A Multitude of Connectivity Solutions
The Internet-of-Things is everywhere, and evolving rapidly. This month’s gallery captures a corner of this massive field in embedded systems.
As many issues of Circuit Cellar have now made clear (if the rest of the world hadn’t already), the Internet-of-Things (IoT) has become central to most of modern embedded design. It’s everywhere, and it’s only going to grow still more ubiquitous for the foreseeable future. My usual monthly caveat in this column applies in spades here: the nine IoT modules we’ve chosen to highlight in the following gallery represent only the tiniest droplet in the ocean of choices presently available to the embedded systems professional or hobbyist looking to add connectivity to their project.
As always, I’ve tried to hint at the variety of ways in which these technologies are getting pushed ever forward. These modules are designed to bring any or all of the following: ultra-compact form factors, ultra-low-power operations, complete system-in-package (SiP) solutions, rugged design, extensive range, and more. Further, IoT system designers work to ensure their modular solutions meet a variety of vital certifications to make implementation seamless.
As I write, Qualcomm just announced its QCC730 chip (not featured in the following gallery), which the company promises will use up to 88% less power than alternative high-power Wi-Fi radio solutions. I mention this only to highlight the speed at which the latest and greatest continues to roll out for this industry experiencing explosive growth. The following gallery highlights some of the most exciting modules to come out over the last 12 months. I hope you find some use for it in your latest project!
Small Form Factor for Indoor Applications
The Sera NX040 series modules from Ezurio (nee: Laird Connectivity) are an integration of wireless silicon from NXP and Nordic Semiconductor to produce a small form factor UWB/BLE module that is optimized for indoor positioning and location applications. The integration of all UWB and Bluetooth LE functionality in a single package provides value added hardware and software capabilities to the development of UWB/BLE applications. The Sera NX040 series device supports IEEE 802.15.4/4z HPR UWB operations with a fully embedded FiRa compliant MAC and PHY. The device supports both initiator and responder modes for Two-Way Ranging sessions as well as Blink mode operation in Time Difference of Arrival system. The device includes a dedicated Bluetooth 5.4 radio for provisioning, setup, and control of the UWB ranging sessions.
- Interface Type: I2C, SPI, UART, USB
- Data Rate: 1 Mb/s
- Receiver Sensitivity: – 96dBm
- Frequency: 2.4GHz
- Supply Voltage: 1.8V to 3.6V
- Operating Temperature Range: – 40°C to + 85°C
- Dimensions: 20.3mm x 22.3mm x 2.15mm; Height: 2.15mm; Length: 20.3 mm
- Memory Size: 512kB
BLE Module for Cost-Optimized Applications
The Infineon CYW20822-P4xxI040 is a fully integrated Bluetooth Low Energy wireless module. It includes an onboard crystal oscillator, passive components, flash memory, and the CYW20822 silicon device. CYW20822-P4xxI040 supports peripheral functions (ADC and PWM), UART, I2C, and SPI communication, and a PDM interface. CYW20822-P4xxI040 includes a royalty-free Bluetooth stack compatible with Bluetooth 5.0 core spec in a 20.2 × 10.5 × 2.3mm package. CYW20822-P4xxI040 includes 1MB of embedded flash memory and is pre-loaded with EZ-Serial firmware. CYW20822-P4xxI040 is fully qualified by Bluetooth SIG and is targeted at applications requiring cost-optimized Bluetooth wireless connectivity.
- Module size: 20.2 × 10.5 × 2.3mm
- Bluetooth 5.0 core specification qualified module
- Supports Bluetooth 2Mbps, 1Mbps, 500kbps, and 125kbps
- Supports Bluetooth Low-Energy long-range (LE-LR)
- Certified to FCC, ISED, MIC, and CE regulations
- Castelated solder pad connections for ease-of-use
- 1-MB embedded on-module serial flash memory
- Up to 12 GPIOs
- Temperature range: –45°C to +85°C
- 16-MHz Arm Cortex-M0 microcontroller unit MCU
Extremely Low-Power Bluetooth
The GTI-ATM3330e Bluetooth module is part of a family of extremely low-power Bluetooth 5.3 SoC solutions. This BLE SoC integrates a Bluetooth 5.3 compliant radio with ARM Cortex M33F application processor, 128KB Random Access Memory (RAM), 64KB Read Only Memory (ROM), 512KB nonvolatile memory (NVM), with ARM TrustZone enabled security features, and state-of-the-art power management to enable maximum lifetime in battery-operated devices. With a 0.85mA radio receiver and a 2.1mA radio transmitter power consumption, the device is designed to extend battery life for the Internet-of-Things IoT) markets.
