QUECTEL EM12 Cellular Module User Guide

EM12 Cellular Module

Product Information

Specifications

  • Product Name: EM12&EG12&EG18 Series LTE-A Module
  • Version: 1.1
  • Date: 2024-09-25
  • Status: Released

Product Usage Instructions

Contact Information

If you require any assistance, please contact Quectel
headquarters at the following address:

Building 5, Shanghai Business Park Phase III (Area B), No.1016
Tianlin Road, Minhang District, Shanghai 200233, China

Tel: +86 21 5108 6236

Email: info@quectel.com

Technical Support

For technical support or to report documentation errors, visit:
Technical
Support

Email: support@quectel.com

Privacy Policy

Module functionality may involve data upload to Quectel’s or
third-party servers. Data processing is subject to relevant laws
and regulations. Before sharing data with third parties, review
their privacy policies.

Disclaimer

Quectel disclaims liability for injuries or damages resulting
from reliance on information provided. Accuracy of information is
not guaranteed; users are advised to verify details
independently.

FAQ

Q: How can I update the firmware on my LTE-A Module?

A: Firmware upgrade instructions are detailed in the FOTA
Upgrade Guide. Follow the steps outlined in Chapter 2 for upgrading
the firmware.

Q: What should I do if I encounter technical issues with the
LTE-A Module?

A: For technical support, contact Quectel’s support team via
email at support@quectel.com or visit the technical support page on
the Quectel website.

EM12&EG12&EG18 Series FOTA Upgrade Guide
LTE-A Module Series Version: 1.1 Date: 2024-09-25 Status: Released

LTE-A Module Series
At Quectel, our aim is to provide timely and comprehensive services to our customers. If you require any assistance, please contact our headquarters:
Quectel Wireless Solutions Co., Ltd. Building 5, Shanghai Business Park Phase III (Area B), No.1016 Tianlin Road, Minhang District, Shanghai 200233, China Tel: +86 21 5108 6236 Email: info@quectel.com
Or our local offices. For more information, please visit: http://www.quectel.com/support/sales.htm.
For technical support, or to report documentation errors, please visit: http://www.quectel.com/support/technical.htm. Or email us at: support@quectel.com.
Legal Notices
We offer information as a service to you. The provided information is based on your requirements and we make every effort to ensure its quality. You agree that you are responsible for using independent analysis and evaluation in designing intended products, and we provide reference designs for illustrative purposes only. Before using any hardware, software or service guided by this document, please read this notice carefully. Even though we employ commercially reasonable efforts to provide the best possible experience, you hereby acknowledge and agree that this document and related services hereunder are provided to you on an “as available” basis. We may revise or restate this document from time to time at our sole discretion without any prior notice to you.
Use and Disclosure Restrictions
License Agreements
Documents and information provided by us shall be kept confidential, unless specific permission is granted. They shall not be accessed or used for any purpose except as expressly provided herein.
Copyright
Our and third-party products hereunder may contain copyrighted material. Such copyrighted material shall not be copied, reproduced, distributed, merged, published, translated, or modified without prior written consent. We and the third party have exclusive rights over copyrighted material. No license shall be granted or conveyed under any patents, copyrights, trademarks, or service mark rights. To avoid ambiguities, purchasing in any form cannot be deemed as granting a license other than the normal non-exclusive, royalty-free license to use the material. We reserve the right to take legal action for noncompliance with abovementioned requirements, unauthorized use, or other illegal or malicious use of the material.

