Bluetooth 5, 802.15.4’s ZigBee or Thread, ARM RF or 3rd party, new foundries and nodes: The choice is yours with ARM Cordio radio IP
Having the options to include both Bluetooth low energy and 802.15.4 in the same device enables flexibility in products and new classes of devices. But RF design requires special expertise, is difficult, and is costly to stay competitive and current with the latest low-power wireless standards. The latest 2016 changes in wireless standards will generate demand for these standards, and complete one-source solutions are needed to reduce time to market and development costs. ARM Cordio is ready!
With over 15 billion ARM-based chips shipped from sensors to servers in 2015, the sheer volume and diversity of connected devices enabled by ARM technology is unmatched. Connectivity for the Internet of Things (IoT) is an essential factor as devices need to be connected to communicate! There are several standards competing in the IoT arena, but Bluetooth low energy and 802.15.4 are the de facto ultra-low-power radio standards for constrained devices: over 270 million devices were shipped last year using Bluetooth low energy alone, and analysts see no signs of this stopping with predictions of more than 1.8 Billion devices shipped in 2020 using Bluetooth, ZigBee, or Thread.
Bluetooth low energy and 802.15.4
Bluetooth 5 was announced by the Bluetooth SIG in June and is due to be released by end 2016. It includes key updates such as an extended range (4x), faster data transfer (2x to 2Mbps), and an increase of up to 8x for broadcast messaging capacity, allowing Bluetooth based devices to transmit richer, more intelligent data.
The range extension will deliver robust, reliable IoT connections that make home, building, and outdoor use cases a reality, for example the range extension could allow you to control your smart appliances and smart home applications from the other side home or in your garden The increased speed will optimize responsiveness, support faster data transfers and offer software updates to enhance capabilities. In addition, it will also have the benefit of providing better power efficiency. For example, wearable devices can transmit data faster to smartphone or tablet applications and go to sleep faster and thus prolonging battery life. Watch a demo of 2Mbps transfer with ARM Cordio
The increase in broadcast capacity in itself will drive the next generation of “connectionless” services like beacons and location-relevant information and navigation that will not need to download an app to connect to, or a redirect to a webpage, to experience a content-full information.
802.15.4 is an established standard for the Internet of Things, and is used in consumer and commercial applications, such as smart metering or home automation, and is the platform for the growing ZigBee 3.0 and Thread standards, with many solutions that support both standards in the market place today.
The new Cordio architecture brings extensive choice and flexibility to designers, still with its leading ultra-low power sub 1-volt solution, for easy integration to their SoC:
The soft-IP offering enables even more choice and flexibility with 3rd party RF front-end on different foundries/nodes, as part of the growing Cordio ecosystem, with support from Catena, Aura for RFE , and ubisys, DSR Corporation for 3rd party software.
ARM TechCon 2016 Newsroom - ARM
Cordio products
Select your fab/RFE, your features/standards and your stack(s)
The new Cordio IP portfolio is as follows:
And comes either as full solution, from RF to Stack
Or standards RTL solution, with support for 3rd party radio front end:
With multiple connectivity options, with farther and faster connections using low-voltage, ARM Cordio radio IP frees you to think differently to create smaller and cheaper devices for the smart embedded and IoT end-point markets.
Learn more at www.arm.com/cordio