scottp
beb22fb70c
README says what the module adds to Ground Control's library and what it works around, and how to use it. JSPR.md is the protocol as the library speaks it, from its source, with its surprises. CLOUDLOOP.md is account to first message, from WII6's IRIDIUM.md. TESTING.md is the levels, the rig, and what has passed: Python, native_sim, an ESP32-S3 and an STM32U5 against the fake, and free checks against a real 9704.
193 lines
8.8 KiB
Markdown
193 lines
8.8 KiB
Markdown
# Cloudloop and a RockBLOCK 9704, from the box to a message
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How to get a RockBLOCK 9704 from its box to a message seen on the
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internet, from a computer over its USB-C port: the account, the token,
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topics, provisioning, and the order to test things in. `rb9704` is the
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command line in `python/` (`python/README.md` has every verb).
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Written 2026-10-09 from Ground Control's and Cloudloop's documentation
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and the library's source. `rb9704 info` and the free JSPR verbs have run
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against a real 9704 since; the account, provisioning and airtime steps
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have not been tried yet.
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## What there is
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- **The modem.** The 9704 is an Iridium IMT modem, the successor to SBD,
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with messages of up to 100 kB. It speaks JSPR, JSON over serial at a
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fixed 230400 8N1; there is no AT mode (`JSPR.md`).
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- **Its USB-C port.** An FTDI FT234XD (USB id `0403:6015`) bridges it to
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the modem's UART, and the port also powers the board. It needs a port
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that supplies 500 mA at 4.0 to 5.3 V; an unpowered hub is not supported.
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The supercapacitor takes about 40 s to charge from USB. LEDs: red PWR is
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input voltage present, green RDY is the modem powered and booted, blue
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XMT is transmitting.
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- **The library.** Ground Control's C library (MIT) is what this
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repository builds into Zephyr, pinned at v1.0.1 in `west.yml`. The
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`rockblock9704` Python package is a binding of the same C code, pinned
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at 1.0.2 in `python/pyproject.toml`. What works from the host is
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therefore the library the firmware runs.
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- **Cloudloop Data.** Ground Control's service between the Iridium network
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and us. A message the modem sends (MO) lands in Cloudloop, which
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delivers it to a destination; a message to the modem (MT) is queued in
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Cloudloop through its web interface or its API.
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## The accounts
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There is one account to open, Cloudloop, and one token to ask for.
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### 1. The Cloudloop account and the airtime
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The 9704 arrives with an activation card.
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1. Go to <https://join.cloudloop.com> and create an account. The account
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holds the billing card and every modem on it, so make it under the
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business and an address more than one person reads.
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2. Follow the prompts to add the RockBLOCK 9704 from its activation card,
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choose a data package and activate the airtime.
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3. A **Thing** is made for the modem when it is enrolled. A Thing is
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Cloudloop's name for one device, whatever its network, and it has a 32
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character case-sensitive id. `rb9704 cloud things` lists
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them once the token below is in place.
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The data packages and their prices change, so they are not copied here;
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the Ground Control store and the Cloudloop billing page are where to read
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them. Check whether the package charges by the month while the line is
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active, and if it does, ask Ground Control how to suspend it for a modem
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that will sit unused between bench sessions.
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### 2. A Thing Group
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Destinations attach to Thing Groups and never to a Thing alone. In the
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Cloudloop web interface, make a group (say `bench`) and add the
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modem's Thing to it. A fleet can be one group per project, so a destination
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serves a project.
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### 3. The API token
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The API is how the tool reads messages and sends MT, and how the shore
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side will. A token is asked for, not made:
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1. Email <help@groundcontrol.com> for a Cloudloop **platform API token**
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for the account. Ask for one that can send MT: `DoSendImtMessage` needs
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the Admin permission, reading needs only Read Only.
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2. When it arrives, replace it with a fresh one that nobody else has seen,
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with `User/DoGenerateToken`, and keep the new one: a token cannot be
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recovered once generated.
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3. Store it outside any repository, readable by you alone:
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```sh
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mkdir -p ~/.config/rb9704
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printf '%s\n' '<token>' > ~/.config/rb9704/cloudloop.token
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chmod 600 ~/.config/rb9704/cloudloop.token
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rb9704 cloud ping # {"ping": "pong"}
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```
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`CLOUDLOOP_TOKEN` in the environment overrides the file.
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`CLOUDLOOP_THING` saves typing `--thing` on every cloud verb.
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The token goes in the query string of every call, so it is in any proxy
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log on the path; the API is HTTPS only, and nothing here logs it.