EM12&EG12&EG18_Series_FOTA_Upgrade_Guide

1 / 20

LTE-A Module Series

Trademarks
Except as otherwise set forth herein, nothing in this document shall be construed as conferring any rights to use any trademark, trade name or name, abbreviation, or counterfeit product thereof owned by Quectel or any third party in advertising, publicity, or other aspects.
Third-Party Rights
This document may refer to hardware, software and/or documentation owned by one or more third parties (“third-party materials”). Use of such third-party materials shall be governed by all restrictions and obligations applicable thereto.
We make no warranty or representation, either express or implied, regarding the third-party materials, including but not limited to any implied or statutory, warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose, quiet enjoyment, system integration, information accuracy, and non-infringement of any third-party intellectual property rights with regard to the licensed technology or use thereof. Nothing herein constitutes a representation or warranty by us to either develop, enhance, modify, distribute, market, sell, offer for sale, or otherwise maintain production of any our products or any other hardware, software, device, tool, information, or product. We moreover disclaim any and all warranties arising from the course of dealing or usage of trade.
Privacy Policy
To implement module functionality, certain device data are uploaded to Quectel’s or third-party’s servers, including carriers, chipset suppliers or customer-designated servers. Quectel, strictly abiding by the relevant laws and regulations, shall retain, use, disclose or otherwise process relevant data for the purpose of performing the service only or as permitted by applicable laws. Before data interaction with third parties, please be informed of their privacy and data security policy.
Disclaimer
a) We acknowledge no liability for any injury or damage arising from the reliance upon the information. b) We shall bear no liability resulting from any inaccuracies or omissions, or from the use of the
information contained herein. c) While we have made every effort to ensure that the functions and features under development are
free from errors, it is possible that they could contain errors, inaccuracies, and omissions. Unless otherwise provided by valid agreement, we make no warranties of any kind, either implied or express, and exclude all liability for any loss or damage suffered in connection with the use of features and functions under development, to the maximum extent permitted by law, regardless of whether such loss or damage may have been foreseeable. d) We are not responsible for the accessibility, safety, accuracy, availability, legality, or completeness of information, advertising, commercial offers, products, services, and materials on third-party websites and third-party resources.
Copyright © Quectel Wireless Solutions Co., Ltd. 2024. All rights reserved.

EM12&EG12&EG18_Series_FOTA_Upgrade_Guide

2 / 20

LTE-A Module Series

About the Document

Revision History

Version Date

Author

Description

2023-03-21 Monan TIAN Creation of the document

1.0

2023-05-18 Monan TIAN First official released

1. Updated the document name from “Application Note” to

“Upgrade Guide”.

2. Added the chapter of FOTA implementation and user

responsibility (Chapter 1.1).

3. Optimized the FOTA firmware upgrade flowchart to

distinguish between the user side and the Quectel side

(Figure 1).

4. Optimized the description of the FOTA firmware upgrade

steps and added relevant notes to distinguish between

the user side and the Quectel side (Chapter 2).

1.1

2024-09-25 Monan TIAN

5. Updated the declaration of AT command examples

(Chapter 3.2).

6. Optimized the explanation of the <serverURL>

parameter and updated the URL address and related

instructions in the command example (Chapter 3.3.1).

7. Optimized the explanation of the <HTTP_server_URL>

parameter and updated the URL address and related

instructions in the command example (Chapter 3.3.2).

8. Updated the description and note of

AT+QFOTADL=<file_name> (Chapter 3.3.3).

EM12&EG12&EG18_Series_FOTA_Upgrade_Guide

3 / 20

LTE-A Module Series
Contents
About the Document ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 3 Contents ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 4 Table Index………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 5
1 Introduction ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 6 1.1. FOTA Implementation and User Responsibility ……………………………………………………………….. 6
2 Firmware Upgrade Procedure Over FOTA ……………………………………………………………………………. 7 2.1. Get Firmware Package ………………………………………………………………………………………………… 8 2.2. Upload Firmware Package to FTP/HTTP(S) Server ………………………………………………………… 8 2.3. Execute AT Command to Upgrade the Firmware …………………………………………………………….. 8
3 Description of FOTA AT Commands ……………………………………………………………………………………. 9 3.1. AT Command Introduction ……………………………………………………………………………………………. 9 3.1.1. Definitions…………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 9 3.1.2. AT Command Syntax …………………………………………………………………………………………. 9 3.2. Declaration of AT Command Examples ………………………………………………………………………… 10 3.3. AT+QFOTADL Firmware Upgrade via FOTA ………………………………………………………………. 10 3.3.1. AT+QFOTADL=<FTP_URL> Upgrade Firmware over FTP Server ………………………. 10 3.3.2. AT+QFOTADL=<HTTP_URL> Upgrade Firmware over HTTP(S) Server ……………… 12 3.3.3. AT+QFOTADL=<file_name> Upgrade Firmware over Local File System ……………… 13
4 Exception Handling and Precautions …………………………………………………………………………………. 16 4.1. Exception Handling ……………………………………………………………………………………………………. 16 4.2. Precautions ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 17
5 Summary of Error Codes …………………………………………………………………………………………………… 18
6 Appendix References ………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 20

