Product Trends

JEAN-JACQUES DELISLE | Technical Engineering Editor

Tiny Transceivers Enable

the Internet of Things
As the electronics industry looks for ways to implant intelligent wireless interfaces/
controllers in everything, many RF companies have already developed low-power,
low-cost, and compact transceivers to help realize that future.

MANY SCIENCE-FICTION AUTHORS have predicted a time

when urban environments will be intelligently interconnected
and share a wealth of information. Given the many advan-
tages of a connected world, many companies and hobbyists are
working hard to enable the latest interconnecting technologies
(Fig. 1). Dubbed the Internet of Things (IoT) or Internet of
Everything (IoE), this movement requires a diverse amount of
sensors and wireless-communications technologies that only
occupy a small footprint and require very little power (Fig. 2).
Modern implementations of high-level communications
protocols are paving the way toward the development of a Web
of personal-area networks (PANs) that will rely on ever-more
1. Using interconnected wireless and wired devices on a common data
integrated microprocessor and sensor platforms. These tech-
backplane is commonly referred to as the Internet of Things (IoT) or
nology forebearers include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, ZigBee, 3G/4G/
Internet of Everything (IoE).
LTE cellular technologies, and custom RF-transceiver technol-
ogies. For IoT-driven applications, critical factors include size, a range to 20 m. Although data can be transmitted over lon-
weight, power, and cost (SWAP-C). Yet frequency, modulation ger distances using mesh networks, ZigBee is best suited for
protocols, and intelligence also are key. Because there are many intermittent transmission. These factors make ZigBee a lower-
tradeoffs between these parameters, the latest IoT devices have power solution than other PAN technologies.
become highly integrated devices. Unlike both Bluetooth and ZigBee, the IEEE 802.11x Wi-Fi
In response to the rise of the emerging wearables market, standards are designed to provide a high-data-rate wireless-
for example, the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) devel- local-area-network (WLAN) platform. Many Wi-Fi standards
oped a low-energy version of its classic protocol, called Blue- operate at the 2.4-GHz ultra-high-frequency (UHF) and 5.0-
tooth LE or Bluetooth Smart. This technology uses a simpler GHz super-high- frequency (SHF) bands to escape the spectral
modulation scheme than classical Bluetooth to ensure greater clutter in the UHF bands.
communications efficiency. It still operates in the industrial, Typically, Wi-Fi’s range extends to 35 m indoors and 100 m
scientific, and medical (ISM) band from 2.400 to 2.485 GHz. outside. Yet the higher-frequency WiFi standards suffer from
In addition to the advantage of Bluetooth’s highly resilient, reduced range. Because Wi-Fi technologies are very adaptable
adaptive-frequency-hopping scheme, these advances enable and present in many urban environments, they could benefit
many devices to be equipped on an essentially plug-and-play IoT applications by providing high-data-rate capability and
transceiver platform. interoperability with many pre-installed network systems.
ZigBee is another low-power PAN technology built on the
IEEE 802.15 standard. It is best suited for low-data-rate appli- FUTURE-LOOKING PRODUCTS
cations that require long battery life and secure networking. The transceivers developed with the IoT in mind lever-
The ZigBee standard has a defined data rate of 250 kb/s and age these various communications technologies. CSEM’s

