nRF7002 Expansion Board adds WiFi 6 to Nordic Thingy:53 devkit

Nordic Semi keeps adding more nRF7002 WiFi 6 boards with the launch of the nRF7002 Expansion Board adding WiFi 6 connectivity to the Thingy:53 IoT prototyping platform and transforming it into an all-in-one wireless devkit with Matter, Bluetooth Low Energy, Thread, and WiFi 6 support.

The new “nRF7002 EB” board follows the nRF7002 DK development kit combining the nRF7002 WiFi 6 with nRF5340 multiprotocol wireless SoCs, and the nRF7002 EK evaluation kit in Arduino UNO shield form factor adding WiFi 6 to existing Nordic development kits.

nRF7002 Expansion Board specifications:

• Chipset – nRF7002 Wi-Fi Companion IC with support for features such as OFDMA (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access), Beamforming, Target Wake Time, and SSID-based locationing
• Antenna – 2.4 GHz / 5 GHz ceramic antenna
• I/Os
  • Castellations for all pins on nRF7002
  • Thingy:53 expansion connector with SPI and a 3-wire coexistence interface to allow seamless coexistence with other wireless protocols
• Misc – SWF port for RF measurements
• Mechanical
  • Thingy:53 Plug-in form factor
  • Perforations along the neck of the Thingy:53 specific connector to solder the nRF7002 EB to other boards

On the software side, the nRF7002 Expansion Board is supported in the nRF Connect SDK and an Edge Impulse Wi-Fi sample allows the Thingy:53 to upload data samples to Edge Impulse studio directly using Wi-Fi, instead of relaying them via a Bluetooth LE-connected smartphone. Hardware documentation can be found in the infocenter and a guide to get started with the nRF7002 EB using the nRF Connect SDK is available on the developer’s website.

The nRF7002 Expansion Board is available for about $10 on  Digi-key, Symmetry Electronics, and other distributors. Additional information may also be found on the product page.

Via Hackster.io

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