1104629
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The Sierra Wireless EM9191 is a 5G module offering global connectivity. Designed in an M.2 form factor, the EM9191 is compatible with Sierra Wireless's EM9190 module for a simple upgrade path to mmWave, as well as the EM7690 module to help facilitate the migration and differentiation between 4G LTE and 5G.
This 5G NR Sub-6 GHz embedded module delivers up to 4.5Gbps downlink speed and 660Mbps uplink speed. With automatic 4G and 3G fallback networks and integrated GNSS receiver (GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, and Galileo satellite systems supported), the EM9191 is applicable to a wide range of IoT applications such as industrial routers, home gateways, industrial and consumer laptops, rugged tablet PCs, video surveillance and digital signage.
To speed up development, we recommend you also buy a developer kit:
11131, Sierra Wireless M.2 Developer Kit EM9/EM76 Series
Product technical specification for the Sierra Wireless AirPrime EM919x series 5G cellular module series and the EM7690 4G LTE-A cat 20 cellular module.
Current consumption application note Sierra Wireless AirPrime EM9190 - EM7690 Series modules.
Thermal mitigation guide for Sierra Wireless AirPrime EM919x-EM7690 series M.2 key B modules.
User guide for the Sierra Wireless AirPrime EM919x - EM7690 series modules development kit.
This guide describes the process of acquiring regulatory and operator required certificates in North America
Application note for the Sierra Wireless AirPrime EM919x - EM7690 series sleep modes.
Customer production test mode application note for Sierra Wireless AirPrime EM919x - EM7690 series cellular modules.
Non-mmWave smart transmit application note for Sierra Wireless AirPrime EM919x - EM7690 series cellular modules.
How-to guide: How can we control, configure and establish a simple data connection for a cellular module in Linux systems using the open source ModemManager tool for modem control and connection management.
ModemManager is a open source tool for Linux that can be used to communicate with cellular devices for configuration, status check, connection triggering etc. It is capable of communicate over several types of device control channels such as QMI/RMNET, MBIM, MODEM / AT command etc.
It is hosted by the Freedesktop.org community and driven by Aleksander Morgado and other contributors, please visit https://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/ModemManager/ for latest information, source code, API reference manuals, debugging tips, contribution, mailing list etc.
Keep in mind that ModemManager is not directly developed or driven by cellular device vendors and the compatibility cannot be guaranteed for the specific device you aim to use. Some vendors contribute with code to make their devices fully compatible, while others don't. However many cellular devices can be set to expose standardized types of USB network interface and control channel such as MBIM interface by USB-IF or the Qualcomm proprietary interface QMI that ModemManager will try to identify, and often manage to work successfully with.
Before continuing with ModemManager, a good thing to ensure is that you have common Linux driver modules available in your kernel build.
You can compare your own systems kernel config with the ones listed in the following FAQ:
Common Linux kernel modules and configs necessary for communicating with cellular modules over USB interface
Selections of these are commonly used by cellular devices and need to be available in order to have device drivers correctly loaded when devices are detected.
Start by installing ModemManager and its dependencies to your Linux system.
You can build it from source code release tarball found at freedesktop.org (install instructions included in the archive)
If you have a package manager in your Linux distribution, it can usually be installed through them also.
E.g. on Ubuntu using apt to install it and related dependencies:
apt install modemmanager libmbim-utils libqmi-utils
Keep in mind that Linux distributions sometimes rely on fairly old releases in their repositories and the development of ModemManager, libqmi and libmbim are on-going continuously. So is also the development of the cellular devices when the cellular technologies evolve. It is therefore recommended that you have a fairly recent version of ModemManager, libqmi and libmbim running in your system as well as when it comes to kernel version since the driver modules sometimes acquire patch fixes to be compatible with new chipset features etc.
Check Freedesktop.org pages for details on the latest ModemManager, NetworkManager, Libqmi and Libmbim releases.
Once you've installed ModemManager and rebooted your system, the service daemon should be running already in background.
Mmcli is the related command line interface tool which can be used to interact with ModemManager daemon through command line commands.
Check the version by command:
mmcli -V
<< mmcli 1.13.0
<< Copyright (2011 - 2020) Aleksander Morgado
<< License GPLv2+: GNU GPL version 2 or later
<< This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.
<< There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.
