Due to low power connection capability, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technology used in coin-cell batteries can make devices run for several months to several years. Besides its small footprint and low cost and compatiblity with most existing mobile phones, tablets and computers, BLE has become one of the most common communication protocols in applications such as consumer electronics, industry, automobiles, healthcare, computers and smart buildings. This article will show you the development of BLE and the functions and features of the BLE MCU solution launched by onsemi.
BLE becomes the best connection technology for IoT nodes
BLE is a personal local area network technology designed and promoted by Bluetooth Special Interest Group, which aims to be used in emerging applications in the fields of healthcare, sports and fitness, beacon, security, home entertainment, etc. BLE can significantly reduce power consumption and cost compared with classic Bluetooth while maintaining the same communication range. Although BLE is not backward compatible with the original classic Bluetooth protocol, Bluetooth 4.0 specification allows devices to support both classic Bluetooth and BLE protocols and use the same 2.4 GHz radio frequency, so dual-mode devices can share the same antenna, and the modulation system used by BLE is simpler.
BLE has a wide range of applications. At present, the main key markets and application fields include remote keyless entry, tire monitoring, battery monitoring and connected cars in the automotive field; patient monitoring, drug delivery, life-critical devices, etc. in the healthcare field; smartphones, wireless charging, wearable devices, proximity devices, trackers, etc. in data transfer applications; and smart buildings/cities, lighting/electrical appliances, metering, surveillance, asset tracking, in industrial applications. These products can also be integrated into one of the nodes of Internet of Things devices.
Years of experience and expertise to assist BLE product development
onsemi applies its years of experience and expertise in developing semiconductor products to the development of BLE MCU products. For example, based on more than 20 years' experience developing DSP systems for hearing AIDS and wearable devices, it develops BLE chips with ultra-low power consumption. Its advanced 3D packaging technology and manufacturing facilities also help the miniaturization of chips. In addition, onsemi has advanced low-noise sensor interfacing and actuation, signal conversion and processing technologies when developing analog front-end/DSP, and can offer a comprehensive software development kit containing examples and tools, which will help customers quickly develop BLE applications.
The current market trend generally pursues higher energy efficiency, requires extensive reduction of overall energy consumption, and turns to the development trend of sustainable energy. Therefore, the expertise of onsemi in ultra-low power design is used to develop BLE products. In addition, in product development, onsemi pays more attention to data security and protection to avoid personal information from being damaged. When big data and analytics functions need to be applied, onsemi provides the expertise in designing data processing engines to handle wireless connection and data from sensors. Besides, more and more products pursue automation and connectedness, and more reliable, effective and targeted data connection capability is needed. These are all professional capabilities that onsemi can help customers.
BLE MCU meeting the requirements of industrial IoT applications
onsemi has introduced RSL15 secure wireless MCU for BLE applications, which is a part of onsemi BLE series. Previously, onsemi has launched a number of product lines with different packages, including the RSL10 QFN package, specially designed for consumer and medical applications, the RSL10 WLCSP package specially designed for space-critical applications, and an all-in-one solution that can realize the simplest design, including antenna, power management, filter and passive components, RSL10 System-in-Package (SiP) certified by Bluetooth and regional standards, RSL10 automotive QFN package with wettable flank-plated, qualified by AEC-Q100 (Grade 2) and capable of operating in the temperature range from -40℃ to +105℃, as well as RSL15 with minimum QFN package which is highlighted in this article and meets the requirements of industrial IoT applications.
onsemi RSL15 is an ultra-low power security BLE 5.2 wireless MCU based on Arm® Cortex®-M33 processor, specially designed for connecting smart devices in industrial and medical applications. With built-in power management, wide supply voltage range, flexible GPIO and clocking scheme solutions, and a wide range of peripherals, the RSL15 provides maximum design flexibility for high performance and ultra-low power applications. The RSL15 has built-in 80 kB RAM and offers 284 kB or 512 kB flash memory options.
RSL15 supports many new features provided by Bluetooth 5.2 specification, including long distance, higher data transmission, and positioning by the angle of arrival (AoA) and angle of departure (AoD). onsemi has also developed an innovative, smart sensing feature that allows the Arm Cortex®-M33 processor to stay in deep sleep mode while monitoring the sensor interfaces. With these advanced new features, RSL15 will continue the success of the RSL10 radio series, which has been integrated into various industrial automation applications, including connected asset tracking, smart retail and IoT edge nodes.
While maintaining its state-of-the-art power consumption, RSL15 is designed with Arm® TrustZone® technology to establish a device root of trust, and Arm CryptoCell™-312 technology to protect the authenticity, integrity and confidentiality of code and data. This PSA Level 1 certified design enhances the security measures already provided as part of Bluetooth protocol and provides assurance at the application and software levels.
RSL15 has the industry-leading general MCU, a secure BLE MCU based on flash memory with the lowest power consumption. It has built-in the latest embedded security with root of trust, BLE 5.2 long range and localization functions, and provides a comprehensive and easy-to-use software development kit (SDK), which includes drivers, libraries, sample codes, development tools, demonstration hardware and mobile applications, to realize security through the network security platform, acquire sensor data in smart sensing mode, and configure the built-in power management and utilize BLE features.
Packaged in miniature 40-pin QFN, RSL15 can be widely used in industrial automation and sensing, connected medical sensors, wearable devices, asset tracking, electronic tags and access control, electronic labels, data loggers, smart home appliances, energy harvesting switches and other fields.
Full-featured BLE evaluation and development board
In order to speed up the product development of customers, onsemi has also introduced RSL15-EVB, RSL15 evaluation and development board, which can be used together with RSL15 SDK to evaluate the performance and features of RSL15 and develop, demonstrate and debugging software applications for this device.
The RSL15-EVB can easily download and debugging code using SEGGER® J-Link® onboard technology, and is accessed through the 10-pin header of the JTAG debug port, and can automatically switch power supply between the battery and USB. It can also access all RSL15 interfaces and GPIO through the standard 0.1-inch headers. It has two push-button switches, one of which is dedicated to resetting the device through the NRESET pin and the other can be connected to GPIO.
The test points on the RSL15-EVB board is hooked to GND for easy probing. It has a CR2032 battery holder, into which the standard 3.0V battery of CR2032 can be inserted, and can be simply configured for power measurement. It has an integrated PCB antenna with a matching and filtering network, and a UFL connector for conducting RF connections. It can be matched with the power from USB connection, and 5V can be adjusted to 3.0V by an on-board voltage regulator. It also supports an external power supply that can be connected to an on-board headers.
Conclusion
BLE technology has become the most popular electronic product connection technology. It is widely used in consumer electronics, industry, automobile, healthcare, computers, smart buildings and other fields, with highly amazing market development space. With years of expertise and experience, onsemi has developed BLE MCU with various packages and ultra-low power consumption, and provided complete evaluation boards and development tools, which is an excellent solution for BLE applications.