The CC2640R2L launched by TI (Texas Instruments) is a 2.4 GHz wireless microcontroller (MCU) supporting Bluetooth 5.1 Low Energy and Proprietary 2.4 GHz applications. They both use a single-core software development kit (SDK) and a rich toolset to share a common and easy-to-use development environment. The device is optimized for low-power wireless communication and advanced sensing in building security systems, HVAC, asset tracking, medical markets, and applications where industrial performance is required.

Let's take a quick look at the hightlights of CC2640R2L MCU.

1. Support for Bluetooth® 5.1 features: LE Coded PHYs (Long Range), LE 2-Mbit PHY (High Speed), Advertising Extensions, Multiple Advertisement Sets, as well as backward compatibility and support for key features from the Bluetooth® 5.0 and earlier Low Energy specifications.
2. Fully-qualified Bluetooth® 5.1 software protocol stack included with the SimpleLink™ CC2640R2 Software Development Kit (SDK) for developing applications on the powerful Arm® Cortex® -M3 processor.
3. Longer battery life wireless applications with a low standby current of 1.5 µA with full RAM retention
4. Dedicated Software controlled radio controller (Arm® Cortex® -M0) providing flexible low-power RF transceiver capability to support multiple physical layers and RF standards, such as real-time localization (RTLS) technologies.
5. Excellent radio sensitivity and robustness (selectivity and blocking) performance for Bluetooth® Low Energy (-103 dBm for 125 kbps LE Coded PHY).

Powerful Arm® Cortex® -M3

Up to 48 MHz clock speed

275 KB of nonvolatile memory including 128 KB of in-system programmable flash

Up to 28 KB of system SRAM, of which 20 KB is ultra-low leakage SRAM

8 KB of SRAM for cache or system RAM use

Supports over-the-air upgrade (OTA)

5 mm × 5 mm RHB VQFN32 (15 GPIOs)

7 mm × 7 mm RGZ VQFN48 (31 GPIOs)

· Peripherals

All digital peripheral pins can be routed to any GPIO

Four general-purpose timer modules (eight 16 bits or four 32 bits timers, PWM each)

UART, IIC, and IIS

Real-time clock (RTC)

AES-128 security module

Integrated temperature sensor

Wide supply voltage range

Normal operation: 1.8 V to 3.8 V

External regulator mode: 1.7 V to 1.95 V

2.4 GHz RF transceiver compatible with Bluetooth low energy 5.1 and earlier LE specifications

Excellent receiver sensitivity (–97 dBm for BLE), selectivity, and blocking performance

Programmable output power up to +5 dBm

Single-ended or differential RF interface

As early as January 21st, 2019, the Bluetooth SIG announced the Core specification 5.1, introducing the long-awaited AoA/AoD features. AoA/AoD is a positioning algorithm based on the angle of arrival angle/ angle of departure. The Bluetooth 5.1 device senses the arrival /departure direction of the transmitting node signal and calculates the relative position or angle between the arrival node and the departure node. Then use triangulation or other methods to calculate the location of the unknown node, which is very suitable for indoor positioning applications of the Internet of Things. Thus, Bluetooth 5.1 has many advantages in indoor positioning.

What Are The Highlights of CC2640R2L Modules?

Based on CC2640R2L chip, RF-star has launched the CC2640R2L module, which has a lower cost and high performance to support Bluetooth lower energy 5.1.

For example, the strong comprehensive performance of RF-BM-4077B1L and RF-BM-4055B1L modules launched by RF-star can meet most of users' needs.