NE1 Module Datasheet

Developed by Tuya, NE1 is a low-power embedded LPWA module in the NB-IoT series. It supports the NB-IoT radio communication protocol (3GPP Rel.14). NE1 contains a highly integrated Soc EC616 (which is internally embedded with an application processor, a low-power multi-band NB-IoT transceiver, a PMU, and a few peripherals.

Overview

NE1 is embedded with a low-power 32-bit Cortex-M3 CPU and integrated with a 272-KB static random-access memory (SRAM), 4-MB NOR flash memory.

It supports MPU and interfaces such as UART, I2C, SPI, PWM, 4-channel 12-bit AUXADC, 32 kHz RTC timer, and USIM.

Features

• Embedded low-power 32-bit Cortex-M3 processor
• Power supply voltage
  • Operating voltage: 2.2 to 4.5 V
  • Typical operating voltage: 3.3 V
• Peripherals: 17 GPIOs, 3 UARTs, 6 PWMs, 1 ADC, 1 SPI, and 1 I2C
• SIM: 3 V/1.8 V SIM card
• NB-IoT network

  • Cat NB 1/Cat NB 2

  • 3GPP R14 NB-IoT Standards

  • B3/B5/B8

  • Maximum transmit power: 23 dBm±2 dB

  • Receiving sensitivity < -127.3 dBm/15 kHz (not retransmission)

  • 50Ω characteristic impedance, an antenna provided by the third party

  • Data rate:

    • R13:
      • Single-tone: 25.5 kbps (downlink) and 16.7 kbps (uplink)
      • Multi-tone: 25.5 kbps (downlink) and 62.5 kbps (uplink)
    • R14: Multi-tone: 102 kbps (downlink) and 157 kbps (uplink)

  • Multi-tone: 25.5 kbps (downlink) and 62.5 kbps (uplink)

  • Network protocol feature: UDP/TCP/CoAP/LWM2M/ PPP*/SSL*/DTLS*/FTP*/ HTTP*/MQTT*/HTTPS*

  • Normal operating temperature: -35°C to +75°C

  • Extended operating temperature: -40°C to +85°C

  • Storage temperature: -40°C to +90°C

• Upgrade through the main serial interface, FOTA

Applications

• Public utilities: meter reading (water, gas, and electricity), intelligent water affairs (pipe network, leakage and quality inspection), smart fire extinguisher, fire hydrant, etc.
• Smart health: drug traceability, remote medical monitoring, blood pressure meter, blood glucose meter, heart armour monitoring, baby monitor, etc.
• Smart city: smart street lights, smart parking, urban trash can management, public safety alarms, urban environment monitoring (water pollution, noise, air quality PM2.5, etc.)
• Consumers: wearable devices, bicycles, mopeds anti-theft, smart luggage, VIP tracking (children, elderly, pets, and vehicle rental), and payment/POS machines
• Agricultural environment: precision planting (environment parameters: water, temperature, sunshine, biocide, and fertilizer), animal husbandry (health and tracking), aquaculture and food safety traceability
• Logistics warehousing: asset, container tracking, warehouse management, fleet management tracking, and logistics status tracking
• Smart building: access control, smart HVAC, smoke detection, fire detection, and elevator failure/repair
• Manufacturing industry: production, equipment status monitoring, energy facilities, oil and gas monitoring, chemical park monitoring, large-scale rental equipment, and predictive maintenance (home appliances, machinery, etc.)

Module interfaces

Pin distribution

NE1 has 66 pins in total. Among them, there are 52 LCC pins and 14 LGA pins. This part illustrates module interfaces and their definitions in detail.

