New low-cost version of Bluetooth SoC offers the same industry-first multiprotocol radio and is 100 percent on-air compatible with existing ICs.
Ultra low-power (ULP) RF specialist Nordic Semiconductor has announced the immediate availability of a lower cost variant of its award-winning nRF51822 Bluetooth low energy and proprietary 2.4GHz SoC (System-on-Chip) that will offer an identical feature, peripherals, and performance set but half the Flash memory at 128kB (instead of 256kB) and be based on the same nRF51 Series technology platform.
This means it will offer the same industry-first multiprotocol radio and a 32-bit ARM Cortex-M0 based processor optimized for ultra low-power wireless applications and deliver -92.5dB RX sensitivity in Bluetooth low energy mode; up to +4dBm output power in all modes; up to 9.5dBm improvement in link budget compared to previous generations of class-leading Nordic chips, and sub-10mA peak currents running off a 3V coin cell battery for months or years of battery life (depending on the application). As with the existing nRF51822, this new nRF51822 128kB variant will also be 100 percent on-air compatible with Nordic’s existing nRF24L series ICs.
The new part will complement Nordic’s existing nRF51822 (256kB) Flash SoC by targeting the most price-sensitive ULP wireless applications that are typically high-volume consumer products such as entry-level PC mice and keyboards, smartphone accessories, and toys.
