u-blox LEA-6 Series Hardware Integration Manual
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u-blox LEA-6 Series Hardware Integration Manual

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LEA-6 / NEO-6
u-blox 6 GPS Modules
Hardware Integration Manual
Abstract
This document describes the features and specifications of the cost
effective and high-performance LEA-6 and NEO-6 GPS modules
featuring the u-blox 6 positioning engine.
These compact, easy to integrate stand-alone GPS receiver modules
combine exceptional GPS 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
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Summary of Contents for u-blox LEA-6 Series

  • Page 1 This document describes the features and specifications of the cost effective and high-performance LEA-6 and NEO-6 GPS modules featuring the u-blox 6 positioning engine. These compact, easy to integrate stand-alone GPS receiver modules combine exceptional GPS performance with highly flexible power, design, and connectivity options.
  • Page 2 NEO-6M ROM6.02 This document and the use of any information contained therein, is subject to the acceptance of the u-blox terms and conditions. They can be downloaded from www.u-blox.com. u-blox makes no warranties based on the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this document and reserves the right to make changes to specifications and product descriptions at any time without notice.

  • Page 3: Preface

    4. Product testing: This chapter provides information about testing of OEM receivers in production. 5. Appendix: The Appendix includes guidelines on how to successfully migrate to u-blox 6 designs, and useful information about the different antenna types available on the market and how to reduce interference in your GPS design.
  • Page 4 LEA-6 / NEO-6 - Hardware Integration Manual Technical Support Worldwide Web Our website (www.u-blox.com) is a rich pool of information. Product information, technical documents and helpful FAQ can be accessed 24h a day. By E-mail If you have technical problems or cannot find the required information in the provided documents, contact the nearest of the Technical Support offices by email.

  • Page 5: Table Of Contents

    LEA-6 / NEO-6 - Hardware Integration Manual Contents Preface ..........................3 Contents ..........................5 Hardware description ....................8 Overview .............................. 8 Architecture ............................8 Power management ..........................9 1.3.1 Connecting power ........................9 1.3.2 Operating modes ........................10 Antenna supply - V_ANT (LEA-6) ....................... 11 System functions ..........................
  • Page 6 3.3.8 GSM applications ........................44 3.3.9 Recommended parts ........................46 Product testing ......................47 u-blox in-series production test ......................47 Test parameters for OEM manufacturer ....................47 System sensitivity test ......................... 48 4.3.1 Guidelines for sensitivity tests ...................... 48 4.3.2 ‘Go/No go’...
  • Page 7 LEA-6 / NEO-6 - Hardware Integration Manual Hardware Migration ........................... 52 B.3.1 Hardware Migration: ANTARIS 4  u-blox 6 ................52 B.3.2 Hardware Migration: u-blox 5  u-blox 6 ................... 52 Migration of LEA modules ........................52 B.4.1 Migration from LEA-4 to LEA-6 ....................52 B.4.2...

  • Page 8: Hardware Description

    GPS modules are not designed for life saving or supporting devices or for aviation and should not be used in products that could in any way negatively impact the security or health of the user or third parties or that could cause damage to goods.

  • Page 9: Power Management

    If no backup battery is available connect the V_BCKP pin to GND. As long as VCC is supplied to the u-blox 6 receiver, the backup battery is disconnected from the RTC and the backup RAM in order to avoid unnecessary battery drain (see Figure 3). Power to RTC and BBR is supplied from VCC in this case.

  • Page 10: Operating Modes

    Maximum Performance mode. u-blox 6 deactivates the acquisition engine as soon as a position is fixed and a sufficient number (at least 4) of satellites are being tracked. The tracking engine continues to search and track new satellites without orbit information.

  • Page 11: Antenna Supply - V_Ant (Lea-6)

    The Power Save mode is an autonomous mode that does not require dynamic interaction by the application engine, i.e. after the configuration settings communicated to the u-blox 6 receiver, the application does not need to take care of switching off and on the receiver to obtain low power consumption.