Pin definition

Pin number	Symbol	I/O type	Functions	Description
1	GND	–	GND	–
2	GPIO1	I	GPIO1 (boot flag)	1.8 V, GPIO0 needs to be pulled down to the low level in download mode
3	SPI_MISO	I	Master input slave output/GPIO14	1.8 V, support only the slave mode
4	SPI_MOSI	O	Master output slave input/GPIO11	1.8 V, support only the slave mode
5	SPI_SCLK	O	Serial clock signal/GPIO15	1.8 V, support only the slave mode
6	SPI_CS	O	Chip select/GPIO16	1.8 V, support only the slave mode
7	NC	-	NC
8	GPIO10	I/O	GPIO10	A universal GPIO interface
9	ADC0	I	A universal analog-to-digital converter AIO 2	12-bit AUXADC
10	SIM_GND	–	A SIM card dedicated place	–
11	SIM_DATA	–	SIM card data signal	–
12	SIM_RST	–	SIM card reset signal	–
13	SIM_CLK	–	SIM card clock signal	–
14	SIM_VCC	–	SIM card power supply	1.8/3.0 V
15	RESET	I	Reset module	3.3 V, active low
16	NETLIGHT	I/O	GPIO20	A universal GPIO interface. The pin cannot be used as the network indicator light for the general firmware V2.0.4 and above. If you need the network indicator light, you can use the MCU port.
17	UART1_RXD	I	A main serial interface, which is used for receiving data and used as a programming calibration interface and AT receiving interface	1.8 V Please pay attention to level conversion
18	UART1_TXD	O	A main serial interface, which is used for transmitting data and used as a programming calibration interface, AT transmitting interface, and Tuya log output interface	1.8 V Please pay attention to reference level conversion
19	PSM_EINT	I	WAKEUP 3, an external interrupt pin, which can wake up the module in PSM mode	3.3 V, active on falling edge
20	RI	–	GPIO7	A common GPIO interface
21	WAKEUP1	I	WAKEUP 1, an external interrupt pin, which can wake up the module in PSM mode	3.3 V, active on falling edge
22	WAKEUP2	I	WAKEUP 2, an external interrupt pin, which can wake up the module in PSM mode	3.3 V, active on falling edge
23	NC	–	NC	–
24	VIO18_EXT	O	1.8 V output power supply (no output in PSM mode)	V-min=1.53 V, V-norm=1.8 V
25	WAKEUP5	I	WAKEUP 5, an external interrupt pin, which can wake up the module in PSM mode	3.3 V, active on falling edge
26	WAKEUP4	I	WAKEUP 4, an external interrupt pin, which can wake up the module in PSM mode	3.3 V, active on falling edge
27	GND	–	GND	–
28	UART2_RXD	I	A default universal docking user serial interface, which is used for receiving data	1.8V Please pay attention to reference level conversion
29	UART2_TXD	O	A default universal docking user serial interface, which is used for transmitting data	1.8V Please pay attention to reference level conversion
30	NC	–	NC	–
31	NC	–	NC	–
32	I2C0_SDA	I/O	I2C0_data/GPIO9	A default I2C interface
33	I2C0_SCL	O	I2C0_clock/GPIO17	A default I2C interface
34	GND	–	GND	–
35	RF_ANT	–	RF_antenna	50Ω characteristic impedance
36, 37	GND	–	GND	–
38	UART0_RXD	I	Receive data	By default, it is a log serial interface for the original manufacturer of the chip. 1.8 V Please pay attention to the reference level conversion
39	UART0_TXD	O	Transmit data	By default, it is a log serial interface for the original manufacturer of the chip. 1.8 V Please pay attention to the reference level conversion
40, 41	GND	–	GND	–
42, 43	VBATT	I	Input power	V=2.2 to 4.3 V, V-norm=3.3 V
44	NC	–	NC	–
45	NC	–	NC	–
46	NC	–	NC	–
47	NC	–	NC	–
48	NC	–	NC	–
49	NC	–	NC	–
50	NC	–	NC	–
51	NC	–	NC	–
52	NC	–	NC	–
53	NC	–	NC	–
54	NC	–	NC	–
55	NC	–	NC	–
56	NC	–	NC	–
57	NC	–	NC	–
58	NC	–	NC	–
59	SWDIO	–	Debugging interface	–
60	NC	–	NC	–
61	NC	–	NC	–
62	SWCLK	–	Debugging interface	–
63	NC	–	NC	–
64	FREF	–	Reference frequency	–
65	GPIO6	–	GPIO6	A common GPIO interface
66	GND	–	GND	–

Note: “*” indicates “still under development” or “currently not supported”.

