STMicroelectronics has announced the next generation of its STM32 power-efficient short-range wireless microcontrollers (MCUs) that simplify connecting consumer and industrial devices to the IoT.
The new STM32WBA6 series is used in connected, smart devices like wearable healthcare and wellness monitors, animal collars, electronic locks, remote weather sensors, and more. The new MCUs can handle richer functionality in emerging new product designs by packing extra memory, and digital system interfaces while preserving energy efficiency.
The STM32WBA6 MCUs also embed SESIP3 and PSA Level3 certifiable security assets, such as cryptographic accelerators, TrustZone® isolation, random generator, and product lifecycle that will contribute and enable ST customers to reach compliancy towards the upcoming RED and CRA regulations.
The wireless subsystem in the new STM32WBA6 microcontrollers supports Bluetooth, Zigbee, Thread, Matter, and other protocols operating in the 2.4GHz frequency band, and allows communication using multiple protocols concurrently. It’s how a system like a smart-home bridge can communicate with the homeowner’s mobile app over Bluetooth and simultaneously manage lights or thermostats through mesh networking such as Zigbee. The STM32WBA6 series also contains single-protocol variants for simpler and more cost-conscious applications.
By integrating the processing core, peripherals, and wireless subsystem, STM32WBA6 MCUs help product developers meet demands to simplify new designs, miniaturize assembly size, and save on the electronic bill of materials. With up to 2MB of Flash and 512KB RAM on-chip, which is double the capacity compared to the previous STM32WBA5 series, these new MCUs provide generous storage for application code and data while supporting more sophisticated applications. The enhanced digital peripherals now include USB High Speed along with expanded connectivity options featuring three SPI ports, four I2C ports, three USARTs, and one LPUART.
The STM32WBA6 series excels in concurrent multiprotocol wireless operations, making it ideal for applications leveraging Matter, which is designed to run atop other protocols. Developers benefit from the X-CUBE-MATTER software package within the STM32Cube ecosystem, which integrates the Matter SDK and includes application examples to simplify development. The wireless subsystem delivers improved performance with sensitivity increased to -100dBm for more reliable connectivity at maximum range. At the same time, the energy-efficient Arm® Cortex®-M33 core, featuring floating-point unit and DSP extensions, runs at up to 100MHz. Both the STM32WBA5 and STM32WBA6 support the latest EU Radio Equipment Directive cyber-security requirements with SESIP3 certification targets that ease customer device conformance. These MCUs offer versatile packaging options ranging from 7mm x 7mm UFQFPN48 to 6mm x 6mm UFBGA121 with 121 pins, plus an ultra-thin wafer-level chip-scale package (WLCSP88) measuring only 3.78mm x 3.46mm.
The STM32WBA6 MCUs are in production and available now, priced from $2.50 for orders of 10,000 pieces.
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