  • Page 12: Display Data Channel (Ddc)

    C compatible Display Data Channel (DDC) interface is available with LEA-6 and NEO-6 modules for serial communication. For more information about DDC implementation refer to the u-blox 6 Receiver Description including Protocol Specification [3]. Background information about the DDC interface is available in Appendix C.1.
  • Page 13 LEA-6 / NEO-6 - Hardware Integration Manual 1.6.3.1 Communicating to an I C EEPROM with the GPS receiver as I C master Serial I C memory can be connected to the DDC interface. This can be used to save configuration permanently. It will automatically be recognized by firmware.

  • Page 14: Spi (Neo-6)

    1.6.4 SPI (NEO-6) A Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) is available with selected u-blox 6 modules. The SPI allows for the connection of external devices with a serial interface, e.g. FLASH memories or A/D converters, or to interface to a host CPU.
  • Page 15 Table 3 Supported SPI FLASH memory devices 1.6.4.2 SPI communication (connecting to an SPI master) Figure 8 shows how to connect a u-blox GPS receiver to a host/master. The signal on the pins must meet the conditions specified in the Data Sheet. SS_N...
  • Page 16 LEA-6 / NEO-6 - Hardware Integration Manual 1.6.4.3 Pin configuration with module as one of several slaves The buffers enabled by the CS_N signal make sure that the GPS receiver starts up with a known defined configuration, since the SPI pins (MOSI, MISO and SCK) are at start up also configuration pins. Figure 9: Diagram of SPI Pin Configuration Component Description...

  • Page 17: I/O Pins

    Some configuration pins are shared with other functions. During start-up, the module reads the state of the configuration pins. Afterwards the other functions can be used. The configuration pins of u-blox 6 use an internal pull-up resistor, which determines the default setting. For more information about settings and messages see the module data sheet.

  • Page 18: Design-In

    2.1.1 Layout design-in checklist Designing-in a u-blox 6 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.
  • Page 19 If a patch antenna is the preferred antenna, choose a patch of at least 15x15x4mm. For smaller antennas an LNA with a noise figure <2dB is recommended, this can increase sensitivity up to 2dB. To optimize TTFF make use of u-blox’ free A-GPS services AssistNow Online and AssistNow Offline. ...

  • Page 20: Design Considerations

    LEA-6 / NEO-6 - Hardware Integration Manual 2.1.2 Design considerations For a minimal design with a u-blox 6 GPS module the following functions and pins need to be considered: • Connect the Power supply to VCC. • VDDUSB: Connect the USB power supply to a LDO before feeding it to VDDUSB and VCC. Or connect to GND if USB is not used.

  • Page 21: Lea-6 Design

    LEA-6 / NEO-6 - Hardware Integration Manual 2.2 LEA-6 design 2.2.1 LEA-6 passive antenna design This is a minimal setup for a PVT GPS receiver with a LEA-6 module. Passive Antenna RF_IN LEA-6 Reserved Top View VCC_RF V_BCKP V_ANT RESET_N CFG_COM1/ NC AADET_N SPI_SCS2_N /TIMEPULSE2...

  • Page 22: Pin Description For Antenna Designs (Lea-6)

    LEA-6 / NEO-6 - Hardware Integration Manual Passive Antenna RF_IN LEA-6 Reserved Top View VCC_RF V_BCKP V_ANT RESET_N CFG_COM1/ NC AADET_N SPI_SCS2_N /TIMEPULSE2 NC / FWD VCC_OUT NC / SPI_SCS1_N NC / SPI_SCK VDDUSB Micro USB_DM RxD1 Processor USB_DP TxD1 (serial) SCL2 / SPI_MISO EXTINT0 / SPEED...
  • Page 23 LEA-6T includes a second time pulse pin (TIMEPULSE2). New designs must take this pin into consideration in order to take advantage of this new feature. For more information see the LEA-6 Data Sheet [1] and see also the u-blox 6 Receiver Description including Protocol Specification [3] for more information on configuration. 2.2.2.2...

  • Page 24: Neo-6 Design

    LEA-6 / NEO-6 - Hardware Integration Manual 2.3 NEO-6 design 2.3.1 Passive antenna design (NEO-6) This is a minimal setup for a PVT GPS receiver with a NEO-6 module. Passive Antenna CFG_COM0 RF_IN CFGCOM1/Reserved CFG_GPS0/Reserved VCC_RF Reserved/NC Reserved NEO-6 Micro SDA2 Top View VDDUSB...

