Product Review
EM Microelectronic's EM9301 low energy Bluetooth controller
Clive Maxfield6/4/2012 3:06 PM EDT
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I just heard from the folks at EM Microelectronic that they've announced their Bluetooth smart-qualified controller, the EM9301.
Optimized for ultra-low power wireless sensing, remote control, and monitoring applications, the EM9301 operates on as little as 0.8V. It can be powered by a wide range of common single-cell batteries or energy harvesters such as solar cells, piezo-electric, and electro-magnetic elements.
The EM9301 is fully Bluetooth smart qualified for single-mode master and slave applications and combines the Physical layer, Link layer and Host Controller Interface (HCI) layer in one flexible chip.
In receive mode, the EM9301 requires only 16.5mA, while competing products consume up to 23mA. An integrated DC/DC converter powers the EM9301 RF circuitry while concurrently delivering up to 100mA to an external device (e.g. sensors, external microcontroller, LED indicators, or displays & driver circuits). RF output power is programmable from +4dBm to –20dBm in 6 steps. The system power budget can be further optimized by putting the EM9301 in SLEEP or IDLE mode, where it consumes less than 1µA. The overall bill of material and size can be reduced significantly by the proper design of a 200-ohm differential impedance PCB trace antenna, eliminating the need for matching, balun, and antenna components.
The EM9301, when paired with a low-power host controller, comprises a cost/performance/size optimized solution for most Bluetooth smart applications such as wireless health and fitness monitoring, electronic leashes, and smartphone-based sensing and controls.
Samples and tool availability
The EM9301 is sampling now and is available in both die format and in a ROHS-compliant MLF-24 package. EM9301 device purchase includes a license-free Bluetooth smart stack for 8051, ARM Cortex-M0, or -M3 cores.
The new ENSEMBLE Bluetooth low energy development kit allows users to write, download and test their own BLE applications on a small, easy to use, portable hardware platform. The ALPW-BLESDK80c51 Software Development Kit from Alpwise provides a compatible BLE stack for the EM9301, as well as many profiles, services, and example applications for the ENSEMBLE DVK. iOS applications for wirelessly connecting the EM9301 to an iPhone® 4S will be available on Apple’s App Store soon.
Sensors Expo
EM will be demonstrating the EM9301 in Booth 315 at the Sensors Expo in Chicago, June 6-7 by connecting their latest EM9301 development kit, the ENSEMBLE DVK, directly to an Apple iPhone 4S.
EM will also present; “Is Bluetooth Low Energy the Holy Grail for Wireless Sensor Networks?” at the conference. Through this presentation, attendees will learn about Bluetooth low energy technology, how it differs from standard Bluetooth wireless technology, and why it might just be the “holy grail” for wireless sensor networks.
More information about the circuit and development kit is available at:
For samples and details, please contact: info@emmicroelectronic.com
If you found this article to be interest, visit Microcontroller / MCU Designline where – in addition to my Max's Cool Beans blogs on all sorts of "stuff" – you will find the latest and greatest design, technology, product, and news articles with regard to all aspects of designing and using microcontrollers.
Also, you can obtain a highlights update delivered directly to your inbox by signing up for my weekly newsletter – just Click Here to request this newsletter using the Manage Newsletters tab (if you aren't already a member you'll be asked to register, but it's free and painless so don't let that stop you [grin]).
Last but certainly not least, make sure you check out all of the discussions and other information resources at All Programmable Planet. For example, in addition to blogs by yours truly, microcontroller expert Duane Benson is learning how to use FPGAs to augment (sometimes replace) the MCUs in his robot (and other) projects.
Optimized for ultra-low power wireless sensing, remote control, and monitoring applications, the EM9301 operates on as little as 0.8V. It can be powered by a wide range of common single-cell batteries or energy harvesters such as solar cells, piezo-electric, and electro-magnetic elements.
The EM9301 is fully Bluetooth smart qualified for single-mode master and slave applications and combines the Physical layer, Link layer and Host Controller Interface (HCI) layer in one flexible chip.
In receive mode, the EM9301 requires only 16.5mA, while competing products consume up to 23mA. An integrated DC/DC converter powers the EM9301 RF circuitry while concurrently delivering up to 100mA to an external device (e.g. sensors, external microcontroller, LED indicators, or displays & driver circuits). RF output power is programmable from +4dBm to –20dBm in 6 steps. The system power budget can be further optimized by putting the EM9301 in SLEEP or IDLE mode, where it consumes less than 1µA. The overall bill of material and size can be reduced significantly by the proper design of a 200-ohm differential impedance PCB trace antenna, eliminating the need for matching, balun, and antenna components.
The EM9301, when paired with a low-power host controller, comprises a cost/performance/size optimized solution for most Bluetooth smart applications such as wireless health and fitness monitoring, electronic leashes, and smartphone-based sensing and controls.
Samples and tool availability
The EM9301 is sampling now and is available in both die format and in a ROHS-compliant MLF-24 package. EM9301 device purchase includes a license-free Bluetooth smart stack for 8051, ARM Cortex-M0, or -M3 cores.
The new ENSEMBLE Bluetooth low energy development kit allows users to write, download and test their own BLE applications on a small, easy to use, portable hardware platform. The ALPW-BLESDK80c51 Software Development Kit from Alpwise provides a compatible BLE stack for the EM9301, as well as many profiles, services, and example applications for the ENSEMBLE DVK. iOS applications for wirelessly connecting the EM9301 to an iPhone® 4S will be available on Apple’s App Store soon.
Sensors Expo
EM will be demonstrating the EM9301 in Booth 315 at the Sensors Expo in Chicago, June 6-7 by connecting their latest EM9301 development kit, the ENSEMBLE DVK, directly to an Apple iPhone 4S.
EM will also present; “Is Bluetooth Low Energy the Holy Grail for Wireless Sensor Networks?” at the conference. Through this presentation, attendees will learn about Bluetooth low energy technology, how it differs from standard Bluetooth wireless technology, and why it might just be the “holy grail” for wireless sensor networks.
More information about the circuit and development kit is available at:
- www.emmicroelectronic.com/Products.asp?IdProduct=289
- www.emmicroelectronic.com/webfiles/product/other/EM9301_FS.pdf
- www.alpwise.com/
For samples and details, please contact: info@emmicroelectronic.com
If you found this article to be interest, visit Microcontroller / MCU Designline where – in addition to my Max's Cool Beans blogs on all sorts of "stuff" – you will find the latest and greatest design, technology, product, and news articles with regard to all aspects of designing and using microcontrollers.
Also, you can obtain a highlights update delivered directly to your inbox by signing up for my weekly newsletter – just Click Here to request this newsletter using the Manage Newsletters tab (if you aren't already a member you'll be asked to register, but it's free and painless so don't let that stop you [grin]).
Last but certainly not least, make sure you check out all of the discussions and other information resources at All Programmable Planet. For example, in addition to blogs by yours truly, microcontroller expert Duane Benson is learning how to use FPGAs to augment (sometimes replace) the MCUs in his robot (and other) projects.
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