ICs & Semiconductors

nRF52820 SoC is introduced to support lower-end of nRF52 series     

Fri, Mar 20, 2020

The nRF52820 Bluetooth 5.2 SoC is the sixth addition to Nordic Semiconductor’s nRF52 Series. It is a low power Bluetooth Low Energy (Bluetooth LE), Bluetooth mesh, Thread, Zigbee, and 2.4GHz proprietary wireless connectivity device for smart home, commercial and industrial applications.

The nRF52820’s is capable of all the features of Bluetooth 5, 5.1 and 5.2 including long range and high-throughput of 2Mbits per second, as well as direction finding, low energy power control and low energy isochronous channels.

It has a full speed (12Mbits per second) USB 2.0 interface. The USB connectivity interface enables low-latency and high-bandwidth communication with a range of host devices, such as PCs, smartphones, and gateways. The connectivity also makes device firmware updates (DFU)-over-USB practical. In addition to the main supply regulators, the USB peripheral in the nRF52820 includes a dedicated regulator for converting the 5V Vbus signal to the 3.3V needed for the USB signalling interface, which negates the need for an external regulator, saving both cost and space.

Based on a 64MHz 32bit Arm Cortex-M4 processor, the SoC includes 256kbyte Flash and 32kbyte RAM. This, says Nordic, makes it particularly well-suited as a single-chip option for commercial and industrial wireless applications including professional lighting, asset tracking, high intensity discharge lighting and gaming products.

When paired with an application microcontroller, the nRF52820’s multi-protocol radio and +8dBm output power enables its use as a network processor for gateways and other smart home applications that require advanced wireless connectivity.

The nRF52820 is qualified for operation across an extended industrial temperature range of -40 to 105 degrees C.

The nRF52820 includes up to 18 general purpose I/Os and a range of analogue and digital interfaces such an analogue comparator, SPI, UART, TWI, and QDEC.

The supply voltage covers a 1.7 to 5.5V input range, allowing the nRF52820 to be powered by coin-cells and rechargeable batteries.

The nRF52820 is supported by the S112 and S140 SoftDevices (Bluetooth 5.1-qualified protocol stacks), and the S122 (alpha version) SoftDevice. The S112 and S122 are memory-optimised peripheral and central stacks respectively, while the S140 is a feature-complete Bluetooth 5 protocol stack for central and peripheral, including long range and high-throughput.

Nordic also offers the nRF5 software development kit (SDK) v16.0.0, with the full nRF5 SDK support to follow in Q2 2020. The nRF52833 development kit can be used to emulate the nRF52820 and as a basis to start nRF52820-based designs.

http://www.nordicsemi.com

> Read More

Optiga Connect 5G authenticates mobile consumer devices

Mon, Mar 16, 2020

Infineon has extended its embedded SIM (eSIM) portfolio, adding the Optiga Connect eSIM for mobile consumer devices. It supports all GSMA standards from 3G to 5G and securely authenticates the device to the chosen subscribed carrier network of choice. It has a small imprint, making it suitable for smartphones, tablets and wearable devices (smart watches or fitness trackers).

Based on Infineon’s SLC37 security chip, the new Optiga Connect meets the GSMA’s security requirements and is tested according to Common Criteria CC EAL4+ high. The SLC37 secures sensitive keys and data against fraudulent use. The Optiga Connect eSIM complies with the latest 5G specifications from the GSMA (SIMAlliance Profile Interoperability 2.3 Spec) and the 3GPP. It supports the profiles of major mobile network providers with Remote SIM Provisioning capabilities and offers up to 1.2Mbyte of free user memory for network operator profiles, data and additional applications. The package measures just 2.9 x 2.5 x 0.4mm for the restricted PCB space of many new consumer applications.

ABI Research predicts that global shipments of eSIM enabled smartphones will reach over 225 million in 2020 and it expects a minimum of 500 million eSIM-capable smartphones to ship gloabally in 2024.

The Optiga Connect eSIM consumer chip be available from March 2020.

http://www.infineon.com

> Read More

STM32L4+ microcontrollers bring Cortex-M4 performance to smart devices

Mon, Mar 16, 2020

Two microcontrollers from STMicroelectronics, the STM32L4P5 and STM32L4Q5 microcontrollers bring the performance of the Arm Cortex-M4 core to cost-sensitive and power-conscious smart connected devices, says the company. Target applications include utility meters, industrial and medical sensors, fitness trackers, and smart home products.

