Applications of smart homes, smart offices, smart buildings, etc. based on sensor nodes and gateways

RFaxis, a fabless semiconductor company, announced today an industry-leading family of ultra-small 2.4GHz RF front-end ICs (RFeIC™) for the global IoT (Internet of Things)/M2M (Machine-to-Machine) market. The new RFX25xx-series products expand RFaxis's portfolio of RF front-end ICs for the 2.4GHz frequency band, which is widely adopted in wireless communication systems for IoT.

The RFX25xx-series is a family of 2.4GHz RFeICs™ in an ultra-small 2.5x2.5mm QFN package, smaller in size than the existing RFX24xx-series products. Designed for use in the 2.4GHz band for 802.15.4 ZigBee/Thread, RF4CE, 6LoPAN, ANT™, and dedicated ISM modulation, this family supports linear modulation such as BLE (Bluetooth® Low Energy), 802.15.4g Smart Utility Network (SUN), and Low Current Wi-Fi. This family covers a wide range of IoT applications for smart homes, smart offices, smart buildings, smart utilities, and Low Current Wide Area Networks (LP-WAN) based on sensor nodes and gateways.

The RFX25xx-series consists of the RFX2501, RFX2502, RFX2503, RFX2510, RFX2511, and RFX2513. The RFX2501 is integrated with a high-efficiency linear power amplifier (PA), a low-noise amplifier (LNA), and transmit/receive switching circuits, and the RFX2502 is also integrated with a high-efficiency, high-saturation, linear power output power amplifier (PA), a low-noise amplifier (LNA), transmit/receive switches, and directional current meter circuits.

The RFX2503 is integrated with a high-efficiency linear power amplifier (PA), a low-noise amplifier (LNA) with added bypass mode, a transmit/receive switch, and a directional current meter circuit. Similarly, the RFX2510 is integrated with a high-efficiency linear power amplifier (PA), a transmit/receive switch with bypass mode, and a directional current meter circuit. This makes it an ideal product for wireless IoT systems, featuring a transceiver with an already low noise figure and the additional advantage of very low power consumption in receive mode.

In the IoT era, the need for simple RF front-end solutions is increasing.

For antenna diversity applications, the RFX2511 features a high-efficiency linear power amplifier (PA), a low-noise amplifier (LNA) in bypass mode, a transmit/receive switch, a double-pole double-throw (DPDT) antenna switch, and a directional current meter circuit. The derived RFX2513 integrates the high-efficiency linear power amplifier (PA), a transmit/receive switch in bypass mode, a double-pole double-throw antenna switch, and a directional current meter circuit.

This product family offers various features that allow users to directly upgrade their wireless IoT systems, including an extended operating range, improved tolerance for antenna impedance deviation, enhanced link reliability through antenna diversity, and improved coexistence with nearby wireless communications via LNA bypass. All of these products are integrated with matching networks, single-die/single-chip RF decoupling filters and harmony filters, and bulk CMOS devices in ultra-small 2.5x2.5mm QFN packages, and are available on bare dies for ultra-compact designs such as system-in-package (SIP) modules. They also feature heat resistance up to an ambient temperature of 125°C, which is required for most applications such as smart lighting.

As wireless connectivity capabilities for IoT and M2M continue to evolve, the need for high-performance, high-cost, simple RF front-end solutions has become more critical than ever. The IoT/M2M wireless connectivity market for fixed, short-range radios as well as LP-WAN is projected to grow to a total of 20 billion connected devices by 2025 (Machina Research, May 2015).

Oleksandr Gorbachov, CTO of RFaxis, stated, “RFaxis is fully committed to providing a wide range of products to the IoT market to create ultra-compact, high-performance, and highly competitive designs.” He emphasized, “The recently announced RFX25xx family is designed to meet the needs of our customers in the rapidly growing IoT and M2M sectors. As devices for smart homes, smart offices, smart utilities, and use cases continue to evolve and expand, RFaxis is fully prepared to supply a diverse range of products through its innovative, single-die, single-chip CMOS RF front-end family.”