SONOFF Zigbee Bridge Pro gateway supports up to 128 sub-devices

SONOFF Zigbee Bridge Pro

ITEAD has just introduced the SONOFF Zigbee Bridge Pro WiFi <-> Zigbee gateway as an upgrade to the Sonoff ZBBridge gateway launched in 2020. Both devices look exactly the same, and the changes are under the hood with the EFR32MG21 and ESP8266/ESP8285 combo being replaced by Texas Instruments SimpleLink CC2652P and ESP32 chips to boost the number of supported sub-devices from 32 to 128. Other changes include the addition of a buzzer acting as an alarm or doorbell chime, as well as a “built-in high-precision local RTC” for gateway time synchronization of local scene schedules. SONFF Zigbee Bridge Pro (aka ZB Bridge-P) specifications: Wireless MCUs Texas Instruments CC2652P SimpleLink Arm Cortex-M4F multiprotocol 2.4 GHz wireless MCU with integrated power amplifier Espressif Systems ESP32-DOWN-V3 dual-core processor with WiFi 4 and Bluetooth LE Wireless Connectivity – 2.4 GHz 802.11b/g/n WiFi 4 and Zigbee 3.0 Supports for up to 128 sub-devices Support for […]

$10 T-Zigbee board combines ESP32-C3 and TLSR8258 for Zigbee 3.0, WIFi and BLE connectivity

T-Zigbee ESP32-C3 WiFi Zigbee board

LilyGO T-Zigbee board combines ESP32-C3 WiFi and BLE wireless microcontroller and Telink TLSR8258 multi-protocol wireless SoC compatible with BLE 5 Mesh, Zigbee, RF4CE, Thread, 6LoWPAN, HomeKit, ANT, and 2.4GHz proprietary standards. As I understand it, T-Zigbee is designed to act as a Zigbee to WiFi bridge, and is compatible with Zigbee2MQTT and Home Assistant, allowing easy integration into your home automation setup. Based on the hardware, I’d assume it may be usable as a BLE to MQTT gateway as well, in a fashion similar to GL.inet GL-S10 gateway, for people willing to work on the software/firmware. T-Zigbee specifications: Wireless MCUs Espressif Systems ESP32-C3 RISC-V processor with WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 5.0 LE connectivity Telink Semiconductors TLSR8258 (PDF product brief) Arm Cortex-M0 multiprotocol microcontroller @ 48 MHz with BLE 5 Mesh, Zigbee, RF4CE, Thread, 6LoWPAN, HomeKit, ANT, and 2.4GHz proprietary connectivity Antennas – 2x PCB antennas, 2x u.FL antenna connectors USB […]

Sonoff ZBBridge gateway can be used as a Zigbee router/repeater

Sonoff ZBBridge Zigbee router

Sonoff ZBBridge WiFi to Zigbee gateway was introduced in April 2020, and a few months later got support for Tasmota ESP8266 firmware and Gecko firmware for either Home Assistant or Zigbee2MQTT support. But there’s now a new Tasmota firmware that converts Sonoff ZBBridge into a Zigbee router (a.k.a. Zigbee Signal Repeater or Zigbee Range Expender) following a request on Tastoma Github’s issue tracker from last year. The firmware, unofficial yet signed, was released a few days ago by xsp1989 Github’s user with a link to the firmware on Google Drive. Digiblur successfully tried it out on its own Sonoff Zigbee bridge and published the instructions. Assuming you already have Tasmota flashed to the device, switching to the router software is basically a firmware upgrade from the Tasmota web interface. Once the update is complete, you’ll still need to access the console in Tasmota in order to run a command to […]

JetHome JetHub D1 is a Linux automation controller based on Amlogic A113X SoC

JetHub D1 & H1 automation controllers

I discovered JetHome Jethub D1 and Jethub H1 Linux automation controller based on respectively Amlogic A113X and S905X SoCs in Linux 5.16 changelog, as both platforms got upstreamed to mainline Linux. I had never heard of JetHome, a Russian company based in St. Petersburg, nor their products before. Both Jethub D1 & H1 will run either an Armbian-built Ubuntu operating system or Home Assistant Operating System (formerly HassOS), and support Home Assistant (Z2M), Home Assistant (ZHA), and ZIgbee2MQTT. Jethub H1 looks like a TV box with a Zigbee module, while Jethub D1 is a DIN Rail automation controller with plenty of I/Os. Let’s focus on the latter. JetHub D1 specifications: SoC – Amlogic A113x quad-core Cortex A53 processor @ up to 1.5 GHz System Memory / Storage configurations 512MB RAM and 8 GB flash 1GB RAM and 16 GB eMMC flash Connectivity 10/100M Ethernet RJ45 port Dual-band WiFi 5 and […]

