aliro News - CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

June 24, 2026June 23, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Aliro is a vendor-agnostic standard for digital access control working over NFC, Bluetooth LE, or UWB

Managed by the Connectivity Standards Alliance, Aliro is a smart lock/access control standard that works over NFC, Bluetooth LE, or UWB and is designed to be vendor-agnostic. While Matter is designed for Smart Home applications, Aliro specifically targets access control, and both aim to address market fragmentation. It was brought to my attention when we wrote about the Nordic nRF54L15 Tag, but we had already mentioned it for chips from other vendors such as STMicro (ST64UWB) and Qualcomm (FastConnect 8800), as well as earlier wireless MCUs from Nordic Semi such as the nRF54LM20A and nRF54LM20B. It appears to be adopted across the industry, so let’s have a closer look. Aliro 1.0 was first released in February 2026 with the following highlights: Leverages existing smartphones and wearables Framework utilizes asymmetric cryptography to ensure secure and trusted interactions between user devices and readers Integration with digital wallets from Apple, Google, Samsung, etc… […]

June 23, 2026June 23, 2026 by Debashis Das - 1 Comment

Coin-cell powered Nordic nRF54L15 Tag prototyping platform supports Bluetooth Channel Sounding, Matter, Edge AI

Nordic Semiconductor has launched the nRF54L15 Tag, a tiny coin-cell-powered prototyping platform designed to accelerate the development of ultra-low-power wireless IoT devices, including asset trackers compatible with the Apple Find My and Google Find Hub ecosystems. Built around the company’s nRF54L15 wireless SoC, the 33 mm-diameter tag uses a 2.4 GHz radio and includes two on-board antennas to improve distance-measurement reliability with Bluetooth Channel Sounding. The platform also integrates a 6-axis IMU and an environmental sensor, which can be used in tracking, sensing, and basic edge processing applications. Nordic nRF54L15 Tag specifications: Wireless MCU – Nordic Semi nRF54L15 wireless SoC CPU Arm Cortex-M33 @ up to 128 MHz RISC-V coprocessor for “software-defined peripheral” Memory – 256 KB SRAM Storage – 1.5MB Non-volatile Memory (NVM) Wireless Bluetooth LE 6.0 (includes Channel Sounding) Thread, Zigbee (IEEE 802.15.4-2020) Matter Amazon Sidewalk Proprietary 2.4 GHz protocols with a new 4 Mbps mode NFC support Aliro (a […]

March 13, 2026June 23, 2026 by Debashis Das - No Comments

ST ST64UWB Cortex-M85 ultra-wideband SoC supports IEEE 802.15.4z and 802.15.4ab UWB standards, radar sensing

STMicroelectronics ST64UWB UWB solution for Automotive Consumer and Industrial Applications

STMicroelectronics ST64UWB Arm Cortex-M85 ultra-wideband (UWB) SoC family supports both the current IEEE 802.15.4z and the upcoming IEEE 802.15.4ab UWB standards for longer-range, more reliable positioning and secure proximity-based interactions. It mainly targets digital car keys, hands-free access, and smart-device detection. The family includes the ST64UWB-A100 (automotive entry), ST64UWB-A500 (automotive premium), and ST64UWB-C100 (industrial/smart home), all built on an 18 nm FD-SOI process that improves the RF link budget by ~3 dB, yielding roughly 50% additional range beyond what IEEE 802.15.4ab alone provides. The automotive-focused A-series offers ASIL-A(B) safety support, while the ST64UWB-C100 targets consumer and commercial applications. ST64UWB family specifications: MCU Core 32-bit Arm Cortex-M85 CPU with DP-FPU, MVE, and ETM Frequency Up to 100 MHz (ST64UWB-C100, ST64UWB-A100) Up to 256 MHz (ST64UWB-A500) Memory/Storage Integrated PCM Memory SRAM and Back-up SRAM Wireless Connectivity Ultra-wideband (UWB) Radio IEEE 802.15.4z-2020 and IEEE 802.15.4ab support UWB channels 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, […]

