abijahkaj
Joined 1 year ago
Joined 1 year ago
I'm just as skeptical of blind AI hardware output as you are, which is why I audited every net against the datasheets and put all the flaws in REVIEW.md in the repo before ordering: - The 0.33 mm RF trace came out to ~35 Ω instead of 50 Ω and hopped layers through vias (I included Pi-matching pads to tune it on the bench). - The 3.8 V buck converter was placed too far from its inductor, and the 1.37 mm power trace is narrower than Quectel's 2 mm recommendation (~100 mV drop at 3 A). - The SIM socket (J2) is oriented inward, which is annoying mechanically.
5 bare boards + 2 PCBA units are currently being ordered at JLCPCB, and I'll order the EC25-EUX modules separately to hand-solder onto U8 since JLC was out of stock.
Since the KiCad files are in the repo, if you spot a specific net or pinout error that will brick bring-up, let me know so I can bodge-wire it next week.
So this is a 4-layer USB-C board around a Quectel EC25-EUX. Behind a USB hub, the computer sees an LTE network adapter, the modem's AT serial ports (caller ID, SMS, answer), and an RP2040 acting as a USB sound card. The RP2040 bridges the modem's 1.8 V PCM audio through a level shifter. There's a 3.8 V buck sized for the 2 A GSM bursts, and no battery.
I wrote the spec as one page of text, and Koppar, the tool I'm building, generated the schematic and the board. Then I reviewed it against the datasheets. The review found a 35 Ω antenna feed that hopped layers, a buck 60 mm from its inductor, and a SIM socket facing into the board. The parts matching would have bought an 18 µH inductor for a 4.7 µH slot. REVIEW.md in the repo has all of it with the numbers.
Status: the boards aren't built yet. The repo is the design as I'm ordering it: KiCad 10 project, Gerbers, JLCPCB BOM and placement files. Bring-up and the sound-card firmware come next.
Happy to answer anything about the audio path or the power design, and I'd like to hear what you'd change before the first bring-up.