Wireless & Communications

ARM and Nordic Semiconductor have announced an agreement to incorporate Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) solutions with the ARM mbed IoT device development platform. The collaboration is intended to enable developers to quickly and easily create new Bluetooth-connected devices and applications that leverage Nordic’s system on chips (SoCs) which are based on the ARM Cortex-M processor series.

Analog Devices has launched an RF solution for software defined radio (SDR) applications that supports programmable radio applications operating over a wide range of modulation schemes and network specifications such as defence electronics, instrumentation equipment and communications infrastructure. The new AD9361 RF Agile Transceiver offers a combination of performance, high integration, wideband operation and flexibility.

Growing demand for Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) devices has led Alpha Micro Components to extend its product portfolio with the addition of Laird Technologies’ new Bluetooth v4.0 Dual-Mode Modules. The new series offer dual-mode, or Bluetooth Smart Ready support, enabling connections to devices that support BLE and Classic (pre-v4.0) Bluetooth.

Newly available from Link Microtek is a solid-state high-power amplifier module that operates over the frequency range 20 to 520MHz, making it suitable for use in either broadband mobile jamming systems to counter the threat of IEDs or band-specific high-power linear applications in the UHF and VHF bands.

Cypress Semiconductor has introduced a new controller to its TrueTouch Gen5 family that brings enhanced levels of noise-immunity touchscreen control technology to superphones, smartphones, tablets and e-readers. The TMA568 controller supports writing and drawing with a 2.0-mm-tip passive stylus, enabling touchscreens to capture characters as small as 7 mm.

Texas Instruments (TI) has introduced what it claims is the most efficient envelope tracking power supply solution to support 3G and 4G LTE multi-mode, multi-band RF power amplifiers used in smartphones and tablets.

Alpha Micro customers who are looking to make their M2M applications 4G capable can now use the new TOBY-L1 series of ultra-compact LTE modules from u-blox. Offering 4G download speeds that are 5-7 times faster than its 3G counterpart, the TOBY-L1 has been designed for high-speed bandwidth hungry M2M applications such as digital signage, mobile health, traffic management and security system applications.

B&B Electronics has expanded its 10G (Gigabit) fibre media converter family with the iMcV-10G-Converter SFP+, featuring 10G speed in an SFP+ (small form pluggable) modular form factor. The converter allows operators of high-bandwidth, mission-critical networks, such as ISPs, Telecoms, municipalities, medical facilities and large campuses, to convert between different fibre types within a network, and to move enormous amounts of data over long distances.

Peregrine Semiconductor, a fabless provider of high-performance radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs), has unveiled what is says is the highest performance, carrier-grade Wi-Fi switch currently on the market. The switch targets the fast-growing market for 802.11ac Wi-Fi access points.

Murata has announced the LBCA series of ultra compact and ultra low power consumption Bluetooth Smart modules. Measuring only 5.4 x 4.4 mm (LBCA2BZZFZ without antenna), these surface mount devices are a quarter of the size of previous models and are aimed at the increasingly wide range of wearable devices, especially wristband-type applications, such as fitness monitoring, smart watches and remote controllers.