For IoT applications, they can be distinguished into sensors and devices that are applied over short-distance or long-distance range, and which technologies to be adopted depend on the specific application demands. The present document will explore the Sub-GHz networks used in long-distance transmission applications, and the relevant solutions introduced by onsemi.
Select appropriate network protocols based on the IoT application needs
IoT devices have diversified application scenarios, and must have various connection capabilities depending on different application needs. For example, for a short-distance indoor environment, Wi-Fi, Zigbee, Thread, and Bluetooth Low Energy networks are generally used, and the frequency spectrum of 2.4GHz is mainly used. For industrial and urban IoT application environments, a Sub-GHz network with an operating frequency lower than 1GHz is generally adopted for it’s superior long distance and low power capabilities. For such applications standard protocols like Sigfox, LoRa, etc, are available. Another strong choice is proprietary which offers the potential to further lower the power consumption and is more secure.
Sub-GHz bands are less crowded than the 2.4 GHz bands so not only is longer distance communication achieved there is less jamming. The narrow-band nature of proprietary and Sigfox further enhance this feature as compared to higher bandwidth protocols like LoRA. Longer distance also means lower total system cost since less repeaters and concentrators are needed in the network.
To satisfy the clients’ application needs in respect of long range narrow frequency Sub-GHz network, onsemi launched its SoC transceiver and Sub-GHz transceiver supporting Sigfox and proprietary Sub-GHz networks.
Sigfox™ certified RF transceiver SoC
AX-SFJK is the SoC solution specific to the nodes on the Sigfox network in the RCZ3 area. Regarding IoT, the established standards (for example, GPRS or LTE) cannot solve country-wide coverage and the ultra-low power consumption needs for transmitting extremely less data. Currently, for an ultra-low power consumption cellular connection solution – Sigfox fills such gap. Sigfox is also by far the lowest cost solution for low data transfer IoT applications.
AX-SFJK adds Sigfox functionality in order to realize transmission from an up-link and down-link to any existing system through easy to use AT commands.. It may also be used as a SoC solution that controls a small sensor’s nodes for single chip solutions. The AX-SFJK component has been fully programmed and can run as the Sigfox node. The Sigfox reference designs have also been Sigfox Verified (certified) and checked for regulatory pre-compliance.
Customers can copy and paste the reference design with high confidence. The AX-SFJK component is an ultra-low power consumption SoC with an automatic Listen Before Talk (LBT) function, which supports 100nA deep sleep current and 1.8uA sleep mode and can run other protocols lower than 1GHz on the same hardware. The emission current is 45mA when the output power is 14dBm. The RX current at 922.2 Mhz is 15mA. It supports nationwide bi-directional network nodes with ultra-low power consumption, and provides up-link and down-link functions, as well as being Sigfox Class 0u verified. The AX-SFJK may be used for industrial IoT. The end products include building and home automation, automatic meter reading (AMR), sensor and assets tracking, backup alarm, etc.
Ultra-low power consumption narrow band transceiver
The AX5043 (AX5243) is an ultra-low power consumption narrow band RF transceiver, which can be used for licensed and non-licensed bands between 27MHz and 1050MHz. The transceiver on the chip is comprised of the RF front-end that is a fully integrated modem. The baseband data processing is realized in the advanced and flexible communication controller. Such controller may realize user friendly communication via the SPI interface. The FSK, 4-FSK, GFSK, GMSK, MSK, ASK, and PSK modulations are supported. Any data rate between 0.1 kbps and 125kbps can be provided.
The functions of the AX5043 make it an ideal interface that can be integrated into various battery supply solutions. The supported carrier frequency is between 27MHz and 1050MHz. It has a receiver with the industry’s lowest (best) sensitivity, and supports a low power consumption oscillator and Wake-on-Radio mode, as well as automatic frequency control (AFC). The wake on radio can duty cycle the receiver lowering receive current from mA to uA (depends on system parameters).
The application areas of the AX5043 include IoT, smart retail, AMR, security applications, home and building automation, etc.
Ultra-low power consumption narrow band 8052 wireless microprocessor
The AX8052F143 is an one chip wireless solution compatible with the AX5043.
AX8052F143-3-TX40
The core of the AX8052F143 microprocessor executes the standard 8052 instruction set. The system clock can be freely programmed, from DC to 20MHz. When executing instructions in the single cycle, the core may provide deliver 20 MIPS, and also provides flash memory of 64kB. It can be programmed by using C language. The fully associative cache and pre-fetch controller compensates for the latency of flash memory.
The AX8052F143 is configured with a dual-channel DMA engine that can transmit XRAM’s bi-direction data to any peripherals on the chip, and provide a dedicated on chip true random number generator, AES engine, and its DMA engine for encryption. Other peripherals include three general timers and optional sigma-delta output modes. These timers may be used as the baud rate generators of two UARTs. One master/slave SPI interface and 10-bit, 500 kSample/s ADC, several flexible input modes, and a comparator are provided to maximize system integration in single chip low power IoT applications.
The AX8052F143 built-in ultra-low power consumption AX8052 MCU, and the narrow band RF transceiver have high performance, adopt 5mm x 7mm QFN40 package, and can be used within the narrow band frequency range. Under the sleep mode (timer wakeup and 256 byte data retention), it consumes 900nA current. The application areas of the AX8052F143 include IoT, smart retail, AMR, security applications, home and building automation, etc.
Conclusion
Different IoT applications have diversified demands for network connection technology. For the long-distance, low power consumption, and battery operation-based IoT devices, adopting Sub-GHz network protocols, for example, Sigfox, etc, satisfies the above demands.
onsemi Sub-GHz solutions have the longest range link budgets in the market and offer the maximum system flexibility for the lowest power consumption, ideal for long range battery operated IoT applications.
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