94 NOVEMBER 2014 MICROWAVES & RF

Compact Transceivers

icycom, for example, is a custom 900-MHz ISM-band IoT mum transmit current of 26 mA. The IEEE 802.11n single-
system-on-chip (SoC) transceiver. The firm also offers a 2.4- band WiFi SoC, the 88W8801, is equipped with an on-board
GHz version in the icyTRX. Both devices are designed for PA, low-noise amplifier (LNA), and transmit/receive switch.
battery-powered body-area networks (BANs), wireless sensor Recognizing the advantages of integrated RF transceiver
networks (WSNs), and automation applications. They can and microcontroller-unit SoCs, Analog Devices moved to also
operate from a power supply down to 1 V. include a low-power analog input/output. The ADUCRF101
The icyCom consumes 3.5 mA of receive current and 40 employs a six-channel, 12-bit ADC powered by a 32-bit ARM
mA of transmit current with a +10-dBm continuous output. Its Cortex M3. Among the communications peripherals and serial
sibling, the icyTRX, consumes 5.3 mA of receive current and peripherals interfaces supported are SPI, UART, and I2C.
8.3 mA of transmit current. In doing so, the icyTRX exceeds
Bluetooth Smart’s and ZigBee’s low-energy requirements. LEVERAGING EXISTING INFRASTRUCTURE
The icycom offers an RF data rate of 400 kbps with receive Using pre-existing cellular-telecommunications structures,
sensitivity to −115 dBm. In contrast, the icyTRX boasts receive such as 3G/4G/LTE, to enable the IoT could ensure mobil-
sensitivity as high as −90 dBm at 4-Mbps data rates. Because ity and reliability while providing the added benefit of secu-
it is difficult and costly to fit all RF matching circuitry at sub- rity. Because many areas do not possess the necessary density
1-GHz frequencies, the icycom may require additional match- of relatively short-range Wi-Fi, ZigBee, and Bluetooth net-
ing circuitry. That is not the case, however, for the icyTRX. works, using a longer-range technology also could enable a
The icycom module measures 1 cm. It is offered in a 2-mm much greater assortment of remote IoT devices. Intel recently
silicon die. made headway into a potential IoT platform with
Another example of a sub-1-GHz a 3G cellular modem measuring just 300 mm.
transceiver module is Texas Instru- The Intel XMM 6255 is designed to operate with
ments’ RF430F5978 MSP430 SoC. It small-volume antennas that are suboptimal for
incorporates the CC1011 RF transceiv- mobile-phone standards. Reaching 7.2 Mbps, it
er operating in the 315/433/868/915 can support both 3G and 2G connections as well
ISM/SRD bands. The SoC features a as Intel’s 65-nm CMOS process. The XMM 6255
low-frequency (LF) wakeup and tran- 2. The development background houses a PA to speed design and development
sponder interface. It consumes just 15 software and interfaces are key to time. Intel has also released a dual-core computer
mA at 250 kbps and 915 MHz while enabling the rapid exploration of with IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n and Bluetooth 4.0 on-
providing receive sensitivity to −117 these versatile IoT devices. board/external connectivity. This 35.5-×-25-×-
dBm and transmit output power to 3.9-mm SoC, called the Edison,
+12 dBm on all supported frequencies. sports dual 500-MHz Intel Atom
The SoC flaunts a 12-bit analog-to- cores and a 100-MHz, 32-bit Intel
digital converter (ADC) and numer- Quark processor.
ous sensors and interface capabili- For the more distant future,
ties. The SoC network co-processor researchers from Stanford Uni-
(NCP) that was recently introduced versity and the University of
by Silicon Labs is based on ZigBee California, Berkeley—in collab-
and equipped with an ARM Cortex 3. Ambient-radio-wave energy harvesting could bring an oration with STMicroelectron-
M3 central processing unit (CPU). unprecedented level of access to IoT applications, where ics—have developed a prototype
and regulator help to reduce overall the cost and size of traditional IoT electronics would be for a millimeter-wave SoC that is
device size and part count. prohibitive. fully equipped with an on-board
Marvell recently developed both radio and processor (Fig. 3). This
a low-power Wi-Fi SoC, the 88W8801, and the 88MZ100 micro-miniature radio device operates on 24 and 60 GHz with
ZigBee microcontroller unit (MCU). The ZigBee SoC uses a its transceiver.
32-bit ARM Cortex M3 to drive a wide range of interconnec- As the techniques behind producing highly integrated
tivity peripherals. Due to the low-power nature of the ZigBee and intelligent radios advance, SWAP-C characteristics will
technology, the 88MZ100 operates at a low clock rate and continue to drop. These trends also may be impacted by the
has less advanced internal sensor technologies. However, it is decreasing size of silicon and the potential of carbon-based
capable of operating on a 2-V supply. technologies, such as graphene and carbon nanotubes (CNTs).
For its part, the ZigBee SoC has minimum receive sensitivity Meanwhile, software-defined-radio (SDR) technology is
of −104 dBm and consumes 14 mA of receive current. It offers advancing. Soon, the industry will witness new levels of inte-
adjustable transmit power to +9 dBm while consuming mini- gration and low power consumption.

96 NOVEMBER 2014 MICROWAVES & RF