SONOFF ZBMINI-L Zigbee 3.0 Smart Switch works without neutral wire

Sonoff Zigbee switch no neural wire

When using a wireless switch like SONOFF T2 a connection to the neutral wire is needed to power the device, but this is not always feasible/practical as many lights as cabled without a neutral wire. SONOFF ZBMINI-L Zigbee 3.0 smart switch solves this issue as it does not require a neutral wire. Simply connect the two wires for the light and you are good to go. ITEAD says its solution does not require an extra anti-flicker module and relies on an “advanced electricity extraction technique”. SONOFF ZBMINI-L specifications: Connectivity – Zigbee 3.0 via TI CC2652P, up to 50 meter range (line of sight) Input – 100-240V 50/60Hz up to 6A Output – 100-240V 50/60Hz up to 6A Max. Load Resistive – 1380W Max @ 230V, 720W Max @ 120V LED – 300W Max @ 230V, 150W Max @ 120V Dimensions – 54 x 45 x 24mm (supports 35mm DIN Rail […]

Silicon Labs BG24 and MG24 2.4 GHz wireless MCU’s quadruple AI performance at a fraction of the energy

Silicon Labs BG24 & MG24 block diagram

Machine Learning is getting everywhere including into 2.4GHz wireless microcontrollers with SIlicon Labds BG24 Bluetooth and MG24 multi-protocol Cortex-M33 microcontrollers that improve AI/ML performance by 4 times using 1/6th of the energy thanks to a built-in AI accelerator. That makes the new microcontrollers suitable for battery-powered edge AI devices with support for Matter (coming soon) as well as PSA Level 3 Secure Vault protection. Silicon Labs expects the chips to be found in various smart home, medical and industrial applications. BG24 and MG24 share the same block diagram and the same specifications apart from the supported wireless protocols: MCU core – Arm Cortex-M33 @ 78.0 MHz with DSP instruction and floating-point unit Memory – Up to 256 kB RAM data memory Storage – Up to 1536 kB flash program memory Wireless CPU – Arm Cortex-M0+ 2.4 GHz Radio Performance -104.5 dBm sensitivity @ 250 kbps O-QPSK DSSS -104.9 dBm sensitivity […]

NXP IW612 Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2, 802.15.4 tri-radio solution supports Matter

NXP IW612 block diagram

Matter, previously known as Project Chip, is a unified interface for Smart Home devices to improve interoperability between devices from different manufacturers and associated services like Google Assitant or Amazon Alexa. Matter can work over Thread, WiFi, Ethernet, BLE, etc… so it’s not limited by the physical layer. So far, we mostly heard about development related to Matter, and Espressif has published a series of posts about Matter to be for instance used by their upcoming ESP32-H2 wireless MCU, but I had not seen many other solutions, not commercial products. This is going to change in 2022, as Belkin announced it’s working on “redesigned smart plugs and lighting solutions” with support for Matter over Thread” that start selling this summer. Separately, NXP also announced the IW612 tri-radio solution with Matter support and dual-band WiFI 6, Bluetooth 5.2, and 802.15.4 radios. NXP IW612 IW612 key features and specifications: Dedicated, independent CPUs […]

$1.8 XT-ZB1 Zigbee & BLE devkit features BL702 RISC-V module

XT-ZB1 Zigbee development board

Bouffalo Labs BL702 is a 32-bit RISC-V microcontroller with a 2.4 GHz radio for Zigbee 3.0 and Bluetooth 5.0 LE connectivity that we first found in the Sipeed RV-Debugger Plus UART & JTAG debug board that did not make use of the radio at all. But a BL702 development kit was brought to my attention, with the XT-ZB1 devkit equipped with a Zigbee & BLE module of the same name, and sold for just $1.80 per unit on Aliexpress. Shipping adds $4.63 where I live, but they also offer packs of 5 or 10 with the same shipping fee, meaning if you buy 10 the total cost should be around $22 including shipping, or around $2.2 per board. Alternatively, the module alone goes for $1. XT-ZB1 devkit specifications: XT-ZB1 wireless module with MCU – BL702C 32-bit RISC-V microcontroller @ 144 MHz with FPU, 132KB RAM, 192KB ROM, 1Kbit eFuse Storage […]