Low-Power and Multi-Protocol Connectivity for IoT Designs

This post sponsored by Texas Instruments.

It seems that connectivity is on its way to becoming one of those inalienable rights. Individualized relatively high-speed connectivity from cellular-based wireless systems has given users the sense of connectivity entitlement. It is no longer a luxury reserved for the few. Instead, it is a necessity demanded by the masses.

In a way, people and their actions are things to be sensed. Data is mined from us as we go about our daily chores. But, there is so much more to be sensed, and the surge in interests in vastly deployed wireless sensor nodes connected to online cloud and back-end servers is enticing many applications to embrace IoT connectivity for their specific needs.

For example, environmental sensors can benefit from the mesh architectures inherent within the ZigBee protocol, and powerful single-chip solutions like the Texas Instruments SimpleLink CC2630 wireless microcontroller (MCU), which supports ZigBee and 6LoWPAN designs. Similarly, the Texas Instruments CC2640 wireless MCU targets Bluetooth low energy (also known as Bluetooth Smart) designs with an emphasis on low power to provide long lifetimes on coin cell batteries. Multi-protocol wireless MCUs such as the Texas Instruments CC2650 also provide rapid ways to test and develop with ZigBee, RF4CE, 6LoWPAN and Bluetooth Smart data links over the 2.4-GHz ISM band. All three wireless MCUs (CC2650, CC2640 and CC2630) share a common architecture of an integrated RF transceiver and ARM Cortex-M3 MCU on one chip with memory to run the networking stack and customized applications without sacrificing battery life.

The above mentioned connectivity technologies require use of a gateway or in the case of Bluetooth Smart a smartphone or tablet to connect to the cloud. However, Wi-Fi directly connects to the Internet making it a pivotal standard for IoT deployment. With public places now providing free access, and moves underway to set up city areas and even suburban settings for Wi-Fi, it makes sense to use Wi-Fi to eliminate the need for a hub, bridge or protocol converter to serve as a gateway.

Wi-Fi-targeted solutions, like the SimpleLink CC3100 network processor and CC3200 Wi-Fi wireless MCU, provide 802.11 b/g/n connectivity. The network processor can be a peripheral to an external MCU, and functions somewhat autonomously unburdening the host processor. Conversely, the wireless MCU embeds an ARM Cortex-M4 running at 80 MHz and incorporates the entire TCP/IP and TLS/SSL stacks and HTTP servers, to name a few. The SimpleLink Wi-Fi products are also available as certified modules. The CC3100MOD and CC3200MOD simplify and speed time to market since manufacturers do not need separate governmental or standard body certifications. These parts round out TI’s SimpleLink offering to provide flexible, scalable, small and low power technology that is easy to develop with for aggregation and/or direct connection to the IoT.

Sub-1 GHz is another wireless connectivity protocol that is becoming more prevalent in IoT deployments. Offering longer range and superior coexistence, the use of the MHz frequencies of the industrial, medical and scientific (ISM) bands worldwide gives nodes the ability to communicate at distances up to 100km with low data rates.

Getting Started

Designers can come up to speed quickly by reading the Internet of Things (IoT) Overview as well as the Overview for SimpleLink Solutions. More detail on SimpleLink Wi-Fi solutions for the CC3100 and CC3200-based families including tools and software and getting started can also be accessed.

Ultra-Low-Power Wireless MCUs for Bluetooth Smart, 6LoWPAN, ZigBee, Sub-1 GHz and RF4CE can be reviewed as well. Ultra-low-power design considerations are part of the internal architecture of this SimpleLink family and individual energy management control is exercised over the CPU, radio and peripherals (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Ultra-low power is achieved only when processor core elements, as well as peripherals, memory and radio sub systems, can operate together to assure packets are not dropped or the MCU is running unnecessarily. (Source: Texas Instruments)

No matter what protocols and architectures you plan on implementing, the parts and tools are ready to handle your designs.

CC3100 module
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CC2640
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CC3200
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CC3100
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CC2630
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CC3200 Module
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To request a sample, click here.
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CC2650
For more information about this product, click here.
To request a sample, click here.
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By: Jon Gabay