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February 16, 2026February 16, 2026 by Debashis Das - 1 Comment

LR2021 LoRa Plus board combines Semtech LR2021 and Nordic nRF54L15 for high-speed FLRC and LoRa connectivity

Last year, Semtech released the LR2021 LoRa Plus transceiver chip, designed to address the low data-rate issue associated with LoRa, but surprisingly, they didn’t release a development board for the chip. Now, almost a year later, Seeed Studio and Semtech have partnered to introduce the LR2021 LoRa Plus development kit targeting long-range high-speed LoRa and FLRC applications up to 2.6 Mbps. Not only does the board support LoRa Gen 4 technology, providing Sub-GHz, 2.4 GHz ISM, and S/L-band operation, but a XIAO nRF54L15 board also adds dual-core processing (Arm Cortex-M33 + RISC-V) and supports other short-range protocols, including NFC, Bluetooth LE 6.0, Matter, Thread, and 2.4 GHz proprietary protocols. The development board also features a 0.96-inch 128×64 OLED, three Grove connectors for expansion, a USB Type-C for power, SWD debugging, and two Sub-GHz and 2.4 GHz SMA connectors. It is compatible with Arduino Uno, STM32 Nucleo, and Nordic DK boards. […]

February 11, 2026 by Debashis Das - No Comments

ESP32 Marauder 5G – Apex 5 module for Flipper Zero combines ESP32-C5, two Sub-GHz radios, nRF24, and GPS

Designed by HoneyHoneyTrading, the ESP32 Marauder 5G – Apex 5 Module is an ESP32-C5-based hacking and penetration testing tool for the Flipper Zero, with dual-band WiFi 6 (2.4GHz and 5GHz), two Sub-GHz radios (868MHz and 433MHz), an NRF24 radio, and a built-in GPS. This new Flipper Zero module can be considered an upgrade from the ESP32 Marauder – Double Barrel 5G, as it does not rely on a dual-chip configuration for 5 GHz operation, leveraging the ESP32-C5 dual-band capabilities instead. A microSD card slot handles storage, and the device can also save data directly to the Flipper Zero’s microSD card. It also features five antennas, including WiFi, Sub-GHz, nRF24, and GPS, along with dedicated LED indicators for the Sub-GHz radios and nRF24 activity. There is also a hardware button to toggle 433 MHz and 868 MHz Sub-GHz operation, a USB-C port, and a side button for power management and firmware […]

February 5, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

Texas Instruments to acquire Silicon Labs

Texas Instruments will acquire Silicon Labs for $231.00 per share, representing a total enterprise value of approximately $7.5 billion. The transaction is expected to complete in the first half of 2027, subject to receipt of regulatory approvals and other conditions. Silicon Labs wireless chips are fairly popular in Smart Home applications with Zigbee, Thread, and Matter connectivity, as well as low-power Bluetooth LE wearables and industrial Sub-GHz or 2.4 GHz IoT applications. I can still remember when Silicon Labs purchased Energy Micro in 2013, taking over the EFM32 Gecko MCU family, and about 13 years later, the company is changing hands again. Texas Instruments explains the rationale behind the solution as follows: The acquisition will create a global leader in embedded wireless connectivity solutions by combining Silicon Labs’ strong portfolio and expertise in mixed signal solutions with Texas Instruments’ leading analog and embedded processing portfolio and internally owned technology and […]

January 26, 2026January 25, 2026 by Debashis Das - No Comments

Infineon AIROC ACW741x Wi-Fi 7 ultra-low power tri-radio IoT SoC family support MLO, Wi-Fi sensing, BLE 6.0, and Thread

Infineon AIROC ACW741x family of Wi Fi 7 ultra low power tri radio IoT SoCs

Infineon has introduced the AIROC ACW741x tri-radio Wi-Fi 7 wireless SoC family designed for IoT and smart home devices. The company mentions it’s the first Wi-Fi 7 solution with a “20 MHz” 1×1 Wi-Fi 7 radio, Bluetooth 6.0 (including Channel Sounding), and an 802.15.4 radio for Thread and Matter support, in a 7×7 mm QFN package. When we think of Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be), we usually picture high-end routers and smartphones with gigabits of data over the huge 320 MHz channels. But the standard also includes features specifically designed for low-power IoT devices. Infineon’s new AIROC ACW741x family, which they claim is the “industry’s first” Wi-Fi 7 SoC specifically optimized for IoT applications, including smart home, battery-powered sensors, access control systems, asset tracking, video doorbells, IP cameras, smart locks, thermostats, and other always-connected devices requiring secure, low-power wireless connectivity. Infineon AIROC ACW741x specifications : Wireless Connectivity Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be) 1×1 SISO, […]