The STM32L4+ microcontrollers have memory density down to 512kbyte flash and 320kbyte SRAM. They are available in a choice of package options: 10 x 10mm, 64-pin and 7.0 x 7.0mm, 48-pin versions designed to meet applications limited by size constraints such as wearable form factors.

They have independent power connections for circuitry such as USB and analogue peripherals, independent clock domains, and octal and quad serial peripheral interfaces (SPIs) for external memory expansion. They also feature a 5Msample/s smart ADC that can operate at full speed to minimise acquisition time, or at reduced speed with lower current.

The STM32L4+ microcontrollers exploit ST’s low-power microcontroller technologies and feature seven main low-power modes, enabling designers to creatively manage power consumption and wake-up times to minimise energy demand. The microcontrollers also support FlexPowerControl, which ensures energy-efficient handling of processing loads, as well as batch acquisition mode for energy-efficient data capture while the CPU is stopped.

To preserve system reliability and safety in industrial and medical applications, the STM32L4+ microcontrollers have flash error-correcting code (ECC) support and hardware parity checking for SRAM.

Cyber-protection features include a true random number generator and IP protection through limited access to code stored in internal memory. STM32L4Q5 devices feature additional cryptographic accelerators that support AES, RSA, DH and ECC acceleration.

The STM32 development ecosystem now includes the Nucleo-L4P5ZG Nucleo-144 board and STM32L4P5G-DK Discovery kit, each containing an STM32L4P5 microcontroller.

In the STM32Cube ecosystem, the STM32L4P5 and STM32L4Q5 are supported by the STM32CubeL4 microcontroller package, which contains hardware abstraction layer and low-layer (HAL/LL) peripheral drivers, middleware components and examples projects, and by the STM32CubeMX initialisation-code generator and configurator, which has a power consumption calculator.

ST reports EEMBC benchmark scores of 409 CoreMark and 285 ULPMark-CP for performance and energy efficiency.

Samples are available immediately and full production is ramping up, says ST.

https://www.st.com

> Read More

Renesas Electronics adds RL78/G1H to Wi-SUN FAN-compliant portfolio

Fri, Mar 13, 2020

Renesas Electronics’ RL78/G1H-based sub-GHz wireless solution has been certified under the Wireless Smart Ubiquitous Network for Field Area Network profile (Wi-SUN FAN) communication standards.

The Wi-SUN Alliance is an international industry group that specifies wireless communication standards used within the Sub-GHz band.　

Tessera Technology TK-RLG1H+SB2 evaluation board incorporates the Renesas 16-bit RL78/G1H microcontroller with integrated wireless functionality and a Wi-SUN FAN communication control software stack. The combination enables customers to develop Wi-SUN FAN-compliant devices quickly and easily, says Renesas, reducing the time required for certification in the development process by approximately one year.

“Wireless frequencies in the sub-GHz band are relatively unaffected by obstacles such as  walls and buildings, which makes it possible to transmit data over longer distances in urban settings, and Wi-SUN FAN is gaining popularity as a wide-area wireless network standard with mesh network support,” said Toru Moriya, vice president, Emerging Market business division at Renesas. “Our certified RL78-based wireless solution will alleviate the development burden associated with sensor network applications such as logistics and infrastructure management, and accelerate the widespread adoption of Wi-SUN FAN to realize smart cities and smart grids,” he added.

In addition to the certified RL78 wireless solution, Renesas offers a dual-chip solution combining the 32-bit RX651 microcontroller and the RAA604S00 wireless communications IC. This solution was Wi-SUN FAN certified in 2019.

Customers can develop gateway applications, such as border routers between FAN and wide area network (WAN) or terminal applications, such as routers, using products from Renesas’ Wi-SUN FAN portfolio, according to required specifications, such as microcontroller processing performance, memory capacity, or power efficiency.

Intended end applications are smart meter power usage visualisation, smart illumination, sensor management in factories or office buildings, and equipment operation monitoring.

A communication control software for the Wi-SUN certified RL78/G1H solution will be available by September 2020.

https://www.renesas.com

> Read More

About Smart Cities

This news story is brought to you by smartcitieselectronics.com, the specialist site dedicated to delivering information about what’s new in the Smart City Electronics industry, with daily news updates, new products and industry news. To stay up-to-date, register to receive our weekly newsletters and keep yourself informed on the latest technology news and new products from around the globe. Simply click this link to register here: Smart Cities Registration