EM12&EG12&EG18_Series_FOTA_Upgrade_Guide

4 / 20

LTE-A Module Series
Table Index
Table 1: Types of AT Commands ………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 9 Table 2: Summary of <FTP_err> Codes ………………………………………………………………………………………. 18 Table 3: Summary of <HTTP_err> Codes ……………………………………………………………………………………. 18 Table 4: Summary of <err> Codes ………………………………………………………………………………………………. 18 Table 5: Related Documents ………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 20 Table 6: Terms and Abbreviations ……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 20

EM12&EG12&EG18_Series_FOTA_Upgrade_Guide

5 / 20

LTE-A Module Series
1 Introduction
Quectel LTE-A EM12-G, EG12 and EG18 series modules support FOTA (Firmware Over-The-Air) function to upgrade the firmware of partitions such as modem, system and boot. With this function, you (the user) can upgrade the module firmware to a new version or revert the firmware to an old version. The firmware package only contains the difference between the original firmware version and the target firmware version, with the amount of data transmission greatly reduced and the transmission time greatly shortened.
1.1. FOTA Implementation and User Responsibility
Quectel follows industry best practices with regard to firmware updates for its modules by enabling users to offer FOTA updates. Please note that Quectel does not have the ability to unilaterally push updates to users’ devices. Quectel hands full control over the FOTA process to users. In the process, Quectel solely provides the updated firmware but cannot initiate FOTA updates on users’ devices. Users can determine when to push the update to the Quectel modules using the FOTA mechanism by configuring corresponding parameters for the update that the users host on their own infrastructures.

EM12&EG12&EG18_Series_FOTA_Upgrade_Guide

6 / 20

LTE-A Module Series

2 Firmware Upgrade Procedure Over
FOTA

The following chart illustrates the firmware upgrade procedure via FOTA when the firmware package is stored on an FTP/HTTP(S) server.

User Side

User’s host

2. Upload the firmware package from the host to user-owned FTP/HTTP(S) server

User-owned FTP/HTTP(S)
server

1. Get the firmware package from Quectel Technical Support.

3. Send AT+QFOTADL on the host to trigger automatic firmware upgrade on the module.

LTE/WCDMA

Quectel firmware package
Quectel Side

4. Quectel module automatically downloads the firmware package from the user-owned FTP/HTTP(S) server via LTE/WCDMA network.
Quectel module
5. Automatically upgrade module firmware.

Figure 1: Firmware Upgrade Procedure via FOTA
As shown in the above figure, the following steps need to be performed to update the firmware when the firmware package is stored on an FTP/HTTP(S) server:
Step 1: Get the firmware package from Quectel Technical Support (see Chapter 2.1 for details). Step 2: Upload the firmware package from the host to your FTP/HTTP(S) server (see Chapter 2.2 for
details).

EM12&EG12&EG18_Series_FOTA_Upgrade_Guide

7 / 20

LTE-A Module Series
Step 3: Execute AT+QFOTADL on the host to trigger automatic firmware upgrade on the module (see Chapter 2.3 for details).
Step 4: The module automatically downloads the firmware package from your FTP/HTTP(S) server via LTE/WCDMA network.
Step 5: The module internally runs the updating program to automatically upgrade the module firmware.
NOTE
You are responsible for providing and managing the FTP/HTTP(S) server for the firmware upgrade. Quectel does not supply the server or assist with its setup.
2.1. Get Firmware Package
Before firmware upgrading, check the original firmware version name with ATI and confirm the target firmware version, and then send the two firmware versions to Quectel Technical Support to obtain the corresponding firmware package.
2.2. Upload Firmware Package to FTP/HTTP(S) Server
Step 1: Please set up an FTP/HTTP(S) server before using FOTA function. (Quectel does not provide such servers.)
Step 2: After completing the server setup, upload the firmware package to your server and save the storage path.
2.3. Execute AT Command to Upgrade the Firmware
After uploading the firmware package to the FTP/HTTP(S) server, execute AT+QFOTADL on the host to initiate the automatic over-the-air download and upgrade of module firmware package. For more details about the FOTA AT commands, see Chapter 3.3.
NOTE
The module supports firmware upgrades via both the FTP/HTTP(s) server and the local file system. For more information on the firmware upgrades via the local file system, see Chapter 3.3.3.

