Texas Instruments has expanded its connectivity portfolio with a new family of wireless microcontrollers (MCU) that enable high quality Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) at what the manufacturer claims will be half the price of competing devices.

The CC2340R2 and CC2340R5 wireless MCUs are the latest addition to the SimpleLink portfolio that provides innovative connectivity solutions to serve the industrial, automotive and personal electronics markets.

Featuring what TI describes as “best-in-class” standby current and radio-frequency (RF) performance, the SimpleLink Bluetooth LE CC2340 family is built on the foundation of TI’s decades of wireless connectivity expertise. Pricing for the CC2340 family will start as low as $0.79, making it affordable for engineers to add Bluetooth LE connectivity to more products.

“Industrywide, 5 billion Bluetooth enabled devices are forecast to ship in 2022,” said Mark Powell, CEO of the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG), the standards organisation that oversees Bluetooth technology. “The commitment and involvement of Bluetooth SIG members like Texas Instruments allow Bluetooth technology to meet the growing demands for enhanced wireless connectivity in a wider range of applications. I am grateful for the contributions of our membership in delivering innovative solutions that benefit the Bluetooth ecosystem and help broaden the adoption of Bluetooth technology.” 

“The new MCUs will provide high-quality RF and power performance at an affordable price, backed by unrivalled technical support and internal manufacturing capacity investments that will help meet our customers’ demand for years to come,” said Marian Kost, vice president and general manager of Connectivity at Texas Instruments.

Implementing high-quality RF and power performance at an affordable price

According to TI, the CC2340R2 and CC2340R5 wireless MCUs, offering flash memory of 256KB and 512KB respectively, provide exceptional flexibility for engineers and ample space for application code. Additionally, with the proliferation of Bluetooth LE applications, designers need additional memory capacity to easily update software remotely. The new wireless MCU family features 36KB of RAM with over-the-air download support.

The new MCUs include industry-leading standby current of less than 830 nA, which is 40% lower than competing devices. The reduction in standby current helps extend battery life for up to 10 years on a coin cell battery in wireless applications such as electronic shelf labels and tire pressure monitoring systems. The CC2340 family also features an operating temperature range of –40ºC to 125ºC to help ensure a stable connection across applications, from industrial sensors and medical laboratories to outdoor environments such as EV chargers or smart metres.

Engineers are also able to expand RF performance and connection range with an output power up to +8 dBm, the industry’s highest among competing Bluetooth LE wireless MCUs. In addition, the CC2340 devices feature an integrated RF balun to enable a simpler design with fewer external components, leading to cost savings.

Enabling broader adoption of Bluetooth LE technology

With the increased memory, longer battery life and wider temperature range at an affordable price, engineers can enable more connected everyday applications such as:

• Medical devices: In glucose meters, for example, the CC2340 MCUs’ standby current of less than 830 nA leads to an end-product shelf life of 18 to 24 months and two weeks of active Bluetooth LE operation on a coin cell battery.
• Building automation: Smart-home hubs can take advantage of the CC2340 MCUs’ wireless protocol support and output power range up to +8 dBm.
• Personal care: For products such as an electric toothbrush, the CC2340 wireless MCUs offer low power consumption in sleep mode, and can extend battery life.

Integrating Bluetooth in two minutes or less

To simplify implementation, engineers can connect with TI applications engineers through the TI E2E Bluetooth support forum. Engineers also have access to the proven, royalty-free Bluetooth LE software stack, which TI has supported and kept updated since 2010.

To get started with the CC2340 wireless MCUs, customers can request samples as well as a development kit (LP-EM-CC2340R5) priced at US$39. The new wireless MCUs are expected to be in volume production in the first half of 2023.

Pricing for the CC2340 family will start as low as US$0.79 for 1,000-unit quantities.

For more information, see www.ti.com/wireless.

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