March 3, 2026June 23, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Qualcomm Wi-Fi 8 solutions – FastConnect 8800 Mobile Client and Qualcomm Dragonwing Networking Platforms

Qualcomm has unveiled its Wi-Fi 8 (802.11bn) portfolio, which includes the FastConnect 8800 “Mobile Connectivity System”, also integrating Bluetooth 7 wireless technology, Ultra Wideband (UWB), and Thread, and five Dragonwing Networking platforms for access points and routers. The Dragonwing NPro A8 Elite features a 5×5 Wi-Fi 8 radio system for high-performance enterprise access points and premium home routers, the Dragonwing FiberPro A8 Elite offers similar features but adds 10G fiber access (PON) for fiber-to-the-home gateways, the Dragonwing FWA Gen 5 Elite is designed for fixed wireless access using the Qualcomm X85 5G Modem-RF System, and the Qualcomm Dragonwing N8 and F8 platforms offer mainstream tier options for Ethernet and fiber broadband CPEs. Qualcomm FastConnect 8800 Wi-Fi 8 mobile client Qualcomm FastConnect 8800 (WCN885x) specifications: Wi-Fi 8 with advanced features like UWB, including and RADAR Support for Snapdragon Sound™ Technology Suite, Bluetooth® High Data Throughput (HDT), and Qualcomm XPAN Proximity AI […]

January 7, 2026June 23, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

Nordic Semi nRF54LM20B wireless SoC integrates 128 MHz Axon NPU for Edge AI workloads

Nordic Semi nRF54ML20B Arm Cortex-M33 wireless SoC is the first nRF54L microcontroller to integrate the ultra-efficient Axon Neural Processing Unit (NPU) for edge AI workloads. The NPU is said to deliver up to 7 times faster performance and up to 8 times higher energy efficiency versus (unnamed) competing wireless solutions for tasks such as sound classification, keyword spotting, and image-based detection. The Axon NPU is also about 15x faster compared to using the Cortex-M33 CPU for the same task. Other than the NPU, the nRF54LM20B offers exactly the same features as the earlier nRF54LM20A wireless microcontroller, including up to 2 MB NVM, 512 KB RAM, a 128 MHz Arm Cortex-M33 plus RISC-V coprocessor, high-speed USB, up to 66 GPIOs, and an ultra-low-power 2.4 GHz radio supporting Bluetooth LE, Bluetooth Channel Sounding, Matter over Thread, and more as shown in the nRF54L comparison table below. Like other nRF54L wireless SoCs, the […]

September 26, 2025June 23, 2026 by Debashis Das - No Comments

Nordic nRF54LM20A Cortex-M33 wireless MCU doubles the SRAM to 512 KB, increases flash capacity

Nordic Semiconductor nRF54LM20A Low Power Matter Bluetooth MCU

Nordic Semi’s nRF54LM20A is a new Cortex-M33-based high-memory wireless MCU part of the nRF54L Series with double the SRAM and higher flash capacity compared ot the nRF54L15. It targets consumer, industrial, healthcare, and smart home applications, and is especially suitable for HID peripherals and gaming devices. The SoC integrates a 128 MHz Arm Cortex-M33 core with a RISC-V coprocessor, 2 MB NVM, and 512 KB RAM, alongside up to 66 GPIOs, high-speed USB, and Nordic’s fourth-generation ultra-low-power 2.4 GHz radio supporting Bluetooth LE, Thread, Zigbee, Channel Sounding, and Matter. It offers twice the processing power, three times the efficiency, and up to 50% lower power consumption than the nRF52 Series. nRF54LM20A key specifications and comparison with other nRF54 Series SoCs: The nRF54LM20A comes in two packages: a CSP98 (3.9 x 3.7 mm) package for compact designs with 66 GPIOs, and a QFN52 (6 x 6 mm) package with 35 GPIO […]