Nordic-powered wireless mouse supports low latency PC gaming

Nordic Semiconductor today announces that QPAD, a gaming technology company, has selected Nordic’s nRF52840 Bluetooth® 5.2/Bluetooth Low Energy (Bluetooth LE) advanced multiprotocol System-on-Chip (SoC) and nRF52833 SoC to enable low latency data transfer between its ‘DX900 – Pro Gaming Wireless Optical Mouse’ and the user’s PC for fast response in gaming applications. 

Advanced gaming support

DX900 is a plug-and-play wireless gaming mouse solution featuring an ergonomic and comfortable design for right- and left-handed users, customizable key functions, and a 16,000 DPI sensor for seven of the most popular DPI settings for eSports. The integrated nRF52840 SoC’s 64MHz, 32-bit Arm® Cortex® M4 processor with floating point unit (FPU) provides ample processing power for the DX900 mouse to support advanced gaming modes. The nRF52840 combines an Arm Cortex M4 processor with a 2.4GHz multiprotocol radio (supporting Bluetooth 5.2, ANT™, Thread, Zigbee, IEEE 802.15.4, and proprietary 2.4GHz RF protocol software) and a generous 1MB Flash and 256kB RAM memory allocation. A new radio architecture with on-chip PA provides -95-dBm RX sensitivity, a maximum output power of 8dBm, and a total link budget of 103dBm. 

The DX900 – Pro Gaming Wireless Optical Mouse connects to the user’s PC via a 2.4GHz USB dongle integrating Nordic’s nRF52833 multiprotocol SoC as the data receiver. The nRF52833 features a 64MHz, 32-bit Arm Cortex M4 processor with FPU. The user plugs the dongle into the PC enabling the wireless gaming mouse to communicate with the PC using very low latency 2.4GHz proprietary wireless connectivity. This functionality enables 1ms data transmission (response time) for precise and accurate operation of the mouse. The Full Speed (12 Mbps) USB operation is a key feature of the nRF52833. USB is a popular connectivity interface that enables low-latency and high-bandwidth communication with a range of host devices, such as PCs, smartphones, and gateways. 

The DX900 – Pro Gaming Wireless Optical Mouse uses a 690mAh battery to achieve a battery life of approximately 70 hours in default setting, thanks in part to the ultra low power operating characteristics of the Nordic SoC. The nRF52840 has been engineered to minimize power consumption with a fully-automatic power management system that reduces power consumption by up to 80 percent compared with the nRF51 Series. 

The nRF52840 is Nordic’s most advanced ultra low power nRF52 Series SoC. The SoC is Bluetooth 5-, Thread 1.1-, and Zigbee PRO (R21) and Green Power proxy specification-certified and its Dynamic Multiprotocol feature uniquely supports concurrent wireless connectivity of the protocols. Nordic’s unique software architecture includes a clear separation between the RF protocol software and QPAD’s application code, simplifying development. Nordic’s nRF Connect Software Development Kit (SDK) also proved important in assisting QPAD to develop the wireless mouse application code. The SDK provides all necessary examples, libraries, and drivers to get started with short range wireless application development. 

Versatile customization

“We selected Nordic’s nRF52840 SoC for our DX900 – Pro Gaming Wireless Optical Mouse due to the chip’s compact size, low power consumption, and radio sensitivity,” says Jackie, Marketing Manager at QPAD. “The nRF52840 SoC’s large memory allocation allows us to store more profiles in the device and enables more versatile customization. In addition, Nordic’s nRF Connect SDK helped us when developing our application code.”

• About QPAD
• About nRF52840
• About nRF52833
• About Nordic Semiconductor