Catena 4612

The Catena 4612 is a complete single-board IoT device for LoRaWAN projects.

Based on the Murata CMWX1ZZABZ-078, and designed to be compatible with the MCCI Catena 44xx and 46xx family and the Adafruit Feather family of development boards and accessories, the Catena 4612 is a great platform for LoRaWAN investigation and deployment. It works well with The Things Network, or any LoRaWAN 1.0 or 1.1 network in the 865 to 923 MHz range.

Lightweight and small (roughly 2″ by 0.9″), the 4612 needs no external components to measure and send temperature, pressure, humidity, and incident light, powered from USB or two AAA cells.

Because of the embedded FRAM, the Catena 4612 fully meets the requirements of LoRaWAN 1.1, without worrying about EEPROM wearout or wear-leveling, both for ABP and OTAA.

Specifications and Features

Murata LoRaWAN module

• Semtech SX1276 LoRa radio
• STM32L082 CPU (Cortex M0+, 24 MHz, 192K flash, 20K RAM)
• High quality RF engineering
• Certified for US and EU
• Compatible with IN866, AS923, AU921 bands

Integrated sensors

• Pressure, Temperature and Humidity (Bosch BME280)
• Incident Light (Silicon Labs Si1133, measuring IR, white light, and UV)

Additional Features

• 8K bytes FRAM for LoRaWAN provisioning info and frame counters — power can be removed completely without requiring a new join to the network, and without losing uplink and downlink count values (required for LoRaWAN 1.1)
• 1M byte SPI Flash for bulk data storage, future FoTA firmware storage, etc.
• Low power standby operation, as low as 22 μA when boost converter is disabled.
• Boost converter for powering external 3.3V sensors from disposable batteries (such as 2x AAA cells) (Note: in contrast to the Catena 4450 and Catena 4610, there is no charger in this model. A different JST connector is used so you can’t accidentally plug in Adafruit LiPo batteries.)
• USB or SWD for download and debug
• Arduino-compatible programming
• Pin-compatible with MCCI Catena 4617 and 4618 modules
• Pin-compatible with MCCI Catena 4610 modules, apart from different battery system
• Pin-compatible with Adafruit Feather M0 family of boards, apart from different battery system (some limitations because the of functional differences between the Murata module and the Atmel SAMD21 CPU used in the Feather M0)
• Compatible with the MCCI Catena 4450 IoT device, apart from different battery system
• Designed for use with The Things Network (open-source, user-owned IoT network based on LoRaWAN); but can be used with any LoRaWAN-compatible network
• Provisions for screw terminals for field wiring to pulse, analog or digital I/O
• Whip, u.FL, or SMA antenna
• Open source hardware and software

MCCI provides a full Arduino board-support package.

MCCI also provides libraries to allow rapid prototyping and experimenting. Libraries include:

• The Catena Arduino Platform, a structured library that allows sensor and LoRaWAN sketches to be written portably for any MCCI Catena product.
• MCCI’s fork of the Adafruit BME280 Sensor library, a full-function library for using the BME280 in Arduino projects
• MCCI’s version of the Arduino LMIC open-source LoRaWAN stack that supports the EU868, US915, AS923, AU921 and IN866 regional plans.

In addition to the Arduino environment, ST Micro tools may also be used.

The Catena 4612 works well with and is tested with The Things Network (an open-source, user-owned IoT network based on LoRaWAN); but can be used with any LoRaWAN-compatible network.

For assembled units, variant codes select dedicated antennas for US915/AS923/AU923, EU868, or IN866 operation. Some models are available with U.FL or SMA connectors for use with external antenna. Contact us for more details.

Volume discounts and custom variants are available.