2.4 GHz transceiver

Nordic Semiconductor has released the nRF24LU1, a single chip 2.4 GHz transceiver that enables the implementation of ultra-compact, high-performance USB dongles for wireless peripherals by providing a single chip in a 5 x 5 mm QFN package with full on-chip security.

It is also designed to integrate with ultra-low power 2.4 GHz peripherals based on the company’s nRF24L01 transceiver that needs to be able to run on small batteries for long periods.

A full suite of development tools designed to allow accelerated, low-cost and low-risk adoption of the nRF24LU1 has been launched to support the chip. The suite includes a production-ready USB dongle reference design, full software development kit and a complete hardware development kit.

The device requires no external voltage regulator when employed within a product as it can be powered directly from the USB bus. The chip also generates all necessary clocks from a single 16 MHz external crystal. The device’s internal 16 KB of flash memory can also be used to emulate non-volatile memory.

The performance of a USB dongle for wireless peripherals is primarily affected by three factors: the data transfer rate between the PC dongle, the MCU employed within the dongle itself for simultaneous data processing and the on-air data communication rate of the 2.4 GHz transceiver used.

The transceiver delivers a full-speed USB 12 Mbps PC to USB transfer rate, an optimised embedded 8051 MCU, plus a 2 Mbps air data rate.