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May 29, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

NXP MCX W72x Cortex-M33 wireless SoC supports Bluetooth 6.0 with Channel Sounding, Zigbee, Thread and Matter

NXP MCX W72x series Cortex-M33 wireless SoCs support for Bluetooth 6.0 and an 802.15.4 radio for Zigbee, Thread, and Matter. The MCX W72x family also implements Bluetooth Channel Sounding for accurate distance measurements with the help of a Localization Compute Engine (LCE) to reduce latency. It’s the second MCU part of the MCX W wireless family following the MCX W71x MCU, and the new MCX W72x wireless microcontroller is offered with up to 264 KB SRAM, 2MB flash, features a dedicated Cortex-M33 core to handle Bluetooth and 802.15.4 radios, implements an EdgeLock Secure Enclave for security, and integrates plenty a range of I/Os in a 48-pin package. NXP MCX W72x key features and specifications: MCU cores and memory/storage Application core – Arm Cortex-M33 core up to 96 MHz with 2 MB program Flash with ECC, 264 kB SRAM with ECC and parity Networking core – Arm Cortex-M33 core with dedicated […]

May 22, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Silicon Labs SiXG301 and SiXG302 “Series 3” wireless SoCs are built for line-powered and battery-powered IoT applications

Silicon Labs SiMG301 Series 3 wireless SoC

Silicon Labs has just introduced the first 22nm Series 3 SoCs with the SiXG301 and SiXG302 Arm Cortex-M33 multiprotocol wireless SoCs designed for line-powered and battery-powered IoT devices, respectively. The SiXG301 is offered with 4MB flash and 512 KB SRAM, embeds an LED pre-driver for advanced LED smart lighting and smart home products, and supports 2.4 GHz wireless protocols such as Bluetooth, Zigbee, and Thread with support for Matter. The upcoming SiXG302 Bluetooth and Matter SoC offers an ultra-low-power consumption using only 15 µA/MHz active current, or 30% lower than competitive devices in its class, and as such is ideal for battery-powered wireless sensors and actuators. We’ll be focusing on the SiMG301 multi-protocol SoC and SiBG301 Bluetooth LE SoC in this article since the details are sparse for the SiXG302 parts (SiMG302 and SiBG302). Silicon Labs SiMG301 / SiBG301 specifications: MCU Core – 32-bit Arm Cortex-M33 with DSP instructions and […]

May 21, 2025 by Debashis Das - No Comments

Adafruit Sparkle Motion Stick – A compact ESP32-S3 USB WLED controller board with dual 5V LED outputs, an I2S Mic, and a snap-fit enclosure

Adafruit Sparkle Motion Stick + Enclosure Kit

Adafruit has recently released the Adafruit Sparkle Motion Stick, a compact, WLED-friendly Neopixel USB controller board built around an ESP32-S3 Module designed for audio-reactive LED projects, cosplay props, holiday lighting, and more. The module comes with a USB Type-A port for programming and power input (5V, 2A max), and a simple enclosure for protection (not weatherproof). It includes a built-in I2S microphone for audio-reactive effects, an IR receiver for remote control. Other than that it has a user-programmable button, an onboard NeoPixel LED, and a red status LED with two 5V-level shifted signal outputs with power and to connect the LEDs a screw terminal blocks. Adafruit Sparkle Motion Stick specifications SoC – ESP32-S3 dual-core Xtensa LX7 MCU @ 240MHz with 2.4GHz Wi-Fi and BLE 5 LED Control – 2x level-shifted output channels (5V logic) with terminal blocks (26–20AWG support) Audio Input – Built-in I2S MEMS digital microphone for audio-reactive lighting Infrared […]

May 14, 2025May 14, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

SiFli SF32LB52J big.LITTLE Arm Cortex-M33 Bluetooth MCU powers the Core Time 2 smartwatch

SiFli SF23LB52J is a Bluetooth 5.3 microcontroller part of the SF32LB52x family with two Cortex-M33 in big.LITTLE configuration with a 240 MHz high-performance core for user application/GUI and a 24 MHz low-power core to manage the Bluetooth part. A few months ago, Eric Migicovsky, the founder of the smartwatch company Pebble, and now Core Devices, introduced the Core 2 Duo and Core Time 2 smartwatches running PebbleOS open-source firmware that were mostly relaunches of the never-released Pebble 2 and Pebble Time 2 with some tweaks. We already knew the Core 2 Duo would be based on a Nordic nRF52840 Arm Cortex-M4F microcontroller, however, the one for the Core Time 2 was kept secret. That’s until today, as Eric has just announced that the Core Time 2 would be based on the SiFli SF23LB52J MCU, since the smartwatch required an MCU with more RAM and processing power, and SiFli also offers […]

May 11, 2025May 11, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

ThinkNode M2 ESP32-S3-based Meshtastic handset features 1.3-inch OLED display, 1,000 mAh battery

