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May 17, 2022May 18, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

“ESP32-C3-0.42LCD” is a tiny WiFi & BLE IoT board with 0.42-inch display, Qwiic connector

01Space “ESP32-C3-0.42LCD” is a small (23.5 x 18 mm) board equipped with ESP32-C3 RISC-V WiFi and Bluetooth microcontroller, a 0.42-inch display, and a Qwicc I2C connector to easily add modules such as sensors. The first time I saw it, the form factor immediately reminded me of the nRF52840-based XIAO BLE Sense board I just used to test Edge Impulse machine learning framework. Both boards should have similar use cases, but XIAO BLE Sense includes a 6-axis IMU sensor, and I had to connect an OLED display, while the ESP32-C3 board already integrates a display, and I would have had to connect an external Qwicc module with an accelerometer. ESP32-C3-0.42LCD specifications: SoC – ESP32-C3FH4 SoC with RISC-V core @ 160 MHz, 4MB flash, 2.4GHz Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth 5 LE with Long-Range support Ceramic antenna Display – 0.42-inch LCD USB – 1x USB Type-C port for power and programming Expansion Qwiic I2C connector […]

May 13, 2022May 13, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

u-blox MAYA-W2 IoT module offers dual-band WiFi 6, Bluetooth LE 5.2, and Zigbee/Thread connectivity

u-blox MAYA-W2 is a tri-radio IoT module supporting dual-band WiFi 6, Bluetooth Low Energy 5.2, and IEEE 802.15.4 (Thread and Zigbee) connectivity based on the NXP IW612 or IW611 chipset introduced last January. The module is offered with a PCB antenna, u.FL connectors, and/or antenna pins, supports up to 600 Mbps link speed, and targets industrial and consumer mass-market applications in industrial automation, smart building & energy management, healthcare, smart home, and more. u-blox MAYA-W2 highlights: Wi-Fi 6 802.11ax dual-band 2.4 and 5 GHz Up to 600 Mbit/s throughput Output power EIRP – 18 dBm Operation modes: Access point (up to 16 stations), station, Wi-Fi direct (combinations) Bluetooth 5.2 Dual-mode Bluetooth classic and Bluetooth Low Energy 5.2 LE Audio Output power EIRP – 20 dBM Bluetooth profiles and services – Bluetooth HCI 802.15.4 radio Supports Thread and Zigbee Support for the Matter protocol Variants with PCB-antenna, U.FL connectors, and antenna […]

May 11, 2022May 11, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Nordic Semi launches the nRF5340 Audio DK for Bluetooth LE Audio development

Nordic Semiconductor nRF5340 Audio DK is a Bluetooth LE audio development kit that enables better audio quality with LC3 codec, longer playtime, and new features such as Multi-Stream Audio and and Broadcast Audio. Equipped with the nRF5340 dual-core Cortex-M33 SoC, nPM1100 PMIC, and Cirrus Logic’s CS47L63 Audio DSP, the kit can be configured as a True Wireless Stereo (TWS) earbud, an LE Audio USB dongle, an enterprise headset, or a broadcast receiver. nRF5340 Audio DK specifications: WiSoC – Nordic Semi nRF5340 dual-core Arm Cortex-M33 multi-protocol microcontroller with support for Bluetooth 5.3 LE, Bluetooth mesh, NFC, Thread, Zigbee, 802.15.4, ANT, and 2.4 GHz proprietary; 1 MB flash and 512 KB of RAM for the 128 MHz application core, and 256 KB Flash and 64 KB RAM for the 64 MHz network core. Storage – MicroSD card holder Audio Cirrus Logic Audio DSP CS47L63 3.5mm mono headphone jack, 3.5mm stereo analog Line IN […]

May 2, 2022May 4, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

LilyGO T-PicoC3 board merges RP2040 & ESP32-C3, integrates color display

LilyGO T-PicoC3 is a small development board combining Raspberry Pi RP2040 dual-core microcontroller with ESP32-C3 RISC-V MCU to add WiFi and Bluetooth LE connectivity and adds a 1.14-inch color display to the mix, plus several I/Os. We had previously other designs merging ESP32 and RP2040 with UDOO KEY, Arduino Nano RP2040 Connect, or the Pico Wireless Pack among others, but as far as I know, the T-PicoC3 board is the first to use Raspberry Pi RP2040 and ESP32-C3 RISC-V processor. LilyGO T-Pico3 specifications: Microcontrollers Raspberry Pi RP2040 dual-core Cortex-M0+ MCU with 264 KB of embedded SRAM Espressif Systems ESP32-C3 RISC-V processor with WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 5.0 LE connectivity Storage – 4MB SPI flash connected to RP2040 Display – 1.14-inch full-color IPS LCD Display (ST7789V SPI controller) with 240 x 135 resolution USB – USB Type-C port for power and programming (RP2040 / ESP32-C3) Expansion – 15-pin + 12-pin expansion […]

