wireless News - Page 8 of 10 - CNX Software

December 8, 2023December 7, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

ESP32 may soon get an open-source WiFi MAC layer

Most, if not all, WiFi hardware relies on closed-source binary blobs including ESP32 wireless MCU, but there’s now work underway to reverse engineer a WiFi MAC layer for the ESP32 to make it a truly open-source platform. Espressif ESP32 wireless microcontrollers already have an open-source framework (ESP-IDF) and toolchain, people can customize the code to some extent, but this excludes the wireless bits (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, low-level RF functions) that are distributed as closed-source precompiled libraries integrated into the firmware. There were some efforts to provide an open-source stack for the BL602 chip but it never went anywhere, and the ESP32 may become the first target with an open-source driver without any blobs, excluding FPGA-based projects such as OpenWiFi. The early-stage implementation currently supports the following features: Sending WiFi frames Receiving WiFi frames Send an ACK packet as a reply to packets that are sent to the ESP32 Connect to an […]

December 5, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

LILYGO Mini E-Paper Core IoT controller gets ESP32-S3 wireless microcontroller

LILYGO Mini E-Paper Core has gotten an upgrade to the ESP32-S3 wireless microcontroller. The IoT controller was first introduced in 2021 with an ESP32-PICO-D4 system-in-package, a 1.02-inch E-Paper display, and a few GPIOs on the back, and the company kept the same design for the ESP32-S3 model called “Mini E-Paper Core S3”. The tiny ESP32-S3 IoT controller can still be used for integrated into your own project, and the company also provides several shields with nRF24L01 2.4GHz wireless or 433/868 MHz “LoRa” connectivity to transform the device into a longer range IoT device. Mini E-Paper Core S3 specifications Wireless SoC – Espressif Systems ESP32-S3FN4R2 CPU – Dual-core Tensilica LX7 @ up to 240 MHz with vector instructions for AI acceleration Memory – 512KB RAM, 2MB PSRAM Storage – 4MB flash Wireless – 2.4 GHz WiFi 4 and Bluetooth Storage – MicroSD card socket Display – 1.02-inch e-paper display with 128×80 […]

December 4, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

nRF7002 Expansion Board adds WiFi 6 to Nordic Thingy:53 devkit

nRF7002 Expansion Board Thingy:53 devkit

Nordic Semi keeps adding more nRF7002 WiFi 6 boards with the launch of the nRF7002 Expansion Board adding WiFi 6 connectivity to the Thingy:53 IoT prototyping platform and transforming it into an all-in-one wireless devkit with Matter, Bluetooth Low Energy, Thread, and WiFi 6 support. The new “nRF7002 EB” board follows the nRF7002 DK development kit combining the nRF7002 WiFi 6 with nRF5340 multiprotocol wireless SoCs, and the nRF7002 EK evaluation kit in Arduino UNO shield form factor adding WiFi 6 to existing Nordic development kits. nRF7002 Expansion Board specifications: Chipset – nRF7002 Wi-Fi Companion IC with support for features such as OFDMA (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access), Beamforming, Target Wake Time, and SSID-based locationing Antenna – 2.4 GHz / 5 GHz ceramic antenna I/Os Castellations for all pins on nRF7002 Thingy:53 expansion connector with SPI and a 3-wire coexistence interface to allow seamless coexistence with other wireless protocols Misc […]

November 21, 2023November 21, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

STMicro STM32WL3 sub-GHz wireless MCU targets smart metering, smart building, and industrial monitoring

STMicroelectronics STM32WL3 is an Arm Cortex-M0+ low-power, long-range, multi-protocol wireless microcontroller working in sub-GHz ISM frequency bands, namely 413MHz – 479MHz, 826MHz – 958MHz, and soon 169MHz (2024) for protocols such as wireless M-Bus (mode N) and Wize. The multi-protocol and multi-modulation radio supports 4-(G)FSK up to 600kbit/s, 2-(G)FSK, (G)MSK, DBPSK, DSSS, OOK, ASK modulation schemes suitable for proprietary and standardized wireless protocols such as Sigfox, KNX, WiSun, mioty, M-Bus, and others. STMicro also claims to have implemented new power-saving features that extend the battery life to up to 15 years. STM32WL3 key features and specifications: MCU Core – Arm Cortex-M0+ up to 64 MHz Memory – 16KB or 32KB SRAM with full retention Storage 128KB or 256KB flash 1 KB OTP flash (user data) Wireless RF bands – 413-479 MHz, 826-958 MHz, and soon 169 MHz Data rate – 0.1 to 600 kbit/s Tx power – up to […]

November 20, 2023November 20, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

WeAct ESP32H2-N4 – A $6 Bluetooth 5.2 LE, Zigbee 3.0, and Thread development board

