Riotee batteryless stackable IoT board embeds an nRF52833 module (Crowdfunding)

Batteryless Riotee IoT board

Nessie Circuits’ Riotee board features a Riotee module based on Nordic nRF52833 WiSoC with a 2.4 GHz radio that targets batteryless IoT applications thanks to a stackable design taking a capacitors add-on board and a solar panel. Batteries introduce maintenance costs and environmental issues with millions of batteries disposed of every day. That’s why companies are trying to provide solutions for batteryless IoT designs such as the Everactive batteryless IoT devkit or Telink energy harvesting wireless module for remote controls. The Riotee module, board, and ecosystem also aim to play their part in reducing the use of batteries in wireless IoT devices. Riotee board specifications: Riotee module Wireless MCU – Nordic nRF52833 Arm Cortex-M4F microcontroller @ 64 MHz with 512 kB flash, 128 kB RAM, 2.4 GHz radio Memory – 128 kB of non-volatile memory (MSP430FR5962 FRAM) for “automatic checkpointing of application state” Castellated holes with 11x GPIOs including two […]

Allwinner R128 wireless SoC features 64-bit RISC-V core, Arm Cortex-M33 core, and HiFi 5 audio DSP

Allwinner R128

Allwinner is mostly known for its low-cost Arm processor running Android or Linux, but the Allwinner R128 is a wireless audio SoC with a C906 64-bit RISC-V application core, an Arm Cortex-M33 real-time time core, a HiFi 5 DSP, and built-in WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity. The SoC also comes with 1MB SRAM, up to 16MB flash, up to 32MB PSRAM, display and camera interfaces, support for microphone arrays, and plenty of I/Os that should make it suitable for smart speakers and other voice-controlled home appliances with or without display. Allwinner R128 specifications: Application core – Xuantie C906 64-bit RISC-V core clocked at 600 MHz. DSP – Cadence HiFi 5 audio DSP clocked at 400 MHz Communication core – Arm M33 Star (Cortex-M33 from Arm China?) core clocked at 240 MHz with Trustzone support Memory 1MB SRAM 8MB, 16MB, or 32MB PSRAM (SiP = System-in-Package) OPI PSRAM controller Storage QPI flash […]

IoT board supports WiFi, Bluetooth, NB-IoT, Cat-M and GNSS with ESP32-S3 and SIM7080G modules

LILYGO T-SIM7080G-S3

LILYGO T-SIM7080G-S3 is an ESP32-S3 WiFi and Bluetooth IoT board with a SIMcom SIM7080G LTE Cat-M (eMTC), NB-IoT, and GNSS module for low-power long-range connectivity and asset tracking. The board also comes with a 18650 battery holder, a solar panel input, a microSD card slot, a camera port, and several I/Os and provides an alternative to the TTGO T-Beam ESP32 board that relies on LoRaWAN for long-range connectivity instead. LILYGO T-SIM7080G-S3 specifications: Wireless modules Espressif ESP32-S3-WROOM-1-N16R8 module with ESP32-S3 dual-core LX7 microprocessor @ up to 240 MHz with Vector extension for machine learning, 16MB flash, 8MB PSRAM, WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 5 LE/Mesh SIMCom SIM7080G global multi-band Cat-M and NB-IoT module with GNSS Bands: Cat-M – B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B8/B12/B13/B14/B18/B19/B20/B25/B26 /B27/B28/B66/B85 NB-IoT – B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B8/B12/B13/B18/B19/B20/B25/B26/B28 /B66/B71/B85 Data rate Cat-M – Uplink: 1,119 Kbps, downlink: 589 Kbps NB-IoT: Uplink: 150 Kbps downlink: 136 Kbps LTE RF Power Class: 5 (Typ. 21dbm) GNSS – GPS, GLONASS, […]

LILYGO T-TWR is an ESP32-S3 board with an SA868 Walkie-Talkie module

ESP32-S3 Walkie-Talkie board

LILYGO T-TWR is an ESP32-S3 development board fitted with an SA868 Walkie-Talkie module and a UHF or VHF antenna, a speaker, a microphone, a small 0.96-inch OLED, and a 18650 battery holder, plus some I/Os for expansion. Equipped with an ESP32-S3-WROOM-1-16NR8 module, the T-TWR offers WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity, a dual-core processor with 16MB flash and 8MB PSRAM, and enables users to design their own Walkie-Talkie, while its expansion capabilities allow the control of devices. LILYGO T-TWR specifications: Wireless module – Espressif ESP32-S3-WROOM-1-N16R8 module with ESP32-S3 dual-core LX7 microprocessor @ up to 240 MHz with Vector extension for machine learning, 16MB FLASH, 8MB PSRAM, WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 5 LE/Mesh Display – 0.96-inch OLED with 128×64 resolution based on SSD1306 I2C display driver SA868 Walkie-Talkie module based on RDA1846S chip Bandwidth: 12.5 kHz/25 kHz Sensitivity: -124 dBm Support 1.6W or 1.8W mode. The latter is not recommended due […]

