Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment on LoRa expansion boards work with Raspberry Pi SBC and Raspberry Pi Pico board (Crowdfunding)

LoRa expansion boards work with Raspberry Pi SBC and Raspberry Pi Pico board (Crowdfunding)

LoRa Expansion for Pico

We’ve covered a number of LoRa solutions based on Raspberry Pi boards, and SB Components is now offering another with the LoRa HAT for Raspberry Pi equipped with an Ebyte E22 LoRa module operating in either the 433 MHz, or 868 and 915 MHz bands. The company also offers a LoRa expansion for Pico based on the same E22 module, adding a small 1.14-inch LCD for information display, and designed for the Raspberry Pi Pico board with the RP2040 dual-core Cortex-M0+ microcontroller. LoRa HAT for Raspberry Pi specifications: LoRa connectivity LoRa Module (one or the other) Ebyte E22-900T22S based on SX1262, operating in the 850 MHz to 930 MHz band Ebyte E22-400T22S based on SX1268, operating in the 410 MHz to 493MHz band Supported frequencies – 433 MHz, 868 MHz, 915 MHz Range – Up to 5 km line-of-sight Antenna – SMA antenna connector USB – 1x Micro USB port […]

Posted on by Sponsored Post - 10 Comments on Ai Thinker enters the NB-IoT LPWAN market with EC-01 modules (Sponsored)

Ai Thinker enters the NB-IoT LPWAN market with EC-01 modules (Sponsored)

AI Thinker NB-IoT Modules

As we all know, 2G and 3G cellular networks are gradually being sunset, and NB-IoT has been formally incorporated into 3GPP standards. The LPWAN industry has ushered in new development opportunities for the Internet of Things market. Ai-Thinker has recently released three NB-IoT series modules: EC-01/EC-01F/EC-01G. The NB-IoT series modules are equipped with the EC616S chip platform, which is an ultra-low-cost, ultra-low power, ultra-high integration NB-IoT SOC chip, fully supporting the 3GPP R13/R14 NB-IoT standards with up to 159 kbps uplink. What are the benefits of the new modules? Better signal, more spectrum Better performance (equipped with EC616S) Ultra-low power consumption, stable and reliable connectivity I/O expansion, feature-rich module Check out the comparison table between AI Thinker NB-IoT modules part of the EC-01 family below. Ai-Thinker NB-IoT series modules adopt an SMD package that is convenient for mass production at the factory, and can use AOI to do the SMT […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments on Eigencomm EC616/EC616S SoC supports Cat-NB2 cellular IoT

Eigencomm EC616/EC616S SoC supports Cat-NB2 cellular IoT

EigenComm EC616

Eigencomm EC616/EC616S are Cortex-M3 microcontrollers supporting the 3GPP R13/R14 NB-IoT standard, with 3GPP R14 notably introducing the newer LTE Cat-NB2 standard allowing higher bitrates up to 127 kbps downlink, and up to 159 kbps uplink, and OTDOA and E-CID positioning methods. Both EC616 and EC616S are virtually identical, but the EC616S comes with fewer GPIOs and is designed for the lowest possible BoM cost for modules as small as 10×10 mm. Both target similar IoT applications such as wireless meter reading, smoke detection, smart street lights, smart logistics, asset tracking, smart fire monitoring, smart parking, smart home, wearable devices, industry 4.0, smart agriculture, and others. Eigencomm EC616/EC616S specifications: MCU core – Arm Cortex-M3 @ up to 204 MHz Frequency band – 663 MHz to 2200 MHz Protocol version – 3GPP R13/R14 Built-in PA output power – 23dBm Receiver sensitivity – EC616: -118 dBm, EC616S: -117 dBm Peripherals EC616 – 2x […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments on Conexio Stratus – An nRF9160 board with solar energy harvesting capability (Crowdfunding)

Conexio Stratus – An nRF9160 board with solar energy harvesting capability (Crowdfunding)

Conexio Stratus Shield

Conexio Stratus board is equipped with Nordic Semi nRF9160 System in Package (SiP) with LTE-M (eMTC) & NB-IoT cellular IoT connectivity as well as GPS support through a pair of u.FL connectors for antennas, together with 500MB of mobile data valid for ten years. Designed for battery operation, the devkit comes with built-in battery charging, monitoring, and energy-harvesting circuitry, plus an accelerometer and a temperature and humidity sensor that makes it ideal for prototyping cellular IoT systems such as asset-tracking applications, environmental monitoring, and smart-meter monitoring, among others. Conexio Stratus board   Conexio Stratus specifications: SiP – Nordic Semi nRF9160 system-in-package with Arm Cortex M33 MCU, 1 MB Flash, 256 kB RAM, cellular IoT modem, and GPS. Cellular Connectivity 3GPP LTE release 13 Category M1 and NB1 compliant 3GPP release 14 NB2 compliant RF Transceiver for global coverage supporting bands: Cat-M1: B1, B2, B3, B4, B5, B8, B12, B13, B14, […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment on RAK introduces Raspberry Pi RP2040 based LoRaWAN core, more Wisblock modules

