Quectel KCM0A5S is a Wi-SUN FAN module based on Silicon Labs EFR32FG25 Arm Cortex-M33 Sub-GHz wireless MCU, designed for applications such as street lighting, precision agriculture, industrial IoT, smart meters, and Smart Cities.
Wi-SUN (IEEE 802.15.4g) is an LPWAN (Low Power Wide Area Network) standard leveraging IPv6 mesh networking for large-scale IoT deployments in Smart Cities and Smart Agriculture. The KCM0A5S module specifically supports the Wi-SUN Field Area Network (FAN) 1.1 protocol and operates across the 470–928MHz frequency range. The module can act as a leaf node, a router, or a border router when paired with a Linux host in RCP (Radio Co-Processor) mode.
Quectel KCM0A5S specifications:
- Wireless SoC – Silicon Labs EFR32FG25
- CPU core – Arm Cortex-M33 core @ 97.5 MHz with DSP instruction and floating-point unit for signal processing
- Memory – 256 KB RAM data memory
Storage – About 2MB flash program memory - Radio – Sub-GHz radio operation
- Protocol – Wi-SUN FAN 1.1
- Frequency Band – 470–928 MHz (Configurable)
- Modulation Mode – Wi-SUN FSK, Wi-SUN MR OFDM MCS 0-6 (Option1/2/3/4), 802.15.4 SUN MR O-QPSK
- Encryption Mode – AES-128, AES-192, AES-256, ECC, SHA-1, SHA-2/256
- Transmit Power – Up to 30 dBm or 16 dBm (optional); note: depends on regulations; 30dBm is currently permitted in select regions such as North America, Latin America, and some APAC countries
- Rx Sensitivity – Up to -111 dBm for FSK #1b 50kbps_mi1 and OFDM MCS4 Option4
- Bandwidth – Up to 2.4 Mbps with OFDM modulation
- Antenna – 1st generation RF coaxial connector, pin antenna (optional)
- Interfaces via catellated holes and pads – EUSART, SPI, SWD, I2C, 23x GPIO
- Supply Voltage (VBAT) – 3.45 to 5.5 V (Typ. 5V)
- Dimensions – 28.0 x 22.0 x 3.15 mm
- Weight -About 2.8 grams
- Temperature Range
- Operating: -40 °C to +85 °C
- Storage: -45 °C to +95 °C
- Certifications (Pending) – CE, FCC, IC, SRRC, Anatel, RCM, Wi-SUN FAN 1.1
The company highlights the Wi-SUN capabilities by noting the implementation of a control management system for street lighting, utilities, and parking deployed in London with 15,000 Wi-SUN devices and 12 Wi-SUN border routers to enable real-time remote management and the ability to scale to even more devices.
The Quectel KCM0A5S TE-B EVB kit can be used to evaluate the KCM0A5S module by connecting the board via USB to a host running QCOM utility. The board also features a Reset button, a few jumpers for configuration, and Mini Simplicity and JTAG connectors for debugging and firmware flashing. Documentation to control the board and flash the firmware is not public, and you’d need to contact the company to get Quectel_QCOM_User_Guide and Quectel_KCM0A5S_Test_Guide files.
Quectel did not provide public pricing for the module and EVB. More details, including datasheet and basic user manual (after email registration), may be found on the product pages for the module and the evaluation board.
Thanks to TLS for the tip.
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.
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