Specification for

RAK4270 LoRa Module

WisDuo-LoRa Series

Version V1.2 | Apr2020

www.RAKwireless.com
Visit our web site for more document.
 Table of Contents
1. General Overview ...................................................................................................3

Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 3

Main Features ............................................................................................................................. 3

2. RAK4270 LoRa Module ............................................................................................... 4

Device Overview ........................................................................................................................ 4

Supported LoRaWAN bands ................................................................................................. 4

Block Diagram ............................................................................................................................ 5

Pin Definition & Pin Out .......................................................................................................... 5

Power Consumption ................................................................................................................. 7

Recommended Circuit ............................................................................................................. 7

SWD programming Port .....................................................................8

UART ports ............................................................................................... 8

I2C port ................................................................................................9

RF port .................................................................................................9

VDD power in ............................................................................................... 9

Mechanical Dimensions ......................................................................................................... 10

Recommended Footprint ...................................................................................................... 11

Recommended Reflow Profile ............................................................................................. 12

Customer Support ................................................................................................................ 12

3. Revision History ...................................................................................................13

4. Document Summary ............................................................................................13

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1. General Overview

Introduction
The RAK4270 LoRa Module includes a STM32L071 MCU and a SX1262 LoRa chip,
which supports 8 spreading factors (SF5 ~ SF12) and signal bandwidth that can be
adjusted between 7.8 kHz to 500 kHz.

The module complies with the LoRaWAN 1.0.2 protocol, so it can be used for implementing
LoRa networks or Lora point to point communications. The module is suitable for various
applications that require long range data acquisition and low power consumption, such as:
smart meters, supply chain and logistics tracking, agricultural sensors, smart cities, etc

This module is expected to be controlled by an external controller through its UART

interface by sending a set of AT commands. These AT commands control not only the
state of this module but also set the LoRaWan communication parameters and payloads
(see RAK AT Command Manual).

Main Features
 LoRa module is suitable for applications in Smart City, Smart Agriculture, Smart
Industry.

 Compact form factor: 15 x 15.5 x 2.5 mm (LxWxH).

 20 pin stamp pad for PCB SMT board-to-board soldering.

 I/O ports: UART/I2C/GPIO.

 AT commands control interface

 Temperature range: -40°C to +85°C

 Supply voltage: 2.0 to 3.6V

 Frequency Bands 433MHz(EU)/ 470-510MHz(CN)/ 865-867MHz(IN)/ 863–870MHz

(EU)/ 500kHz: 903–914.2MHz,125kHz:902.3-914.9MHz(US)/915-928MHz(AU)/ 920-

923MHz(KR) / 920- 923MHz(AS)
 LoRa bandwidth range of 7.8 kHz to 500 kHz, SF5 to SF12, BR=0.018~62.5 kb/s

 Ultra-low power Consumption: 1.5uA in sleep mode

 Arm Cortex-M0+ 32-bit RISC core.

 128 kbytes flash memory with ECC

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  20 kbytes RAM

 6 kbytes of data EEPROM with ECC

Compliance with [TBC][add regulations here]

2. RAK4270 LoRa Module

Device Overview
Figure 1 shows the top view of the RAK4270 LoRa module. The dimensions of the module are
15 x 15.5 x 2.5 mm.

Figure 1 | RAK4270 LoRa module

Supported LoRaWAN bands

The RAK4270 LoRa module supports the high LoRaWAN bands (refer to the Table 1)

Module Region Frequency (MHz)

Europe EU433
RAK4270(L)
China CN470
Indian IN865

Europe EU868
North America US915
RAK4270(H)
Australia AU915
Korea KR920
Asia AS923

Table 1 | Operating Frequencies

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Pin Definition & Pin Out
The Figure 3 shows the pinout of the RAK4270 LoRa module.

Figure 2 | Pinout

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 The table below shows the pin definition of the RAK4270 LoRa Module.

