This guide provides a walkthrough of how to set up the Onomondo SoftSIM with the BG95-M3 from Quectel.
Introduction
The Onomondo SoftSIM is a software-based SIM solution that enables cellular connectivity through Onomondo's global network while eliminating the need for a physical SIM card.
This guide will walk you through the essential steps to provision and flash SoftSIM onto your device with a Quectel BG95-M3 module.
Please keep in mind that this beta release should be seen as a proof of concept for smaller deployments and therefore requires more specific technical knowledge to test.
During testing, the SoftSIM might encounter bug fixes. Updating the deployed devices will not be Onomondo’s responsibility.
Provision your SoftSIM
Before you can flash SoftSIM onto your device, you'll need to provision it using the Onomondo SoftSIM CLI tool. This tool aids in setting up your SoftSIM-enabled device both before and during production.
What is the CLI tool?
The SoftSIM CLI tool is a tool developed to simplify the provisioning process. Using the CLI tool, you’ll be able to quickly fetch active SoftSIM profiles.
Additionally, the SoftSIM CLI tool will help decrypt and encode the profile, so it can be parsed by an embedded device.
Accessing the CLI tool
You can access and download the CLI tool from our GitHub repository here.
Detailed information is available in the "ReadMe" file within the repository or in our CLI tool Knowledge Base article.
Flashing SoftSIM onto your Device
With your SoftSIM profiles ready, the next step is to flash them onto your device. This process varies depending on the type of module you will be using with SoftSIM.
The following are specific to the BG95-M3 module.
This Quectel BG95-M3 SoftSIM beta release has been developed using the QuecOpen SDK.
In order to enable SoftSIM, the actual SoftSIM application needs to be copied to the device.
Note that a different firmware that supports software-based SIMs is required.
To set up SoftSIM on Quectel’s BG95-M3 module, please follow these steps.
1. Enable support for software-based SIMs:Flash the firmware provided by Quectel using QFIrehose or an equivalent software.
On Linux: QFirehose -fBG95M3LAR02A03_BETA1019A_01.201.01.201_BETA1019A
2. Instruct the device to look for a SoftSIM application on boot:
Copy oem_app_path.ini to /datatx on the device. Use the supplied tools for this.
On Linux: QExplorer_1.2.1 -m upload -f oem_app_path.ini
3. Copy the SoftSIM application that is loaded as a module on boot:
Copy quectel_demo_softsim.bin to /datatx
4. Read & activate the profile:
Copy a profile to the same directory (/datatx) on the device, and the file must be called profile.
On Linux: QExplorer_1.2.1 -m upload -f profile
This profile is read when the device boots. After successfully writing to an internal flash section, it will be deleted from the file system.
Please note that the device should be reinitialized to make the new profile active. This is typically done by setting the functionality level to 0 (AT+CFUN=0).
Example of the profile content:
"01120809101010325406360214980010325476981032140320000000000000000000000000000000000420000102030405060708090A0B0C0D0E0F0520000102030405060708090A0B0C0D0E0F0620000102030405060708090A0B0C0D0E0F".
The actual profile is available through our API.
Monitoring and Management
Now that you've finalized flashing the SoftSIM onto your device, it's time to test it.
- Log into the Onomondo platform with your account information.
- Check the SIM associated with your device. You'll observe that the connection is established and behaves just like a physical SIM card.
With the Onomondo platform, you have the advantage of diving deep into the SIM's connection details using features like Network Logs, Traffic Monitor, and Signaling Logs.
Please note that by default, your SoftSIM is active in your Onomondo account and attached to a global network list.
Wrapping Up
Congratulations on successfully provisioning, flashing, and testing the Onomondo SoftSIM with your device!
For more device-specific instructions or further details, please explore our knowledge base or reach out to our support team.
We're excited to see the solutions you'll develop with the Onomondo SoftSIM!