wearables News - Page 4 of 27 - CNX Software

May 7, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

The world’s smallest Bluetooth SoC: InPlay NanoBeacon SoC IN100 in 2.0×1.1mm WLCSP package

world smallest bluetooth soc IN100 WLCSP

InPlay has just announced a Wafer Level Chip Scale Package (WLCSP) for its NanoBeacon SoC IN100, making it the world’s smallest Bluetooth System-on-a-Chip (SoC) at just 2.0 x 1.1 x 0.35mm. The NanoBeacon IN100 is not new per se, and we covered the still tiny Bluetooth SoC when writing about Sparkfun NanoBeacon Bluetooth 5.3 module based on the DFN8 package measuring 2.5×2.5mm. The highlights include its low-code/no-code interface and an ultra-low power consumption of below 1 uW. InPlay NanoBeacon SoC IN100 specifications: Memory – 4 KB SRAM + 4 Kbit OTP memory Bluetooth 5.3 compliant Beacon Modes: Proprietary, BT, Google Eddystone, and Apple iBeacon compliant 2.4GHz RF frequency band, MedRadio band (2.36GHz) Programming-free and firmware-less design Long-range transmission: up to several hundred meters Security Authentication of beacon ID Privacy of advertising payload Supply voltage range – 1.1V ~ 3.6V (Single 1.5V coin battery support) Power consumption Sub-uW power consumption for […]

May 2, 2023May 2, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

OpenEarable open-source hardware earable platform leverages Arduino Nano 33 BLE Sense ecosystem

TECP Open Earable open source hardware device

OpenEarable is an open-source hardware earable, sometimes also called hearable, that fits around your ear and is based on the same u-blox NINA-B306 module found in the Arduino Nano 33 BLE Sense board. Besides the Nordic Semi nRF52840 Arm Cortex-M4-based Bluetooth LE module, the design also features a speaker and ultrasonic microphone, a 6-axis IMU and a pressure sensor, as well as the circuitry for the battery, two LEDs, and a push button. OpenEarable specifications: Wireless module – U-blox NINA-B306 module powered by a Nordic Semi nRF52840 Arm Cortex-M4F microcontroller @ 64MHz with 1MB Flash, 256KB RAM, Bluetooth 5.0 LE connectivity Audio – Built-in speaker and ultrasonic microphone (Knowles SPH0641LU4H-1) Sensors STMicro LPS22HBTR pressure and temperature sensor STMicro LSM6DSRTR 6-axis IMU with accelerometer and gyroscope USB – Micro USB port for power and programming Debugging – Solder pads for SWD interface Misc – Push button, charging LED, one programmable PWM […]

April 4, 2023August 5, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

ESP32-S3 based 1.28-inch round touchscreen display supports Arduino programming

ESP32-S3 Round Display 1.28-inch touchscreen

Makerfabs “ESP32-S3 Round SPI TFT with Touch 1.28″ is a small ESP32-S3 with a 1.28-inch round color touchscreen display, a microSD card, support for USB and battery power, and two “Mabee” extension connectors. The board joins other ESP32-S3 round display boards such as the Lilygo T-RGB board or Seeed Studio’s Round Display for XIAO, but with a thinner design, and a square PCB with trimmed corners instead of a round PCB like the other two. ESP32-S3 Round SPI TFT with Touch 1.28″ (E32S3128GC) specifications: Wireless MCU – Espressif Systems ESP32-S3R8 dual-core Tensilica LX7 microcontroller @ 240 MHz with vector extension, 512KB SRAM, 8MB PSRAM, Wi-Fi 4 & Bluetooth 5.0 dual-mode (Classic + BLE) connectivity Flash – 128 Mbit (16MB) W25Q128JV SPI flash, microSD card slot Display – 1.28-inch round LCD with 240×240 resolution (GC9A01 SPI driver), touchscreen controller (CST816S) USB – 1x USB Type-C port Expansion 1x 4-pin Mabee I2C […]

March 29, 2023March 29, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

XIAO ESP32S3 board gets some senses with a camera and microphone module, plus a round touchscreen display

Last week, we wrote about the new XIAO ESP32S3, a tiny ESP32-S3 board from Seeed Studio. The company has now launched the XIAO ESP32S3 Sense adding a camera and microphone module connected through a board-to-board connector, as well as the Round Display for XIAO that can help people easily create wearable devices with a touchscreen based on any board from the XIAO family. XIAO ESP32S3 Sense XIAO ESP32S2 Sense specifications: Wireless MCU – Espressif Systems ESP32-S3R8 dual-core Tensilica LX7 microcontroller @ 240 MHz with 512KB SRAM, 8MB PSRAM, Wi-Fi 4 & Bluetooth 5.0 dual-mode (Classic + BLE) connectivity Storage – 8MB SPI flash, microSD card slot Antenna – External u.FL antenna USB – USB Type-C port for power and programming Camera – OV2640 camera sensor up to 1600×1200 resolution Audio – Built-in digital microphone Expansion I/Os 2x 7-pin headers with 1x UART, 1x I2C, 1x SPI, 11x GPIO (PWM), 9x […]

