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February 11, 2024February 10, 2024 by Debashis Das - 1 Comment

STMicro STM32WL5MOC SiP Module is pre-certified for LoRaWAN & Sigfox networks

STMicroelectronics has recently introduced the STM32WL5MOC system in package (SiP) module with a dual-core STM32 microcontroller, sub-1 GHz RF radio, power supply, and passive components into a 10×10 mm LGA package. According to ST, the new chip uses the STM32WL module which we have seen used in Arduino MKR-inspired MKR Windy board, smart building, and many other LoRa devices. STMicroelectronics’ STM32WL, an Arm Cortex-M0+ microcontroller, operates in sub-GHz ISM bands (413-479MHz, 826-958MHz, and 169MHz later in 2024) for protocols like wireless M-Bus (mode N) and Wize. It supports multi-protocol and multi-modulation (4-(G)FSK, 2-(G)FSK, (G)MSK, DBPSK, DSSS, OOK, ASK) for various wireless standards (Sigfox, KNX, WiSun, mioty, M-Bus, etc.) and introduces power-saving features for up to 15 years of battery life. STM32WL5MOC SiP module specifications: Core Specifications: STM32WL55JC SoC with 32-bit Arm Cortex-M4 and Cortex-M0+ CPUs, up to 48 MHz. Adaptive real-time accelerator (ART Accelerator) for efficient flash memory execution. DSP instructions […]

November 21, 2023November 21, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

STMicro STM32WL3 sub-GHz wireless MCU targets smart metering, smart building, and industrial monitoring

STMicroelectronics STM32WL3 is an Arm Cortex-M0+ low-power, long-range, multi-protocol wireless microcontroller working in sub-GHz ISM frequency bands, namely 413MHz – 479MHz, 826MHz – 958MHz, and soon 169MHz (2024) for protocols such as wireless M-Bus (mode N) and Wize. The multi-protocol and multi-modulation radio supports 4-(G)FSK up to 600kbit/s, 2-(G)FSK, (G)MSK, DBPSK, DSSS, OOK, ASK modulation schemes suitable for proprietary and standardized wireless protocols such as Sigfox, KNX, WiSun, mioty, M-Bus, and others. STMicro also claims to have implemented new power-saving features that extend the battery life to up to 15 years. STM32WL3 key features and specifications: MCU Core – Arm Cortex-M0+ up to 64 MHz Memory – 16KB or 32KB SRAM with full retention Storage 128KB or 256KB flash 1 KB OTP flash (user data) Wireless RF bands – 413-479 MHz, 826-958 MHz, and soon 169 MHz Data rate – 0.1 to 600 kbit/s Tx power – up to […]

August 3, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

eModGATE Moduino X0 – An ESP32-based industrial IoT controller with battery support

eModGate X0 ESP32 industrial IoT controller

TECHBASE eModGATE Moduino X0 is an industrial IoT control based on a choice of ESP32 modules from Espressif and Pycom, equipped with a battery slot for remote installations, and various interfaces to connect sensors or actuators via RS232, RS485, and/or digital I/Os. We first wrote about TECHBASE Moduino-X series ESP32 IoT endpoints almost six years ago with the X1 and X2 models, but since then the company has added more models such as the large X3 and X4 devices with more I/Os, and the new entry-level Moduino X0 that’s similar to the X1, but with battery support instead of a supercapacitor. eModGATE Moduino X0 specifications: ESP32 wireless module/board options ESP32-WROVER with ESP32 dual-core Tensilica LX6 processor @ 240 MHz, 8MB PSRAM, 4MB or 16MB SPI flash Pycom WiPy 3.0 with 4MB RAM, 8MB Flash Pycom SiPy with 512kB RAM, 4MB Flash, Sigfox Pycom LoPy with 4MB RAM, 8MB Flash, Wi-Fi/BT4.2, […]

September 4, 2022September 4, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

Wi-SUN: An LPWAN standard for Smart Cities, Smart Agriculture, large scale IoT deployments

Wi-SUN is a standard (IEEE 802.15.4g) managed by the Wi-SUN Alliance and designed for Smart Cities, Smart Agriculture, and other large scale IoT deployments with a large number of devices thanks to the use of IPv6 mesh networking. The organization was founded in 2011 to “support the worldwide development of Wireless Communications Networks for Utilities, Smart Cities and IoT”, but due to the niche nature of target applications, it does not get that much press coverage and was only recently brought to my attention. Wi-SUN stands for “Wireless Smart Utility Networks”or “Wireless Smart Ubiquitous Networks”, and the standard aims to connect streetlights, cameras, weather stations, smart metering, utility transmission systems, and others to enable data-sharing between city services to improve their efficiency, save costs, and offer improves services to citizens. Wi-SUN FAN (Field Area Network) is the latest protocol managed by the Wi-SUN Alliance with over 95 million units shipped […]

