Nordic Semiconductor – Specialist in Low Power Wireless Technology
Who is Nordic Semiconductor?
Nordic Semiconductor is a Norwegian fabless semiconductor company specializing in wireless communication technology that powers the Internet of Things. Nordic was established in 1983 and has more than 1,000 employees across the globe. Nordic’s award-winning Bluetooth® Low Energy solutions pioneered ultra-low power wireless, making them the global market leader. The company’s technology range was later supplemented by ANT+, Thread and Zigbee, and in 2018 they launched their low-power, compact LTE-M/NB-IoT cellular IoT solutions to extend the penetration of the IoT.
The Nordic portfolio was further complemented by Wi-Fi® technology in 2021, which now makes the company one of just a few suppliers offering all three of the world’s most popular wireless IoT technologies; Bluetooth LE, cellular IoT, and Wi-Fi; covering short-, mid-, and long-range wireless connectivity.
They built their market reputation by supplying leading-edge wireless technologies supported by development tools that shield the designer from RF complexity, allowing anyone with a bright idea to build innovations based on the IoT platform. Today, their award-winning, high-performance, yet easy-to-design-in, Bluetooth® LE solutions are used by the world’s leading brands in a variety of products, including wireless PC peripherals, gaming, sports & fitness, mobile phone accessories, consumer electronics, toys, healthcare, and automation. Nordic is a member of the ANT+ Alliance, Bluetooth® SIG, Thread Group, CSA, Wi-Fi Alliance, and GSMA.
Long-Range Wireless Technology – Low Power Cellular IoT
nRF91 Series
nRF9160 – Low power SiP with integrated LTE-m/NB-IOT modern and GNSS
The nRF9160 is a compact, highly integrated System-in-Package (SiP) that makes the latest low power LTE technology and advanced processing and security accessible, and easy to use, for a wide range of single device low power cellular IoT (cIoT) designs.
Key Features:
- Fully integrated SiP for cellular IoT
- Multimode LTE-M/NB-IoT modem with GNSS
- 700-2200 MHz LTE band support
- Certified for global operation
- Dedicated application processor and memory
- 64 MHz Arm Cortex-M33
- 1 MB Flash + 256 kB RAM
- Arm TrustZone + Arm CryptoCell
Applications:
- Logistics and asset tracking
- Smart city & smart agriculture
- Predictive maintenance & industrial
- Wearables & medical
Getting Started:
Short-Range Wireless Technology
nRF53 Series
nRF5340 - Dual processor SoC supporting Bluetooth® 5.3, Bluetooth® mesh, NFC, Thread & Zigbee
The nRF5340 is the world’s first wireless SoC with two Arm® Cortex®-M33 processors. It is truly secure, and the combination of two flexible processors, the advanced feature set, and an operating temperature of up to 105 °C, make it the ideal choice for professional lighting, advanced wearables, and other complex IoT applications.
Key Features:
- High-performance application processor
- 128/64 MHz Arm Cortex-M33 with FPU & DSP instructions
- 1 MB Flash + 512 kB low leakage RAM
- 8 kB 2-way set associative cache
- Fully-programmable network processor
- 64 MHz Arm Cortex-M33 with 2 kB instruction cache
- 256 kB Flash + 64 kB RAM
- Ultra low power
- A truly secure SoC
- Trusted execution with Arm TrustZone
- Root-of-trust with Arm CryptoCell-312
- Ultra-low-power 2.4 GHz multiprotocol radio
- Bluetooth® Direction Finding
- Long Range
- Bluetooth® mesh, Thread and Zigbee
- 3.2 mA in TX (0 dBm) and 2.6 mA in RX
- -97.5 dBm RX sensitivity
- NFC
- Full range of digital interfaces with EasyDMA y Full-speed USB
- 96 MHz encrypted QSPI for external memory32 MHz high-speed SPI for displays and fast sensors
- -40 to 105 °C extended operating temperature
- 1.7 V to 5.5 V supply voltage range
Applications:
- Professional lighting
- Industrial
- Advanced wearables
- Healthcare & Medical
- Smart Home
- Asset tracking and RTLS
- Direction Finding
- Automation
- Gaming VR + AR
- Mesh Networks
Getting Started:
nRF52 Series
Multiprotocol SoCs supporting Bluetooth 5.3, Bluetooth mesh, NFC, Thread and Zigbee
The nRF52 Series consists of seven multiprotocol Bluetooth 5.3 SoCs that integrate a powerful yet efficient 64 MHz Arm Cortex-M4 CPU. Flash memory range from 192 kB to 1024 kB while RAM range from 24 kB to 256 kB. The nRF52 Series offers simpler cost-effective options and highly-advanced options, all with ultra-low power consumption.
