TI Korea (CEO Kent Chon, www.ti.com/ww/kr ) July 17, 2014 – TI (CEO Kent Chon) announced the addition of the new RF430F5978 microcontroller (MCU) to its extensive portfolio of low-power RF (radio frequency) solutions. An Evaluation Module (EVM) for this product was also released. Based on TI's CC430 family, the RF430F5978 MCU is a highly integrated RF solution that provides enhanced awareness range and battery performance for ultra-low-power applications. The RF430F5978 MCU includes a 3D low-frequency (LF) wake-up and transponder interface, a 1 GHz RF transceiver, and a programmable MSP430™ core, with the LF transponder capable of operating without a battery supply. It also includes a 128-bit AES secure encryption/decryption coprocessor to provide enhanced data security capabilities. By utilizing a highly integrated system-in-a-package (SiP) solution that incorporates innovative wake-up and location-aware RF connectivity, very small and compact designs using small batteries are possible.

This MCU product is suitable for low-power RF applications such as wireless sensor networks, data loggers, dynamic transponders, remote monitoring systems, container tracking, access control, and asset management systems. As an example demonstrating the infinite application possibilities using the RF430F5978 MCU, data logging and wireless communication applications can be applied to agricultural product distribution boxes. When the box is within a pre-specified range, the box's RF4305978 MCU-based data logger can be programmed to wake up via the LF wake-up interface and transmit temperature measurements to an external reader via the Sub-1GHz RF interface. The security encryption function of this MCU ensures that information is exchanged only with the designated reader.

To quickly and easily evaluate RF430F5978 MCU systems, developers can purchase and use the RF430F5978EVM. Using this EVM, key features of the RF430F5978 MCU can be evaluated, including 3D LF wake-up and trigger functions, passive battery-free transponder operation, and resonant trimming. This EVM includes a USB plug-in LF trigger module, an RF430F5978 MCU evaluation board, an AP434R01 access point, and a 3D LF antenna. Using this EVM, it is possible to demonstrate how the RF430F5978 MCU acquires data from multiple sensors over a set period of time and transmits the collected data to the access point via an RF link when triggered by the LF wake-up trigger from the reader. The data can be transmitted to the host GUI included on the board to be displayed as graphs and the location of objects can be visualized. Demo code usable with the EVM, MSP430 code examples, and the Code Composer Studio v.6 integrated development environment (IDE) are also provided.

The RF430F5978 MCU can turn off the RF wireless portion and rapidly start the LF wake-up function, thereby reducing power consumption and extending battery life. It can track location and distance (within 5cm) using a 3D LF transponder with RSSI (return signal strength indicator) within a 4m radius from the reader's LF trigger. It can protect sensitive data and prevent signal interference using an AES security coprocessor that enables data encryption for product authentication and secure access control, and allows for flexible customization of operation while consuming ultra-low power using a programmable MSP430 core.

The RF430F5978 MCU also supports a wide range of regional Sub-1GHz frequencies from 300MHz to 950MHz, and by integrating multiple key functions into a single MCU, it can reduce board size and cost, as well as complement functions when used with TI products including the TPS62163 and TPS62082 power management ICs, SimpleLink™ Wi-Fi CC3100, and bq24040 IC.