Chip simplifies RF embedding

19 January 2011 Telecoms, Datacoms, Wireless, IoT

A new SoC (system-on-chip) device from Analog Devices integrates all of the RF (radio frequency) transmit and receive functions, data conversion and processing elements required to enable a fully programmable radio.

Designed for a range of remote, battery-powered wireless sensor network (WSN) applications, including utility meters, medical telemetry systems, building automation, asset tracking and security systems, the ADuCRF101 features a 12-bit ADC (analog-to-digital converter), a 32-bit microprocessor core, on-chip SRAM and Flash memory, and an ISM-band radio transceiver. The network range and coverage of the device is well suited to applications where data must be captured, measured and transmitted quickly in noisy environments without taxing battery life.

The ADuCRF101’s 32-bit ARM Cortex-M3 core provides the throughput necessary to support a growing array of sensing and measurement functions, and features serial download and debug, an external watch crystal that functions as a wake-up timer, and a 16 MHz PLL with an 8-way programmable divider. The integrated RF transceiver provides a combination of interference blocking performance with low receive and transmit currents, allowing robust operation in urban environments where interfering signals are present.

The SoC is supported by a suite of ADI development tools, which include evaluation boards with matching antennas, an emulator board, ADuCRF101-specific compiler, serial-wire program download and debug support, as well as CMSIS (Cortex Microcontroller Software Interface Standard) compliant software libraries to support all peripherals. Also available are a power/battery-life calculator and RF low-level drivers and evaluation tools. The ADuCRF101 supports DASH7, a coalition of organisations promoting a standard for versatile wireless sensor networks at 433 MHz that is based on the ISO-18000-7 standard (originally designed for active RFID in the military). The ADuCRF101 additionally boasts long range, good penetration and low power and also supports 802.15.4-based networks.

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