Nordic Semi Archives - CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

January 7, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

Bluetooth LE Audio Supports LC3 Codec, Multi-stream & Broadcast Audio, Nordic Semi Evaluation Kit Unveiled

I first heard about Bluetooth LE (Low Energy)- part of Bluetooth 4.0- in 2013 with RFDuino board, and it came to prominence once Android 4.3 added support later this year. Bluetooth LE is using to transmit messages using as little as energy as possible for example to synchronize data between a smartphone and a smartwatch. But if you ever had to transmit audio, you had to rely on Bluetooth Classic which, albeit considering low power, consumes more energy. But you should soon have much longer battery life on your Bluetooth headphone or battery-operated speaker, as the Bluetooth SIG has just announced Bluetooth LE Audio which adds a new codec and support for multi-stream and broadcast audio. The new high-quality, low-power audio codec used in the new Bluetooth standard is called the Low Complexity Communications Codec (LC3). The chart above shows the results of listening tests between LC3 and SBC codecs at different bitrates with a score from 0 to 5 …

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December 17, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

BOKRA NXP LPC824 and Nordic nRF52832 powered MCU Modules Follow MikroBUS Form Factor

We first wrote about MikroElectronika MikroBUS socket in 2015 while covering an SBC which featured one MikroBUS socket supporting one of the 150 Click boards available at the time. There are now over 700 Click boards to choose from, with the tiny modules offering motor drivers, buttons, short-range connectivity, UART and other interfaces, as well as various sensors. But BOKRA had another idea: developing MCU based systems-on-module following MikroBUS form factor. BOKRA LPC824 Lite module The first of those modules is BOKRA LPC824 Lite with the following specifications: MCU – NXP LPC824M201JHI33 Arm Cortex-M0+ microcontroller @ 30 MHz with 32KB Flash Memory, 8 KB RAM I/O MikroBUS headers with SPI, I2C, UART, PWM, GPIOs 10-pin “Serial” header 4-pin I2C Grove connector for Seeed Studio I2C Grove modules Debugging interface – SWD Misc – Reset button, power LED, 2x user LEDs Power Supply – 5V/500mA via MIC5528 regulator Dimensions – 28.6 x 25.4 mm (MikroBUS size “S” form factor) BOKRA LPC824 …

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November 19, 2019 by Ayo Ayibiowu - 8 Comments

Bangle.js is an Hackable, Open Source JavaScript and TensorFlow-driven Smartwatch (Crowdfunding)

Espruino brought JavasScript to the Microcontroller, now Bangle.js is bringing Javascript plus TensorFlow Lite to your smartwatch. There has been some movement by some developers that says that JavaScript should be used for everything, even though I find that idea ridiculous, I still find JavaScript a fascinating language. The NeaForm Research team and Gordon Williams (the brain behind Espruino) have all teamed up in launching Bangle.js Smartwatch. Bangle.js isn’t your ordinary smartwatch, at the heart of it is the open-source ecosystem. JavaScript plus TensorFlow Lite and of course, a cool looking Smartwatch is what Bangle.js is offering. Bangle.js was launched at the recently concluded NodeConf EU conference, and the goal is to bootstrap an Open Health Platform hopefully. NodeWatch is the specific implementation of Bangle.js for NodeConf EU 2019, co-developed by Espruino and NearForm Research. This project has the potential to bootstrap a community-driven open health platform where anyone can build or use any compatible device and everyone owns their …

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November 17, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Nordic Semi nRF5340 Dual Arm Cortex-M33 SoC Supports Bluetooth 5.1/Mesh, NFC, Thread & Zigbee

After introducing nRF52833 WiSoC with Bluetooth 5.1 direction-finding support last month, Nordic Semiconductors has now launched another multi-protocol wireless SoC with nRF5340 featuring two Arm Cortex-M33 cores and supporting Bluetooth 5.1, Bluetooth Mesh, NFC, Thread & Zigbee. One of the Cortex-M33 is an application core incorporating 1 MB Flash and 512 KB RAM, as well as Arm CryptoCell-312, Arm TrustZone technology, and Secure Key Storage for the highest level of security, and the other Cortex-M33 core is used for networking functions. The company also announced nRF5340 PDK to get started with the new WiSoC. nRF5340 Dual-Core Multiprotocol SoC Key features and specifications: CPU Application core – Arm Cortex-M33 @ 128/64 MHz with 1 MB Flash + 512 KB RAM, 8 KB 2-way set associative cache; CoreMark: 510/255; CoreMark/mA: 65/76 Network core – Arm Cortex-M33 @ 64 MHz with 256 KB Flash + 64 KB RAM, 2 KB instruction cache; CoreMark: 238; CoreMark/mA: 101 Wireless Protocol support – Bluetooth 5.1 LE …