Electrical parameters

Absolute electrical parameters

Parameter	Description	Minimum value	Maximum value	Unit
Ts	Storage temperature	-40	90	℃
VBAT	Power supply voltage	2.2	4.5	V
Contact discharge	VBAT, GND	-5	+5	KV
Contact discharge	Antenna interface	-5	+5	KV
Contact discharge	Other interfaces	-0.5	+0.5	KV
Air discharge	VBAT, GND	-10	+10	KV
Air discharge	Antenna interface	-10	+10	KV
Air discharge	Other interfaces	-1	+1	KV

Normal working conditions

Parameter	Description	Minimum value	Typical value	Maximum value	Unit
Ta	Operating temperature	-35	25	75	℃
VBAT	Power supply voltage	2.2	3.3	4.5	V
VIL	I/O low-level input	-0.3	-	VCC*0.25	V
VIH	I/O high-level input	VCC*0.75	-	VCC	V
VOL	I/O low-level output	-	-	VCC*0.1	V
VOH	I/O high-level output	VCC*0.8	-	VCC	V
Imax	I/O drive current	-	-	12	mA

TX and RX power consumption

Working mode	Description	Average value	Peak value (Typical value)	Unit
PSM	Deep Sleep	800	1000	nA
Idle	@DRX=2.56S	115	/	μA
Single-tone carrier frequency of 15 kHz	B3@23 dBm	148	316	mA
Single-tone carrier frequency of 15 kHz	B5@23 dBm	156	327	mA
Single-tone carrier frequency of 15 kHz	B8@23 dBm	146	301	mA
Single-tone carrier frequency of 3.75 kHz	B3@23 dBm	190	310	mA
Single-tone carrier frequency of 3.75 kHz	B5@23 dBm	198	325	mA
Single-tone carrier frequency of 3.75 kHz	B8@23 dBm	185	300	mA

RF parameters

Basic RF features

Parameter	Description
Working frequency	Band 3: 1710-1785 Mhz; 1805-1880 Mhz Band 5: 824-849 Mhz; 869-894 Mhz Band 8: 880-915 Mhz; 925-960 Mhz
NB-IoT standards	3GPP 36.521
	6.2.2F UE maximum output power for category NB1
	6.2.3F maximum power reduction (MPR) for category NB1
	6.2.5F configured UE transmitted output power for UE category NB1
	6.3.2F minimum output power for category NB1
	6.3.3F transmit off power for category NB1
	6.3.4 F1 on/off time mask for category NB1
	6.3.4.F2 NPRACH time mask for category NB1
	6.3.5F.2 power control relative power tolerance for category NB1
	6.3.5F.1 power control absolute power tolerance for category NB1
	6.5.1F frequency error for category NB1
	6.5.2.1F.1 error vector magnitude (EVM) for category NB1
	6.5.2.2F carrier leakage for category NB1
	6.5.2.3F in-band emissions for non-allocated RB for category NB1
	6.6.1F occupied bandwidth for category NB1
	6.6.2.1F spectrum emission Mask for category NB1
	6.6.2.3F adjacent channel leakage power ratio for category NB1
	7.3F.1 reference sensitivity level without repetitions for category NB1
	7.4F maximum input level for category NB1
Data transmission rate	Single-tone: 25.5 kbps (downlink), 16.7 kbps (uplink) Multi-tone: 25.5 kbps (downlink), 62.5kbps (uplink)
Antenna type	Antenna provided by the third party (external antenna, FPC antenna, etc.)

TX performance

TX performance

Frequency band	Minimum value	Maximum value	Unit
B3	<-39	23dBm±2dB	dBm
B5	<-39	23dBm±2dB	dBm
B8	<-39	23dBm±2dB	dBm

RX performance

RX sensitivity

Frequency band	Typical value	Unit
Band3	-127.3 dBm/15kHz	dBm
Band5	-127.3 dBm/15kHz	dBm
Band8	-127.3 dBm/15kHz	dBm

Antenna

Antenna type

The module does not have its own PCB board antenna, and the third party needs to provide an antenna. The antenna can be an external rod antenna, a spring antenna, an IPEX-FPC antenna, a PCB board antenna, etc. The antenna forms include monopole antenna, PIFA antenna, IFA antenna, loop antenna, etc.

