NXP announces two MCUS aimed at environmentally friendly smart home devices

NXP Semiconductors has introduced the K32W061/41, a new family of ultra-low power/multi-protocol wireless microcontrollers (MCUS). These low-power devices complement the company's recently launched JN5189/88(Thread/Zigbee) and QN9090/30 (Bluetooth LE) MCUS and provide an easier porting path for device manufacturers (Oems) to support current and emerging smart home applications.

In today's large homes and iot devices, reducing power consumption is critical, so a single button battery is needed to maximize performance. The K32W061/41 MCU achieves this through a variety of low-power modes and low transmit/receive radio power capabilities.

"The demand for ultra-low power connectivity in the smart home is growing, as are the options for wireless technologies," said Tom Pannell, senior market director for Connectivity solutions at NXP. "By introducing our multi-protocol wireless microcontroller, NXP will leverage the breadth and expertise of our technology portfolio to deliver ultra-low-power performance for connected applications, providing solutions that make it easier for Oems to design powerful and rich iot devices that support Bluetooth LE, Zigbee and Thread."

The K32W061 and K32W041 feature IEEE 802.15.4 radios that support threading and Zigbee networking protocols, Bluetooth Low Power 5.0, and integrated NFC NTAG(K32W061). The product also supports a wide operating temperature range (-40 ° C to +125 ° C).

As a founding member of the Zigbee Alliance and Thread, a co-founder of the NFC Forum and a member of the Bluetooth SIG, NXP has been able to leverage its wireless expertise as well as its extensive MCU capabilities to integrate the latest connectivity standards with appropriate smart peripherals. These peripherals support a range of use cases, including:

• Home and building automation

• Security and access control

• Smart thermostat and smart lock

• Gateway and sensor network applications

The K32W061/41 wireless microcontroller is based on an Arm Cortex M4 microcontroller core running at 48MHz and contains 640 KB of onboard flash memory and 152 KB of SRAM, providing storage space and flexibility for complex application and software over-the-air (OTA) updates.

The optional NFC NTAG provides standardized out-of-band communication to simplify the pairing process. The multi-protocol radio includes an integrated power amplifier that has a maximum output power of +11dBm, allowing for long-distance transmission.In addition, it supports Bluetooth Low Energy 5.0, Zigbee and OpenThread wireless networking protocol stacks.