(iTers News) - Chip makers across the world are pinning their hopes for demand turnaround on IoT, or Internet of Things device. Texas Instruments is no exception.


The Dallas, Texas-based chip maker has released a 13.56 MHz sensor transponder SoC family –RF430FRL15xH in what the company said is the industry’s first highly integrated NFC sensor transponder.


Coming complete with low-power programmable MCU, non-volatile FRAM, an analog-to-digital converter, or ADC, SPI or 12C interface, and ISO15693-compliant NFC interface, the SoC solution is a sort of sensor hub to integrate, process , and store sensor data that is read out from neighboring sensors.


Yet, it’s not a general-purpose sensor hub that is widely used with smart phones and tablet PCs to control and manage a dozen of sensors like gyroscope, accelerometer, and proximity sensors, but a very much dedicated sensor node to interact with a couple of sensors. Its built-in  14-bit sigma-delta ADC with ultra-low input current, low noise and ultra-low offset enables developers to connect up to three additional external sensors. It even comes integrate with an internal temperature sensor


The SoC is especially designed to optimize its BOM costs, power, and silicon foot prints, performances with the system requirement of IoT and wearable devices for ultra-tiny form factor, ultra-low power consumption, low cost, and high-performance. The chip is even so programmable that it can allow system designers to customize their applications. 


“Whenever system designers work on their design scheme for IoT and wearable devices, they have to take into consideration power consumption first, because if your device runs short of battery just in a matter of a few hours, it proves total commercial failure. Costs and form factors are to be considered, too. As wearable devices and IoT devices widely vary from applications to applications, they also favor programmability,” said Thomas Son, MCU FAE with Texas Instruments.


Crack open the RF430FRL15xH chip solution, and you can find TI’s flagship ultra-low power RISC architecture 16-bit 4 MHz MSP 430 MCU family is at the heart of the one chip solution. Operating at a 1.5 voltage, the MSP430 MCU is specifically optimized to power up power-thrifty mobile devices.


It is also programmable so that system designers can program it to customize their applications. Application code embedded in ROM manages RF communication and sensor readings to provide the ultimate flexibility in configuring the device. Not only can developers configure sampling rates, measurement thresholds and alarms, but also program it to collect sensing data at a regular interval, for example.  


It comes also built with non-volatile 2KB FRAM to store data or code. As non-volatile FRAM can keep data even when power is off, it can switch between a sleep and active mode, allowing the whole system to save energy.


Compared a non-volatile flash memory, the FRAM not only can read and write data faster, but also is more durable and on-lasting. So, it is a good fit for real-time applications like healthcare, wearable and IoT devices.         

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“Non-volatile FRAM combines the speed, flexibility and endurance of SRAM with the stability and reliability of flash – while providing the industry’s lowest power consumption and virtually unlimited write cycles. FRAM allows developers to create products that can quickly store sensor data and enables easy configuration of the transponder and sensors to meet any application’s needs, “added Thomson Song.


Energy saving schemes doesn’t stop there. Coming built with ISO/IEC 15693, ISO/IEC 18000-3 compliant RFID interface, it can go with no battery power harvesting energy from the RF field generated from an NFC reader at the same reading distance. Its intelligent power management includes a battery switch to ensure long battery life.


Its built-in  14-bit sigma-delta ADC with ultra-low input current, low noise and ultra-low offset enables developers to connect up to three additional external sensors in addition to the integrated temperature sensor


Applications are plentiful ranging from medical patches and healthcare to wearable and industrial IoT devices.


Medical disposable patch is one prime example of medical or health and fitness applications. The chip can sense temperature, hydration and more, allowing patients to monitor and share vital data securely with their health providers. The device monitors and logs data in local storage (FRAM) before transferring it to an NFC-enabled tablet or smartphone.


The RF430FRL15xH also enables the design of maintenance-free and hermetically sealed galvanic isolated sensor systems in the industrial markets. These sensors are powered out of the RF field and communicate wirelessly through NFC to collect and log data.


Logistics applications such as food tracking need constant temperature control, which can be monitored and logged with the RF430FRL15xH transponder. It allows the design of highly integrated, size-optimized and easy-to-use data loggers with several sensors that connect to NFC-enabled devices and readers throughout the distribution channel.



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