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### 4. A destination, later
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On the bench a destination is not needed: every MO is kept in Cloudloop
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and `cloud mo` and `cloud msg` read it back. For the shore side,
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Cloudloop pushes each MO to an **HTTP webhook** destination:
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- URL: your server's route for messages from the modem.
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- Format: **JSON (Lingo)**, the one Cloudloop recommends. The message
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bytes are in it base64-encoded, beside the identity and the receive
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time. The first MO will show it with `rb9704 cloud msg <id>`, which is
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the sample for whoever writes the receiving route.
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- Certificate validation on.
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- The receiver must answer HTTP 200 within 5 seconds. Cloudloop retries
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with exponential backoff, from 2 s, for about 12 hours, from
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35.178.100.117 and 52.56.155.169. Those two addresses are the only
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authentication the documentation describes, so the route should check
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them and the IMEI against the modems it expects.
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Add the destination to the Thing Group. The web interface shows its
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health (grey unknown, green OK, orange some failures, red all failing).
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## Topics
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All IMT traffic goes through a **topic**, a numbered channel. 244 is the
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raw topic, the default for everything here. Cloudloop also provisions the
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colour topics, 313 purple to 317 yellow, which Cloudloop can route
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separately. A modem may only send on topics it has been provisioned
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with. The library checks this before it transmits and refuses anything
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else, including any id below 64, without spending airtime.
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In the Cloudloop API the same topics have names: `IMT_TOPIC_RAW` for 244,
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`IMT_TOPIC_PURPLE` and so on.
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## Provisioning
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A new modem knows no topics. After the airtime is activated it needs a
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clear view of the sky for 10 to 30 minutes, or more, while it collects
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its provisioning from the network. Indoors this never finishes. Do it
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once, outside, with the modem on a laptop:
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```sh
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rb9704 --log provision.jsonl provision
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```
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This asks the modem for its signal and its provisioning every 30 s and
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stops when topics appear, printing them. It talks JSPR directly, because
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the library only asks for provisioning when it is about to send, and
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asking this way costs nothing.
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## The order to test in
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Each step needs the one before it. Only the steps marked airtime cost
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money; the tool asks before each one, and `--yes` skips the question.
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1. **Install.** `python/install.sh --udev`. The `--udev` rule
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keeps ModemManager off the port and names it `/dev/rockblock9704`; it
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needs sudo once.
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2. **Find it.** Plug the USB-C in, wait for green RDY, then
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`rb9704 ports`. The 9704 is the FT234XD, listed first.
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3. **Identity, indoors.** `rb9704 info` gives hardware and
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firmware versions, serial, IMEI, ICCID, whether the SIM is present and
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talking, and the board temperature. Record the IMEI and ICCID against
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the Thing in Cloudloop.
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4. **Signal, outdoors.** `rb9704 signal --watch 600` reads
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the bars (0 to 5) every 5 s for ten minutes and ends with how often
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each was seen. Bars move a lot as satellites pass; zero for a while is
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normal.
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5. **Provision**, as above.
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6. **One MO** (airtime). `rb9704 send --text "hello"`.
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It should appear in the Cloudloop web interface and in
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`rb9704 cloud mo`. Then `cloud msg <id>` shows the Lingo
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form, which is the sample for the receiving route.
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7. **One MT** (airtime). With `rb9704 listen --out mt` running beside
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the modem, `rb9704 cloud mt --text "ping"` from any machine. The MT
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arrives in `mt/` and `cloud status <id>` reports
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its delivery. The modem has no store for MT: one that arrives while
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nothing is listening is lost, so listen first.
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8. **A session** (airtime). Queue two or three MT with `cloud mt`, then
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`rb9704 --log session.jsonl session --text status --quiet 90`. It
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sends one MO and collects MT until 90 s pass with nothing new. The log
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says how long after an MO the queued MT arrive and how far apart, and
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so what quiet window a firmware needs after it sends.
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`--log` on any verb appends one JSON line per event, with UTC times, for
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the bench log.
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## When begin fails
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`begin()` failing means the library could not finish the setup (API
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version, SIM, operational state). In order of likelihood:
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- **The port is held.** ModemManager probes a new USB serial port for
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a few seconds after it appears, and any open terminal on the port
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blocks it. The `--udev` rule stops the first.
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- **Not in `dialout`.** `install.sh` checks; `sudo usermod -aG dialout
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$USER` and log in again.
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- **Not booted.** No green RDY: the port gives too little current (a hub,
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a front-panel port), or the supercapacitor is still charging.
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- **Something odd.** `rb9704 jspr --setup 'GET hwInfo {}'
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'GET simStatus {}'` shows the modem's own answers; a 4xx code names
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the problem (`409` unauthorized, `410` SIM not configured, `418` not
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provisioned).
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