Elecrow ThinkNode M2 is yet another Meshtastic handset for off-grid messaging and GPS coordinate sharing based on an ESP32-S3 module providing Bluetooth connectivity to a smartphone, and a Semtech SX1262 LoRa transceiver for low-power long-range wireless connectivity. It’s an evolution of the ThinkNode-M1, itself similar to the LILYGO T-Echo, based on a Nordic Semi nRF52840 Bluetooth module and SX1262 LoRa transceiver with an external antenna housed in a 3D printed enclosure. The new ThinkNode M2 is very similar but features a more powerful ESP32-S3 module instead, relies on a 1.3-inch OLED display instead of a 1.54-inch e-paper display, and is housed in an ABS plastic case. ThinkNode M2 specifications: Core module – ESP32-S3 module (looks to be ESP32-S3-WROOM-1 on the photo below) SoC – ESP32-S3 CPU – dual-core 32-bit microcontroller @ 240MHz Memory – 512KB SRAM, 8MB PSRAM Storage – 384KB ROM 4MB flash Wireless – 2.4GHz Wi-Fi and Bluetooth […]

May 6, 2025May 8, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

Compulab IOT-LINK – An ultra-compact NXP i.MX 9352 IoT gateway with WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.4, 4G LTE Cat 1-bis, and GbE connectivity

Compulab IOT-LINK is a low-cost, tiny industrial IoT gateway based on NXP i.MX 9352 Arm Cortex-A55/M33 AI SoC with support for Gigabit Ethernet, 4G LTE Cat 1-bis, WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.4, and Wireless Mesh connectivity. The fanless gateway also features two RS485 or CAN-FD interfaces and three DI / DO, and as an industrial-grade hardware platform, it takes 12V to 24V DC input, and can operate 24/7 in the -40°C to 80°C temperature range. Target applications include HVAC monitoring, industrial predictive maintenance, energy storage, EV charging, vehicle telematics and fleet management, and lighting control. IOT-LINK specifications: SoC – NXP i.MX 9352 CPU 2x Arm Cortex-A55 cores @ up to 1.7GHz Arm Cortex-M33 real-time core @ 250 MHz NPU – 0.5 TOPS Arm Ethos U65 microNPU System Memory – Up to 2GB LPDDR4 Storage – Up to 64GB eMMC flash Networking Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 port 4G/LTE Cat 1-bis cellular modem with […]

May 1, 2025 by Debashis Das - 2 Comments

Adafruit Sparkle Motion – An ESP32-based addressable LED controller with four outputs, 100W USB-C power, and WLED/xLights support

The Adafruit Sparkle Motion is an ESP32-based LED controller board designed to drive addressable LEDs, including WS2812B, APA102, SK6812, LPD8806, UCS2904, and SM16704. It supports both WLED and xLights projects and features an onboard 100W USB-C PD port to drive even high-voltage LED setups. The board includes dual power input options (USB-C PD with 5/12/20V selection and 2.1mm DC jack), a 5A fuse, and level-shifted output terminals for controlling addressable LEDs. The board also features a built-in I2S digital microphone, IR receiver, Stemma QT I2C port, USB-serial with auto-reset, GPIO breakout pads, onboard NeoPixel and status LED, and multiple JST and terminal connectors for sensor and control integration. It comes pre-assembled with terminal blocks for easy wiring, making it suitable for applications such as wearable electronics, home decor lighting, audio-reactive displays, and remote-controlled installations. Adafruit Sparkle Motion Specifications: SoC – ESP32-S3 dual-core Xtensa LX7 MCU @ 240MHz with 2.4GHz Wi-Fi and […]

April 30, 2025April 30, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

ESP32-C5 dual-band WiFi 6 SoC enters mass production, ESP32-C5-DevKitC-1 board launched for $15

Espressif Systems has just started mass production of the ESP32-C5 RISC-V wireless microcontroller with dual-band (2.4/5 GHz) WiFi 6, Bluetooth LE, and 802.15.4 (Zigbee, Thread) connectivity. The ESP32-C5-DevKitC-1 development is now available for about $15 on AliExpress, and should soon show up on the company’s Amazon store. So far, WiFi-capable Espressif microcontrollers have only supported 2.4 GHz WiFi since it’s cheaper and offers better range for IoT applications, but some applications may benefit from 5 GHz WiFi, so the company unveiled the ESP32-C5 dual-band WiFi 6 and BLE RISC-V MCU in June 2022. Design probably took longer than expected, but we noted documentation for an ESP32-C5 beta board in March 2024, and finally, the company has just announced that mass production has started. We’ll have a closer look at the ESP32-C5-DevKitC-1 board in this article, since it is different from the beta board. ESP32-C5-DevKitC-1 specifications: Wireless module – ESP32-C5-WROOM-1 SoC […]