RAK introduces Raspberry Pi RP2040 based LoRaWAN core, more Wisblock modules

RAKwireless has just launched the RAK11310 WisBlock LPWAN Module with Raspberry Pi RP2040 MCU and LoRaWAN connectivity, as announced after launching 14 new WisBlock modules for IoT prototyping last July. The RAK11310 module was introduced as part of the “Just Track It RAK Autumn Launch 2021” event together with the smallest WisBlock Base Board so far, as well as 11 new Wisblock modules which bring the total to 47 modules. RAK11310 – Raspberry Pi RP2040, LoRaWAN connectivity RAK11310 specifications: RAK11300 WisDuo LPWAN Module MCU – Raspberry Pi RP2040 dual-core Cortex-M0+ microcontroller @ 133MHz with 246 kB RAM LoRa connectivity SX1262 LoRa transceiver Worldwide frequency coverage RAK11310L – EU433, CN470 RAK11310 – EU868, US915, AU915, KR920, AS923, IN865, RU865 LoRaWAN 1.0.2 protocol stack (supports Class A & C) I/O ports – UART, I2C, GPIO, USB through a “Wisconnector” Debugging – Serial Wire Debug (SWD) interface Supply Voltage – 2.0 V ~ […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments on Blues Wireless Swan board adds castellated holes to Adafruit Feather form factor

Blues Wireless Swan board adds castellated holes to Adafruit Feather form factor

Adafruit Feather Castellated holes

We’ve often written about Adafruit Feather-compatible boards in the past, but Blues Wireless Swan board is a little different, as the STM32L4-based board comes with castellated holes instead of just through holes which allows the board to expose up to 55 GPIOs, or 36 more pins than a traditional feather-compatible board. The company also introduced the “Feather Starter Kit for Swan” that enables the board to work with the company’s Notecard LTE Cat-M/NB-IoT M.2 modem that ships with 10-year (up to 500MB) of IoT connectivity, as well as GPS/GNSS connectivity. The Swan board Swan specifications: MCU – STMicro STM32L4R5 Arm Cortex-M4 microcontroller clocked at 120Mhz with 2MB of flash and 640KB of RAM USB – 1x Micro USB port for power and programming Castellated holes giving access to 55 GPIO including: 8x analog input 16x digital 4x I2C, 3x SPI 1x USB OTG full speed 1x 14-channel DMA 12-bit ADC, […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments on Gateworks GW16146 is an 802.11ah WiFi HaLow Mini PCIe module

Gateworks GW16146 is an 802.11ah WiFi HaLow Mini PCIe module

GW16146v3 802.11ah WiFi Halow mPCIe module

Gateworks GW16146 is an 802.11ah WiFi HaLow Mini PCIe card designed to provide long-range wireless to IoT applications utilizing the company’s Venice and Newport single board computers. We first noticed 802.11ah WiFI LPWAN standard operating at 900 MHz for the Internet of Things in 2014, followed by Newracom NRC6101 chip in 2015, and the following year the Wi-Fi  Alliance decided to call the new standard “Wi-Fi HaLow“. I was expecting it to compete with the likes of LoRa and NB-IoT, but I have not heard much about it, and when I asked a WiFi module and board supplier earlier this year, they seemed surprised I would even be interested in this type of hardware and, obviously, did not have any… So it’s good to see some new hardware coming out. Gateworks GW16146 specifications: 802.11ah Halow connectivity Silex SX-NEWAH 802.11ah Module based on Newracom NRC7292 System-on-Chip (US only) Compliant with IEEE […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments on TTGO T-Motion USB adapter offers LoRa and GPS for under $30

TTGO T-Motion USB adapter offers LoRa and GPS for under $30

USB LoRaWAN GPS tracker adapter

USB adapters are one of the easiest ways to add new features to existing hardware, and if you’d like to add LoRa connectivity and GPS tracking to any device or board with a USB board TTGO T-Motion USB adapter offers just that. Manufactured by LilyGO, the USB dongle is based on AcSiP S76G system-in-package that integrates an STM32 MCU with a Semtech SX1276 LoRa transceiver and GPS into a single. The GPS antenna is placed on the board inside the enclosure, while the external LoRa antenna is connected through an SMA connector. TTGO T-motion specifications: SiP – AcSiP S76G system-in-package with STMicro STM32L073x Arm Cortex M0+ MCU with up to 192 KB of Flash memory and 20 KB of RAM, Semtech SX1276 supporting global 868 MHz or 915 MHz ISM-Bands, Sony CXD5603GF GNSS receiver. Antenna Internal GPS antenna External LoRa antenna Host interface – USB 2.0 male port Misc – […]