EM12&EG12&EG18_Series_FOTA_Upgrade_Guide

8 / 20

LTE-A Module Series

3 Description of FOTA AT Commands

3.1. AT Command Introduction

3.1.1. Definitions

<CR>

Carriage return character.

<LF>

Line feed character.

<…> […]

Parameter name. Angle brackets do not appear on the command line. Optional parameter of a command or an optional part of TA information response.

Square brackets do not appear on the command line. When an optional parameter is

not given in a command, the new value equals to its previous value or the default

settings, unless otherwise specified.

Underline Default setting of a parameter.

3.1.2. AT Command Syntax
All command lines must start with AT or at and end with <CR>. Information responses and result codes always start and end with a carriage return character and a line feed character: <CR><LF><response><CR><LF>. In tables presenting commands and responses throughout this document, only the commands and responses are presented, and <CR> and <LF> are deliberately omitted.

Table 1: Types of AT Commands

Command Type

Syntax

Description

Test Command

AT+<cmd>=?

Read Command

AT+<cmd>?

Test the existence of the corresponding command and return information about the type, value, or range of its parameter.
Check the current parameter value of the corresponding command.

Write Command

AT+<cmd>=<p1>[,<p2>[,<p3>[…]]] Set user-definable parameter value.

Execution Command AT+<cmd>

Return a specific information parameter or perform a specific action.

EM12&EG12&EG18_Series_FOTA_Upgrade_Guide

9 / 20

LTE-A Module Series
3.2. Declaration of AT Command Examples
The AT command examples in this document are provided to help you learn about the use of the AT commands introduced herein. The examples, however, should not be taken as Quectel’s recommendations or suggestions about how to design a program flow or what status to set the module into. Sometimes multiple examples may be provided for one AT command. However, this does not mean that there is a correlation among these examples, or that they should be executed in a given sequence. The URLs, domain names, IP addresses, usernames/accounts, and passwords (if any) in the AT command examples are provided for illustrative and explanatory purposes only, and they should be modified to reflect your actual usage and specific needs.

3.3. AT+QFOTADL Firmware Upgrade via FOTA

This command enables automatic firmware upgrade via FOTA. After executing the corresponding command, the module will automatically download or load the firmware package from FTP/HTTP(S) server or local file system. After the package is successfully downloaded or loaded, the module will automatically upgrade the firmware and then reboot.

AT+QFOTADL Firmware Upgrade via FOTA

Test Command AT+QFOTADL=?

Response OK

Maximum Response Time

300 ms

3.3.1. AT+QFOTADL=<FTP_URL> Upgrade Firmware over FTP Server

If the firmware package is stored on an FTP server, execute AT+QFOTADL=<FTP_URL> to initiate automatic firmware upgrade via FOTA. The module will download the package from the FTP server over the air, and then reboot and upgrade the firmware automatically.

AT+QFOTADL=<FTP_URL> Upgrade Firmware over FTP Server

Write Command AT+QFOTADL=<FTP_URL>

Response OK

+QIND: “FOTA”,”FTPSTART” +QIND: “FOTA”,”FTPEND”,<FTP_err> +QIND: “FOTA”,”START” +QIND: “FOTA”,”UPDATING”,<percent> +QIND: “FOTA”,”UPDATING”,<percent> … +QIND: “FOTA”,”END”,<err>

EM12&EG12&EG18_Series_FOTA_Upgrade_Guide

10 / 20

LTE-A Module Series

Maximum Response Time Characteristics

If there is any error: ERROR 300 ms

Parameter

<FTP_URL>
<username> <password> <serverURL> <port> <file_path> <FTP_err>
<percent> <err>

String type. The URL that the firmware package stored on the FTP server.

It should be started with “ftp://”. The maximum length is 512; Unit: byte.

