Lower profile extended temperature range Bluetooth Low Energy solutions

Cypress Semiconductor has announced its highly-integrated, single-chip Bluetooth Low Energy solutions are now sampling in new packaging and temperature range options. The PSoC 4 BLE Programmable System-on-Chip and PRoC BLE Programmable Radio-on-Chip solutions each now have an option for a micro-ball Chip Scale Package (CSP) package optimized to bring Bluetooth Smart connectivity to secure credit card applications. The package is only 0.38mm thick, making the reliable and fully Bluetooth-certified solutions ideal to replace chip-on-board devices. Cypress also offers solutions with an extended industrial temperature range option with operation from -40C to +105C. This ensures consistent product performance throughout this temperature range for industrial, automotive and lighting applications that must operate in extreme climates. Both the micro-ball CSP package and extended industrial temperature options will be available for the 128KB and 256KB flash versions of the PSoC 4 BLE and PRoC BLE solutions. The new offerings are pin-to-pin compatible with Cypress's original Bluetooth Low Energy solutions, simplifying upgrades. "Bluetooth Low Energy is quickly expanding its market reach and Cypress is continually innovating to address requirements for a diverse set of emerging applications," said Jayant Somani, senior director of Bluetooth Low Energy products, Cypress. "These new CSP and temperature options bring the ease-of-use, programmability and robust, low-power performance of our PSoC 4 BLE and PRoC BLE solutions to an even broader range of customers." The customizable Bluetooth Low Energy solutions deliver unprecedented ease-of-use and integration for IoT applications, home automation, wireless Human Interface Devices (HIDs), remote controls, healthcare equipment, sports and fitness monitors, and other wearable smart devices. PRoC BLE is a Bluetooth Smart microcontroller with Cypress's industry-leading CapSense capacitive touch-sensing functionality, while PSoC 4 BLE offers expanded design versatility by adding intelligent analog and programmable digital blocks. Both solutions integrate a Bluetooth Smart radio, a high-performance 32-bit ARM Cortex-M0 core with ultra-low-power modes, up to 256KB flash memory, 36 GPIOs, and customizable serial communication blocks, timers and counters. Additionally, both solutions have an on-chip balun that simplifies antenna design while reducing board size and system cost. Additionally, Cypress offers the small-form-factor, Bluetooth Smart, EZ-BLE PRoC module, which integrates PRoC BLE, two crystals, an on-board chip antenna, metal shield and passive components, all in a compact 10mm x 10mm x 1.8mm form factor. It includes Bluetooth 4.1 qualification and worldwide regulatory certification, greatly simplifying design and cutting time to market. Cypress is the single supplier for silicon, software, firmware and module hardware, streamlining the customer support required to develop remote controls, health and fitness equipment, home appliances, toys and other wireless applications. This combination of technology delivers unmatched system value for Bluetooth Smart products, with prolonged battery life, customizable sensing capabilities, and sleek, intuitive user interfaces. Designers looking to create Bluetooth Smart products must often use software tools from multiple vendors and develop complex firmware to meet wireless specifications. Cypress has abstracted the Bluetooth Low Energy protocol stack and profile configuration into a royalty-free, GUI-based BLE component that can be dragged and dropped into designs using Cypress's PSoC Creator integrated design environment (IDE). PSoC Creator enables complete system design in a single tool, slashing time-to-market. Alternatively, users of Eclipse and other ARM-based tools can customize their own Bluetooth Low Energy solutions on PSoC Creator and export the design to their preferred IDE. Cypress offers the $49 CY8CKIT-042-BLE Development Kit, which gives users easy access to the Bluetooth Low Energy devices, while maintaining the design footprint from the PSoC 4 Pioneer kit. The development kit includes a USB Bluetooth Low Energy dongle that pairs with the CySmart master emulation tool, converting a designer's Windows PC into a Bluetooth Low Energy debug environment. Cypress also offers two production-ready, reference design kits (RDK) that enable customers to get to market faster: the CY5672 Remote Control RDK and the CY5682 Touch Mouse RDK, says the company. STOP PRESS - Cypress has announced a new family of energy-harvesting Power Management Integrated Circuits (PMICs) that enable tiny, solar-powered wireless sensors for Internet of Things (IoT) applications. The new devices are the world’s lowest-power, single-chip energy-harvesting PMICs, and can be used with solar cells as small as 1cm2. The new PMIC devices are fully integrated, making them ideal for battery-less Wireless Sensor Nodes (WSNs) that monitor physical and environmental conditions for smart homes, commercial buildings, factories, infrastructure and agriculture. Cypress offers a complete, battery-free energy-harvesting solution that pairs the S6AE101A PMIC, the first device in the new family, with the EZ-BLE PRoC module for Bluetooth Low Energy connectivity, along with supporting software, says the company.