Nordic Semiconductor (CEO of Korea: Choi Soo-chul), a Norwegian ULP RF specialist that has sold over 1 billion ULP wireless chips to date, expressed a positive outlook on the recent Internet of Things (IoT) market and introduced its Bluetooth Smart wireless solution, the nRF51822 SoC, along with development tools such as the nRF51-DK and nRF51-Dongle.

As evidenced by the recent rise of the Internet of Things (IoT), the world is witnessing an unprecedented revolution in wireless technology, with wireless technology increasingly embedded everywhere.

This trend is being further accelerated by the continued growth of high-speed mobile networks such as 3G and 4G, the internet including cloud computing, and the development of ultra-low-power wireless technology called Bluetooth Smart (formerly Bluetooth low-energy). For example, Nordic predicts that 96% of all phones will use Bluetooth Smart by 2018.

The recently released Bluetooth 4.2 version incorporates the Internet Protocol Support Profile (IPSP), an IPv6 profile designed for IoT implementation. This is because IoT is having a significant impact on the Bluetooth Smart market, and Kim Jae-oh, Vice President of Nordic Korea, predicts that more than half of future IoT devices will be Bluetooth Smart.

Therefore, "large-scale heterogeneous networks for IoT require open standards, and the only technology that can satisfy them is IPv6," he said. Bluetooth 4.2, he explained, not only offers power efficiency but also government-grade security with 128-bit AES, with packet capacity increased tenfold and speeds up to 2.5 times.

Nordic Semiconductor was a pioneer in the near-single-handed development of ULP wireless technology in the early 2000s, and has since played a key role in the establishment and evolution of the ULP Bluetooth Smart wireless standard, continuously working to redefine the cutting-edge ULP wireless market.

Thanks to these efforts, Nordic's Bluetooth Smart division has seen record-breaking sales growth in recent years, according to Kim Jae-oh, Vice President. As of the fourth quarter of 2014, Nordic's Bluetooth Smart solution-related revenue had grown more than 20-fold compared to the first quarter of 2012.

Additionally, as interest in IoT has surged, Nordic's related development kit sales have also shown record growth, reaching approximately 22,080 units sold in 2014. This is an increase of almost three times compared to the 7,836 units sold in 2013.

Applications enabled by the nRF51822 SoC

Nordic Semiconductor's nRF51822 SoC is a Bluetooth Smart and 2.4GHz dedicated radio solution optimized for ULP wireless connectivity, integrating a 2.4GHz multiprotocol radio, a 32-bit ARM Cortex M0 processor, up to 256KB of flash memory, and up to 32KB of RAM.

Additionally, the unique and powerful software architecture separates the wireless protocol software (stack) and user application code, allowing each function to be implemented independently, providing maximum flexibility and ease of development.



Bluetooth Smart wireless technology enables new applications and products, such as wearables, that were technically and commercially unfeasible just a few years ago by implementing ultra-low power.

Nordic's nRF51822 SoC, for example, is featured in Adidas' FIT SMART wristband, which uses Bluetooth Smart wireless technology to sync with Adidas' miCoach app running on Bluetooth Smart Ready iOS and Android smartphones.

Additionally, it has been adopted for Estimote Stickers, a new concept 'Nearables' beacon product from Estimote, a beacon specialist, to implement Bluetooth Smart wireless connection function.

In addition, it is being used in Logitech's ultra-thin product for iPad Air 2 to implement Bluetooth Smart wireless connection function, and Casambi Technologies, a European lighting specialist, has developed a Bluetooth Smart lighting control platform using the nRF51822 SoC, thereby enabling Bluetooth connectivity for competitors. Achieving mesh networking performance that is five times faster than smart solutions.

Nordic plans to continue to strengthen its position in the Bluetooth Smart market by releasing nRF51-related SoCs in the future.

Smaller, easier-to-use development tools

Nordic also offers development tools to facilitate development and testing. The nRF51-DK is a single-board product for all nRF51 Series development scenarios, supporting Bluetooth Smart, 2.4GHz, and even ANT, which has been a significant force in the low-power space since before the advent of Bluetooth low energy (BLE).

“It is also compatible with Arduino Uno shields, allowing for quick testing, and supports ARM mbed development, allowing development to be done anywhere with a web-enabled board, which can significantly reduce the hardware size,” explained Eugene Yoo, Vice President of Nordic.

As its name suggests, the nRF51-Dongle is a simple USB dongle-style development tool, ideal as a test and analysis tool for the nRF Sniffer. It supports Bluetooth Smart, 2.4GHz, and ANT, uses the standard nRF toolchain, and supports ARM mbed development.