u-blox Selects Nordic’s SoC for its Bluetooth 5.1 Module
u-blox has decided to select Nordic’s nRF52833 Bluetooth Low Energy (Bluetooth LE) System-on-Chip (SoC) to power its NINA-B4 stand-alone Bluetooth 5.1 modules.
The small (10 by 15 by 2.2 mm) Bluetooth LE/Bluetooth 5.1 MCU modules with open CPU architecture are optimized for and can be supplied preinstalled with, Wirepas Massive (previously Wirepas Mesh), a decentralized large-scale mesh networking solution.
“We selected Nordic’s nRF52833 SoC for our NINA-B4 series due to a combination of factors including the high-quality hardware, compact size, MCU performance, support for Bluetooth 5.1 including direction finding, low power consumption, and multiprotocol capability,” says Stefan Berggren, Senior Product Marketing Manager, Product Center Short Range Radio at u-blox. “In addition, we opted for a Nordic solution because of the close, long-standing business relationship between the two companies, and because Nordic provides good development support.”
Wirepas Massive has been developed by global software connectivity company Wirepas and is designed for a wide array of massive Internet of Things (IoT) applications.
The u-blox NINA-B4 series includes the NINA-B406, which comes with an internal PCB antenna (providing a robust low-profile solution with high performance and extensive range), and NINA-B400, which integrates a U.FL connector for use with an external antenna of the developer’s choice.
The NINA-B4 module is suitable for running Wirepas Massive, an updated version of Wirepas’s proprietary mesh connectivity software. (The module is also able to run third-party device applications alongside the Wirepas protocol.) Wirepas claims the software is the only solution to combine sensing, monitoring, control, positioning, and large-scale inventory in a single technology.
The NINA-B4 module also supports Bluetooth 5.1—including direction finding—and can operate at an extended temperature range up to 105 °C – which, together with its long-range capability, makes it ideal for deployment in harsh environments.
Nordic’s nRF52833 multiprotocol SoC supports the large-scale, low-power Wirepas Massive mesh connectivity software enabling cost-effective, scalable IoT solutions with density, flexibility, and reliability.
The SoC has been engineered to minimize power consumption. In addition to supporting for Thread, Zigbee and Bluetooth through the nRF Connect SDK, the SoC is also supported by the S113, 122, or S140 SoftDevices, Nordic’s Bluetooth RF protocol stacks.
