| nRF9E5 transceivers underpin 868/915MHz wireless system supporting 500+ coin cell
powered tags at distances up to several kilometres |
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14th December 2006
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Clere Electronic Components Limited announces the nRF9E5 now available
from Nordic Semiconductor.
Nordic Semiconductor ASA today announced that French wireless voice and data specialist, Newsteo, has selected its nRF9E5 family of highly integrated
433/868/915MHz ISM band transceivers for use in its latest wireless product solution. The system comprises three parts, RF Tokens ( using an nRF9E5
transceiver ), RF-to-PC USB key transceiver ( again equipped with an nRF9E5 ) and RF Monitor software used to configure, control and collate data
collected by the Tokens.
Nordic's nRF9E5 is a true system-on-chip ( SoC ) comprising a fully integrated RF transceiver, 8051-compatible microcontroller ( MCU ) and a 4-input,
10bit 80KS/s ( kSample per second ) analogue-to-digital converter ( ADC ). The nRF9E5 operates in the popular European 433MHz and 868MHz ISM bands and
the 915MHz band in North America, Australia and Israel. The device is an ultra-low-power, low-cost transceiver with a data rate of up to 50Kbit/s.
Newsteo's 12 gram RF Tokens can run for up to 5 years from a single CR2450 3-V lithium coin cell and come pre-certified eliminating the need for lengthy
certification approval. The Tokens are supplied in a 44mm x 30mm x 10mm cuboid form factor for discrete mounting on target equipment, walls or pipes.
Each transceiver responds to a unique ID code to avoid communication clashes, and incorporates on-board security to prevent unauthorized access. Each
RF Token can simultaneously host several different types of sensor ( for example, temperature, pressure, force, constraint, acceleration, flow, current
and light ), while an on-board Flash memory stores from 2,000 to 2 million measurements.
The RF-to-USB Key simultaneously controls and collects data from up to 500 Tokens at around 300 measurements per second over a range of 10 to 50 m for
the standard antenna-on-PCB version ( including transmission through two concrete walls ). Range is boosted to 25 to 800 m with an enhanced 1D4-wave
antenna ( including transmission through five concrete walls ), and up to several Kilometres if used in conjunction with a Yagi antenna.
Newsteo's RF systems allow customers to switch cost effectively from hard-wired to wireless sensing. Applications include temperature and humidity sensing
in commercial greenhouses, cold chain logging and control and automation ( for example of hotel room air conditioning systems ), as well as intelligent
sports applications ( for example, logging runners in a marathon ).
Newsteo selected the Nordic Semiconductor nRF9E5 for its wireless application for three reasons :-
The RF system-on-chip includes an 8051-compatible on-board MCU plus all inductors and filters. This allowed the company to implement all control
functions into a single, compact RF Token package without having to design-in an external MCU. The device also has an SPI interface to make it easier to
connect to an external EEPROM memory;
The nRF9E5's low current consumption means that in many applications each Newsteo Token will last for up to 5 years before either the batteries or the
Token are replaced. This is a particular advantage because the Tokens tend to be used in applications where frequent battery replacement cycles would add
to maintenance cost and go against the simplicity-of-use.
Nordic Semiconductor's ShockBurst™ transmission technology optimizes power consumption to maximize battery life. ShockBurst allows the transceiver
to spend most of its time in an ultra-low power consumption sleep mode before periodically waking to transmit for a short period and returning back to the
sleep mode. ShockBurst includes features for CRC computation in both transmit ( TX ) and receive ( RX ) modes, and address decoding in RX mode, greatly
reducing the load on - and cost of - the MCU running the RF protocol. ShockBurst™ is also capable of buffering a payload of up to 32 Byte coupled
with short start-up times ideal for low-power, low duty-cycle use.
"The main aim of this system is to make a wireless sensor network extremely simple to implement without requiring the customer to have specialist software
programming knowledge," says Philippe Guenebaud, Newsteo's Company President.
"We selected Nordic's nRF9E5 because it features ultra low power consumption, and has good range - even through concrete walls, good bandwidth, includes an
integrated 8051 MCU and only requires a couple of external components to get up and running. This made it possible for Newsteo to exploit all the
performance properties of the chip while adding it’s electronic and software design skills to deliver a brand new turnkey solution to its customers."
For further information, please contact Clere on +44 ( 0 ) 1635 291666 or
email us here.
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