June 21, 2022June 20, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Cavli Wireless C42GM module offers cellular IoT and Sigfox connectivity, optional GNSS and CAN Bus

Cavli Wireless C42GM cellular IoT sigfox module

Selecting an LPWAN IoT module usually means selecting a particular LPWAN standard, but Cavli Wireless C42GM global IoT module combines LTE Cat M1 and NB-IoT (NB1/NB2) cellular IoT connectivity with Sigfox for “use cases that need the hybrid LPWAN approach”. The module also comes with optional GNSS for asset tracking and/or time synchronization and there’s also a variant that adds CAN FD wired communication. The C42GM module can also be fitted with an eSIM (embedded SIM) pre-loaded global connectivity. C42GM module specifications: LPWAN Cellular (NB-IoT and eMTC) Bands Supported – LTE Bands: B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B8/B12/ B13/B18/B19/B20/B25/B26/B28/B66 3GPP Release: LTE 3GPP E-UTRA Release 13 CAT M1/NB1/NB2 (Upgradable to Release 14) Download & Uplink Speed LTE Cat M1 – 1119Kbps (UL), 588Kbps (DL) NB1 – 60Kbps (UL), 20Kbps (DL) NB2 – 158.5Kbps (UL), 127Kbps (DL) Optional eSIM Optional Sigfox GNSS – GPS, GLONASS, Beidou I/Os – 1x USB2.0, 2x UART, 1x USIM, 9x GPIO, […]

January 27, 2022January 27, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Sigfox is in financial trouble

While there are many LPWAN standards, in recent years, we wrote mostly about LoRaWAN, NB-IoT & LTE Cat M1/2, as well as Sigfox to a lesser extent. The company managing the latter, also called Sigfox appears to be in financial trouble with the company placed in “redressement judiciaire”, a court-supervised business recovery/turnaround procedure in French law that looks to be similar to Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the US, and sometimes also translated as “receivership”. LTE IoT standards like NB-IoT and Cat M1/M2 rely on the vast infrastructure established for phones, while LoRaWAN allows the community and private companies to build their own network with gateways, but Sigfox decided to build and own their network and charge a monthly/yearly fee per device to access the network. Sigfox has extensive coverage in Europe, South Africa, Japan and South Korea, New Zealand, and part of South East Asia, but more sporadic coverage in […]

January 28, 2021April 12, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Agromon smart agriculture wireless transmitter connects ModBus RS485 sensors to WiFi, LoRaWAN, Sigfox, or NB-IoT

The Internet of Things has many applications including smart agriculture . A few months ago, I talked to a local shrimp farm owner who used Arduino and ESP8266 boards to monitor water and activate pumps only when needed to get shrimps healthy and save on his electricity bill. He built his own solutions, but there are also companies offering easy-to-use smart farming solutions such as Malaysia-based Wondernica’s Agromon “interface wireless transmitter” designed specifically for smart agriculture applications. Agromon has two variants with support for 2 sensors (WR-AGRO-2S) or 3 sensors (WR-AGRO-3S) that share the following specifications: Connectivity – WiFi, Sigfox (RCZ 2/4), LoRaWAN, NB-IoT Sensor Interface – Modbus RS485 (analog input / 4-20mA / 12V-14V output) Power Supply – 12V DC (tolerance up to 14V); supports batteries, solar power, or power adapter Power Consumption – Sleep Mode: 3 mW Dimensions – 130 x 90 x 40mm Ingress Protection – IP67 […]

August 1, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

IoTSDR Linux Board Targets the Development of IoT Gateways with Standard or Custom IoT Protocols (Crowdfunding)

Xilinx Zynq-7010/-7020 powered iotSDR board by EmbedINN enables the development of IoT gateways with support for LoRa, SigFox, WeightLess, Bluetooth, BLE, 802.15.4, ZigBee, as well as custom IoT protocols. The board also supports GPS, Galileo, Beidou, and GLONASS navigation systems thanks to a Maxim Integrated MAX2769 GNSS chip. iotSDR key hardware features and specifications: SoC (one or the other) Xilinx Zynq-Z7010 (XC7Z010-1CLG400C) dual-core Arm Cortex-A9 processor with 256 kb on-chip memory, FPGA fabric with 28,000 logic cells, 17,600 LUTs, 2.1 Mb block RAM, 80 DSP slices Xilinx Zynq-Z7020 (XC7Z020-1CLG400C) dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 processor with 256 kb on-chip memory, FPGA fabric with 85,000 logic cells, 53,200 LUTs, 4.9 Mb block RAM, 220 DSP slices System Memory – 512 MB DDR3 Storage 128 Mbit QSPI flash memory for firmware Microchip AT24MAC602 SPI EEPROM for RF transceiver MCU firmware and data Radios “IoT” Radios RF Transceivers – 2x Microchip/Atmel AT86RF215 European band – […]