Print general mmcli help message:
mmcli --help
ModemManager normally listen, probes and detects cellular devices automatically when operating correctly but a forced scan can be triggered with command:
mmcli --scan-modems
<< successfully requested to scan devices
To list detected cellular devices use command:
mmcli --list-modems
<< /org/freedesktop/ModemManager1/Modem/0 [Sierra Wireless, Incorporated] MC7455
Here ModemManager have detected a Sierra Wireless cellular device and it has here been given the the identifier number 0 by ModemManager.
To acquire more device information and status use the --modem command and identifier value.
mmcli --modem=0
<< -----------------------------
<< General | dbus path: /org/freedesktop/ModemManager1/Modem/0
<< | device id: 3a2f5fad8e91dbf417694f23165017c1f8a6e061
<< -----------------------------
<< Hardware | manufacturer: Sierra Wireless, Incorporated
<< | model: MC7455
<< | firmware revision: SWI9X30C_02.32.11.00 r8042 CARMD-EV-FRMWR2 2019/05/15 21:52:20
<< | carrier config: default
<< | h/w revision: 1.0
<< | supported: gsm-umts, lte
<< | current: gsm-umts, lte
<< | equipment id: 359072066171840
<< -----------------------------
<< System | device: /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.0/usb3/3-2
<< | drivers: qcserial, qmi_wwan
<< | plugin: sierra
<< | primary port: cdc-wdm0
<< | ports: cdc-wdm0 (qmi), wwan1 (net), ttyUSB2 (at), wwan0 (net),
<< | cdc-wdm1 (qmi), ttyUSB1 (gps), ttyUSB0 (qcdm)
<< -----------------------------
<< Status | lock: sim-pin
<< | unlock retries: sim-pin (3), sim-puk (10), sim-pin2 (0), sim-puk2 (10)
<< | state: locked
<< | power state: on
<< | signal quality: 0% (cached)
<< -----------------------------
<< Modes | supported: allowed: 3g; preferred: none
<< | allowed: 4g; preferred: none
<< | allowed: 3g, 4g; preferred: 4g
<< | allowed: 3g, 4g; preferred: 3g
<< | current: allowed: 3g, 4g; preferred: 4g
<< -----------------------------
<< Bands | supported: utran-1, utran-3, utran-4, utran-5, utran-8, utran-2,
<< | eutran-1, eutran-2, eutran-3, eutran-4, eutran-5, eutran-7, eutran-8,
<< | eutran-12, eutran-13, eutran-20, eutran-25, eutran-26, eutran-29,
<< | eutran-30, eutran-41
<< | current: utran-1, utran-3, utran-4, utran-5, utran-8, utran-2,
<< | eutran-1, eutran-2, eutran-3, eutran-4, eutran-5, eutran-7, eutran-8,
<< | eutran-12, eutran-13, eutran-20, eutran-25, eutran-26, eutran-29,
<< | eutran-30, eutran-41
<< -----------------------------
<< IP | supported: ipv4, ipv6, ipv4v6
<< -----------------------------
<< SIM | dbus path: /org/freedesktop/ModemManager1/SIM/0
A detailed summary of device status, configs and system drivers, paths and IDs are returned.
Currently the device status indicates that inserted SIM card is PIN locked, so a unlock by --pin command is necessary:
mmcli --modem=0 --sim=0 --pin=****
<< successfully sent PIN code to the SIM
Now we can change device state to enabled using command:
mmcli --modem=0 --enable
<< successfully enabled the modem
if we're check device status again we can see that device:
mmcli --modem=0
…
<< --------------------------------
<< Status | lock: sim-puk2
<< | unlock retries: sim-pin (3), sim-puk (10), sim-pin2 (0), sim-puk2 (10)
<< | state: registered
<< | power state: on
<< | access tech: lte
<< | signal quality: 96% (recent)
…
<< 3GPP | imei: 359072066171840
<< | operator id: 24002
<< | operator name: 3
<< | registration: home
<< --------------------------------
<< 3GPP EPS | ue mode of operation: csps-2
<< --------------------------------
<< SIM | dbus path: /org/freedesktop/ModemManager1/SIM/0
The status output shows that devices is registered in network using LTE technology with a good signal strength.
It is now time to activate the data connection with --simple-connect command.
