RAK11161 WisDuo LoRaWAN + BLE + WiFi Breakout Board Datasheet

Overview

Description

The RAK11161 is a breakout board for the low-power, long-range LoRaWAN module RAK11160 based on the STM32WLE5 MCU with integrated LoRa transceiver. It uses an Espressif ESP8684 co-processor to support Bluetooth 5.0 (with Bluetooth Low Energy support) and WiFi connectivity.

Compliant with LoRaWAN 1.0.4 specifications (Classes A, B, and C), the module also supports LoRa point-to-point (P2P) communication, facilitating quick implementation of customized LoRa networks. Additionally, RAK11161 offers three RF communication capabilities (LoRa, BLE, and WiFi), making it well-suited for various IoT applications, such as home automation, sensor networks, building automation, and other IoT network applications.

By default, RAK11161 runs on the RUI3 (RAKwireless Unified Interface) firmware, allowing standalone operation with custom firmware development via Arduino-compatible RUI3 APIs. Sensors and other external peripherals can connect directly, eliminating the need for an additional MCU. Alternatively, the RAK11161 can be interfaced with an external host MCU using AT commands via UART.

Features

• Based on RAK11160
• Provides all RAK11160 pins via a pin header
• Includes Serial Wire Debug (SWD) interface for the STM32WLE5CC
• UART interface for ESP8684 debug
• UART interface for AT command interface
• Based on STM32WLE5
  • Arm 32-bit Cortex-M4
  • 256 kB Flash and 64 kB SRAM
  • LoRaWAN 1.0.4 specification compliant
  • Supported bands: IN865, EU868, AU915, US915, KR920, RU864, and AS923-1/2/3/4
  • LoRaWAN Activation by OTAA/ABP
  • LoRa Point-to-Point (P2P) communication
  • Transmitter output power, programmable up to +22 dBm – 137 dBm for LoRa (BW = 125 kHz, SF = 12)
  • TCXO crystal
• WiFi modem processor based on Espressif ESP8684
  • 32-bit RISC-V single-core processor, up to 120 MHz
  • 576 KB ROM
  • 2 MB Flash
  • 272 kB SRAM
  • BLE 5.0 support
    • Bluetooth LE: Bluetooth 5.3 certified
    • High power mode (20 dBm)
    • Speed: 125 Kbps, 500 Kbps, 1 Mbps, 2 Mbps
  • WiFi support
    • Complies with IEEE 802.11b/g/n
    • Supports 20 MHz bandwidth in 2.4 GHz band
    • 1T1R mode with data rate up to 72.2 Mbps
• Custom firmware using Arduino via RUI3 API
• Easy-to-use AT command set for STM32WLE5 and LoRa settings via the UART interface
• Espressif AT commands for configuring ESP8684 WiFi and BLE settings via the UART interface (similar to STM32WLE5 commands)
• I/O ports: UART/I2C/SPI/ADC/GPIO
• Long-range: greater than 10 km with optimized antenna
• Consumes ~6 μA with ESP8684 powered down and STM32WLE5 in deep sleep
• Supply Voltage: 3.0 V~3.6 V
• Temperature range: -40° C~85° C
• Dimensions: 29 mm x 40 mm

Specifications

Overview

Block Diagram

Figure 1: RAK11161 system block diagram

Hardware

The hardware specification is categorized into three parts: RF, electrical, and mechanical parameters. These include tabular data of the functionalities and standard values for the RAK11161 WisDuo LPWAN Module.

Internal Connections Between STM32WLE5 MCU and ESP32-C2 MCU

STM32WLE5 Name	STM32WLE5 Pin	ESP32-C2 Name	ESP32-C2 Pin	Function
UART TX	PA2	UART RX	MTCK/GPIO6	UART
UART RX	PA3	UART TX	MTDO/GPIO7	UART
Enable	PA0	CHIP_EN	CHIP_EN	ESP32-C2 enable

Interfaces

Module	Interfaces
RAK11161	UART2 (Default for AT command and FW update for STM32WL)

Pin Definition

Figure 1: RAK11161 module pinout diagram GPIO headers

Figure 1: RAK11161 module pinout diagram flashing and debug headers

STM32WLE5 pin headers

• ST_GPIO Column 1 (at PCB edge)

Pin No.	Name	Type	Description
1	NSS	SPI	PA4 SPI select
2	SCK	SPI	PA5 SPI Clock
3	MISO	SPI	PA6 SPI MISO
4	MOSI	SPI	PA7 SPI MOSI
5	PA8	I/O	STM32 GPIO
6	PA10	I/O	STM32 GPIO
7	SDA	I2C	PA11 I2C Data
8	SCL	I2C	PA12 I2C Clock
9	GND	POWER	Ground connections

• ST_GPIO Column 2

Pin No.	Name	Type	Description
1	PB5	I/O	STM32 GPIO
2	PA15	I/O	STM32 GPIO
3	PA1	I/O	STM32 GPIO
4	PB4	I/O	STM32 GPIO
5	PB3	I/O	STM32 GPIO
6	PA9	I/O	STM32 GPIO
7	PB2	I/O	STM32 GPIO
8	PB12	I/O	STM32 GPIO
9	VCC	POWER	VDD - Voltage Supply

ESP8684 pin headers

Pin No.	Name	Type	Description
1	IO0	I/O	ESP8684 GPIO
2	IO1	I/O	ESP8684 GPIO
3	IO2	I/O	ESP8684 GPIO
4	IO3	I/O	ESP8684 GPIO
5	IO4	I/O	ESP8684 GPIO
6	IO5	I/O	ESP8684 GPIO
7	IO8	I/O	ESP8684 GPIO
8	IO10	I/O	ESP8684 GPIO
9	IO18	I/O	ESP8684 GPIO

info

The GPIO pins of the ESP8684 cannot be controlled by the STM32WLE5 directly.

