Four Low-Power Embedded Wi-Fi® Solutions for 802.11b/g/n

Microchip Technology Inc recently announced four compact, low-power, highly integrated solutions that allow Wi-Fi® and networking capability to be embedded into virtually any device, including Internet of Things (IoT) applications. These four modules provide complete solutions for 802.11b/g/n and are industry certified in multiple countries. The new RN1810 and RN1810E are stand-alone, surface-mount WiFly radio modules that include a TCP/IP stack, cryptographic accelerator, power management subsystem, 2.4 GHz 802.11b/g/n-compliant transceivers and 2.4 RF power amplifier. They can be paired with any microcontroller and configured using simple ASCII commands. WiFly provides designers with a simple data pipe for sending data over a Wi-Fi network, requiring no prior Wi-Fi experience to get a product connected. Once configured, the device automatically accesses a Wi-Fi network and sends and receives serial data. The RN1810 has an integrated PCB antenna while the RN1810E supports an external antenna. The new MRF24WN0MA and MRF24WN0MB are Wi-Fi modules that interface with Microchip’s PIC32 microcontrollers and support Microchip’s MPLAB® Harmony integrated software framework with a TCP/IP stack that can be downloaded for free. The modules connect to the microcontroller via a 4-wire SPI interface and are an ideal solution for low-power, low-data-rate Wi-Fi sensor networks, home automation, building automation and consumer applications. The MRF24WN0MA has an integrated PCB antenna while the MRF24WN0MB supports an external antenna. They claim the new family of Wi-Fi modules will provide design flexibility for a broad range of consumer, industrial retail, and utility/smart energy applications.