April 27, 2022April 27, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 13 Comments

$10 T-Zigbee board combines ESP32-C3 and TLSR8258 for Zigbee 3.0, WIFi and BLE connectivity

LilyGO T-Zigbee board combines ESP32-C3 WiFi and BLE wireless microcontroller and Telink TLSR8258 multi-protocol wireless SoC compatible with BLE 5 Mesh, Zigbee, RF4CE, Thread, 6LoWPAN, HomeKit, ANT, and 2.4GHz proprietary standards. As I understand it, T-Zigbee is designed to act as a Zigbee to WiFi bridge, and is compatible with Zigbee2MQTT and Home Assistant, allowing easy integration into your home automation setup. Based on the hardware, I’d assume it may be usable as a BLE to MQTT gateway as well, in a fashion similar to GL.inet GL-S10 gateway, for people willing to work on the software/firmware. T-Zigbee specifications: Wireless MCUs Espressif Systems ESP32-C3 RISC-V processor with WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 5.0 LE connectivity Telink Semiconductors TLSR8258 (PDF product brief) Arm Cortex-M0 multiprotocol microcontroller @ 48 MHz with BLE 5 Mesh, Zigbee, RF4CE, Thread, 6LoWPAN, HomeKit, ANT, and 2.4GHz proprietary connectivity Antennas – 2x PCB antennas, 2x u.FL antenna connectors USB […]

April 25, 2022April 25, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

ESP32-C2 WiFi & Bluetooth LE 5.0 chip to support Matter WiFi protocol

Espressif ESP32-C2 is a new WiFi 4 and Bluetooth LE 5.0 chip the Shanghai-headquartered company has been working on since last year. The company claims it has better RF performance due to a smaller package reducing stray parasitics, and it will support the Matter protocol whose first version should become ratified later this year. The first ESP32-C2 product wafers have been received by the Shanghai team in spite of the current lockdown and quarantine in Shanghai due to the COVID-19, and teams in other parts of Asia, Europe, and Singapore are working without interruption on software integration into ESP-IDF and ESP-RainMaker. ESP32-C2 preliminary specifications: RISC-V core 272KB of memory Connectivity WiFi 4 + BLE 5.0 Tx power 20 dBm (FCC limit) 18 dBm for 802.11N MC7 packets (72.2 Mbps) Receiver sensitivity – -97 to -100 dBm for 1 Mbps 802.11B packets. Receive current – 58 mA Package – 4 x […]

April 13, 2022April 13, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Nordic Semi nRF52840 Bluetooth 5.2 LE module achieves over 10 km range

Fanstel BT840XE Bluetooth LE 10 km range

Fanstel BT840XE is an nRF52840 Bluetooth 5.2 LE module with a power amplifier designed for transmission at over 4500 meters, and some deployments with two BT840XE modules and 0Dbi antennas even reach over 10 km. At home, I can use my Bluetooth headset about 6 to 8 meters from my phone before the audio starts cutting, and most Bluetooth devices have an advertised 10-meter range, although Bluetooth class 2 devices could transmit up to 100 meters away. But with Bluetooth 5, the wireless standard improvement meant it was not possible to get four times the range, and/or some further extended the range of their hardware with a power amplifier as we’ve seen with the RFCat N32 board a few years ago. Last week, I got contacted by a company called RF Star about a Texas Instruments CC2652P multi-protocol mobile with PA (power amplifier) that could achieve a range of 500 […]

April 12, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

RAKwireless adds more Wisduo and Wisblock modules, launches WisToolBox configuration tool for IoT devices

RAKwireless have launched several Wisduo wireless modules, a dozen of Wisblock modules for IoT prototyping, updated WisDM, WisGateOS, and RUI3 software, and introduced WisToolBox mobile/desktop configuration tool for IoT devices as part of their spring launch 2022 even entitled “Empowering the Innovators: Making IoT your own”. Three new Wisduo modules RAK3172-SIP WisDuo SIP based on STM32WLE5 Wireless SoC with LoRa connectivity. Compared to the original RAK3172, it offers more IO pins, integrates a TCXO, and comes in a smaller size. The module supports LoRa P2P and complies with Class A, B, & C of LoRaWAN 1.0.3 specifications. Cost: $5.99. WisDuo RAK3272-SiP – That’s a breakout board for the RAK3172-SiP System-in-a-Package module for LoRaWAN and allows easy access to all pins via 2.54mm pitch headers. RAK4630 WisDuo Stamp Module – This module supports both LoRa/LoRaWAN and BLE 5.0, and comes with RUI V3 (RUI3) firmware. It can be deployed as an […]