STM32WLE5 debug pin headers ST_DEBUG

Pin No.	Name	Type	Description
1	VCC	POWER	VDD - Voltage Supply
2	DIO	SWD IO	SWD/JLIN/STLink data
3	DCK	SWD CLK	SWD/JLIN/STLink clock
4	GND	POWER	Ground connections
5	RESET		STM32WLE5 reset

STM32WLE5 debug/programming pin headers ST_UART2

Pin No.	Name	Type	Description
1	ST_BOOT		STM32 BOOT0 pin
2	VCC	POWER	VDD - Voltage Supply
3	RX2	UART	STM32 UART RX
4	TX2	UART	STM32 UART TX
5	GND	POWER	Ground connections

ESP8684 debug/programming pin headers ESP_DEBUG

Pin No.	Name	Type	Description
1	VCC	POWER	VDD - Voltage Supply
2	TX	UART	ESP8684 UART TX
3	RX	UART	ESP8684 UART RX
4	GND	POWER	Ground connections
5	ESP_BOOT		ESP8684 Boot pin

Schematics

Figure 1: RAK11161 schematics

RF Characteristics

LoRa Transceiver

The RAK11161 module supports many LoRaWAN bands as shown in the table below.

Module	Region	Frequency
RAK11161 (H)	Europe	EU868
	North America	US915
	Australia	AU915
	Korea	KR920
	Asia	AS923-1/2/3/4
	India	IN865
	Russia	RU864

TX Power

Transmitter output power, programmable up to +22 dBm.

RX Sensitivity

• -124 dBm for LoRa（BW = 125 kHz, SF = 7 ）
• -121 dBm for LoRa (BW = 250 kHz, SF = 7)
• –137 dBm for LoRa (BW = 125 kHz, SF = 12)
• –134 dBm for LoRa（BW = 250 kHz, SF = 12）

WiFi

Operating Frequencies

2412~2484 MHz

TX Power

Rate	Type (dBm)
802.11b, 1 Mbps	21.5
802.11b, 11 Mbps	21.5
802.11g, 6 Mbps	21.5
802.11g, 54 Mbps	19.5
802.11n, HT20, MCS0	21.0
802.11n, HT20, MCS7	19.0

RX Sensitivity

Rate	Type (dBm)
802.11b, 1 Mbps	-99.0
802.11b, 11 Mbps	-90.0
802.11g, 6 Mbps	-94.0
802.11g, 54 Mbps	-77.0
802.11n, HT20, MCS0	-92.5
802.11n, HT20, MCS7	-74.0

Bluetooth

Operating Frequencies

2402~2480 MHz

TX Power

Rate	Type (dBm)
802.11b, 1 Mbps	21.5
802.11b, 11 Mbps	21.5
802.11g, 6 Mbps	21.5
802.11g, 54 Mbps	19.5
802.11n, HT20, MCS0	21.0
802.11n, HT20, MCS7	19.0

RX Sensitivity

Rate	Type (dBm)
802.11b, 1 Mbps	-99.0
802.11b, 11 Mbps	-90.0
802.11g, 6 Mbps	-94.0
802.11g, 54 Mbps	-77.0
802.11n, HT20, MCS0	-92.5
802.11n, HT20, MCS7	-74.0

Electrical Characteristics

Operating Voltage

Feature	Minimum	Typical	Maximum	Unit
VDD	3.0	3.3	3.6	Volts (V)

Operating Current

The current consumption measurements are taken with a 3.3 V supply at 25° C of ambient temperature .

Work Mode	Condition	Peak Current	Unit
WiFi TX	802.11b, 1 Mbps, @ 22 dBm	370	mA
	802.11g, 54 Mbps, @ 20 dBm	320	mA
	802.11n, HT20, MCS7, @ 19 dBm	300	mA
WiFi RX	802.11b/g/n, HT20	65	mA
Bluetooth TX	Bluetooth LE @ 20.0 dBm	320	mA
	Bluetooth LE @ 9.0 dBm	190	mA
	Bluetooth LE @ –15.0 dBm	150	mA
Bluetooth RX	Bluetooth LE	62	mA
Lora TX	+22 dBm @ 868~915 MHz	120	mA
	+20 dBm @ 868~915 MHz	107.5	mA
	+17 dBm @ 868~915 MHz	98	mA
	+14 dBm @ 868~915 MHz	92	mA
Lora RX	LoRa 125 kHz	5.46	mA

Sleep Current

The current consumption measurements are taken with a 3.3 V supply at 25° C of ambient temperature. ESP8684 disabled.

Feature	Condition	Maximum	Unit
Current Consumption	Supply current with ESP8684 disabled	~6	μA

Mechanical Characteristics

Module Dimensions

Figure 1: RAK11161 board dimension

Figure 1: RAK11161 pinheaders

Environmental Characteristics

Operating Temperature

Feature	Minimum	Typical	Maximum	Unit
Operating Temperature	-40	25	85	° C

Storage Temperature

Feature	Minimum	Typical	Maximum	Unit
Storage Temperature	-40	-	85	° C

Firmware

Download the latest RAK11161 WisDuo LPWAN Module firmware provided below. RAK11161 (L) and RAK11161 (H) use the same firmware and it will automatically detect the variant of the module being used.

Model	Version	Source
RAK11161 (.bin)	RUI3 Application Code only (default baudrate = 115200)	Download
RAK11161 (.hex)	RUI3 Bootloader and Application Code(default baudrate = 115200)	Download