Pin Name I/O Description Alternate functions

This UART port is used USART1_RX,
1 UART2_RX I
as an AT command port I2C1_SDA
(STM32L071KBU6 PA3)
This UART port is used MCO, USART1_TX,
2 UART2_TX O
as an AT command port I2C1_SCL, I2C3_SMBA
(STM32L071KBU6 PA2)

SPI1_MOSI,EVENTOUT,
GPIO (STM32L071KBU6
3 UART2_DE I/O USART1_RTS_DE,
PA1)
COMP2_OUT
TIM21_CH1,TIM2_CH3,
This UART port can be
USART2_TX,LPUART1_TX,
4 UART1_TX I/O used as an AT
COMP2_OUT,COMP2_INM,
command port and an
ADC_IN2
upgrade port
(STM32L071KBU6 PA9)
This UART port can be TIM21_CH2,TIM2_CH4,
5 UART1_RX I/O used as an AT command USART2_RX,LPUART1_RX,
port and an upgrade port COMP2_INP,ADC_IN3
(STM32L071KBU6 PA10)

EVENTOUT,TIM2_CH2,USART2_RT
General GPIO or S_DE,
6 UART1_DE I/O UART(Reserved) TIM21_ETR,
(STM32L071KBU6 PA12) USART4_RX,COMP1_INP,
ADC_IN1
Programming
7 SWDIO I/O SWDIO, LPUART1_RX
(STM32L071KBU6 PA13)
Programming SWCLK, USART2_TX,
8 SWCLK I/O
(STM32L071KBU6 PA14) LPUART1_TX
I2C interface USART1_TX,I2C1_SCL,
9 I2C_SCL I/O
(STM32L071KBU6 PB6) LPTIM1_ETR,COMP2_INP
USART1_RX,I2C1_SDA,
I2C interface
10 I2C_SDA I/O LPTIM1_IN2,USART4_CTS,
(STM32L071KBU6 PB7)
COMP2_INP,VREF_PVD_IN
11 GND - Ground -
RF port (reserved), default RF
12 RF I/O -
out by IPEX
13 GND - Ground -
14 GND - Ground -
15 ANT_SW I/O PA11 leave it un-connect on mainboard
USART1_CTS,SPI1_MISO,
16 PB4 I/O STM32L071KBU6 PB4
TIM3_CH1,I2C3_SDA

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 USART1_CK,I2C3_SCL,
17 PA8 I/O STM32L071KBU6 PA8
MCO,EVENTOUT
MCU reset
18 MCU_NRST I/O -
(STM32L071KBU6 NRST)
19 GND - Ground Ground
20 VDD - DC3V3 Supply voltage 2.0~3.3V

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 Table 2 | Pin Definitions

Power Consumption

Frequency Output Power

125kHz: 902.3-914.9MHZ 10.19dBm

500kHz: 903.0-914.2MHZ 11.41dBm

Recommended Circuit

SWD programming Port

In order to upgrade the firmware, the SWD (Serial Wire Debug) interface must be
used. A 5 pin JLINK cable has to be connected to the SWD port. These pins are:
3v3, SWDIO, SWCLK, and MCU_NRST.

UART ports

There are two UART ports on RAK4270 module. UART2 (pin1 and pin2) can be used
as the command port, while the UART1 (pin4 and pin5) can be used both as command
port and firmware upgrade port. It is recommended to connect the UART2 port to an
external MCU and reserve UART1 for debugging and or future firmware upgrade
purposes.

The serial communication parameters to connect to the UART2 port are: 115200 / 8-
N-1.

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 I2C port
The RAK4270 exposes a I2C port, in which the SDA line is assigned to the pin9, and
SCL line is assigned to pin10. This I2C port allows to control additional slave sensors
with the RAK4270 using I2C protocol. The RAK4270 will be the master. If the I2C port
is used, then external pull-up resistors mus added to the SDA and SCL lines. The
recommended value of the resistors are 10 kOhm.

RF port

The RAK4270 module expose two types of RF antenna: IPEX and PAD. The most
straightforward way is to use the IPEX antenna port. In such case, you just to connect
the antenna to the IPEX connector on the module directly. In the other hand, for
specific needs, customers can design a PCB trace antenna, Chip antenna, SMA
antenna, or spring type antenna. In the latter case, the customer should use the PAD
type antenna port expose by this module. The external antenna should be matched to
the 50 Ohm RF transmission line.