Antenna interference reduction

To ensure optimal NB-IoT performance, it is recommended that the antenna be at least 10 mm away from other metal parts.

Packaging information and production instructions

Mechanical dimensions

NE1 has 66 pins in total. Among them, 52 pins are LCC package, and 14 pins are LGA package.
The NE1 dimensions are 17.7±0.35mm (L)×15.8±0.35mm (W) ×2.4±0.15mm (H), which are shown as belows:

Side view

Schematic diagram of the footprint

Diagram of the PCB footprint-SMT

Top/bottom view

Note: The length and width tolerance is ±0.35 mm, the height tolerance is ±0.15mm, and the PCB thickness tolerance is ±0.1 mm. If you have any special requirements on dimensions, make them clear in the datasheet after communication.

Production instructions

1. The Tuya SMT module should be mounted by the SMT device. After being unpacked, it should be soldered within 24 hours. Otherwise, it should be put into the drying cupboard where the RH is not greater than 10%; or it needs to be packaged under vacuum again and the exposure time needs to be recorded (the total exposure time cannot exceed 168 hours).
   • SMT devices:
     • Mounter
     • SPI
     • Reflow soldering machine
     • Thermal profiler
     • Automated optical inspection (AOI) equipment
   • Baking devices:
     • Cabinet oven
     • Anti-electrostatic and heat-resistant trays
     • Anti-electrostatic and heat-resistant gloves
2. Storage conditions for a delivered module:

   • The moisture-proof bag must be placed in an environment where the temperature is below 40°C and the relative humidity is lower than 90%.

   • The shelf life of a dry-packaged product is 12 months from the date when the product is packaged and sealed.

   • There is a humidity indicator card (HIC) in the packaging bag.

     

3. The module needs to be baked in the following cases:
   • The packaging bag is damaged before unpacking.
   • There is no HIC in the packaging bag.
   • After unpacking, circles of 10% and above on the HIC become pink.
   • The total exposure time has lasted for over 168 hours since unpacking.
   • More than 12 months have passed since the sealing of the bag.
4. Baking settings:
   • Temperature: 40°C and ≤ 5% RH for reel package and 125°C and ≤5% RH for tray package (please use the heat-resistant tray rather than a plastic container)
   • Time: 168 hours for reel package and 12 hours for tray package
   • Alarm temperature: 50°C for reel package and 135°C for tray package
   • Production-ready temperature after natural cooling: < 36°C
   • Re-baking situation: If a module remains unused for over 168 hours after being baked, it needs to be baked again.
   • If a batch of modules is not baked within 168 hours, do not use the wave soldering to solder them. Because these modules are Level-3 moisture-sensitive devices, they are very likely to get damp when exposed beyond the allowable time. In this case, if they are soldered at high temperatures, it may result in device failure or poor soldering.
5. In the whole production process, take electrostatic discharge (ESD) protective measures.
6. To guarantee the passing rate, it is recommended that you use the SPI and AOI to monitor the quality of solder paste printing and mounting.

Recommended oven temperature curve

Set oven temperatures according to the following temperature curve of reflow soldering. The peak temperature is 245°C.

• A: Temperature axis

• B: Time axis

• C: Liquidus temperature: 217 to 220°C

• D: Ramp-up slope: 1 to 3°C/s

• E: Duration of constant temperature: 60 to 120s; the range of constant temperature: 150 to 200°C

• F: Duration above the liquidus: 50 to 70s

• G: Peak temperature: 235 to 245°C

• H: Ramp-down slope: 1 to 4°C/s

  Note: The above curve is just an example of the solder paste SAC305. For more details about other solder pastes, please refer to Recommended oven temperature curve in the solder paste specifications.

Storage conditions

Product model	MOQ (pcs)	Shipping packaging method	The number of modules per reel	The number of reels per carton
NE1	5600	Tape reel	1400	4