ModemManager will tie the data bearer for our given subscription APN to the qmi_wwan network interface, typically named wwan0 (unless renamed by Linux distribution or user)
Fill in the details as below but for your modem number, subscription APN and the IP type it can work with (ipv4 / ipv6 ipv4v6)
mmcli -m 0 --simple-connect='apn=data.tre.se,ip-type=ipv4v6'
<< successfully connected the modem
if we check modem status again we can see that a bearer have been established.
mmcli --modem=0
…
<< --------------------------------
<< Bearer | dbus path: /org/freedesktop/ModemManager1/Bearer/0
…
The bearer have got identifier number 0 so we can request more details for it to acquire the IP details:
mmcli --modem=0 --bearer=0
<< ------------------------------------
<< General | dbus path: /org/freedesktop/ModemManager1/Bearer/0
<< | type: default
<< ------------------------------------
<< Status | connected: yes
<< | suspended: no
<< | interface: wwan1
<< | ip timeout: 20
<< ------------------------------------
<< Properties | apn: data.tre.se
<< | roaming: allowed
<< | ip type: ipv4v6
<< ------------------------------------
<< IPv4 configuration | method: static
<< | address: 2.68.206.100
<< | prefix: 29
<< | gateway: 2.68.206.101
<< | dns: 80.251.201.177, 80.251.201.178
<< | mtu: 1500
<< ------------------------------------
<< IPv6 configuration | method: static
<< | address: 2a02:aa1:1010:b6bb:6d12:d0dc:978e:3982
<< | prefix: 64
<< | gateway: 2a02:aa1:1010:b6bb:21ea:c721:62c3:9760
<< | dns: 2a02:aa0::55, 2a02:aa0::56
<< | mtu: 1500
<< ------------------------------------
<< Statistics | duration: 450
<< | bytes rx: 6693
<< | attempts: 1
<< | total-duration: 450
<< | total-bytes rx: 6693
From here we can see the IP details we've been assigned by the cellular network.
ModemManager does not assign IPv4 address details to the cellular modules network interface in Linux by itself.
When ModemManager is used in conjunction with NetworkManager and the cellular connection is managed by it, then the IPv4 address details will be collected by NetworkManager through ModemManager and automatically assigned to network interface when connection is established.
If the system does not implement NetworkManager, then the IP and routing configuration needs to be handled by user software/scripting.
Example:
Enable network interface in Linux:
ip link set wwan0 up
Set the IPv4 address acquired from bearer information above, the CIDR subnet mask can always be set to 32:
ip addr add 2.68.206.100/32 dev wwan0
Disable ARP:
ip link set dev wwan0 arp off
Set MTU value acquired from network:
ip link set dev wwan0 mtu 1500
Add a default or other type of route to the cellular network device (e.g. with a metric to set which route to prefer)
ip route add default dev wwan0 metric 200
Add the DNS servers reported by cellular network or use other public/desired ones.
DNS server addresses are handled in different ways depending on the Linux distribution and network manager used. Therefore please refer to related dist documentation for best practice to add / maintain DNS server addresses in your specific system.
sh -c "echo 'nameserver 80.251.201.177' >> /etc/resolv.conf"
sh -c "echo 'nameserver 80.251.201.178' >> /etc/resolv.conf"
We should now have a network interface passing data successfully, we can try it out by doing ping requests:
IPv4 data:
ping -4 -c 4 -I wwan0 8.8.8.8
PING 8.8.8.8 (8.8.8.8) from 2.68.206.100 wwan0: 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=1 ttl=57 time=50.8 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=2 ttl=57 time=48.8 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=3 ttl=57 time=24.0 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=4 ttl=57 time=44.8 ms
--- 8.8.8.8 ping statistics ---
4 packets transmitted, 4 received, 0% packet loss, time 3005ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 23.979/42.115/50.840/10.694 ms
IPv6 data:
ping -6 -c 4 -I wwan0 2600::
PING 2600::(2600::) from 2a02:aa1:1010:b6bb:8962:7405:b81c:7627 wwan0: 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 2600::: icmp_seq=1 ttl=47 time=179 ms
64 bytes from 2600::: icmp_seq=2 ttl=47 time=176 ms
64 bytes from 2600::: icmp_seq=3 ttl=47 time=175 ms
64 bytes from 2600::: icmp_seq=4 ttl=47 time=177 ms
--- 2600:: ping statistics ---
4 packets transmitted, 4 received, 0% packet loss, time 3004ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 175.411/176.935/179.268/1.446 ms