B524 certification

[philleaerts]

We need to have our product certified which contains a B524 module.
From the testlab we get the following question:
Please provide us with following of each module:

• IMSI
• OPc
• secret key
• APN

How can we obtain/retrieve this info from the modules?

Please advise

[rickkas7]

When doing unintentional radiator testing you won't need those parameters.

If you are using the Particle certified antenna, you generally do not need to do intentional radiator certification.

If you are not using the Particle antenna, or you have other exceptional cases like colocated radios that require intentional radiator testing, you cannot do it with the MFF2 Particle SIM. It's expected that you will replace the Particle SIM with a test SIM for your call test box, either provided by the certification house, or an eSIM like the Comprion. This can be done either reworking the device to replace the SMD MFF2 SIM, or using an adapter to allow the use of a 4FF test SIM.

[philleaerts]

Thanks for your clear answer.
However, I've received below request of the test lab to fill out.
I think I got most of it but some fields I have no idea what to fill out.
Could you please verify this and add/correct it?
Thanks

• Technology :
  LTE CAT1
• Frequence band / range:
  • LTE FDD Bands
    • Band 28A (700 MHz)
    • Band 20 (800 MHz)
    • Band 8 (900 MHz)
    • Band 3 (1800 MHz)
    • Band 1 (2100 MHz)
    • Band 7 (2600 MHz)
  • WCDMA Bands
    • Band 8 (900 MHz)
    • Band 1 (2100)
  • GSM Bands
    • EGSM900 (900 MHz)
    • DCS1800 (1800 MHz)
• Maximum chipset/conducted output power:
  • Class 4 (33dBm ± 2dB) for EGSM900
  • Class 1 (30dBm ± 2dB) for DCS1800
  • Class E2 (27dBm ± 3dB) for EGSM900 8-PSK
  • Class E2 (26dBm ± 3dB) for DCS1800 8-PSK
  • Class 3 (24dBm ± 3dB) for WCDMA bands
  • Class 3 (23dBm ± 2dB) for LTE FDD bands
• Emission designator:
• Modulations:
  • BPSK
  • QPSK
  • 16QAM
• Channel spacing:
• Number of channels:
• Channel bandwith:
  • WCDMA Band I :
    • Tx : 1922.6 ~ 1977.4 MHz
    • Rx : 2112.6 ~ 2167.4 MHz
  • WCDMA Band VIII :
    • Tx : 882.4 ~ 912.6 MHz
    • Rx : 927.4 ~ 957.6 MHz
  • LTE Band 1 :
    • Tx : 1922.5 ~ 1977.5 MHz
    • Rx : 2112.5 ~ 2167.5 MHz
  • LTE Band 3 :
    • Tx : 1710.7 ~ 1784.3 MHz
    • Rx : 1805.7 ~ 1879.3 MHz
  • LTE Band 7 :
    • Tx : 2502.5 ~ 2567.5 MHz
    • Rx : 2622.5 ~ 2687.5 MHz
  • LTE Band 8 :
    • Tx : 880.7 ~ 914.3 MHz
    • Rx : 925.7 ~ 959.3 MHz
  • LTE Band 20 :
    • Tx : 834.5 ~ 859.5 MHz
    • Rx : 793.5 ~ 818.5 MHz
  • LTE Band 28A :
    • Tx : 703 ~ 733 MHz
    • Rx : 758 ~ 788 MHz
• Type of antenna:
  Dipole
• Antenna gain:
  • Peak gain:
    • 700/850/900 : 1.42 dBi
    • 1700/1800/1900 : 3.77 dBi
    • 2100 : 4.62 dBi
    • 2400 : 4.71 dBi
    • 2600 : 4.66 dBi
  • Average gain:
    • 700/850/900 : -2.98 dBi
    • 1700/1800/1900 : -1.9 dBi
    • 2100 : -2.65 dBi
    • 2400 : -2.1 dBi
    • 2600 : -2.2 dBi

[philleaerts]

Also, we've soldered a SIM card holder to the board so the testlab could use their test SIM card.
Am I correct to assume that there cannot be a cloud connection to the particle io platform if used with a non-particle SIM?
And if it would be possible, how can I set this up?

Please advise

[rickkas7]

I'm still looking for the channel spacing and channel bandwidth. We've used those terms in FCC certification for LTE Cat M1 devices, but not in the EU certification of the B524 cellular modem.

For unintentional radiator testing, you generally do not need a test SIM. For intentional radiator testing, a test SIM compatible with the the call box that your certification house is using will be required.

The most common thing to do is remove the shield and the MFF2 SMD SIM and use an adapter that has the MFF2 footprint, a flat flexible PCB, and a 4FF SIM card slot for the test SIM. For intentional radiator testing, the purpose is to evaluate the cellular performance, not the overall emissions, so removing the shield is OK in this case.

Another alternative is to put a 4FF card socket on your base board, however you still cannot use it that way! Particle devices with a M.2 connector do not use the SIM card pins on the M.2 connector as there is no SIM card switch on the SoM. There are 3 or 4 0201 SMD 0-ohm resistors on the top of the SoM outside of the shield. These need to be moved to the adjacent pads. This connects the M.2 SIM pins instead of the internal SMD SIM.

Your test SIM will not almost certainly not be able to connect to the cloud, but it also should not. You'll be running the modem test firmware which tests band performance only.

When do unintentional radiator certification you use your full product with the standard SIM and all shields in place, and that may require connecting to the cloud, or at least attempting to, but it should work normally in this case.