  • Page 25: Layout

    LEA-6 / NEO-6 - Hardware Integration Manual Function Description Remarks System TIMEPULSE Timepulse Configurable Timepulse signal (one pulse per second by default). Signal Leave open if not used. EXTINT0 External External Interrupt Pin. Interrupt Internal pull-up resistor to VCC. Leave open if not used. SDA2 DDC Pins DDC Data.

  • Page 26: Placement

    LEA-6 / NEO-6 - Hardware Integration Manual 0.8 mm [31.5 mil] Stencil: 200 µm 15.7 mm [618 mil] 17.0 mm [669 mil] 17.0 mm [669 mil] 20.8 mm [819 mil] Figure 14: LEA-6 footprint Figure 15: LEA-6 paste mask 1.0 mm [39.3 mil] Stencil: 170 µm 12.2 mm [480.3 mil]...
  • Page 27 LEA-6 / NEO-6 - Hardware Integration Manual exercised with placing the receiver in proximity to circuitry that can emit heat. The RF part of the receiver is very sensitive to temperature and sudden changes can have an adverse impact on performance. The RF part of the receiver is a temperature sensitive component.

  • Page 28: Antenna Connection And Grounding Plane Design

    2.4.3 Antenna connection and grounding plane design u-blox 6 modules can be connected to passive patch or active antennas. The RF connection is on the PCB and connects the RF_IN pin with the antenna feed point or the signal pin of the connector, respectively. Figure 19 illustrates connection to a typical five-pin RF connector.

  • Page 29: Antenna Micro Strip

    LEA-6 / NEO-6 - Hardware Integration Manual micro strip line micro strip line Module Module Ground plane Ground plane Either don't use these layers or fill with ground planes Figure 20: PCB build-up for micro strip line. Left: 2-layer PCB, right: 4-layer PCB General design recommendations: •...

  • Page 30: Antenna And Antenna Supervisor

    Figure 23: Micro strip on a multi layer board (Agilent AppCAD Coplanar Waveguide) 2.5 Antenna and antenna supervisor u-blox 6 modules receive L1 band signals from GPS and GALILEO satellites at a nominal frequency of 1575.42 MHz. The RF signal is connected to the RF_IN pin.

  • Page 31: Passive Antenna

    Antennas should only be connected to the receiver when the receiver is not powered. Do not connect or disconnect the Antenna when the u-blox 6 receiver is running as the receiver calibrates the noise floor on power-up. Connecting the antenna after power-up can result in prolonged acquisition time.

  • Page 32: Active Antenna (Neo-6)

    NEO-6 modules do not provide the antenna bias voltage for active antennas on the RF_IN pin. It is therefore necessary to provide this voltage outside the module via an inductor as indicated in Figure 25. u-blox recommends using an inductor from Murata (LQG15HS27NJ02). Alternative parts can be used if the inductor’s resonant frequency matches the GPS frequency of 1575.4MHz.

  • Page 33: Active Antenna Bias Power (Lea-6)

    GPS/GALILEO band of 1.575 GHz. Therefore, it is not recommended to use digital supply nets to feed pin V_ANT. An internal switch (under control of the u-blox 6 software) can shut down the supply to the external antenna whenever it is not needed. This feature helps to reduce power consumption.
  • Page 34 Antenna Supervisor AADET_N Circuitry u-blox 6 Module Figure 28: External antenna power supply with full antenna supervisor (for exact pin orientation see data sheet) 2.5.5.1 Short and open circuit active antenna supervisor The Antenna Supervisor can be configured by a serial port message (using only UBX binary message). When...
  • Page 35 LEA-6 / NEO-6 - Hardware Integration Manual Short Circuit Detection (SCD) A short circuit in the active antenna pulls V_ANT to ground. This is detected inside the u-blox 6 module and the antenna supply voltage will be immediately shut down.
  • Page 36 Table 8: Active antenna supervisor, bill of material Status reporting At startup and on every change of the antenna supervisor configuration the u-blox 6 GPS/GALILEO module will output a NMEA ($GPTXT) or UBX (INF-NOTICE) message with the internal status of the antenna supervisor (disabled, short detection only, enabled).
  • Page 37 To activate the antenna supervisor use the UBX-CFG-ANT message. For further information refer to the u-blox 6 Receiver Description including Protocol Specification [3]. Similar to the antenna supervisor configuration, the status of the antenna supervisor will be reported in a NMEA ($GPTXT) or UBX (INF-NOTICE) message at start-up and on every change.