VDD power in

It is recommended to add 4 decoupling capacitors near the module at the entrance of

the power supply pin. The recommended values of the capacitor are C1 =10uF,
C2=10uF, C3=100nF, C4=100nF.

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Mechanical Dimensions
The Figure 8 shows the mechanical dimension of the RAK4270 LoRa module.

Figure 3 | Mechanical Dimensions

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Recommended Footprint

Figure 4 | Recommended PCBfootprint

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 Recommended Reflow Profile

Figure 5 | Recommended ReflowProfile

Standard conditions for reflow soldering:

 Pre-heating Ramp (A) (Initial temperature: 150℃): 1~2.5℃/sec;

 Soaking Time (T2) (150℃~180℃): 60sec~100sec;

 Peak Temperature (G): 230~250℃;

 Reflow Time (T3) (>220℃): 30~60 sec;

 Ramp-up Rate (B): 0~2.5℃/ sec;

 Ramp-down Rate (C): 1~3℃/ sec.

Customer Support
Please contact us if you need technical support or need more information.

Support center: https://forum.rakwireless.com/

Email us: info@rakwireless.com

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3. Revision History

Revision Description Date

1.0 Initial version 2020-04-02

1.1 First review 2020-04-07

4. Document Summary

Prepared by Checked by Approved by

Hairui Penn & Vladislav

About RAKwireless:
RAKwireless is the pioneer in providing innovative and diverse cellular and LoRa 13
connectivity solutions for IoT edge devices. It's easy and modular design can be used in
different IoT applications and accelerate time-to-market.
For more information, please visit RAKwireless website at www.rakwireless.com.
FCC Warning：
This device complies with part 15 of the FCC Rules. Operation is subject to the following two
conditions.
(1) This device may not cause harmful interference;
(2) This device must accept any interference received, including interference that may cause
undesired operation.

Any Changes or modifications not expressly approved by the party responsible for
compliance could void the user's authority to operate the equipment.

INTEGRATION INSTRUCTIONS
1. This module has been tested and found to comply with the FCC Part15.247 for Modular
Approval.

2. This Modular Approval is limited to OEM installation for mobile and fixed applications only.
The antenna installation and operating configurations of this transmitter, including any
applicable source-based time- averaging duty factor, antenna gain and cable loss must
satisfy MPE categorical Exclusion Requirements of 2.1091. This modular should be installed
and operated with minimum distance 20 cm between the radiator& your body.

3. The U.FL connector antenna has been approved for the modular. The maximum antenna
gain are 2.3dBi (White Antenna)& 2.0dBi (Black Antenna). For situations where the host
manufacturer is responsible for an external connector, the integration instructions shall inform
the installer that a unique antenna connector must be used on the Part 15 authorized
transmitters used in the host product.

4. When the module is installed in the host device, the FCC ID label must be visible through a
window on the final device or it must be visible when an access panel, door or cover is easily
removed. If not, a second label must be placed on the outside of the final device that contains
the following text: ―Contains FCC ID: 2AF6B-RAK4270H.

5. The Shenzhen Rakwireless Technology Co., Ltd. uses various test mode programs for test
set up which operate separate from production firmware. Host integrators should contact
Shenzhen Rakwireless Technology Co., Ltd. for assistance with test modes needed for
module/host compliance test requirements.

6. The Shenzhen Rakwireless Technology Co., Ltd. modular transmitter is only FCC
authorized for the FCC Part15.247 listed on the grant, and that the host product manufacturer
is responsible for compliance to any other FCC rules that apply to the host not covered by the
modular transmitter grant of certification. If the grantee markets their product as being Part 15
Subpart B compliant (when it also contains unintentional-radiator digital circuity), then the
grantee shall provide a notice stating that the final host product still requires Part 15 Subpart
B compliance testing with the modular transmitter installed.