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June 13, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

GigaDevice GD32C231 entry-level Arm Cortex-M23 MCU ships with 12KB ECC SRAM, 32KB or 64KB ECC flash

GigabiDevice GD32C231 low cost Cortex M23 MCU

GigaDevice GD32C231 entry-level microcontroller is built around a 48 MHz Arm Cortex-M23 core with up to 64KB ECC flash, 12KB ECC SRAM, and is offered in 20-pin to 48-pin packages with up to 45 GPIOs, a range of peripherals, analog inputs, and timers. The company says the GD32C231 series targets cost-effective small home appliances, BMS (Battery Management Systems), small-screen display devices, battery-powered handhelds, industrial auxiliary controls, and automotive aftermarket systems. GigaDevice GD32C231 key features and specifications: Core – Arm Cortex-M23 @ up to 48 MHz Memory – 12KB SRAM with ECC Storage – 32KB or 64KB flash with ECC Audio – 1x I2S Low-speed Peripherals Up to 45x GPIO Up to 3x USART, 2x I2C, 2x SPI Analog 12-bit ADC with 13 channels 2x analog comparators Timers 4x 16-bit general-purpose (GP) timers 16-bit Advanced (AD) timer RTC IWDG, WWDG 24-bit SysTick Misc – CRC module Supply Voltage – 2.3 to […]

June 13, 2025June 13, 2025 by Debashis Das - No Comments

Renesas RA2L2 – The first low-power MCU with USB-C Revision 2.4 support

Renesas RA2L2 is the world’s first low-power MCU to support the USB-C Revision 2.4 standard with 15W CC detection, USB FS support. It also offers support for CAN Bus, I3C, and low-power UART. The announcement follows other devices from the Renesas RA series, such as the RA2A2 Arm Cortex-M23 MCU introduced in 2024, and the RA4L1 ultra-low-power MCU unveiled earlier this year with just 168 µA/MHz operation, dual-bank flash, and capacitive touch. The RA2L2 Cortex-M23 microcontroller also embeds up to 128KB of code flash, 16KB SRAM, and 4KB data flash for EEPROM-like storage. It supports a wide 1.6V to 5.5V supply voltage and an industrial-grade -40°C to +125°C temperature range. The MCU also integrates a ±1% high-accuracy on-chip oscillator, multiple timers including 16-bit and 32-bit PWM and low-power asynchronous timers, a 12-bit ADC, a real-time clock, and an internal temperature sensor. It’s available in 32- to 64-pin packages and offers […]

June 12, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

LILYGO MySondy GO LoRa32 board tracks radiosondes (weather balloons) with a 433MHz LoRa module

“LILYGO MySondy GO LoRa32” is a small ESP32-PICO-D4 board with a 433 MHz LoRa module and a 0.96-inch OLED designed to track (RS41) radiosondes, which are units attached to weather balloons used to collect meteorological data like temperature, humidity, and atmospheric pressure. It looks to be an older TTGO T3 board with a 433 MHz LoRa32 module from the company preloaded with the MySondo firmware that allows hobbyists in the amateur radio and weather enthusiast communities to track weather balloons and potentially recover them. LILYGO MySondy GO LoRa32 specifications: SiP – Espressif Systems ESP32-PICO-D4 system-in-package with ESP32 dual-core Xtensa processor @ 240 MHz, 2.4GHz Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.2 dual-mode, 4MB flash LoRa module – LORA32 RF Transceiver – Semtech SX1268 connected over SPI to the ESP32 SiP Frequency – 433 MHz (The T3 board has options for 868 and 915 MHz, which I suspect are not suitable for radiosondes) Tx […]

June 11, 2025June 11, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Quectel KCM0A5S Wi-SUN FAN module targets large IoT deployments for Smart Cities and Smart Agriculture

Quectel KCM0A5S is a Wi-SUN FAN module based on Silicon Labs EFR32FG25 Arm Cortex-M33 Sub-GHz wireless MCU, designed for applications such as street lighting, precision agriculture, industrial IoT, smart meters, and Smart Cities. Wi-SUN (IEEE 802.15.4g) is an LPWAN (Low Power Wide Area Network) standard leveraging IPv6 mesh networking for large-scale IoT deployments in Smart Cities and Smart Agriculture. The KCM0A5S module specifically supports the Wi-SUN Field Area Network (FAN) 1.1 protocol and operates across the 470–928 MHz frequency range. The module can act as a leaf node, a router, or a border router when paired with a Linux host in RCP (Radio Co-Processor) mode. Quectel KCM0A5S specifications: Wireless SoC – Silicon Labs EFR32FG25 CPU core – Arm Cortex-M33 core @ 97.5 MHz with DSP instruction and floating-point unit for signal processing Memory – 256 KB RAM data memory Storage – About 2MB flash program memory Radio – Sub-GHz radio operation […]

June 10, 2025 by Debashis Das - 3 Comments

$7 NearLink WS63E board supports Wi-Fi 6, BLE, and SparkLink Low Energy (SLE)