ePulse Feather ESP32 development board is optimized for low power consumption (in deep sleep)

ePulse Feather

Thingpulse ePulse Feather is an ESP32 development board following Adafruit’s Feather form factor and optimized for low power with 12 to 27 uA deep sleep power consumption. The board is based on the ESP32-WROVER with 8MB Flash and 8MB SPRAM and comes with a USB-C connector for charging the battery and programming through a CH9102F UART chip, as well as the I/Os headers provided by the Feather form factor. The board can be especially useful in battery-operated WiFi remote controls for home automation or other purposes that sleep most of the time until the user presses one of the buttons. ThingPulse ePulse Feather specifications: Wireless module – Espressif Systems ESP32-WROVER-E-N8R8 module with ESP32-D0WD-V3 or ESP32-D0WDR2-V3 dual-core microcontroller @ 240 MHz with 8MB QSPI flash, 8MB QSPI PSRAM USB – 1x USB Type-C port for power/charging and programming via CH9102F UART to TTL chip. Expansions – 12-pin + 16-pin headers with […]

$99 Motorola Defy Satellite Link enables 2-way satellite communications on smartphones through 3GPP NTN technology

Motorola Defy Satellite Link

Motorola Defy Satellite Link is a Bluetooth device that can affordably bring 2-way satellite communication to any smartphone thanks to the latest 3GPP NTN (Non-Terrestrial Network) technology implemented in the MediaTek MT6825 connecting to the Bullitt Satellite Connect platform. Satellite phones and hotspot has been around for years through products such as the Iridium Go! Satellite Wi-Fi hotspot that goes for over $1,000 without a data plan, pricing that does not make it conducive to mass adoption. But silicon vendors and phone manufacturers have started to add more affordable 2-way satellite connectivity to smartphones, for example with the Snapdragon Satellite initiative, currently using Iridium, but with plans to switch to 5G NTN in due time. Motorola Defy Satellite Link key features and specifications: SoC – MediaTek M6825 chip compliant with 3GPP R17 NTN standard (bands: 23/255/256), support for Geosynchronous Equatorial Orbit (GEO) constellations GNSS – GPS, Glonass, Galileo, Beidou Host […]

Raspberry Pi Pico W gets Bluetooth support in SDK 1.5.0

Raspberry Pi Pico W Bluetooth LE

The Raspberry Pi Pico W board was launched with a WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 5.2 module based on the Infineon CYW43439 wireless chip in June 2022, and I wrote a tutorial showing how to connect to WiFi a few days after the launch, but nothing about Bluetooth. That’s because while the Raspberry Pi Pico W hardware supports Bluetooth, we were told that Bluetooth was not enabled at the time, but might be at a later stage. Alasdair Allan, who is responsible for the Raspberry Pi documentation, said Bluetooth support was scheduled very soon, and the SDK 1.5.0 release of the Pico C SDK is now available with Bluetooth implemented using BTstack low footprint dual-mode Bluetooth stack. Bluetooth support is still considered Beta and the SDK 1.5.0 implements the following key features and updates: New libraries for Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) support. Bluetooth Classic support. Bluetooth Sub Band Coding (SBC) encoder […]

Bluetooth 5.4 adds electronic shelf label (ESL) support

Bluetooth 5.4

The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) has just adopted the Bluetooth 5.4 Core Specification with features such as PAwR and EAD designed for Electronic Shelf Label (ESL) systems. The Bluetooth 5.3 Core Specification was adopted in August 2021 with various improvements, and Bluetooth 5.4 now follows with features that appear to be mainly interesting for large-scale Bluetooth networks with support for bi-directional communication with thousands of end nodes from a single access point, as would be the case for Electronic Shelf Label or Shelf Sensor systems. Four new features have been added to Bluetooth 5.4: Periodic Advertising with Responses (PAwR) – PAwR is a new Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) logical transport that provides a way to perform energy-efficient, bi-directional, communication in a large-scale one-to-many topology with up to up to 32,640 devices. Devices can also be allocated to groups allowing them to listen only to their group’s transmissions. An Electronic […]

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