March 22, 2023March 22, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

XIAO ESP32S3 is a tiny ESP32-S3 WiFi 4 and BLE 5.0 module for IoT, AI, and robotics

Seeed Studio XIAO ESP32S3 is the new member of the company XIAO family with an ESP32-S3 dual-core wireless microcontroller with WiFi 4 and BLE 5.0 designed for Smart Home, IoT, wearables, and Robotics applications. It succeeds the single-core ESP32-C3-based XIAO ESP32C3 board with the same form factor, but the new XIAO ESP32S3 offers more performance, vector extension for machine learning, more flash, and improved power consumption in deep sleep mode. Seeed Studio XIAO ESP32C3 specifications: Wireless MCU – Espressif Systems ESP32-S3R8 dual-core Tensilica LX7 microcontroller @ 240 MHz with 512KB SRAM, 8MB PSRAM, Wi-Fi 4 & Bluetooth 5.0 dual-mode (Classic + BLE) connectivity Storage – 8MB SPI flash Antenna – External u.FL antenna USB – USB Type-C port for power and programming Expansion I/Os 2x 7-pin headers with 1x UART, 1x I2C, 1x SPI, 11x GPIO (PWM), 9x ADC 3.3V I/O voltage (not 5V tolerant) Debugging – JTAG pads Misc […]

March 16, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

Renesas introduces 100 MHz RA4E2 and 200 MHz RA6E2 Arm Cortex-M33 MCUs for wearables, sensors, appliances

Renesas Electronics has added two new groups to its 32-bit RA family of microcontrollers (MCUs) with the 100 MHz RA4E2 and 200 MHz RA6E2 Arm Cortex-M33 microcontrollers designed for “high-performance applications” in small packages such as sensing, gaming, wearables, and appliances. The new microcontrollers are equipped with 40 KB SRAM, 128 KB or 256 KB flash, and integrate various on-chip interfaces such as CAN FD, USB, QSPI, SSI, and I3C interfaces to offer an easy upgrade path for products based on other members of the Renesas RA Family. Renesas RA4E2 MCU group Both the RA4E2 and the RA6E2 are the most cost-effective microcontroller groups of the RA family with integrated CAN FD, with the RA4E2 group especially well-suited to cost-sensitive applications and other systems requiring relatively high performance, low power consumption, and/or small package size. RA4E2 key features: CPU – Arm Cortex-M33 core with TrustZone @ up to 100 MHz […]

March 15, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Silicon Labs announces MG27 and BG27 Bluetooth LE & 802.15.4 SoCs for small devices, healthcare

Silicon Labs has just announced the tiny BG27 Bluetooth LE and MG27 multiprotocol wireless SoCs designed for small devices, and they will be especially useful in connected health applications, or the so-called Internet of Medical Things (IoMT), as well as wearables, sensors, switches, smart locks, and commercial and LED lighting. Both chips feature a Cortex-M33 core clocked at 76.8 MHz, up to 768KB flash, and up to 64KB RAM, but the BG27 only supports Bluetooth LE, Mesh, and propriety 2.4 GHz connectivity, while the MG27 also adds an 802.15.4 radio for Zigbee, OpenThread, and Matter protocols Silicon Labs BG27 and MG27 specifications: CPU – Arm Cortex-M33 @ 76.8 MHz with DSP instruction and floating-point unit Memory – Up to 64 kB RAM data memory Storage – Up to 768 kB flash program memory 2.4 GHz Radio BLE 5.3 Bluetooth mesh Proprietary 2.4 GHz MG27 adds Matter OpenThread Zigbee Modulation – […]

February 22, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

STMicro adds more STM32U5 Cortex-M33 MCUs with NeoChrom 2.5D GPU, 128KB to 4MB flash, NIST certification, etc…

STMicro has added three new families to its STM32U5 Cortex-M33 microcontroller series with the entry-level STM32U535/545 with as little as 128KB flash, the STM32U595/5A5 with up to 4MB of Flash and 2,514KB of RAM, and the STM32U599/5A9 with similar features as the STM32U595/5A5 by adding the new NeoChrom 2.5D GPU plus TFT-LCD and DSI display interfaces. STMicro also announced that STM32U5 series MCUs were the first general-purpose MCUs to receive NIST-embedded random-number entropy source certification. As of now, along with the STM32U575/585 introduced in February 2021 with an optional Chrom-ART 2D GPU, STMicro offers eight product lines as part of the STM32U5 MCU series as shown in the table below. That means the STM32U5 microcontroller can address a wider range of applications with the STM32U535/545 targetting lower-cost applications with less flash and RAM, the “legacy” STM32U575/U585 for mid-range applications, and the STM32U59X/5AX for applications where more storage and memory is […]