The HiHope_NearLink_DK_WS63E_V03 is a low-power NearLink dev board built around the HiHope HH-SPARK-WS63E module, which features the HiSilicon NearLink WS63E SoC with 2.4GHz Wi-Fi 6, BLE 5.2, and SparkLink (SLE) 1.0 support. It’s designed for Smart Home and AIoT applications requiring low power and high security. The NearLink WS63E SoC features a 240MHz 32-bit CPU, 606KB SRAM, and a 4MB flash. The board exposes various interfaces like SPI, QSPI, I2C, UART, ADC, PWM, and GPIOs through GPIO headers. Security features include hardware AES, RSA, ECC, and FIPS140-2-compliant RNG. Target applications include Smart Home appliances, wearables, medical monitoring, industrial testing, energy management, and Smart Agriculture. HiHope NearLink_DK_WS63E specifications: SoC – HiSilicon NearLink WS63E 32-bit microprocessor up to 240 MHz 606 KB SRAM, 300 KB ROM 4MB embedded Flash Wireless (2.4GHz) Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11b/g/n/ax (ch1–ch14), 20/40MHz (n), 20MHz (ax) Data rates: up to 150 Mbps (HT40), 114.7 Mbps (HE20) MAC: 802.11d/e/i/k/v/w; Features: A-MPDU, […]

June 9, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

$6.5 RAK11160 LoRaWAN, WiFi, and BLE module pairs ESP32-C2 with STM32WLE5 for low-power, long-range IoT

RAK11160 ESP32-C2 STM32WL LoRaWAN module

RAKwireless RAK11160 is a new low-cost, low-power LoRaWAN, WiFi 4, and Bluetooth LE module based on ESP32-C2 (ESP8684) wireless microcontroller and STM32WLE5 LoRa SoC for LPWAN IoT applications. The company noticed that many people would combine their STMicro STM32WL-based RAK3172 WisDuo LoRaWAN module with an ESP32 module to add WiFi and/or Bluetooth connectivity to their projects besides LoRaWAN. So RAKwireless decided to offer a module combining both STM32WL and ESP32-C2 to offer a cheap and much more compact solution to their customers. RAK1160 was born. RAwireless RAK11160 specifications: LPWAN SoC/SiP – STMicro STM32WLE5 Core – Arm Cortex-M4 MCU @ 48 MHz Memory – 64 KB RAM Storage – 256 KB flash memory with ECC Wireless – Sub-GHz radio based on Semtech SX126x LoRaWAN 1.0.4 specification compliant Supported bands – EU433, CN470, IN865, EU868, AU915, US915, KR920, RU864, and AS923 LoRaWAN Activation by OTAA/ABP LoRa Point-to-Point (P2P) communication Tx Power Output – […]

June 6, 2025 by Debashis Das - No Comments

Jetway PIC-ASL1 – A low-power Intel Atom x7213RE/x7433RE fanless industrial Pico-ITX SBC

Jetway PIC-ASL1 is a low-power, fanless Pico-ITX SBC built around the Intel Atom x7213RE or x7433RE Amston Lake SoC for industrial use. This SBC is very similar to the Alder Lake-N-based JPIC-ADN1, which Jetway released just last year. While both boards support up to 32GB DDR5 memory and dual displays via HDMI 2.0b and LVDS/eDP, the PIC-ASL1 adds industrial-grade resilience with shock/vibration resistance, a Nano SIM slot for cellular connectivity, and an Intel PTT for security. It also features a similar I/O layout, including dual USB 3.2 Gen 2, four USB 2.0, serial headers, two M.2 expansion slots, and a SATA III port for storage. Additionally, the PIC-ASL1 complies with various industrial standards, making it more suitable for use in harsh industrial environments compared to the ADN1. Jetway PIC-ASL1 specifications: Amston Lake SoC (one or the other) Intel Atom x7213RE dual-core processor @ 2.0 to 3.4 GHz with 6MB cache, […]

June 5, 2025June 5, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

STMicro STM32WBA5MMG is a tiny wireless module with Bluetooth LE 6.0, Zigbee 3.0, and OpenThread

STMicro’s STM32WBA5MMG is a tiny (12.5 x 8 mm), ultra-low-power 2.4 GHz wireless module based on the STM32WBA55UG wireless microcontroller with support for Bluetooth 6.0 LE, Zigbee 3.0, and OpenThread. The company further adds that designing a board for the module does not require any RF expertise, it provides a fully integrated Bill of Materials (BOM) with 32 MHz and 32 kHz crystals and integrated antenna matching or optional external antenna configurations, and its compatibility with 2-layer PCBs helps reduce costs. STM32WBA5MMG specifications: Wireless MCU – STMicro STM32WBA55UG Core – 32-bit Arm Cortex-M33 CPU with TrustZone®, MPU, DSP, and FPU Memory – 128 KB SRAM, including 64 KB with parity check Storage 1 MB flash memory with ECC, including 256 KB with 100 kcycles 512-byte (32 rows) OTP ART Accelerator – 8 KB instruction cache allowing 0-wait-state execution from flash memory (frequency up to 100 MHz, 150 DMIPS) Wireless Bluetooth […]