WeAct ESP32H2-N4 is a low-cost ESP32-H2 development board with Bluetooth 5.2 LE, Zigbee 3.0, and Thread connectivity with a design very similar to the one of Espressif Systems’ ESP32-H2-DevKitM-1 development board, but sold for just $5.70 plus shipping. The ESP32-H2 wireless microcontroller is basically the little brother of the ESP32-C6 without WiFi and aims at low-power nodes in short-range IoT networks. We have previously seen it in Espressif hardware like the aforementioned ESP32-H2-DevKitM-1 and the ESP Thread Border Router board combining ESP32-H2 & ESP32-S3 wireless chips, but so far not in third-party boards, and WeAct ESP32H2-N4 changes that. WeAct ESP32H2-N4 specifications: Wireless module – ESP32-H2-MINI-1 MCU – Espressif Systems ESP32-H2 32-bit RISC-V microcontroller at up to 96 MHz with 320 KB SRAM, 128 KB ROM, 4 KB LP memory, Bluetooth 5.2 LE/Mesh and 802.15.4 (Zigbee/Thread/Matter) radios. Storage – 4MB flash storage PCB antenna Dimensions – 13.2×16.6×2.4 mm USB – 2x […]

November 20, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

MediaTek Filogic 860 & Filogic 360 WiFi 7 chipsets target mainstream BE7200 routers and clients

MediaTek has unveiled two new WiFi 7 chipsets with the Filogic 860 tri-core Arm Cortex-A73 SoC designed for up to BE7200 mainstream routers and gateways and Filogic 360 WiFi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 chip for client devices such as smartphones, PCs, laptops, set-top boxes, OTT streaming boxes, etc… for up to 2.9 Gbps bandwidth. The new Filogic 860 and Filogic 360 chipsets provide more cost-effective alternatives to the Filogic 880 SoC for up to BE36000 routers and Filogic 380 clients chip capable of up to 6.5 Gbps PHY data rate, both of which were introduced in May 2022. MediaTek Filogic 860 Filogic 860 specifications: CPU – 3x Arm Cortex-A73 cores clocked at up to 1.8 GHz Network Processing Unit (NPU) – Hardware QoS acceleration and Tunneling Offload Engine for VLAN / PPTP / L2TP / GRE Networking Crypto engine (EIP-197) – For IPv4 NATP / IPv6 / DS-Lite / 6RD […]

November 17, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

MessengerPi – A LoRa messenger and walkie-talkie based on Raspberry Pi RP2040 (Crowdfunding)

SB Components MessengerPi is a DIY messenger and walkie-talkie based on a Raspberry Pi RP2040 that relies on LoRa communication for P2P messaging over distances of up to 5 kilometers and calls up to 300 meters away. The company actually provides two boards: the MessengerPi itself for both calls and messaging with a keyboard, and the smaller “Walky Talky” board for audio communication only and without a LoRa module. Messenger Pi specifications: MCU – Raspberry Pi RP2040 dual-core Cortex-M0+ microcontroller @ 133 MHz with 264KB SRAM Storage – MicroSD card slot Wireless Ebyte E22-900T22S LoRa module (also used in the company’s LoRa HAT for Raspberry Pi) Based on the Semtech SX1262 transceiver Operates in the 850 MHz to 930 MHz band Up to 5km LoRa text messaging SB Components marked Walkie-Talkie module 16 FRS channels Tx Power – Up to 17 dBm Rx sensitivity – Up to -98dBm Audio communication […]

November 14, 2023December 4, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

u-blox MAYA-W3 industrial wireless module supports WiFi 6/6E and Bluetooth 5.4 with LE Audio

We’ve already covered two IoT-focused WiFi 6 and Bluetooth LE chips last week with Synaptics SYN43711 chipset and Gigadevice GD32VW553 RISC-V WiSoC, but there’s more, and u-blox has recently introduced the MAYA-W3 WiFi 6/6E and Bluetooth 5.4 module with LE Audio support and designed for industrial applications. It follows the MAYA-W2 industrial IoT module with NXP iW611/iW612 SoC introduced last year. The MAYA-W3 module offers some flexibility as it’s designed on the upcoming Infineon AIROC CYW5551x WiFi 6E and Bluetooth 5.4 chip family supporting 2.4 GHz only (CYW55511), 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz (CYW55512), and a 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz with the tri-band CYW55512 chipset. u-blox also provides three antenna options for each model with two U.FL connectors, two antenna pin connectors, or an embedded PCB antenna. u-Blox MAYA-W3 specifications: Chipset – Infineon AIROC CYW5551x CYW55511 for 2.4 GHz WiFi 6 CYW55512 for 2.4 and 5 GHz […]