Octave ECC Upgrade Instructions

Background

From 2-Nov 2020 onward, Octave deployments in the USA will use Sierra Wireless Enhanced Carrier Connectivity (ECC) for cellular communications. For the best connectivity experience Sierra recommends upgrading all devices deployed in the USA to ECC. This post describes the necessary steps to migrate your devices.

Request ECC SIMs

Before you begin, you will need to request ECC SIMs for each Octave device that is to be upgraded. Please contact Sierra Wireless Support or your technical sales representative to request your SIMs. Make sure to record the following details for each device, all of which can be found on the device details page:

  • Serial Number
  • IMEI
  • Device ID

Record these details in a table or spreadsheet for reference. Example below:

Serial Number IMEI Octave Device ID
VU011585540710 354723090159277 d5dbb0f362992f010def20a35
ZW946585151310 355883100002112 d5f334587db36a198dc16d5c2

Setup

Once you receive your SIMs, you can upgrade the devices. Before you begin, you will need:

  1. Your Sierra Wireless Octave devices that are to be upgraded

  2. A corresponding number of Sierra Wireless ECC SIMs.

  3. USB to USB micro data cable

  4. A computer to connect to the Sierra device over SSH

    • For Windows computers you will need to download and install USB drivers for your device. They are available here.

Device Upgrade

For each device go through the following steps:

  1. Record the Serial Number, IMEI, and Device ID. You can refer to table created earlier.

  2. Select an ECC SIM. Each SIM has a 20 digit identifier known as an ICCID which can be found on the physical SIM card. Record that number next to the corresponding device in the table as shown below. You must provide Sierra Wireless with an accurate mapping between device and SIM ICCID to activate the connection

    Serial Number IMEI Octave Device ID ECC SIM ICCID
    VU011585540710 354723090159277 d5dbb0f362992f010def20a35 89011703278215729032
    ZW946585151310 355883100002112 d5f334587db36a198dc16d5c2 89011703278215728901
  3. Install the SIM. For FX30 devices instructions can be found in the user guide. If there is a SIM already in the device it can be discarded.

  4. Update the device to the latest Octave Edge Firmware. Instructions for updating, as well as the firmware binary, can be found here. Note: The ECC solution requires Octave Edge v3.0.2 or greater.

  5. Set the device Access Point Name (APN). Open a new local SSH session to the device and issue the following commands:

    config set cloudInterface:/apn sierraoctaveprod.com.attz 
    app restart cloudInterface
    
  6. The device will reconnect to the cellular network using the new APN. This will take roughly 30 seconds.

  7. Check that the APN change was successful. Issue the cm data command. You should see results similar to:

    Index: 1
    APN: sierraoctaveprod.com.attz
    PDP Type: IPV4V6
    Connected: yes
    

Follow up

Once all devices have been updated, you will need to provide Sierra Wireless with the Serial Number + ICCID mapping table completed in step 2 above. You can do this through Sierra Wireless Support or through your technical representative.

Finalize

Sierra Wireless will activate your devices on the new ECC SIMs. The migration is now complete.

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