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November 14, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

Giveaway Week Winners – November 2019

We just had another of our yearly “Giveaway week” on CNX Software with 7 prizes including Arm and RISC-V development boards, NB-IoT tracker, USB-C hub, as well as development kits based on ESP32 or ESP8266 WiSoCs. People just had to comment within a 48 hours period, and we would randomly select a winner each day. We now have all confirmed winners with a strong start from Europe, Asia catching up mid-week, before with Poland and Brazil taking the week-end prizes: Balena Fin Developer Kit – Laurent H, FRANCE WisCellular NB-IoT & eMTC GPS Tracker – Jimmy, SWEDEN MINIX NEO S1 USB-C Hub with 120GB built-in SSD – Jeroen, BELGIUM Maixduino Sipeed M1 RISC-V AI Kit – Nguyen Tung, VIETNAM ANAVI Gas Detector Starter Kit – Bumsik Kim, SOUTH KOREA Particle Mesh IoT Development Kit – Wojciech Lubicz-Lapinski, POLAND NanoPi M4V2 SBC & Metal Case Kit – Thiago Tavares, BRAZIL I checked the results for 2018 and 2017 for fun, and …

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November 9, 2019November 11, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 135 Comments

Giveaway Week – Particle Mesh IoT Development Kit

In early 2018, Particle introduced three nRF52840 Bluetooth 5 boards, also supporting the company’s Particle Mesh technology, and selling for as low as $9. Later that year, the company send me what they call Particle Mesh IoT development kit with several of those boards to get started with their mesh networking solution. That’s what I’m offering as the 6th prize of this giveaway week. With this kit on hand, I wrote a Particle Mesh networking getting started guide showing how to configure the board in Particle.io dashboard, and easily push a new program to multiple Xenon Bluetooth 5 + Mesh boards using an Argon WiFi & Bluetooth 5 + Mesh as the gateway. I’ll give away the full kit shown in the top picture which includes: The Argon kit (ESP32 WiFi + Bluetooth + Mesh) A Grove and Particle Sensor Kit with various modules and a shield An Adafruit Featherwing OLED display and headers Three Xenon (Bluetooth + Mesh) nodes …

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October 23, 2019October 23, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Nordic Semi nRF52833 WiSoC Supports Bluetooth 5.1 Direction Finding, Works up to 105ºC

Nordic Semiconductors had added a new member to their RF52 multi-protocol wireless SoCs with nRF52833 that supports Bluetooth 5.1 direction finding and can operate in a wider temperature range between -40ºC and +105°C. The company also introduced nRF52833 DK development kit for Bluetooth Low Energy, Bluetooth mesh, Thread, Zigbee (802.15.4), and 2.4GHz proprietary applications, and some companies have already announced nRF52833 modules. Nordic Semi nRF52833 Bluetooth 5.1 SoC Key features and specifications: MCU Core – Arm Cortex-M4F @ 64 MHz Memory – 128 KB RAM Storage – 512 KB Flash Connectivity Bluetooth 5.1 @ 2 Mbps/1 Mbps/500 kbps/125 kbps 802.15.4 (Thread/Zigbee) @ 250 kbps 2.4 GHz proprietary @ 2 Mbps / 1 Mbps NFC-A tag TX power – Programmable from +8 dBm to -20 dBm in 4 dB steps Sensitivity Bluetooth 5: -103 dBm at 125 kbps; -98 dB at 500 kbps; -95 dBm at 1 Mbps; -92 dBm at 2 Mbps 802.15.4: -99 dBm at 250 kbps 2.4 GHz: …

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September 27, 2019 by Stephen Vicinanza - No Comments

Blip Nordic nRF52840 Dev Board Includes STM32 Black Magic Probe Programmer & Debugger (Crowdfunding)

The Latest Electronut Labs Nordic nRF52840 Based Dev Board Electronut Labs has started its Crowd Supply campaign for Blip, a Nordic nRF52840 based development board. With many onboard sensors and systems, the boards are aimed at prototyping and projects in a wide variety of BLE and 802.15.4, wireless application scenarios. It has a programmer and debugger built-in. Past Articles Electronut Labs has a series of Nordic Semiconductor SoC projects previously reported on including Papyr, a Bluetooth E-Paper Display and Bluey, a BLE Development board using the Nordic nRF52832, and CNXSoft also published an article comparing several of the Nordic SoC available in development boards for Bluetooth 5 (BLE5). The Features the Stand Out Blip has a Black magic Probe compatible programmer and debugger built-in, along with a temperature/humidity sensor, ambient light intensity sensor, and a three-axis accelerometer. The board is designed to prototype very low power devices and an ability to add a microSD card slot, to make it a …

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