RAK4600 and RAK4631 General questions + BLE development

LPWAN Modules / EVBs RAK4600
1

Hi, we are working on a project where we want to use either the RAK4600 or 4631. Next to a LoRaWAN node, we want to use the module as a BLE beacon.

We have been looking into the capabilities of the pre-compiled binaries and have some questions that we hope you guys can answer.

  • I could not find a pre-compiled bin for the RAK4631, but I assume there is one. Where can I find this?

  • Are the features between the firmware of the 4600 and 4631 the same?

  • In the docs of the RAK4631 I can only find references to the use of the Arduino framework, is the RAK4631 also supported in RUI? If so, what do you recommend using and why?

  • We have played around with the BLE modes of the RAK4600 firmware. In the docs, it said it can be in 3 modes: peripheral, central, and beacon. There is nothing said about the use of the beacon mode, is there any more documentation on this?

  • If the pre-compiled bin does not have the BLE capabilities we’re looking for, would it be possible to program our own firmware using RUI that is similar to the pre-compiled bin, but extends its feautures? Does the RUI API support for instance BLE beacon mode?

Thank you in advance, we really appreciate your time,

Daan

2

Hi @Daan ,

I already replied this to zendesk. But sharing it here too.

Here’s some answers I got on your questions:

  1. There is no precompiled .bin for RAK4631. The development right now for RAK4631 is via Arduino and PlatformIO.
  2. RAK4600 and RAK4630 are not the same. RAK4600 has a dedicated FW based on RUI V2 and has standard AT commands. They have different LoRa chip too. RAK4600 uses an old LoRa chip SX1276 while RAK4631 use the latest LoRa chip SX1262. More pins is also available on RAK4631.
  3. RAK4631 will be supported by the RUI V3. There is no official date of release yet but the earliest can be Q4 this year.
  4. For RAK4600 BLE modes, have you checked the example RUI V2 based codes here Products_practice_based_on_RUI_v2.0/based on RAK4600/BLE at master · RAKWireless/Products_practice_based_on_RUI_v2.0 · GitHub
  5. Yes, you can extend the feature of RAK4600 via RUI V2 Getting Started | RAKwireless Documentation Center