- BLE 5.3 compliant; 2Mbps, 1Mbps 500kbps, and 125kbps PHY rates; Supports Bluetooth AoA and AoD direction finding
- 64MHz ARM Cortex M33F MCU; 64KB ROM, 128KB RAM, 512KB NVM; Retention RAM configuration: 16KB to 128KB in 16KB step sizes; 16MHz Crystal Oscillator
- ARM TrustZone, HW Root of Trust, Secure Boot, Secure Execution & Debug; AES-128/256, SHA-2/HMAC 256 Encryption/Cryptographic Hardware Accelerators; TRNG
- Energy Harvesting: On-module 915MHz RF Energy Harvester; Separate input for photovoltaic, thermal, mechanical, and other energy harvesting sources
Complete, Single-Chip Wi-Fi HaLow Solution
Morse Micro offers the complete Wi-Fi HaLow connectivity solution through its MM6108 SoC, a single-chip solution encompassing Radio, PHY, and MAC components in adherence to the IEEE 802.11ah standard. With data rates up to 43.3Mbps, it operates within sub-1 GHz license-exempt RF bands on a global scale. The MM6108’s RF interface provides flexibility, enabling a choice between on-chip amplification for cost-effective solutions or external power amplifiers (PA) and Front-End Modules (FEM) for Ultra-Long-Reach applications.
- Ultra-long-range, low-power Wi-Fi HaLow module for IoT applications
- Power management unit (PMU) supporting ultra-low-power operation
- Single-stream maximum data rate of 32.5Mbps
- GPIO/UART/I2C/PWM peripheral options
- Radio supporting worldwide sub-1GHz bands
- SDIO 2.0 and SPI host interface options
- 802.11ah OFDM PHY supporting WFA Wi-Fi HaLow certification
- Wide spectrum of security features including WPA3
- 802.11ah MAC supporting WFA Wi-Fi HaLow certification
- 1/2/4/8MHz channel bandwidth
BLE Module for Industry, Smart Homes, and Medical
Panasonic PAN1780 BLUETOOTH 5.3 Low Energy Module features a higher symbol rate of LE 2Mbps using high-speed PHY or LE longer-range PHY. This module is based on the Nordic nRF52840 single-chip controller with Access Port Protection (APPROTECT). The PAN1780 module operates at a voltage range of 1.7V to 5.5V and a temperature range of -40°C to 85°C. The new LE advertising extensions allow for much larger amounts of data to be broadcasted in connectionless scenarios. The PAN1780 offers high design flexibility with Arm Cortex -M4F, a 1MB Flash, and 256kb RAM.
- 15.6mm × 8.7mm × 2mm—Same form factor as PAN1026A and PAN1762, but smaller pitch and more pins
- Nordic nRF52840 featuring ARM Cortex -M4F with 64MHz
- Bluetooth 5.1 LE including LE 2M and LE Coded PHY
- Embedded 1MB flash memory and 256kB internal RAM
- Supports 802.15.4 ZigBee and Thread
- Includes ARM TrustZone CryptoCell 310 and supports secure boot including Root of Trust (RoT)
- Up to 48 General Purpose I/Os (GPIO), which are shared by up to 4 SPI, 2 I²C, 2 UART, 4 PWM, 8 ADC, 1 NFC-A, 32 kHz IN/OUT, nRESET
- USB 2.0 full-speed device interface
- Built in temperature sensor
Highly Integrated and Ultra-Low-Power Wi-Fi/BLE Combo
The DA16600 series is a highly integrated ultra-low-power Wi-Fi + Bluetooth Low Energy Combo Module solution. This module includes the DA16200 that has an 802.11b/g/n radio (PHY), a baseband processor, a media access controller (MAC), on-chip memory, and a host networking application processor. DA16600 also has a DA14531 that has a 2.4GHz transceiver and an Arm Cortex-M0+ microcontroller with a RAM of 48kB and a One-Time Programmable (OTP) memory of 32kB. The radio transceiver, the baseband processor, and the qualified Bluetooth low energy stack is fully compliant with the Bluetooth Low Energy 5.1 standard.