For example: “ftp://<username>:<password>@<serverURL>:<port>/<file_path>”.

String type. The user name for authentication.

String type. The password for authentication.

String type. The address of the FTP server owned and operated by you.

Integer type. The port of the FTP server. Range: 1­65535. Default: 21.

String type. The file name on FTP server.

Integer type. The FTP error code.

0

Downloaded the firmware package from the FTP server successfully.

Others Failed to download the firmware package from the FTP server.

See Chapter 5 for details.

Integer type. The upgrade progress in percentage. Range: 0­100.

Integer type. Error code of upgrading.

0

Upgraded the firmware successfully

Others Failed to upgrade the firmware. See Chapter 5 for more details.

Example

//You can perform the firmware upgrade after storing the firmware package on your FTP server. “ftp://test:test@192.0.2.2:21/Jun/update-v12-to-v13.zip” is used as an example URL below. (The URL is provided for illustrative purpose only. Please replace it with a valid URL that corresponds to your FTP server and firmware package.) Execute the following command to initiate automatic firmware upgrade via FOTA. The module downloads the firmware package and upgrades the firmware automatically. AT+QFOTADL=”ftp://test:test@192.0.2.2:21/Jun/update-v12-to-v13.zip” OK

+QIND: “FOTA”,”FTPSTART” +QIND: “FOTA”,”FTPEND”,0

//Finish downloading the firmware package from the FTP server.

//The module reboots automatically and the USB port is re-initialized. If the current port is USB port, MCU should close and reopen it. After the module is rebooted, the first URC should be reported within 90 seconds. Otherwise, it means an unknown error occurs. +QIND: “FOTA”,”START” +QIND: “FOTA”,”UPDATING”,1

EM12&EG12&EG18_Series_FOTA_Upgrade_Guide

11 / 20

LTE-A Module Series
+QIND: “FOTA”,”UPDATING”,20 … +QIND: “FOTA”,”UPDATING”,100 +QIND: “FOTA”,”END”,0 //The module automatically restarts to complete the FOTA upgrade.

3.3.2. AT+QFOTADL=<HTTP_URL> Upgrade Firmware over HTTP(S) Server

If the firmware package is stored on an HTTP(S) server, execute AT+QFOTADL=<HTTP_URL> to initiate automatic firmware upgrade via FOTA. The module will download the package from the HTTP(S) server over the air, and then reboot and upgrade the firmware automatically.

AT+QFOTADL=<HTTP_URL> Upgrade Firmware over HTTP(S) Server

Write Command AT+QFOTADL=<HTTP_URL>

Response OK

+QIND: “FOTA”,”HTTPSTART” +QIND: “FOTA”,”HTTPEND”,<HTTP_err> +QIND: “FOTA”,”START” +QIND: “FOTA”,”UPDATING”,<percent> +QIND: “FOTA”,”UPDATING”,<percent> … +QIND: “FOTA”,”END”,<err>

Maximum Response Time Characteristics

If there is any error: ERROR 300 ms

Parameter

<HTTP_URL>
<HTTP_server_URL> <HTTP_port> <HTTP_file_path> <HTTP_err>

String type. The URL that the firmware package stored on the HTTP(S)

server. The maximum length is 512; Unit: byte.

It should be started with “http(s)://”. For example:

“http(s)://<HTTP_server_URL>:<HTTP_port>/<HTTP_file_path>”.

String type. The IP address or domain name of the HTTP(S) server owned

and operated by you.

Integer type. The port of the HTTP(S) server. Range: 1­65535. Default: 80.

String type. The file name on the HTTP(S) server.

Integer type. The HTTP(S) error code.

0

Downloaded the firmware package from the HTTP(S) server

successfully

Others Failed to download the firmware package from the HTTP(S) server.

EM12&EG12&EG18_Series_FOTA_Upgrade_Guide

12 / 20

LTE-A Module Series

<percent> <err>

See Chapter 5 for details.

Integer type. The upgrade progress in percentage. Range: 0­100.

Integer type. Error code of upgrading.

0

Upgraded the firmware successfully

Others Failed to upgrade the firmware. See Chapter 5 for more details.

