V / 10 mA... -
Page 34: Inpaq (Www.inpaq.com.tw)
MAX-7 / NEO-7 - Hardware Integration Manual Manufacturer Order No. Comments INPAQ (www.inpaq.com.tw) ACM4-5036-A1-CC-S 5.2 x 3.7 x 0.7 mm GPS+GLONASS Table 11: Recommend GPS & GLONASS passive chip antenna UBX-13003704 - R09 Production Information Design Page 34 of 52... -
Page 35: Migration To U-Blox-7 Modules
MAX-7 / NEO-7 - Hardware Integration Manual 6 Migration to u-blox-7 modules 6.1 Migrating u-blox 6 designs to a u-blox 7 module Figure 30 below shows a recommended migration path from u-blox 6 designs to use with u-blox 7 modules. u-blox is committed to ensuring that products in the same form factor are backwards compatible over several technology generations. -
Page 36: Hardware Migration Neo-6 -> Neo-7
MAX-7 / NEO-7 - Hardware Integration Manual 6.2.2 Hardware migration NEO-6 -> NEO-7 NEO-6 NEO-7 Remarks for Migration Pin Name Typical Assignment Pin Name Typical Assignment RESERVED Leave open. RESERVED Leave open. No difference -> Different functions, compatible only when not SPI Slave Select SS_N D_SEL... -
Page 37: Hardware Migration Max-6 -> Max-7
MAX-7 / NEO-7 - Hardware Integration Manual 6.2.3 Hardware migration MAX-6 -> MAX-7 MAX-6 MAX-7 Remarks for Migration Pin Name Typical Assignment Pin Name Typical Assignment No difference Serial Port Serial Port No difference Serial Port Serial Port No difference TIMEPULSE Time pulse (1PPS) TIMEPULSE... -
Page 38: Software Migration
MAX-7 / NEO-7 - Hardware Integration Manual 6.3 Software migration For an overall description of the module software operation, refer to the u-blox 7 Receiver Description including Protocol Specification [4]. 6.3.1 Software compatibility u-blox 7 modules introduce a new firmware: Version 1.00. When migrating, customers should ensure that commands used originally with u-blox 6 products are supported by the new firmware version. -
Page 39: Product Handling
MAX-7 / NEO-7 - Hardware Integration Manual 7 Product handling 7.1 Packaging, shipping, storage and moisture preconditioning For information pertaining to reels and tapes, Moisture Sensitivity levels (MSD), shipment and storage information, as well as drying for preconditioning see the specific u-blox 7 GNSS module data sheet. 7.1.1 Population of Modules When populating our modules make sure that the pick and place machine is aligned to the copper pins of the module and not on the module edge. -
Page 40: Optical Inspection
MAX-7 / NEO-7 - Hardware Integration Manual Cooling phase A controlled cooling avoids negative metallurgical effects (solder becomes more brittle) of the solder and possible mechanical tensions in the products. Controlled cooling helps to achieve bright solder fillets with a good shape and low contact angle. -
Page 41: Repeated Reflow Soldering
MAX-7 / NEO-7 - Hardware Integration Manual 7.2.5 Repeated reflow soldering Only single reflow soldering processes are recommended for boards populated with u-blox 7 modules. u-blox 7 modules should not be submitted to two reflow cycles on a board populated with components on both sides in order to avoid upside down orientation during the second reflow cycle. -
Page 42: Use Of Ultrasonic Processes
MAX-7 / NEO-7 - Hardware Integration Manual u-blox makes no warranty for damages to the u-blox 7 module caused by soldering metal cables or any other forms of metal strips directly onto the EMI covers. 7.2.12 Use of ultrasonic processes Some components on the u-blox 7 module are sensitive to Ultrasonic Waves. -
Page 43: Esd Protection Measures
MAX-7 / NEO-7 - Hardware Integration Manual To prevent electrostatic discharge through the RF input, do not touch any exposed antenna area. If there is any risk that such exposed antenna area is touched in non ESD protected work area, implement proper ESD protection measures in the design. -
Page 44: Electromagnetic Interference (Emi)
MAX-7 / NEO-7 - Hardware Integration Manual For robustness, EOS protection measures, as shown in the examples in Figure 33, are recommended for designs combining cellular communication transceivers (e.g. GSM, GPRS) and GNSS receivers in the same design or in close proximity. -
Page 45: Applications With Cellular Modules
MAX-7 / NEO-7 - Hardware Integration Manual VCC can be protected using a feed thru capacitor. For electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) of the RF_IN pin, refer to section 5.3.5 Intended use In order to mitigate any performance degradation of a radio equipment under EMC disturbance, system integration shall adopt appropriate EMC design practice and not contain cables over three meters on signal and supply ports. - Page 46 MAX-7 / NEO-7 - Hardware Integration Manual Layout optimization Filtering Placement of the GPS antenna Adding a CDMA, GSM, WCDMA band pass filter before handset antenna 7.3.7.4 Out-band jamming Out-band jamming is caused by signal frequencies that are different from the GPS carrier (see Figure 37). The main sources are wireless communication systems such as GSM, CDMA, WCDMA, Wi-Fi, BT, etc.
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Page 47: Product Testing
MAX-7 / NEO-7 - Hardware Integration Manual 8 Product testing 8.1 u-blox in-series production test u-blox focuses on high quality for its products. To achieve a high standard it is our philosophy to supply fully tested units. Therefore, at the end of the production process, every unit is tested. Defective units are analyzed in detail to improve the production quality. -
Page 48: Guidelines For Sensitivity Tests
MAX-7 / NEO-7 - Hardware Integration Manual Figure 41: 1-channel GPS simulator u-blox recommends the following Single-Channel GPS Simulators: Spirent GSS6100 (GPS) Spirent GSS6300 (GPS/GLONASS) Spirent Communications Positioning Technology, www.spirent.com 8.3.1 Guidelines for sensitivity tests 1. Connect a 1-channel GPS simulator to the OEM product 2. -
Page 49: A Appendix
MAX-7 / NEO-7 - Hardware Integration Manual A Appendix A.1 Abbreviations Abbreviation Definition ANSI American National Standards Institute CDMA Code Division Multiple Access Electromagnetic compatibility Electromagnetic interference Electrical Overstress Electrostatic Protective Area Electrostatic discharge GLONASS Russian satellite system Ground GNSS Global Navigation Satellite System Global Positioning System Global System for Mobile Communications... -
Page 50: Design-In Recommendations In Combination With Cellular Operation
MAX-7 / NEO-7 - Hardware Integration Manual A.2 Design-in recommendations in combination with cellular operation Cellular and GNSS Product Receiver Chain Simultaneous operation Passive GNSS Active GNSS Antenna Antenna MAX-6 • • NEO-6 • •... -
Page 51: Related Documents
MAX-7 / NEO-7 - Hardware Integration Manual Related documents NEO-7 Data Sheet, Docu. No GPS.G7-HW-11004 MAX-7 Data Sheet, Docu. No GPS.G7-HW-12012 u-blox 7 Receiver Description including Protocol Specification, Docu. No GPS.G7-SW-12001 u-blox 7 Firmware Version 1.0 Release Note, Docu. No GPS.G7-SW-12003 GPS Antenna Application Note, Docu. -
Page 52: Contact
MAX-7 / NEO-7 - Hardware Integration Manual Contact For complete contact information, visit us at www.u-blox.com u-blox Offices North, Central and South America Headquarters Asia, Australia, Pacific Europe, Middle East, Africa u-blox America, Inc. u-blox Singapore Pte. Ltd. u-blox AG Phone: +1 703 483 3180 Phone:...
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