For double the 32kB RAM capacity to improve application performance and a small wearable design
Enhanced nRF51 Series Bluetooth/ANT Multi-Protocol SoC Providing Ultra-Small Packaging Options

Oslo, Norway – October 28, 2014 – Nordic Semiconductor ASA (OSE: NOD, Country Manager for Korea: Soo-Chul Choi, www.nordicsemi.com ), a specialist in Ultra Low Power (ULP) RF, announced the launch of the latest products in its award-winning nRF51 series System-on-Chip (SoC). Nordic introduced a new product family offering 32kB RAM, 128kB flash memory, and Wafer Level Chip Scale Package (WLCSP) options. These new features are available through the nRF51822 Bluetooth Smart and 2.4GHz dedicated SoC, as well as the nRF51422 ANT and ANT/Bluetooth Smart SoC products.

The nRF51 series SoC, first released in June 2012, is optimized for ULP wireless access. These SoC products integrate a 2.4GHz wireless multi-protocol, a 32-bit ARM® Cortex™ M0 processor, and up to 256kB of flash memory and RAM (Random Access Memory). The unique yet powerful nRF51 series software architecture provides application developers with benefits such as maximized flexibility, ease of development, and code safety by separating the protocol stack and user application code. (Refer to the link for nRF51 series details at the bottom of the document.)

The capacity of RAM, the 'short-term task memory' of the nRF51 series SoC, has been doubled, significantly enhancing the ability to run more complex and computationally intensive applications. Along with other enhancements that boost SoC performance, devices equipped with this larger RAM capacity can run more complex application software or the same application code much faster compared to the previous generation nRF51 series. Furthermore, these enhancements improve SoC performance, enabling it to function as a core processing device in end-product applications.

Increased RAM enables the nRF51 series to be future-proof by allowing it to run new SoftDevices with superior performance and features that require more operating memory resources. (Nordic’s SoftDevices integrate RF protocols and related management frameworks as a proprietary, complete stack for the nRF51 series SoCs.)

The latest nRF51 series SoCs are available in various package options to enable engineers to design smaller products, which is a significantly important requirement, especially for the rapidly growing wearable market.

The new nRF51 series SoC is drop-in compatible with the existing nRF51 series SoC, and in addition to a 6 x 6mm QFN package, a WLCSP product measuring just 11.8mm² is also available. When the WLCSP device is used with a thin-film chip balun from a third-party partner, the total footprint of the wireless device can be reduced to just 12.8 x 13.8mm².

The new nRF51 development kit further complements the newly released nRF51 series SoC. The nRF51 development kit enables the development of Bluetooth Smart (formerly Bluetooth Low Energy – see the Bluetooth Smart details link at the bottom of the document), ANT, and 2.4GHz dedicated applications on a single board. The nRF51 development kit is compatible with Arduino Uno form factor shields and supports both native Keil/IAR/GCC and ARM mbed™ development toolchains.

Thomas Embla Bonnerud, Director of Product Management at Nordic Semiconductor, stated, “Engineers can continue to develop more powerful wireless access applications based on Nordic’s nRF51 series SoCs and the newly revamped product family, and meet the needs of customers requiring more RAM to enhance the operation of these applications.” He added, “At the same time, customers are demanding smaller nRF51822 and nRF51422 solutions, particularly for the rapidly expanding wearable sector. The new small package options will be able to satisfy these demands.”

In addition, Bonerud stated, “Increased RAM often provides numerous benefits to real-time applications that require additional bits in terms of short-term task memory.” “Although rare, the RAM capacity of previous versions of the nRF51 series had limitations in perfectly meeting the applications running on the chip, even if the processor operated properly within performance levels,” he pointed out, and explained, “With the RAM allocation doubled, these limitations have been completely resolved.”

Nordic’s nRF51 series SoC engineering samples with 32kB RAM are currently available, and mass production products are expected to be available by the end of 2014.

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nRF51 Series Details
tinyurl.com/nRF51

Details on Bluetooth Smart (formerly Bluetooth Low Energy) and Bluetooth Smart Ready
tinyurl.com/BluetoothLE

Introduction to Nordic Semiconductor
tinyurl.com/NordicSemi