Nordic Semiconductor introduces latest nRF52 Series SoC and demonstrates Bluetooth 5 range at CES Asia
2017
Nordic and design partners unveil latest Bluetooth Low Energy and IEEE 802.15.4 innovations at Asia’s leading consumer electronics event. Product demonstrations include Thread for home automation, voice-activated remote control, NFC, and wireless charging.
Nordic will launch the latest addition to its nRF52 Series SoCs at CES Asia. The new SoC is a lower cost device powered by a low power consumption ARM® Cortex® M4 microprocessor. The SoC integrates a key subset of the features of the higher-end nRF52840 and nRF52832 SoCs and brings the range and throughput enhancements of Bluetooth 5 to the most cost-sensitive, high-volume applications.
In addition, a video presentation on the booth will show the capabilities of the nRF52840 SoC and S140 SoftDevice’s (Nordic’s latest RF protocol ‘stack’) Bluetooth 5-compatible range and throughput enhancements. A live demonstration will show the nRF52840 Preview Development Kit (PDK) being used to transmit high-resolution images at Bluetooth 5’s 2Mbps raw data rate (double that of Bluetooth 4.x) to a Bluetooth 5-equipped Samsung Galaxy S8 smartphone. The SoC and SoftDevice have been engineered to build on the mature architecture of the existing nRF52 Series SoCs and support complex Bluetooth LE- and other ultra low power wireless-applications that were previously not possible with a single-chip solution.
The nRF52840 SoC and PDK will also be shown supporting a home-automation application using a Thread network based on the IEEE 802.15.4 low power wireless network standard.
Nordic will also introduce Nordic Thingy:52, a prototyping kit based on the nRF52832 SoC and incorporating nine different environmental and motion sensors plus a microphone and speaker. Nordic Thingy:52 enables app developers to configure, test, and demonstrate Bluetooth LE Internet of Things (IoT) devices linked to mobile apps and Cloud resources without needing RF firmware coding skills or development tools.
Among other development tools on display will be the Power Profiler Kit, a tool comprising PC-based software and an extension board for the company’s nRF51 and nRF52 Series DKs. The Power Profiler Kit allows software engineers to profile power consumption of embedded solutions at all stages of development.
Other demonstrations include the nRFready Smart Remote 3 for nRF52 Series reference design targeting remote control OEMs/ODMs and manufacturers of smart TVs, set-top boxes, and digital media devices. The reference design offers best-in-class voice input features, free-space gesture support, and multitouch trackpad and button matrix. Voice input is supported by two digital microphone inputs which employ noise and echo cancellation for cleaner audio input sampling.
The company will also host a demonstration showing how Nordic’s nRF52 Series SoCs are increasingly being used at the heart of wearable contactless payment technology. The demonstration shows a Bluetooth LE wearable using the nRF52832 SoC’s Near Field Communication (NFC) interface for payment. Using the SoC’s NFC capability for this purpose simplifies the product’s design, lowers cost, and reduces space requirements.
Nordic will also show how it is helping advance AirFuel resonant wireless charging. The company will unveil wireless charging in a small form factor technology demonstrator with a wearable device that uses an nRF52832 SoC to implement an AirFuel Power Receive Unit (PRU).
Companies using Nordic’s award-winning nRF51 and nRF52 Series multiprotocol wireless connectivity solutions will demonstrate and talk about their products on the booth. The partner companies and their demonstration include:
June 7 (Wednesday)
• Ximmerse (mobile virtual reality (VR) controller);
• Flydigi (game controller).
June 8 (Thursday)
• RFSEN (voice remote control);
• CyweeMotion (Android mobile VR solution).
June 9 (Friday)
• FEITIAN (online payment security token);
• NewVastek (wireless charging (A4WP) Power Transmitting Unit (PTU)/PRU with IoT integration).
“Bluetooth 5, Mobile VR, voice-activated remote control, and wireless charging are among the highlights on the Nordic booth at CES Asia,” says Ståle “Steel” Ytterdal, Nordic Semiconductor’s Director of Sales and Marketing - Asia. “These demonstrations have been specially selected because developers are keen to find out how to add such capabilities to their next generation of wireless products.
“Nordic’s highly-integrated nRF52 Series SoCs and development tools enable them to do just that. The nRF52840 SoC presents a single-chip solution to the most demanding Bluetooth LE applications, while the introduction of the new nRF52 Series SoC enables designers of cost-constrained high-volume wireless products to enjoy the extended range and throughput of Bluetooth 5 without exceeding their materials budget.”
CES Asia is in its third year. The show is organized by the U.S.-based Consumer Technology Association (CTA) which is also responsible for International CES held each year in California. In 2016, CES Asia hosted 439 exhibiting companies from 23 countries, regions and territories. Four halls of the Shanghai New International Expo Centre (SNIEC) received 33,879 attendees.