Example
//You can perform the firmware upgrade after storing the firmware package on your HTTP(S) server. “http://www.example.com:100/update.zip” is used as an example URL below. (The URL is provided for illustrative purpose only. Please replace it with a valid URL that corresponds to your HTTP(S) server and firmware package.) Execute the following command to initiate automatic firmware upgrade via FOTA. The module downloads the firmware package and upgrades the firmware automatically. AT+QFOTADL=”http://www.example.com:100/update.zip” OK
+QIND: “FOTA”,”HTTPSTART” +QIND: “FOTA”,”HTTPEND”,0 //Finish downloading the firmware package from the HTTP server.
//The module reboots automatically and the USB port is re-initialized. If the current port is USB port, MCU should close and reopen it. After the module is rebooted, the first URC should be reported within 90 seconds. Otherwise, it means an unknown error occurs. +QIND: “FOTA”,”START” +QIND: “FOTA”,”UPDATING”,1 +QIND: “FOTA”,”UPDATING”,2 … +QIND: “FOTA”,”UPDATING”,100 +QIND: “FOTA”,”END”,0 //The module automatically restarts to complete the FOTA upgrade.

3.3.3. AT+QFOTADL=<file_name> Upgrade Firmware over Local File System

If the firmware package has already been stored in the module’s file system, execute AT+QFOTADL=<file_name> to initiate automatic firmware upgrade via FOTA. Then the module will load the package from the local file system, and then reboot and upgrade the firmware automatically.

AT+QFOTADL=<file_name> Upgrade Firmware over Local File System

Write Command AT+QFOTADL=<file_name>

Response OK

+QIND: “FOTA”,”START” +QIND: “FOTA”,”UPDATING”,<percent> +QIND: “FOTA”,”UPDATING”,<percent> …

EM12&EG12&EG18_Series_FOTA_Upgrade_Guide

13 / 20

Maximum Response Time Characteristics

LTE-A Module Series
+QIND: “FOTA”,”END”,<err>
If there is any error: ERROR 300 ms –

Parameter

<file_name>
<percent> <err>

String type. The path of firmware package stores on the local file system.

The maximum length is 512; Unit: byte. It should be started with “/cache/ufs/” in

UFS.

Integer type. The upgrade progress in percentage. Range: 0­100.

Integer type. Error code of upgrading.

0

Upgraded the firmware successfully

Others Failed to upgrade the firmware. See Chapter 5 for more details.

NOTE
1. Before using this command, make sure that the firmware package is stored in the module. You can upload the package to the module through AT+QFUPL. For details of AT+QFUPL, see document [1].
2. Please disconnect the data call of the host first before proceeding with the FOTA upgrade, because when the host performs data call with the module, it causes the internal FOTA upgrade program of the module to be unable to perform data call.
3. The first APN is used for data call during FOTA upgrade by default. If the data call with the first APN is occupied by any program of the module, the module cannot use this APN to perform other data call at the same time. Therefore, the module should perform FOTA upgrade after the program disconnects the data call with this APN or after you execute AT+QFOTAPID to switch the channel.
4. If Verizon certification uses the first APN to perform data call, it is suggested to use AT+QFOTAPID to switch channels for FOTA upgrade.
5. For details of AT+QFOTAPID, please contact Quectel Technical Support.

Example
//Upgrade firmware when the firmware package is stored on the local file system. AT+QFOTADL=”/cache/ufs/update-v12-to-v13.zip” OK
//The module reboots automatically and the USB port is re-initialized. If the current port is USB port, MCU should close and reopen it. After the module is rebooted, the first URC should be reported within 90 seconds. Otherwise, it means an unknown error occurs. +QIND: “FOTA”,”START”

EM12&EG12&EG18_Series_FOTA_Upgrade_Guide

14 / 20

LTE-A Module Series

+QIND: “FOTA”,”UPDATING”,1

+QIND: “FOTA”,”UPDATING”,2

+QIND: “FOTA”,”UPDATING”,100

+QIND: “FOTA”,”END”,0

//The module automatically restart to complete the FOTA upgrade.

