STMicroelectronics and Jorjin Technologies, a Taiwan based company established in 1997 to design and supply modules worldwide, have announced the certification of the dual-radio modules that combine Sigfox wireless-network technology with Bluetooth low energy (BLE). Jorjin’s WS211x Sigfox/BLE modules benefit from the leading performance and energy efficiency of ST’s BlueNRG-1 BLE System-on-Chip (SoC) and the S2-LP sub-1GHz RF transceiver. These advantages have enabled Jorjin’s modules to deliver cutting-edge connectivity and great battery lifetime, targeting coin-cell -operated or energy-harvesting IoT applications.
Fully programmable devices, Jorjin’s new Sigfox modules exploit the ultra-low power Arm Cortex-M0 technology embedded in ST’s BLE SoC to act as independent IoT connectivity nodes. The combination of BLE with Sigfox’ low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) provides key benefits to IoT systems, such as firmware update over-the-air, which is not possible with conventional ‘Sigfox-only’ modules. Other benefits of having an IoT device connected both remotely through the Sigfox network and locally through BLE include the possibility to modify device settings during installation or maintenance or to trace assets, which often change their position inside an area covered with BLE beacon stations.
The evaluation board for the WS211x modules uses the Arduino interface to ease customer development and is compatible with ST’s Arduino shield boards featuring MEMS motion sensors, environmental sensors, or Time-of-Flight (ToF) ranging sensors. An SDK is available from Jorjin enabling customers to develop applications using WS211x modules with ST’s sensor shield boards, as well as an AT command list facilitating customers test of the modules’ BLE and Sigfox functions.
The new modules are available now and exist in two versions: the WS2118-00 has been certified for Sigfox regions RCZ1 (Europe, Middle East, South Africa) and RCZ3 (Japan), while the WS2119-A0 has been certified for regions RCZ2 (USA, Mexico, Brazil) and RCZ4 (Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Argentina). Click here to learn more.
