Nordic Semiconductor announced the release of its µBlue™ nRF8002 System-on-Chip (SoC) that provides a low cost, ultra-low power, easy to design-in single chip solution for Bluetooth Smart wireless tags and accessories.
To add the µBlue™ nRF8002 to a product design demands no specialist understanding of Bluetooth low energy wireless technology or any embedded firmware development. Using a Nordic nRFgo-compatible nRF8002 Development Kit, developers can design Bluetooth Smart tags and accessories using a simple graphical user interface.
The nRF8002 is supplied in a compact 5x5 mm QFN package and includes a fully-qualified Bluetooth v4.0 low energy protocol stack, a highly configurable application layer, and built-in support for a range of Bluetooth v4.0 profiles including: Find Me, Proximity, Alert Notifications, and Battery Status. This, combined with market-leading power consumption, makes the nRF8002 a suitable solution for low cost, miniaturized coin cell battery-powered applications.
"For us, the nRF8002 really encapsulates what Bluetooth low energy is all about," commented Thomas Embla Bonnerud, director of product management within Nordic Semiconductor. "It supports a brand new category of Bluetooth wireless accessories for smartphones, tablets, and PCs. Accessories that feature simple, but highly valuable, and previously impossible/inconvenient-to-implement end-user functionality packaged into an ultra-compact form factor delivering months to years of battery lifetime and all at a mass-market consumer price point."
"One of the truly unique features of the nRF8002 is its ease-of-use for developers," added Kjartan Furset, strategic application manager at Nordic Semiconductor. "It is the first and only Bluetooth low energy solution where developers can use a graphical PC-based tool to build their application, with no firmware development, or deep Bluetooth low energy wireless technology understanding required."