January 16, 2026January 15, 2026 by Debashis Das - 7 Comments

ESP32-S3 multi-radio Smart Home gateway features Ethernet, Zigbee, Thread, Z-Wave, Wi-Fi, BLE, and optional 4G LTE connectivity

SLZB Ultima multi radio smart home gateway with ESP32 S3 Zigbee Z Wave, Matter or Thread

SMLIGHT SLZB-Ultima is an ESP32-S3-based, multi-radio smart-home gateway with dual Zigbee/Thread radios, optional Z-Wave 800, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth LE, Ethernet with PoE, USB host expansion, and optional 4G LTE connectivity designed for advanced Home Assistant and DIY applications. The device also integrates an IR receiver and transmitter for controlling legacy appliances, GPIO and I²C for hardware expansion, a buzzer, physical buttons, service LEDs, and 12 on-board WS2812B RGB LEDs on the front for status indication. These features make it suitable for an all-in-one smart-home and IoT gateway rather than a simple coordinator. SMLIGHT SLZB-Ultima specifications: Main SoC – ESP32-S3 CPU – Dual-core LX7 microprocessor @ up to 240 MHz with Vector extension for machine learning Wireless – WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 5 with LE/Mesh Audio – Built-in buzzer and optional microphone for ESPHome Voice Assist Networking Wireless Dual Zigbee / Thread radios (Texas Instruments CC2674P10 + Silicon Labs EFR32MG24) Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n […]

January 14, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

eWeLink CUBE OS enables all SONOFF WiFi and Zigbee devices to connect to Matter

All SONOFF WiFi and Zigbee home automation devices can now work with the Matter protocol. This can be done in two ways: Software path (free of charge) – Use eWelink CUBE OS on a Raspberry Pi or other host computer to bridge SONOFF WiFi & Zigbee devices to Matter. Hardware path — Install a certified Matter gateway such as SONOFF iHost, ZBBridge-U, or NSPanel Pro, and pair your WiFi/Zigbee devices to use them with Matter. The main benefit is that you no longer need to use the eWelink app, and any SONOFF devices can now work with Matter-compatible platforms, such as Apple Home, Google Home, SmartThings, Amazon Alexa, and Home Assistant. I’ll focus on the software solution in this post. Most users will likely install eWelink CUBE OS on a Raspberry Pi 4/5 connected to a supported USB Zigbee dongle if they have Zigbee devices. SONOFF lists their own ZBDongle-MAX, […]

January 9, 2026January 9, 2026 by Debashis Das - No Comments

Quectel SRG091X and SRG093X NXP i.MX 9 industrial AIoT modules integrates Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.4, and 802.15.4 radios

Quectel SRG091X and SRG093X NXP i.MX Smart AIoT module

After releasing the very powerful P895BD-AP AIoT module at CES 2026, Quectel now released two new low-power industrial AIoT modules based on NXP’s i.MX 9 series SoCs. The module integrates Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.4, and 802.15.4 radios through the IW610G chipset, so it can simply be dropped into a PCB to create a fully compliant Matter Border Router without any RF design or coexistence concerns. While both modules share the same 46 x 41.5 mm form factor and wireless capabilities, they are different in terms of CPU power as the SRG091X is an entry-level solution built around a single-core NXP i.MX 91 processor, while the SRG093X features dual-core NXP i.MX 93 SoC, which includes a Cortex-M33 real-time core and a neural processing unit (NPU) for edge AI workloads. The module supports LPDDR4/LPDDR4X memory, eMMC storage, and various I/O options, including dual Gigabit Ethernet, USB 2.0, CAN-FD, SPI, UART, I²C/I³C, ADC, […]

January 7, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 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 […]