The nRF21540 is a ‘plug and play’ range extender offering enhanced link robustness with an integrated power amplifier (PA)/low noise amplifier (LNA) for use in Nordic Semiconductor’s low-power, short-range wireless solutions. It is a complementary device optimised to boost the link budget of the nRF52 and nRF53 series advanced multiprotocol wireless SoCs. When combined with an nRF52 series SoC, the nRF21540 RF FEM’s +21 dBm Tx output power and 13 dB Rx gain ensure an enhanced link budget for up to 16x range extension.
The nRF21540’s Tx power is dynamically adjustable and output power can be set up to +21 dBm in small increments. This ensures that designs can run with output power within 1 dBm of the allowable range across all regions and operating conditions. The LNA has a low noise figure of 2,5 dB that ensures improved Rx sensitivity.
The nRF21540 complementary device connects to an SoC’s antenna output. It includes two additional antenna ports for antenna diversity support. The Tx output power, Tx gain control and antenna switching can be controlled via SPI, GPIO pins or a combination of both.
The nRF21540 offers competitive numbers of 115 mA at +20 dBm Tx output power, 4,1 mA in Rx and 30 nA in power-down mode. The operating temperature range is qualified from -40°C to 105°C, making it an ideal choice for professional lighting along with an nRF52833 or nRF5340 SoC.
Some of the main applications tailored to the nRF21540 include smart home, asset tracking, audio, as well as industrial applications.
The chip is supplied in a 4x4 QFN16 package and complementing the release of the nRF21540 IC, Nordic offers development boards that enable evaluation of the RF FEM performance using lab equipment, as well as real application performance combined with an nRF52 SoC.
The nRF21540 development kit (DK) contains the nRF21540 RF FEM and has two antennas with SWF ports for direct RF measurements. The dual antennas can be used in an antenna diversity scenario with, for instance, Thread or Zigbee (802.15.4) protocols to reduce multipath fading effects. The RF FEM is connected to and controlled by the nRF52840 advanced multiprotocol SoC that supports all Bluetooth 5 features relating to Bluetooth LE, mesh networking protocols such as Bluetooth mesh, Thread and Zigbee, as well as 2,4 GHz proprietary protocols.
Sharing many similarities with the nRF52840 DK, the nRF21540 DK contains an onboard Segger J-LINK debugger accessible through USB, user-programmable LEDs and buttons, an NFC antenna connector and current measurement pins. It is the perfect tool to enable real application performance testing with the extended range offered by the nRF21540.
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