  • Page 38: Product Handling

    3.1 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 data sheet of the specific u-blox 6 GPS module. 3.2 Soldering 3.2.1 Soldering paste...

  • Page 39: Optical Inspection

    • Temperature fall rate: max 4°C / s To avoid falling off, the u-blox 6 GPS module should be placed on the topside of the motherboard during soldering. The final soldering temperature chosen at the factory depends on additional external factors like choice of soldering paste, size, thickness and properties of the base board, etc.

  • Page 40: Cleaning

    3.2.5 Repeated reflow soldering Only single reflow soldering processes are recommended for boards populated with u-blox 6 modules. The reason for this is the risk of the module falling off due to high weight in relation to the adhesive properties of the solder.

  • Page 41: Grounding Metal Covers

    EMI covers is done at the customer's own risk. The numerous ground pins should be sufficient to provide optimum immunity to interferences and noise. u-blox makes no warranty for damages to the u-blox 6 module caused by soldering metal cables or any other forms of metal strips directly onto the EMI covers.

  • Page 42: Esd Protection Measures

    LEA-6 / NEO-6 - Hardware Integration Manual • Unless there is a galvanic coupling between the local GND (i.e. the work table) and the PCB GND, then the first point of contact when handling the PCB shall always be between the local GND and PCB GND.

  • Page 43: Electrical Overstress (Eos)

    LEA-6 / NEO-6 - Hardware Integration Manual 3.3.5 Electrical Overstress (EOS) Electrical Overstress (EOS) usually describes situations when the maximum input power exceeds the maximum specified ratings. EOS failure can happen if RF emitters are close to a GPS receiver or its antenna. EOS causes damage to the chip structures.

  • Page 44: Gsm Applications

    3.3.6 3.3.8 GSM applications GSM uses power levels up to 2W (+33dBm). The absolute maximum power input at the GPS receiver is -5dBm for Antaris-4 and u-blox 6 GPS receivers. 3.3.8.1 Isolation between GPS and GSM antenna For GSM applications plan a minimum isolation of 40dB. In a handheld type design an isolation of approximately 20dB can be reached with careful placement of the antennas, but this isn’t sufficient.
  • Page 45 LEA-6 / NEO-6 - Hardware Integration Manual u-blox blox GPS receiver 5 LNA data bus Figure 37: In-band jamming sources Measures against in-band jamming include: • Maintaining a good grounding concept in the design • Shielding • Layout optimisation •...

  • Page 46: Recommended Parts

    LEA-6 / NEO-6 - Hardware Integration Manual 3.3.9 Recommended parts Manufacturer Part ID Remarks Parameters to consider Diode ON Semiconductor ESD9R3.3ST5G (3.3.4 C) Standoff Voltage>3.3V • Low Capacitance < 0.5pF ESD9L3.3ST5G (3.3.4 C) Standoff Voltage>3.3V • Standoff Voltage > Voltage for active antenna ESD9L5.0ST5G (3.3.4 C) Standoff Voltage>5V...

  • Page 47: Product Testing

    4.1 u-blox in-series production test u-blox focuses on high quality for its products. To achieve a high standard it’s 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: System Sensitivity Test

    3. Power up the DUT (Device Under Test) and allow enough time for the acquisition 4. Read the C/No value from the NMEA GSV or the UBX-NAV-SVINFO message (e.g. with u-center) 5. Compare the results to a “Golden Device” or a u-blox 6 Evaluation Kit. 4.3.2 ‘Go/No go’ tests for integrated devices The best test is to bring the device to an outdoor position with excellent sky view (HDOP <...

  • Page 49: Appendix

    6 receivers ® Migrating ANTARIS 4 and u-blox 5 designs to a u-blox 6 receiver module is a fairly straightforward procedure. Nevertheless there are some points to be considered during the migration. ® Not all of the functionalities available with ANTARIS 4 are supported by u-blox 6.
  • Page 50 • Dead Reckoning Figure 42: u-blox 6 module migration made easy Check u-blox 6 Hardware Requirements: Check the battery power to supply the battery backup pin, since u-blox 6 draws higher current in  comparison to ANTARIS 4 receivers. ...

