Announced at Electronica, Nordic's new wireless SoCs include an Arm processor core and built-in support for a wide variety of 2.4 GHz protocols.
allaboutcircuits.com, Nov. 20, 2024 –
Nordic Semiconductor recently released three new wireless system on chips (SoCs): the nRF54L15, nRF54L10, and nRF54L05. These chips offer microcontroller processing and support for a broad set of 2.4-GHz wireless communications protocols.
Nordic designed the chips for Internet of Things (IoT) devices and larger systems that need modular wireless connectivity.
Easy-to-Integrate Wireless SoCs
The three chips start with an ultra-low-power, 2.4-GHz radio. They feature an Arm Cortex M33 at their core, running at 128 MHz to support a wide set of protocols and microcontroller functionality. All three come with non-volatile memory (NVM) and additional RAM. The devices' wireless capability and processing power allow them to operate as self-contained radio engines or fully functional wireless MCUs without requiring an external microcontroller.
The basic memory specs of the three SoCs are as follows:
Depending on the model, the chips offer up to 35 GPIO in a package as small as 2.4 mm x 2.2 mm, 50 percent smaller than the prior generation nRF52840. Nordic also released the parts in a backward-compatible 6 mm x 6 mm QFN package.
All three include a global real-time clock (RTC), accessible even when the system is off. Other common features include a 14-bit ADC, high-speed serial, and security features. Recognizing potential threats to connected devices, Nordic embedded advanced security features to minimize vulnerabilities, including a secure boot, secure firmware updates, secure storage, a cryptographic accelerator with side-channel leakage protection, and tamper detectors.