Getting Started:
Range Extender
nRF21 Series – RF front end module (FEM)
nRF21540
The nRF21540 is an RF front end module (FEM) that improves range and connection robustness for Nordic Semiconductor's shortrange wireless portfolio. As a complementary device, the nRF21540 is a "plug and play" range extender, which offers enhanced link robustness using an integrated low-noise-amplifier.
Key Features:
- Supports
- Bluetooth® Low Energy (incl. Bluetooth® mesh)
- Thread and Zigbee (802.15.4)
- Proprietary 2.4 GHz
- Adjustable output power in small increments up to +21 dBm
- +13 dB receive gain with 2.5 dB noise figure
- Two antenna ports for antenna diversity
- Control interface via GPIOs, SPI, or a combination
- -40°C to +105°C operating temperature range
- 1.7 V to 3.6 V input supply range
- 4 x 4 mm QFN16 package
- When combined with an nRF52 or nRF53 Series SoC:
- Up to 16x range increase
- -100 dBm RX sensitivity (Bluetooth® LE, 1 Mbps)
- Current consumption:
- TX tuned to +20 dBm: 115 mA
- RX: 4.1 mA
- Power down mode: 30 nA
Applications:
- Asset tracking and RTLS
- Professional lighting
- Smart Home
- Industrial
- Toys
- Audio
Getting Started:
Power Management ICs
nPM Family
nPM1100
The nPM1100 is a dedicated power management IC (PMIC) with dual-mode configurable buck regulator and integrated battery charger. It is designed as a complementary component to Nordic’s nRF52 and nRF53 Series SoCs to ensure reliable power delivery and stable operation, whilst maximizing battery life through high efficiency and low quiescent currents.
Key Features:
- Ultra-small form factor PMIC
- 2.075 x 2.075 mm WLCSP package
- 400 mA battery charger
- Automatic charging mode
- For Li-ion and Li-Polymer batteries
- Battery thermal protection
- Highly efficient regulator
- Up to 92 % power conversion efficiency
- Hysteretic and PWM mode
- Selectable output voltage
- 150 mA current limit
- Input regulator with USB support
- SDP, CDP, DCP port detection
- Overvoltage protection
- Ship mode that disables power output
- Drivers for charge and error LEDs
- -40°C to 85°C operating temperature
Applications:
- Wearables
- Remote controls
- Personal medical devices
- Smart home sensors
- Computer peripherals
Getting Started:
Power Measurement
Power Profiler Kit II
The Power Profiler Kit II is a standalone unit for measuring and optionally supplying all Nordic development boards and additional hardware. It enables easy and affordable power measurements for wireless product development on all Nordic DKs, in addition to aforementioned external hardware.
Key Features:
- Current measuring range between 200 nA and 1 A
- Measurement resolution between 100 nA and 1 mA
- Ampere meter mode and source mode
- Source mode includes a built-in programmable regulator with an output range between 0.8 V and 5.0 V and output currents of up to 1 A
- 100ksps sampling rate
- 8 digital inputs for low-end logic analyser support
- nRF Connect supported
Applications:
- Power debugging of embedded applications
- Estimation of battery lifetime of completed application
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