As the requirement for smaller hardware along with greater connectivity options in Internet-of-Things products grows, the necessity for a chipset that can handle not only main operations but also wireless communications increases. One of the market-leaders in this field – Texas Instruments – has met this challenge with their new CC2650 series of System-on-Chip wireless connectivity solutions.
The CC2650 from Texas Instruments is one of the newest additions to TI's SimpleLink family of wireless connectivity solutions - an ultra-low-power ARM Cortex microcontroller core combined with a strong suite of GPIOs and peripherals, together with multi-standard 2.4GHz wireless connectivity that supports several different radio protocols in a single device - Bluetooth Low Energy as well as 802.15.4/6LoWPAN and ZigBee RF4CE standards.
This combination of a powerful microcontroller system-on-chip combined with multiple different radio communication protocols makes the CC2650 perfectly suited to home and building automation, device gateways, smart appliances and other consumer electronics, smart energy management – and of course, other Internet-of-Things applications.
Therefore, the CC2650 makes it possible for the same hardware design to be taken to market and deployed in cases where either 802.15.4/6LoWPAN mesh networking or Bluetooth Low Energy connectivity is desired, with only a firmware change required.
The CC2650 is based around a 32-bit ARM Cortex-M3 processor running at 48 MHz as the main processor, combined with a separate, ultra-low-power sensor controller and a rich set of other peripherals and features.
And with a dedicated sensor controller core, the CC2650 is ideal for interfacing to external sensors and autonomously collecting analogue and digital sensor data while the main microcontroller core, the radio and the rest of the system is in sleep mode - helping to provide extremely low power consumption combined with powerful functionality.
Leveraging this multi-standard wireless networking support, customers can future-proof their designs and configure their chosen radio technology for each deployment by simply changing the software stack, at the time of installation in the field.
The on-board 2.4 GHz RF transceiver in the CC2560 is compatible with the Bluetooth Low Energy 4.2 specification, as well as implementing the PHY and MAC layers of the IEEE 802.15.4 specification for applications such as ZigBee or 6LoWPAN mesh networks.
Very low current consumption in both the RF and the microcontroller systems make the CC2650 an extremely energy efficient device for its capability, with excellent battery lifetime possible in small, portable applications. The CC2650 is also well suited to energy-harvesting power sources or operation from small coin-cell batteries.
The Bluetooth Low Energy controller and the 802.15.4/6LoWPAN MAC layer are embedded into ROM and are partly running on a separate ARM Cortex-M0 processor - an architecture that frees up flash memory for the application, not the radio stacks, as well as improving overall system performance and reducing power consumption.
The software stacks for wireless networking are available free of charge from TI, for either Bluetooth Low Energy or ZigBee/802.15.4 networking.
Furthermore, as well as ZigBee/6LoWPAN support - the Bluetooth radio stack is iBeacon-capable, allowing the CC2560 to function as an iBeacon device, connecting to a user's phone, launching mobile applications and customising the delivery of content such as location-aware tourism information, promotions or advertising based on sensor data and the physical location of the iBeacon device.
Along with this powerful and flexible wireless networking capability, the CC2650 incorporates 128KB of in-system programmable flash, support for JTAG debuggers, over-the-air wireless firmware updates, eight 16-bit timers, an eight-channel 12-bit ADC peripheral, built-in capacitive touch sensing, and all the familiar analogue and digital peripherals you'd expect from a modern 32-bit microcontroller system-on-chip.
TI provides a range of design kits and evaluation modules for the CC2650, and utilities such as the Code Composer Studio Cloud IDE and TI's Internet-of-Things cloud ecosystem, all of which make it easy for developers to get started with the CC2650, to build and evaluate their ideas, get started with their projects and to connect to the cloud.
The CC2650 SimpleLink SensorTag product from TI is a powerful platform to assist developers to evaluate and prototype their IoT sensor designs around the CC2650, combining this wireless, connected SoC with 10 different sensors in a compact but powerful wireless sensor package.
This SensorTag incorporates an infrared temperature sensor, 9-axis inertial measurement unit, microphone, ambient light sensor, humidity sensor, ambient temperature sensor, a pressure sensor and more - as well as the choice of Bluetooth Low Energy and ZigBee/6LoWPAN wireless connectivity, depending on which network stack is used.
Using the CC2650 SensorTag reference platform, along with the reference iOS or Android apps provided by TI for CC2650 Bluetooth connectivity, you can connect to the cloud with Bluetooth Low Energy and get your sensor data online in just a few minutes. Using TI's reference designs for hardware development makes hardware layout simpler, and makes it possible to get a working hardware design with minimal RF expertise.
As you can now understand, the CC2650 offers a compact, low-power and compatible solution to being the centre of your next Internet of Things device. However, choosing a chipset is only one step in the myriad of design decisions in the product development journey – and success is predicated on having the right partner.
Here at the LX Group we have the systems in both hardware and software to make your IoT vision a success.
We have end-to-end experience and demonstrated results in the entire process of IoT product development, and we’re ready to help bring your existing or new product ideas to life. Getting started is easy – click here to contact us, telephone 1800 810 124, or just keep in the loop by connecting here.
LX is an award-winning electronics design company based in Sydney, Australia. LX services include full turnkey design, electronics, hardware, software and firmware design. LX specialises in IoT embedded systems and wireless technologies design.
Published by LX Pty Ltd for itself and the LX Group of companies, including LX Design House, LX Solutions and LX Consulting, LX Innovations.
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