GW16130 Iridium Satellite Modem

GW16130 = GW16127 Mini-PCIe carrier + Iridium 9603 modem module

Iridium 9602/9603 SBD (short burst data) modem is capable of transmitting ASCII or Binary messages in packets of up to 340 bytes, and receiving packets of up to 270 bytes.

Modem Activation

Modems need to be activated via an approved Iridium carrier / provider.

During the activation, the modem is configured for the destination of the messages:

• Direct IP
• Email address
• Another modem

Some providers found on the internet, but not endorsed or approved by Gateworks:

• ​https://www.northernaxcess.com/sbd-short-burst-data-airtime-plans
• ​https://satellitephonestore.com/iridium-sdb
• ​https://www.satphonestore.com/airtime/iridium-sbd.html
• ​http://www.rock7mobile.com/products-rockblock-9603
• ​http://www.nalresearch.com/Airtime.html#Short%20Burst%20Data%20(Standard%20Plan)

FTDI GPIO Control

An FTDI FT231XQ USB UART Chip is used to communicate with the Iridium Satcom modem via its UART.

The FTDI GPIO pins control the modem:

CBUS0: SAT_ON (input to modem; 10k pull-down) CBUS1: SAT_FND (output from modem) CBUS2: SAT_SUPPLY_OUT (output from modem) CBUS3: not connected

Configure GPIO:

base=$(for i in $(ls -1d /sys/class/gpio/gpiochip*); do [ "ftdi-cbus" = "$(cat $i/label)" ] && cat $i/base; done)
[ "$base" ] || { echo "Error: could not find ftdi-cbus device"; }
echo $((base+0)) > /sys/class/gpio/export
echo out > /sys/class/gpio/gpio$((base+0))/direction
echo 1 > /sys/class/gpio/gpio$((base+0))/value # enable modem
echo $((base+1)) > /sys/class/gpio/export
echo in > /sys/class/gpio/gpio$((base+1))/direction
echo $((base+2)) > /sys/class/gpio/export
echo in > /sys/class/gpio/gpio$((base+2))/direction