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Wearable platform support on mbed

Pratul Sharma
Pratul Sharma
November 19, 2014
2 minute read time.

Wearables are about taking the ubiquity of the Internet one step further. With virtually limitless applications in a number of markets, wearable technology represents a huge value proposition and growth - and ARM is right at the center of its emergence and growth.

Check out ARM technology driving the wearable trend.

The driving force behind the wearable technology is the advancement in hardware, both in terms of affordability and practicality. The necessary components are now available at a cost, size and performance that makes innovation of new wearables possible.

As of now most wearable devices use smartphone apps to enhance the functionality of the smartphone device for specific purposes. In future we will start seeing IP connected wearable devices enabling new market opportunities.

Requirements for wearables include:

  • Long battery lifetimes
  • Small size
  • Over-The-Air Device Firmware Update
  • Protocol/Application independence
  • Interoperability
  • Mobile phone connectivity
  • IP connectivity

ARM mbed IoT Device Platform addresses all these requirements and  provides the hardware and software building blocks to developers for rapid development of wearable devices.

On the software side mbed OS is designed to run on the diverse range of Cortex-M-based SoCs and microcontrollers that are available from ARM partners, giving many choice in targets that are best suited for creating the next generation of wearable devices. The key features related to wearables include:

  • Automated sophisticated power management enables Ultra-low-power designs.
  • Freely available Bluetooth connectivity stacks.
  • Client libraries for the wearable devices to connect to a smart phones or IP backhaul.

The architecture is based on software components and an application framework that enables high productivity and reuse.

On the hardware side following platforms can be used to rapidly build wearable products

Nordic nRF51822

The nRF51822-mKIT is a low cost ARM mbed enabled development board for Bluetooth® Smart designs with the nRF51822 SoC. The kit gives access to all GPIO pins via pin headers and incorporates a coin-cell battery holder for portability enabling in situ evaluation and test

ARM mbed Bluetooth Low Energy demo (ARM TechCon 2014) - YouTube

RedBearLab BLE Nano

BLE Nano is the smallest Bluetooth 4.1 Low Energy (BLE) platform enables developing a Bluetooth Smart enabled accessory device and companion application is easier than ever. You can quickly produce prototypes and products for Internet of Things (IoT) and other interesting projects. BLE Nano could operate under 1.8V or 3.3V, therefore it works with a lot of electronic components.

Seeed Arch BLE

Arch BLE is an mbed enabled development board based Nordic nRF51822. With Grove connectors, it is extremely easy to create a Bluetooth low energy device.

mbed HRM1017

The Switch Science mbed HRM1017 is FCC and Japan radio type approved Bluetooth low energy development board with the Nordic's nRF51822 SoC. This board is also compatible with nRF51822-mKIT except the 32.768kHz crystal availability.

Nordic nRF51-DK

The nRF51 Development Kit is a single-board development kit for Bluetooth Smart, ANT and 2.4GHz proprietary applications using the nRF51 Series SoC. This kit supports both development for both nRF51822 and nRF51422 SoCs.

The kit gives access to all I/O and interfaces via connectors and has 4 LEDs and 4 buttons which are user-programmable. A range of software examples are available from the nRF51 SDK to support Bluetooth Smart, ANT and 2.4GHz applications.

Nordic nRF51-Dongle

The nRF51-Dongle is a development tool for making Bluetooth Smart, ANT and 2.4GHz applications using the nRF51 Series SoCs. It has a standard USB connector and can be plugged directly into a PC USB port. Additionally there is a user-programmable RGB LED and 6 solder pads for GPIO/interface connections.

You can rely on the ARM mbed IoT device platform and our partner ecosystem to deliver the right size fit for your wearable application.

Anonymous
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