802.15.4 News - Page 2 of 10 - CNX Software

October 8, 2024October 7, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

NXP RW612 Arm Cortex-M33 Wireless MCU offers Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.4, and 802.15.4 radios

The NXP RW612 is an Arm Cortex-M33 SoC with three radios, namely WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.4, and 802.15.4 for Thread and Matter connectivity. It also has a small sibling called the RW610 without the 802.15.4 radio. I first came across RW61x chips, when Debashis wrote about the Trimension SR250 UWB chip mentioning it can work with “host processors like NXP’s i.MX, RW61x, and MCX families”. I initially thought it was a typo for the iW612 tri-radio solution introduced in 2022, and the RW612 is indeed similar, but it’s a complete wireless microcontroller/SoC with an Arm Cortex-M33 application core so it can be used independently as a host instead of a companion chip. NXP RW612 and RW610 specifications: MCU sub-system Core – 260 MHz Arm Cortex-M33 with TrustZone-M Memory On-chip 1.2 MB SRAM PSRAM interface for memory expansion Storage – Quad FlexSPI Flash XIP with on-the-fly decryption Peripheral interfaces Up to […]

August 12, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

LILYGO T-QTC6 – An ESP32-C6 IoT controller with a 0.85-inch touchscreen LCD

LILYGO T-QTC6 is a cute little IoT controller based on an ESP32-C6 WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.4 LE, and 802.15.4 wireless microcontroller and a 0.85-inch touchscreen color LCD that can be powered via USB-C or a LiPo battery with the board also supporting charging. The device, sometimes called “T-QT C6” (with a space), also comes with an 8-pin female connector with five GPIOs and a Qwiic connector for UART modules. It’s another addition to the T-QT family with ESP32 wireless microcontrollers and a tiny 0.85-inch display such as the T-QT Pro or the T-QT V1.1. But note that those are development boards, while the T-QTC6 feels more like a complete device. LILYGO T-QTC6 specifications: Wireless Module – Espressif Systems ESP32-C6-MINI-1U SoC – ESP32-C6-FH4 32-bit RISC-V microprocessor up to 160 MHz with 320KB ROM, 512KB HP SRAM, 16KB LP SRAM, 4MB flash Memory – 4MB PSRAM (TBC) Wireless 2.4 GHz WiFi 6 […]

August 12, 2024August 19, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 15 Comments

Challenger+ RP2350 WiFi6/BLE5 board combines Raspberry Pi RP2350 MCU with ESP32-C6 WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.4 LE module

Raspberry Pi RP2350 board ESP32-C6 WiFi module

You don’t need to wait for the Raspberry Pi Pico 2 W to get a Raspberry Pi RP2350 board with WiFi and Bluetooth thanks to the Challenger+ RP2350 WiFi6/BLE5 board that combines an RP2350A microcontroller with an ESP32-C6 module offering 2.4 GHz WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.4 LE connectivity. The board follows the Adafruit Feather form factor with 28-pin through holes for I/Os making it compatible with FeatherWings add-on boards. It comes with a USB-C port for power and programming, and a JST connector plus a charging circuit for people wanting to connect a LiPo battery. Challenger+ RP2350 WiFi6/BLE5 specifications: Microcontroller – Raspberry Pi RP2350A MCU CPU Dual-core Arm Cortex-M33 processor @ 150MHz Dual-core 32-bit RISC-V processor @ 150MHz Only two cores can be used at a given time Memory – 520KB internal RAM 8KB OTP Storage Package – QFN-60; 7×7 mm Memory – 8MB PSRAM Storage – 8MB SPI […]

June 19, 2024June 21, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

$3.40 WeAct STM32WB55 board offers Bluetooth LE 5.4 and 802.15.4 (Thread/Zigbee/Matter) connectivity

WeAct STM32WB55 is an inexpensive development board based on STMicro STM32WB55 Arm Cortex-M4 wireless SoC with Bluetooth LE 5.4 and an 802.15.4 radio for Zigbee, Thread, and Matter connectivity that sells for just $3.40 shipped. STMicro STM32WB55 wireless microcontroller was introduced in 2019, and we have covered a few development boards such as the official P-Nucleo-WB55 development pack, the STM32WB-Feather board, and the MRK-SharkyPro following the Arduino MRK form factor. All those boards would go for about $40, but thanks to China manufacturing and procurement “magic” and the cutting of a few features, the WeAct STM32WB55 board sells for just a fraction of the price making it even cheaper than the company’s ESP32-H2 board with similar connectivity options. WeAct STM32WB55 specifications: Wireless MCU – STMicro STM32WB55CGU6 CPU Arm Cortex-M4 application core @ 64 MHz Arm Cortex-M0+ Bluetooth co-processor @ 32 MHz Memory – 256 KB of SRAM Storage – 1 […]

