IoT hardware and firmware engineering specialist, Fanstel, has announced a series of new certified modules based on Nordic Semiconductor’s next generation nRF54L15 System-on-Chip (SoC), designed to deliver enhanced functionality, longer battery life, and reduced product size to developers of advanced IoT devices.

Multiprotocol support

The ‘BM15C’, ‘BM15E’, and ‘BM15M’ modules support Bluetooth® Low Energy, Bluetooth Mesh, Thread, Matter, Zigbee, Amazon Sidewalk, and 2.4 GHz proprietary protocols with up to 4Mbps throughput. The modules will also support Bluetooth 6.0 features including Bluetooth Channel Sounding. All the modules take advantage of the nRF54L15 SoC’s Arm® Cortex®-M33 processor clocked at 128 MHz, and an ultra-low power multiprotocol 2.4 GHz radio. The Nordic SoC provides enlarged memory up to 1.5 MB non-volatile memory (NVM) and 256 KB RAM, enabling support for advanced application software and wireless protocol stacks on a single chip, and eliminating the need for external MCUs or memory. An integrated RISC-V coprocessor can run software-defined peripherals and handle time-critical tasks.

“These new modules are designed for a wide range of cost-sensitive applications from asset tracking and healthcare to industrial automation and the smart home,” says Dr Yuan Fan, Fanstel founder and CEO. “An IoT product using these modules can offer more features, in a smaller enclosure, at a lower production cost thanks to the nRF54L15 SoC.”

An IoT product using these modules can offer more features, in a smaller enclosure, at a lower production cost thanks to the nRF54L15 SoC.

Dr Yuan Fan, Fanstel founder and CEO

Multiple antenna options

The BM15C module comes in a 10 by 15.8 by 2 mm form factor and provides a high performance on-chip antenna. The BM15E and BM15M both come in a 10 by 14 by 2 mm form factor and offer a U.FL connector and a PCB trace antenna respectively. All the modules offer additional features and interfaces supported by the nRF54L15 including NFC, SPI, I2C, 32 GPIOs, and an extending operating temperature range of -40 to +105 °C. They are also designed to meet PSA Certified Level 3 security requirements. This security includes hardware root-of-trust, secure boot and updates, secure storage, trusted execution environment with Arm TrustZone®, and tamper detection for protection against physical attack attempts.

All the modules are footprint-upgradeable to a future Bluetooth 6.0 and Wi-Fi combination module based on Nordic’s nRF54L15 SoC and nRF7002 Wi-Fi Companion IC, and to modules requiring a power amplifier for extended range use cases.

“We selected the nRF54L15 SoC for these modules because compared to other Bluetooth LE SoCs it provides better receiver sensitivity, lower power consumption, better security, and a lower hardware cost,” continues Dr Fan. “The price performance ratio is the best on the market. Also Nordic always provides good reference designs and application engineers respond quickly. This ensures products get to market faster and more economically.”