STMicroelectronics announced its new modular Power-Line Communication (PLC) modem chipset. The chipset will provide more flexibility to manufacturers of utility meters, smart-grid nodes, streetlamps, and home and industrial controllers. Three leading global smart-meter manufacturers are already designing solutions based on this new platform. A turnkey solution, the chipset consolidates protocol handling to package and adapt data […]
Connectivity
Software Kit aids development of Bluetooth Mesh Networking
The official Bluetooth body, the Special Interest Group (SIG), made a giant leap with the recently released Bluetooth 5 specification that standardizes mesh networking: connecting large numbers of devices capable of communicating among themselves as well as directly with mobile phones. All smartphones currently on the market can connect to objects in Bluetooth Mesh networks […]
MCUs carry integrated ultrasonic sensing for smart water meter apps
Texas Instruments unveiled a new family of MSP430 microcontrollers (MCUs) with an integrated ultrasonic sensing analog front end that enables smart water meters to deliver higher accuracy and lower power consumption. In addition, TI introduced two new reference designs that make it easier to design modules for adding automated meter reading (AMR) capabilities to existing […]
868-MHz wireless module for Raspberry Pi has 2-km range
AMBER wireless GmbH, a Würth Elektronik eiSos Group company, offers a design kit with which developers can realize applications for wireless connection in the sub-GHz band. AMBER PI is a plug-on wireless module for the Raspberry Pi 3B. Besides the power-saving sub-GHz wireless interface from AMBER wireless, the board is equipped with integrated sensors for temperature, humidity, […]
Connectivity combo chip leverages 28nm process technology to prolong battery life
Cypress Semiconductor Corp. announced a new combo solution that delivers ultra-low power Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity to extend battery life for wearables, smart home products and portable audio applications. The new Cypress CYW43012 prolongs battery life by leveraging 28nm process technology to cut power consumption up to 70 percent in receive mode and up to 80 percent […]
New Arduino boards deliver embedded LoRa and GSM connectivity
Arduino has unveiled the new Arduino MKR WAN 1300 (LoRa) and the Arduino MKR GSM 1400, two new boards that are designed to offer a practical and cost-effective solution for developers, makers and enterprises, enabling them to quickly add connectivity to their projects and ease the development of battery-powered IoT edge applications. The new Arduino […]
iOS 11 toolkit expand iPhone NFC capabilities into IoT
NXP Semiconductors N.V., co-inventor of NFC technology, introduced a new toolkit for NFC tagging ICs with iOS support, which unlocks the potential to now connect billions of consumer and industrial products to the Internet of Things (IoT). With Apple’s announcement, earlier this summer, to support NFC read capabilities for NFC Forum-compliant tags, NXP’s portfolio of advanced NFC tagging […]
GNSS boards provide positioning and orientation data
Trimble introduced a new family of Trimble BD GNSS boards for high-precision guidance and control applications. The BD boards’ simple connectivity and configuration allow system integrators and OEMs to easily add GNSS positioning and orientation—with the ability to upgrade its capabilities—using the same board footprint, connectors and software interface for specialized and custom hardware solutions. […]
Development kit speeds debugging of ARC-based SoCs
Synopsys, Inc. announced the new DesignWare ARC IoT Development Kit to accelerate software development and debug of ARC processor-based system-on-chip (SoC) designs. The ARC IoT Development Kit includes a silicon implementation of the ARC Data Fusion IP Subsystem as well as a rich set of peripherals commonly used in IoT designs such as USB, I3C and PWM. […]
GNSS SiPs consumes 25 mW in most environments,12 mW during instantaneous tracking
u‑blox announced the latest member of its ZOE‑M8 series of ultra‑small GNSS SiPs. The ZOE‑M8B is a GNSS System‑in‑Package (SiP) available for small battery powered consumer devices such as portable and wearable devices targeting the fitness, health monitoring, and personal tracker markets. Small battery powered devices are defined by their limited size, weight and power, which dictates that […]