Smart home
Low power wireless connectivity solutions for smart home
Multiprotocol wireless gateway employs Nordic technology to support advanced Bluetooth LE smart-home applications
22
Jun
2017
2017
Oslo, Norway
Hardware platform enables development of Linux-based connected-home applications using Bluetooth Low Energy connectivity and other WLAN technologies combined with cellular communication link to the Cloud
Nordic Semiconductor today announces that Aarhus, Denmark-based white label Internet of Things (IoT) product manufacturer, Develco Products, has selected Nordic’s award-winning nRF52832 Bluetooth® Low Energy System-on-Chip (SoC) to provide the Bluetooth LE wireless connectivity in its multiprotocol ‘Squid.link Gateway’. The gateway is an open Linux platform providing multiple wireless communication technologies to a range of smart home devices and the Cloud.
In addition to Bluetooth LE wireless connectivity, the Squid.link Gateway supports cellular 2G/3G, Wi-Fi (b/g/n), Wireless M-Bus, Sub-1GHz proprietary, zigbee, and Z-Wave. The gateway also supports Ethernet wired networking. Developers can build smart home applications with the Linux environment using single or multiple (simultaneous) wireless technologies for configuration and control of a wide range of sensors such as smart lights, motion sensors, smoke alarms, smart plugs, and thermostats. Developers are not constrained by having to work with a single wireless technology or sensor vendor. The gateway has also been tested for connectivity with third-party Cloud platforms making it straightforward for developers to implement full IoT solutions.
The Squid.link Gateway includes a powerful ARM9 processor power capable of implementing the most complex smart home applications. The gateway includes ample memory for data storage and logging, can be color-customized and branded with an OEM’s logo, and can be specified with only the wireless technologies required for the target application, reducing the unit cost. The gateway is delivered with tools and sensors to enable an engineer to set up a smart home demonstration using the included ready-to-use web application.
The gateway’s Bluetooth LE wireless connectivity is provided by Nordic’s nRF52832 SoC. The SoC is interoperable with Bluetooth LE sensors from all vendors as well as Bluetooth 4.0 (and later) smartphones and tablets. The nRF52832 SoC combines a 64MHz, 32-bit ARM® Cortex® M4F processor with a 2.4GHz multiprotocol radio (supporting Bluetooth 5, ANT™, and proprietary 2.4GHz RF software) featuring -96dB RX sensitivity, with 512kB Flash memory and 64kB RAM. The SoC delivers up to 60 percent more generic processing power, offering 10 times the Floating Point performance and twice the DSP performance compared to competing solutions.
In addition to Bluetooth LE wireless connectivity, the Squid.link Gateway supports cellular 2G/3G, Wi-Fi (b/g/n), Wireless M-Bus, Sub-1GHz proprietary, zigbee, and Z-Wave. The gateway also supports Ethernet wired networking. Developers can build smart home applications with the Linux environment using single or multiple (simultaneous) wireless technologies for configuration and control of a wide range of sensors such as smart lights, motion sensors, smoke alarms, smart plugs, and thermostats. Developers are not constrained by having to work with a single wireless technology or sensor vendor. The gateway has also been tested for connectivity with third-party Cloud platforms making it straightforward for developers to implement full IoT solutions.
The Squid.link Gateway includes a powerful ARM9 processor power capable of implementing the most complex smart home applications. The gateway includes ample memory for data storage and logging, can be color-customized and branded with an OEM’s logo, and can be specified with only the wireless technologies required for the target application, reducing the unit cost. The gateway is delivered with tools and sensors to enable an engineer to set up a smart home demonstration using the included ready-to-use web application.
The gateway’s Bluetooth LE wireless connectivity is provided by Nordic’s nRF52832 SoC. The SoC is interoperable with Bluetooth LE sensors from all vendors as well as Bluetooth 4.0 (and later) smartphones and tablets. The nRF52832 SoC combines a 64MHz, 32-bit ARM® Cortex® M4F processor with a 2.4GHz multiprotocol radio (supporting Bluetooth 5, ANT™, and proprietary 2.4GHz RF software) featuring -96dB RX sensitivity, with 512kB Flash memory and 64kB RAM. The SoC delivers up to 60 percent more generic processing power, offering 10 times the Floating Point performance and twice the DSP performance compared to competing solutions.
It is important to include Bluetooth LE in the Squid.link Gateway because it’s an increasingly popular smart home wireless technology that’s been adopted by many sensor vendors.
Henning Mærkedahl, Develco Product
The SoC is supplied with Nordic’s S132 SoftDevice, a Bluetooth 4.2 qualified RF software protocol stack for building advanced Bluetooth LE applications. The S132 SoftDevice incorporates Central, Peripheral, Broadcaster, and Observer Bluetooth LE roles, supports up to twenty connections, and enables concurrent role operation.
“It is important to include Bluetooth LE in the Squid.link Gateway because it’s an increasingly popular smart home wireless technology that’s been adopted by many sensor vendors,” says Henning Mærkedahl, Chief Technology Officer with Develco Products. “We selected the Nordic SoC because the company’s technology is popular with sensor vendors—partly because its low power consumption extends battery life in smart home products—and in keeping with our philosophy of supporting the most complex applications, the chip’s powerful processor and resources enable it to support any application a developer can dream up.”
“The smart home will be powered by a range of wireless technologies including Bluetooth LE. Because of this, the market is demanding a gateway that supports multiple WLAN technologies as well as Cloud connectivity via Wi-Fi and cellular,” says Geir Langeland, Director of Sales & Marketing with Nordic Semiconductor.
“Develco Products have cleverly met this need with a ready-to-use platform upon which OEM developers can build a wide variety of smart home applications without having to worry about hardware design. And because the nRF52832 SoC is a class-leading single-chip Bluetooth LE solution the gateway is able to support the most complex Bluetooth connected home applications such as mesh-networked smart lighting.”
About Develco Products
Develco Products provides white label products for the entire IoT industry. We develop, produce, and market high-volume customized products for companies supplying end-users with Internet of Things solutions. We take pride in advancing the technology of Internet of Things, and work with leading organizations and institutions in bringing you tomorrow’s wireless technology today.