EM12&EG12&EG18_Series_FOTA_Upgrade_Guide

15 / 20

LTE-A Module Series
4 Exception Handling and Precautions
4.1. Exception Handling
To improve the upgrade success rate, the module will set the upgrade flag before starting the upgrade. When an error is reported during the upgrade, the module will automatically restart. After the upgrade flag is found, the module will continue to upgrade. If the upgrade fails for five consecutive times, the upgrade is a complete failure, and the module will delete the flag, exit and try to start the module normally. The upgrade interface is as follows:
+QIND: “FOTA”,”START” +QIND: “FOTA”,”UPDATING”,20 +QIND: “FOTA”,”END”,<err> … //The module restarts automatically … +QIND: “FOTA”,”START” +QIND: “FOTA”,”UPDATING”,20 +QIND: “FOTA”,”UPDATING”,30 … +QIND: “FOTA”,”END”,0
NOTE The consecutive upgrade times is only valid when an upgrade error is reported, while there is no limit to the number of upgrades in the event of an abnormal power failure. If an abnormal power failure occurs during module upgrade process, the upgrade can also continue after the module is restarted. After the upgrade is successful, the upgrade flag will also be deleted.

EM12&EG12&EG18_Series_FOTA_Upgrade_Guide

16 / 20

LTE-A Module Series
4.2. Precautions
1. After AT+QFOTADL is executed, the host receives URC +QIND: “FOTA”,”START” which means that the upgrade begins, and URC +QIND: “FOTA”,”END”,0 means the upgrade is completed. After the upgrade, the module automatically restarts and enters normal mode. Do not power off the module during the upgrade.
2. If the host does not receive any URC within 4 minutes during the upgrade process, you can restart the module.
3. It is recommended to set up a flag to mark the firmware upgrade task and remove it after the upgrade is completed successfully.
NOTE
It is recommended not to power off the module during the FOTA upgrade process.

EM12&EG12&EG18_Series_FOTA_Upgrade_Guide

17 / 20

LTE-A Module Series

5 Summary of Error Codes
This chapter introduces the error codes related to Quectel modules or network. The details about <FTP_err>, <HTTP_err> and <err> are described in the following tables.

Table 2: Summary of <FTP_err> Codes

Numerical <FTP_err> 0 601

Character <FTP_err> Downloaded the firmware package from the FTP server successfully FTP Unknown error

Table 3: Summary of <HTTP_err> Codes

Numerical <HTTP_err> 0 701

Character <HTTP_err> Downloaded the firmware package from the HTTP(S) server successfully Failed to download the firmware package from the HTTP(S) server

Table 4: Summary of <err> Codes

Numerical <err> 0 502 504 505 510 511

Character <err>
Upgraded the firmware successfully The upgrade process exits due to some unknown errors or exceptions. The system will retry five times. Incorrect zip format
The project or the version of the package does not match The firmware package file does not match the source package file of the module, and needs to be checked if it is wrong. The file system has no enough space for upgrade.

EM12&EG12&EG18_Series_FOTA_Upgrade_Guide

18 / 20

520­530 540­546
550

LTE-A Module Series
Firmware upgrading failed. The module will reboot and retry to upgrade the firmware until the upgrade is successful. The firmware package is too large

EM12&EG12&EG18_Series_FOTA_Upgrade_Guide

19 / 20

LTE-A Module Series

6 Appendix References

Table 5: Related Documents Document Name [1] Quectel_EM12&EG12&EG18_Series_FILE_Application_Note

Table 6: Terms and Abbreviations

Abbreviation FOTA FTP GPRS GSM HTTP(S) IP LTE MCU TA UFS URC URL USB WCDMA

Description Firmware Over-The-Air File Transfer Protocol General Packet Radio Service Global System for Mobile Communications Hypertext Transfer Protocol (Secure/over Secure Socket Layer) Internet Protocol (Long-Term Evolution) a 4G mobile communications standard Microcontroller Unit Terminal Adapter User File System Unsolicited Result Code Uniform/Universal Resource Locator Universal Serial Bus Wideband Code Division Multiple Access

EM12&EG12&EG18_Series_FOTA_Upgrade_Guide

20 / 20

Documents / Resources

QUECTEL EM12 Cellular Module [pdf] User Guide
EM12, EG12, EG18, EM12 Cellular Module, Cellular Module, Module

References

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *