Ultra-miniaturized Bluetooth LE/Bluetooth 5.2 module optimized for mass market, space-constrained wireless products

Nordic Semiconductor today announces that Tokyo, Japan-based electronic component and wireless module manufacturer, TAIYO YUDEN, has selected Nordic’s latest addition to its nRF52 Series, the nRF52805 Bluetooth® 5.2 /Bluetooth Low Energy (Bluetooth LE) System-on-Chip (SoC) to provide the processing power and wireless connectivity for its ‘EYSSSNZWW’ module.

 

The nRF52805 SoC is provided in a wafer level chip scale package (WLCSP) measuring just 2.48 by 2.46mm, enabling the module to be supplied in a highly space-optimized 3.25 by 8.55 by 1mm form factor. According to the company, the module is the smallest available Bluetooth LE module featuring an embedded high performance PCB antenna. As the Nordic SoC is optimized for compact, budget-constrained two-layer PCB designs, the pre-certified (US (FCC), Canada (ISED), and Japan (MIC)) module is suitable for mass market or disposable product designs, for example smart wristbands, pens, glasses, single-use medical products, as well as small sensor nodes for IoT applications. 

 

For sensor node development a sensor kit is available including an adapter board that attaches to the module evaluation board, as well as three sensors. The sample code can be downloaded from the TAIYO YUDEN website.

 

The nRF52805 features a powerful 64-MHz 32-bit Arm® Cortex®-M4 processor and includes 192KB Flash plus 24KB RAM. The multiprotocol (Bluetooth LE/2.4GHz) radio offers up to +4dBm power output and -97dBm sensitivity (1 Mbps Bluetooth LE) for a link budget of 101dBm. The radio’s peak power draw is only 4.6mA (TX 0dBM, RX 1Mbps) and the SoC’s current draw is as low as 0.3µA in System OFF and 1.1µA in System ON with 24KB RAM retained and RTC running. The SoC features a range of analog and digital interfaces such as SPI, UART, and TWI, a two-channel 12-bit ADC, and ten GPIOs.

 

The nRF52805 is currently supported by the S112 SoftDevice, while support for the S113 SoftDevice will follow soon. The S112 and S113 SoftDevices (Bluetooth 5.1-qualified protocol software) are memory-optimized peripheral “stacks” which support high-throughput 2 Mbps and CSA #2 features. The stacks support up to four connections as a Peripheral concurrently with a Broadcaster. In addition, the number of connections and bandwidth per connection is configurable, enabling memory and performance optimization. Both the S112 and S113 also support LE Secure Connections, improving security compared to LE Legacy Pairing. S113 also supports LE Data Packet Length Extension, resulting in higher throughput and less overhead per packet.

 

“We selected the nRF52805 SoC for the module for the powerful Arm Cortex M4 processor, excellent radio sensitivity, and low power consumption,” says Mikio Aoki, TAIYO YUDEN, Deputy General Manager.

 

“And because Nordic is the number one for Bluetooth Low Energy and offers outstanding, strong developer support it was an easy decision.” 

 

An evaluation board and sample module will be available in Q3, 2020, mass production is expected in Q4.