May 22, 2024May 22, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments

Tiny XIAO ESP32C6 WiFi, BLE, and 802.15.4 IoT board offers up to 16 GPIO pins

Seeed Studio has added yet another member to their XIAO board family with the XIAO ESP32C6 powered by an ESP32-C6 WiFi 6, Bluetooth LE 5, and 802.15.4 (Thread/Zigbee) RISC-V microcontroller and offering up to 16 GPIOs (headers + pads) in a tiny 21 x 17.5 mm form factor that’s smaller than a typical stamp and makes it one of the smallest ESP32-C6 boards around. The company started the XIAO family with the Seeeduino XIAO (Microchip SAMD21G18) in 2020, and since then they’ve made several other variants with different processors including the XIAO RP2040, XIAO ESP32C3, and XIAO ESP32S3. The XIAO ESP32C6 is the latest (10th) iteration of the board and the first to support WiFi 6, BLE, and 802.15.4 wireless connectivity. XIAO ESP32C6 specifications: Wireless MCU – Espressif Systems ESP32-C6 CPU Single-core 32-bit RISC-V clocked up to 160 MHz Low-power RISC-V core @ up to 20 MHz Memory – 512KB […]

May 3, 2024May 5, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 13 Comments

WeAct ESP32-C6-Mini is the cheapest ESP32-C6 board so far going for less than $4

WeAct ESP32-C6-Mini is a small development board based on Espressif Systems ESP32-C6 WiFi 6, Bluetooth, and 802.15.4 wireless SoC that’s the cheapest we’ve seen so far selling for just $3.86 on Aliexpress. WeAct was one of the first companies to launch a third-party ESP32-C6 development board year with the price starting at just $6. I still remember the excitement around the first $5 ESP8266 WiFi 4 module when we first covered it in 2014, and ten years later, we can get a full $4 development board with a more powerful 160 MHz RISC-V microcontroller, WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.0, and an 802.15.4 radio for Thread, Zigbee, and Matter. WeAct ESP32-C6-Mini specifications: Wireless SoC – ESP32-C6-N4 CPU Single-core 32-bit RISC-V clocked up to 160 MHz Low-power RISC-V core @ up to 20 MHz Memory – 512KB SRAM, 16KB low power SRAM Storage – 320KB ROM, and 4MB flash Wireless – 2.4 GHz […]

April 23, 2024April 24, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Silicon Labs BG22E, MG22E, FG22E wireless MCUs target energy harvesting, battery-free IoT devices

BG22E MG22E FG22E energy harvesting wireless microcontroller

Silicon Labs xG22E is a family of wireless SoCs consisting of the BG22E, MG22E, and FG22E and designed to operate within an ultra-low power envelope required for battery-free, energy harvesting applications such as electronic shelf labels, Smart Home sensors, remote controls, and so on. Like the just-announced Silicon Labs MG26, BG26, and PG26, the new xG22E family features a Cortex-M33 core clocked up to 76.8MHz. As an evolution of the low-power BG22, the BG22E offers Bluetooth 5.4 LE connectivity with “Energy Conservation” to further enhance battery longevity and even support designs that eliminate the need for batteries. The MG22E is similar but embeds an 802.15.4 radio for Zigbee connectivity, and the FG22E provides a 2.4GHz proprietary plus the Cortex-M33 is clocked up to 38.4MHz. Silicon Labs BG22E, MG22E, FG22E specifications: MCU – Arm Cortex-M33 @ 76.8 MHz with DSP and FPU (38.4 MHz for FG22E) Memory – Up to 32 […]

April 15, 2024April 14, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 12 Comments

ESP32-H4 low-power dual-core RISC-V SoC supports 802.15.4 and Bluetooth 5.4 LE

Espressif Systems has formally announced the ESP32-H4 low-power dual-core 32-bit RISC-V wireless microcontroller with support for 802.15.4 and Bluetooth 5.4 LE portfolio after having unveiled it at CES 2024. It’s the first Espressif chip to support Bluetooth 5.4 LE with previous models such as ESP32-H2 or ESP32-C6 only supporting Bluetooth 5.0/5.2. Besides BLE 5.4 support, the new ESP32-H4 dual-core RISC-V WiSoC is an evolution of the ESP32-H2 single-core chip with PSRAM support (up to 4MB built-in), additional GPIOs (36 vs 24), touch sensing GPIOs, and some extra security features such as a power glitch detector also found in the recently announced ESP32-C61. ESP32-H4 specifications: CPU – Dual-core 32-bit RISC-V core (at up to 96 MHz) RAM – 320KB KB SRAM, optional PSRAM up to 4MB Storage – 128KB ROM, External flash support Wireless connectivity IEEE 802.15.4 radio with Zigbee and Thread support, Matter protocol Bluetooth 5.4 (LE) radio designed in-house, […]