Texas Instruments Expands Portfolio of Wireless Connectivity Modules with SimpleLink Bluetooth LE

October 25 2016, 04:00
Texas Instruments (TI) announced an expansion of its wireless connectivity module portfolio with the availability of new SimpleLink Bluetooth low energy certified modules with integrated antenna which provide the longest range with ultra-low power consumption. Wireless connectivity modules have become increasingly popular among developers because advanced integration helps lower development costs, eases burden on RF design, reduces time to market and simplifies procurement and certification. 
 

The SimpleLink CC2650MODA device is a wireless microcontroller (MCU) module that targets Bluetooth low energy applications. The CC2650MODA device can also run ZigBee and 6LoWPAN and ZigBee RF4CE remote control applications. The module is based on the SimpleLink CC2650 wireless MCU, a member of the CC26xx family of cost-effective, ultra-low-power, 2.4-GHz RF devices. Very-low active RF and MCU current and low-power mode current consumption provide excellent battery lifetime and allow for operation on small coin-cell batteries and in energy-harvesting applications.

The CC2650MODA module contains a 32-bit ARM Cortex-M3 processor that runs at 48 MHz as the main processor and a rich peripheral feature set that includes a unique ultra-low-power sensor controller. This sensor controller is good for interfacing with external sensors or for collecting analog and digital data autonomously while the rest of the system is in sleep mode. Thus, the CC2650MODA device is good for applications within a wide range of products including industrial, consumer electronics, and medical devices.

The CC2650MODA module is pre-certified for operation under the regulations of the FCC, IC, ETSI, and ARIB. These certifications save significant cost and effort when integrating the module into new or existing designs. The Bluetooth low energy controller and the IEEE 802.15.4 MAC are embedded in the ROM and are partly running on a separate ARM Cortex-M0 processor. This architecture improves overall system performance and power consumption and makes more flash memory available.

Features of the new SimpleLink Bluetooth LE module include 128KB of In-System Programmable Flash, 8KB of SRAM for Cache, 20KB of Ultra-Low-Leakage SRAM; 2-Pin cJTAG and JTAG Debugging and support for Over-The-Air (OTA) upgrades. The ultra-low-power sensor controller can run autonomous from the rest of the system. Peripherals and interfaces include four General-Purpose Timer Modules (8 × 16-Bit or 4 × 32-Bit Timer, PWM Each), 12-Bit ADC, 200-ksamples/s, 8-Channel, Analog MUX, Continuous Time Comparator, Ultra-Low-Power Analog Comparator, Programmable Current Source UART, 2 × SSI (SPI, MICROWIRE, TI), I2C and 
I2S, with Real-Time Clock (RTC), AES-128 security module, True Random Number Generator (TRNG), 15 GPIOs, support for eight capacitive sensing buttons, and integrated temperature sensor.

RF Section includes an integrated antenna, 2.4-GHz RF transceiver compatible with Bluetooth low energy (BLE) 4.2, IEEE 802.15.4 PHY and MAC, and programmable output power up to +5 dBm. The solution is pre-certified for compliance with worldwide radio frequency regulations and development tools include full-featured and low-cost development kits, as well as multiple reference designs for different RF configurations. The Bluetooth low energy software stack (BLE-Stack) and the ZigBee software stack (Z-Stack) are available free of charge. Other available tools include Packet Sniffer PC Software, Sensor Controller Studio, SmartRF Studio, SmartRF Flash Programmer 2, IAR Embedded Workbench for ARM and Code Composer Studio.

TI’s wireless connectivity module-based development kits now available:
SimpleLink Bluetooth low energy CC2650MODA BoosterPack plug-in module: USD $29.00
SimpleLink Wi-Fi CC3200 module LaunchPad development kit: $34.99
SimpleLink Wi-Fi CC3100 module BoosterPack plug-in module: $24.99
Dual-mode Bluetooth CC2564MODA module BoosterPack plug-in module: $20.00
WiLink 8 Wi-Fi + Bluetooth module development boards:
WL1835MODCOM8B evaluation module: $39.79
WL1837MODCOM8I evaluation module: $49.99
WL18XXCOM82SDMMC evaluation module:  $69.99

www.ti.com/product/CC2650MODA

In addition to the new Bluetooth low energy modules, TI offers modules to ease development of products with Wi-Fi, dual-mode Bluetooth, Wi-Fi + Bluetooth combo connectivity technology and more. Those solutions are supported with extensive development kits and reference designs, including connectivity with Wi-Fi mesh networking capabilities for multi-room audio.

More about TI’s wireless connectivity modules:
www.ti.com/wirelessmodules
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