n-Fuse SX1302 Mini PCIe LoRaWAN Concentrator Card to Sell for 100 Euros

Semtech SX1302 LoRa transceiver was announced in Q3 2019 as an updated to the company’s SX1301 LoRaWAN gateway chip with improved efficiency, lower BoM costs, and the ability to handle more traffic.

At the time, the company also showcased a mini PCIe LoRaWAN concentrator card reference design pairing SX1302 with SX1250 sub-GHz RF front end, and that could be connected to a Raspberry Pi board via an interface board.

n-Fuse has now come up with a commercial product adapted from the reference design with LRWCC2-MPCIE SX1302 Mini PCIe concentrator card designed for LoRaWAN gateways.

n-Fuse LRWCC2-MPCIE key features and specifications:

MCU – STMicro STM32 (no details provided)
LoRa Connectivity
- Semtech SX1302 digital baseband processor with 2xSX1250 and 1xSX1261 Tx/Rx front-ends
- Frequency Range – 863 to 870 MHz or 915 to 928 MHz
- Sensitivity
  - <= -124dBm at SF7, BW 125KHz
  - <= -138dBm at SF12, BW 125kHz
  - <= -125dBm at SF7, BW 125KHz
  - <= -139dBm at SF12, BW 125kHz
- Max RF Output Power – Up to +27dBm
- Listen before talk
- u.FL connector for external antenna
Host Interface – mPCIe physical connector carrying USB host (default) and UART signals, as well as SPI/I2C for
Misc – Tx/Rx, Config OK, and Power LEDs
Power Supply – 3.3 VDC +/- 5%
Power Consumption – TBD at the time of writing
Dimensions – 51 x 30 mm (Standard mini PCIe form factor)
Weight – 9 grams
Certifications – CE & LoRa Alliance (Pending), RoHS, REACH
Temperature Range – -40 to +85°C (Note the Tx power rises with lower temperatures but is automatically compensated)
Humidity – 10% ~ 90% RH Non-condensing

The mPCIe card is compatible with the SX1302 HAL User Space Driver and Packet Forwarder whose source code is available on Github, and STM32 firmware is upgradeable via USB DFU.

While n-Fuse LRWCC2-MPCIE is listed for 100 Euros excluding VAT and shipping, it’s out of stock as availability of the 868 MHz and 915 MHz versions is scheduled for H2 2020, and a 433 MHz can be made upon request. Some optional accessories are also offered including a 3 dBi rubber antenna, an SMA to u.FL pigtail, and a Mini PCIe to USB adapter to interface the card with hosts without a compatible mPCIe socket.

n-Fuse is not the only company working on an SX1302 mPCIe card as RAK Wireless posted some documentation about its upcoming “RAK2287 WisLink- LPWAN Gateway Module”, sent some beta samples for testing, and the module just very recently got FCC approval. They just don’t have it for pre-order just yet.

Thanks to TheMMV for the tip.

Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)

Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.