- Complete design package available for easy customization
- Low-power single-band Wi-Fi and BLE communication operating on a single 3.3V power rail
- Simplified 4-Layer PCB design
- Standardized Type 2A/3A Pmod connector for SPI and UART interface, allowing interface extensions and daisy-chaining of multiple Pmod modules
- Wi-Fi connection via UART
- BLE connection via SPI
- Standard Arduino connector supports SPI and UART connections
- Supports a variety of Renesas MCU and MPU boards
- Supports AT command set and Linux
GaAs Multi-Chip Module for S-Band Radar
The QPM2101 is a GaAs multi-chip module (MCM) designed for S-Band radar applications within the 2.5-4.0 GHz range. The device consists of a T/R switch, a transmit path which is a low loss pass through, and a receive path consisting of a low-noise amplifier, a digital attenuator and a driver amplifier. The receive path offers 30 dB of small signal gain and 1.0 dB noise figure. It includes a 6 bit digital step attenuator (DSA) with 31.5 dB gain control range. It can deliver 13.8 dBm of power at P1dB with 32 dBm of output TOI. All functional MMIC blocks can be enabled or DC powered off with internal control circuitry. All control signals use CMOS compatible logic. The response time of signal control is 43 nS typical.
- Frequency Range: 2.5 – 4.0GHz
- RX Noise Figure: 1.0dB
- RX Small Signal Gain: 30dB
- RX Power at 1dB compression: 13.8dBm
- RX OTOI : 32dBm
- 6 Bit DSA Attenuation Range: 31.5dB
- TX insertion loss: 1.2dB
- Fast switching time: 43nS
- No need of negative bias
- Package Dimensions: OVM 7 x 7 x 1.525mm
Fast, Low Latency Wi-Fi for Medical and Industry
Silex Technology SX-PCEAX-AP 802.11 WiFi Modules are embedded wireless LAN modules using Qualcomm’s QCN9072 chipset. They enables stable 2.4GHz/5GHz communication in crowded wireless environments. The SX-PCEAX-AP6E Wi-Fi 6E module offers a 6GHz connection. These Wi-Fi 6 and 6E modules provide a Wi-Fi access point compatible with 2.4GHz/5GHz/6GHz. The SX-PCEAX-AP 802.11 WiFi module features faster data speeds and lower latency in congested wireless environments and resists radio interference for faster connectivity. These WiFi modules operate at -40°C to 85°C temperature range and 3.3V supply voltage, and are ideally used in access points, gateways, and routers in medical and industrial applications.
- Faster data speeds and lower latency in congested wireless environments
- Resists radio interference for faster connectivity
- Standard form factor reduces development and certification costs
- Eliminates channel shortage
- -40°C to 85°C temperature range; -40°C to 90°C storage temperature range
- 3.3V supply voltage
- 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequency
- 29.85mm x 50.8mm x 4.55mm
Ultra-Compact Bluetooth System-in-Package
u-blox ANNA-B112 Stand-alone BLUETOOTH 5 Modules are ultra-compact SiPs featuring BLUETOOTH 5 and an Arm Cortex -M4 microprocessor with FPU. These BLUETOOTH 5 modules offer the internal antenna option despite the small size. The ANNA-B112 modules allow best-in-class capacity applications running on the BLUETOOTH Low Energy (BLE) stack using the SDK from Nordic Semiconductor or Arm Mbed. These modules are delivered with u-connectXpress software that supports u-blox BLE serial port service, GATT client and server, beacons, NFC, and simultaneous peripheral and central roles.
- 64MHz Arm Cortex -M4 MPU with FPU
- BLUETOOTH 5 and BLUETOOTH mesh
- Embedded BLUETOOTH low energy stack and u-connectXpress software
- Internal antenna
- 1.7VDC to 3.6VDC supply voltage range
- 64kB RAM and 512kB flash
- 2.4GHz, 40 channels band support
- +4dBm typical conducted output power
- +5dBm maximum radiated output power with internal antenna (EIRP)
- +9dBm maximum radiated output power with external antenna (EIRP)
- -91dBm sensitivity (conducted)
- 1Mbps and 2Mbps GFSK data rates
- -40°C to 85°C operating temperature range
- 6.5mm x 6.5mm x 1.2mm
PUBLISHED IN CIRCUIT CELLAR MAGAZINE • MAY 2024 #406 – Get a PDF of the issue
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Sam Wallace - became Circuit Cellar's Editor-In-Chief in August 2022.
His experience in writing, editing, and teaching will provide a great perspective on the selection, presentation, and clarity of editorial content. The Circuit Cellar audience will benefit from his strong academic background encompassing a Master of Fine Arts in Writing and a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics with honors. His passion for learning and teaching is a great fit for Circuit Cellar's continuing mission of Inspiring the Evolution of Embedded Design.