  • Page 51: Software Migration

    Disable SBAS services to achieve 4Hz navigation Table 13: Main differences between ANTARIS 4 and u-blox 6 software for migration The default NMEA message set for u-blox 6 is GGA, GLL, GSA, GSV, RMC and VTG. Contrary to ANTARIS 4, ZDA is disabled by default.

  • Page 52: Hardware Migration

    LDO to provide a clean supply at Vcc and consider the following: • Special attention needs to be paid to the power supply requirements as u-blox 6 has higher currents than ANTARIS 4 (peak currents & backup current see datasheet for further details) •...
  • Page 53 LEA-6 / NEO-6 - Hardware Integration Manual LEA-4H/LEA-4P/LEA-4T LEA-6H/LEA-6T Remarks for Migration Pin Name Typical Assignment Pin Name Typical Assignment VCC voltage. Reserved Reserved Input only, do not drive high. Internal pull up to RESET_N RESET_N 1.8V VCC. Wider voltage range but needs more current. V_BAT 1.50 –...

  • Page 54: Migration From Lea-5 To Lea-6

    B.4.2 Migration from LEA-5 to LEA-6 For u-blox6 only the Input Voltage thresholds on the pins RXD1 and EXTINT0 have changed. Be aware, that with u-blox 6 there is no LEA anymore, which supports SPI interface. For SPI consider NEO-6 form factor.

  • Page 55: Migration From Neo-5 To Neo-6

    No difference Table 16: Pin-out comparison NEO-4S vs. NEO-6 B.5.2 Migration from NEO-5 to NEO-6 For u-blox 6 only the Input Voltage thresholds on the pins RXD1 and EXTINT0 have changed. Also check the setting of the configuration pins. GPS.G6-HW-09007-A...

  • Page 56: C Interface Backgrounder

    LEA-6 / NEO-6 - Hardware Integration Manual C Interface Backgrounder C.1 DDC Interface Two wires, serial data (SDA) and serial clock (SCL), carry information between the devices connected to the bus. These lines are connected to all devices on the DDC. SCL is used to synchronize data transfers and SDA is the data line.

  • Page 57: Ddc Troubleshooting

    LEA-6 / NEO-6 - Hardware Integration Manual of the device. The default DDC address for u-blox GPS receivers is set to 0x42. Setting the mode field in the CFG-PRT message for DDC accordingly can change this address. The first byte sent is comprised of the address field and R/W bit. Hence the byte seen on the bus 0x42 is shifted by 1 to the left plus R/W bit thus being 0x84 or 0x85 if analyzed by scope or protocol analyzer.

  • Page 58: Spi Interface

    Cp and/or Cc are too high. The effects can often be reduced by using shorter interconnections. For more information about DDC implementation refer to the u-blox 6 Receiver Description including Protocol Specification [3]. C.2 SPI Interface C.2.1 SPI basics...
  • Page 59 LEA-6 / NEO-6 - Hardware Integration Manual device is not selected (i.e. its chip select is not activated), its data output enters a high-impedance state (hi-Z) and does not interfere with SPI bus activities. The data output MISO functions as the data return signal from the slave to the master. Figure 46 shows a typical block diagram for an SPI master with several slaves.
  • Page 60 LEA-6 / NEO-6 - Hardware Integration Manual The majority of SPI devices provide all four of these lines. Sometimes MOSI and MISO are multiplexed, or else one is missing. A peripheral device, which must not or cannot be configured, requires no input line but only a data output.

  • Page 61: Related Documents

    LEA-6R Integration Considerations Application Note, Docu. No GPS-X-10028 u-blox 6 Firmware Version 6.02 Release Note, Docu. No GPS.G6-SW-10003 LEA-5 Data Sheet, Docu. No GPS.G5-MS5-07026 For regular updates to u-blox documentation and to receive product change notifications please contact our local support. Revision history...

  • Page 62: Contact

    LEA-6 / NEO-6 - Hardware Integration Manual Contact For complete contact information visit us at www.u-blox.com 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:...

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