New 2.4GHz radio modules are compact and energy-saving

Würth Elektronik offers new wireless modules: the freely configurable Orthosie-I model and the Stephano-I variant with pre-installed firmware. Both are based on the ESP32-C3 chipset and communicate according to the IEEE 802.11 b/g/n and Bluetooth LE 5.0 standards. The new components offer an integrated antenna and are extremely flexible to use, thanks to their space-saving design.

Wireless communication is now employed in many areas of our daily lives – in blood glucose meters that transmit results to a smartphone, thermostats or lawn-mowing robots with a visual interface app, or in cordless power tools that automatically activate a Bluetooth-linked dust vacuum when they start up. The company now supplies suitable radio modules for these and many other applications.

The modules feature an integrated antenna. They have been specially optimised for energy-saving operation without compromising the wireless range. Wireless connection updates are also possible by FOTA. The developers at the company have also managed to decrease the TX current consumption and form factor by 50% compared to the ESP32-C3-MINI-1 module. In power-off mode, the modules, which measure just 13mm × 9.5mm × 2mm, consume only 1µA.

The innovative communication components are based on a 32-bit RISC-V single-core processor from Espressif (ESP32-C3), which can operate at a clock frequency up to 160MHz. They have 4MB of flash memory and 400kB of RAM. Also, 15 freely configurable GPIO pins are available.

The Orthosie-I module is provided without pre-installed firmware and can be individually programmed for the specific application. Various interfaces, such as UART, SPI, I²C, and ADC, can also be implemented.

Stephano-I comes with high-quality, pre-installed firmware, a complete TCP/IP-Stack, MQTT and HTTP. The versatile module can act as a station and soft access point. The encryption modes WPAPSK, WPA2PSK, and WPA/WPA2PSK are available in soft-access-point mode. Up to three Bluetooth LE connections can be established simultaneously. The practical and time-saving 'WE Bluetooth LE Terminal' app from the company supplies a quick and easy testing option and the basis for your own apps (available free of charge from Google Play Store and Apple App Store or as source code on GitHub).