Smart Home refers to a lifestyle where household devices and systems are interconnected and communicate through advanced information technology, enhancing the convenience, safety, energy efficiency, and comfort of home living. It has become one of the hottest applications today. Among them, low-power wireless connectivity technology used to interconnect devices has become crucial for smart home applications. This article will introduce the current development of low-power wireless connectivity technology and related solutions offered by Nordic.
Low-power wireless connectivity technology links smart devices together
Smart home systems typically consist of various sensors, actuators, network devices, and smart controllers, enabling communication and remote control between devices through Internet connectivity. Common smart home applications include smart lighting systems, smart security systems, smart appliance control, smart HVAC systems, voice assistants and smart speakers, smart curtains and windows, smart home entertainment, health monitoring systems, and smart kitchens.
These smart devices often require low-power wireless connectivity technology to link them together for convenient communication and interconnectivity. Currently, the main wireless connectivity protocols for smart homes include Matter, Thread, Bluetooth Low Energy (Bluetooth LE), Wi-Fi, Zigbee, Cellular IoT, and NR+, each with its own characteristics to suit various application needs. Below is a brief overview of some of the main wireless connectivity technologies, their development, and features.
Matter
Matter provides a shared foundation on which to build an application, aiming to achieve interoperability between devices and ecosystems, with the goal of enabling developers to easily create secure and reliable solutions. Matter was initially launched as the CHIP (Connected Home over IP) project in December 2019. Founding companies include Amazon, Apple, Google, as well as other companies like Nordic, aiming to establish a unified application layer standard for home interconnected devices.
The Matter solution will be able to interoperate with major smart home ecosystems such as Apple's Siri, Google's Assistant, and Amazon's Alexa. Matter utilizes Thread, Wi-Fi, and Ethernet for transmission, with Bluetooth Low Energy used for commissioning. All Matter devices based on Thread require Bluetooth Low Energy capability for adding new devices to the network.
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity) is a wireless communication technology used for data transmission between devices. Wi-Fi technology enables devices to communicate and connect to the Internet without the need for traditional wired connections, using wireless signals instead. It is currently one of the most widely used wireless communication technologies.
The Wi-Fi Alliance has established a series of Wi-Fi standards, such as 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n, 802.11ac, and 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6), each introducing new technologies to improve speed, reliability, and performance. The latest version, Wi-Fi 6, is particularly beneficial for applications requiring fast, reliable, and high-capacity wireless connections. Additionally, smart home devices like thermostats, security cameras, and lighting systems can benefit from the improved range and coverage of Wi-Fi 6, as well as its ability to support more devices on a single network and IP-based communication.
Bluetooth Low Energy
Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) is a variant of Bluetooth technology specifically designed to provide short-range communication in low-power environments. One of the most significant features of Bluetooth Low Energy technology is its low-power design, making it suitable for devices that require long-term operation, such as sensors, wearable devices, and health monitors.
The design focus of Bluetooth Low Energy is to provide short-range communication typically within a range of 10 meters to 100 meters, which helps prevent unnecessary energy consumption. Bluetooth Low Energy is designed to establish connections quickly and transmit small amounts of data rapidly. This is useful for scenarios such as sharing small files between mobile devices or transferring data between sensors and mobile devices.
Thread
Thread is a low-power, IPv6-based (Internet Protocol version 6) wireless communication protocol designed specifically for the Internet of Things (IoT). It is tailored as a low-power protocol suitable for scenarios involving the connection of a large number of low-power devices. It reduces device power consumption by employing low-power sleep modes, fast wake-up, and flexible data transmission mechanisms.
Thread supports self-organization, allowing devices to automatically form networks without a central controller. This makes network expansion easier, as new devices can easily join and participate in the network. Built on IPv6, Thread provides devices with globally unique addresses, enabling them to communicate directly with the Internet and supporting end-to-end communication.
Zigbee
Zigbee is a wireless communication protocol designed specifically for low-power, low-data-rate, short-distance communication, suitable for battery-powered devices that require long-term operation, such as sensors and smart home devices. One of Zigbee's design goals is to provide short-distance communication, typically within a range of 10 to 100 meters, making it well-suited for near-field communication between devices in areas like smart homes and industrial control.
Zigbee supports self-organization, allowing devices to dynamically join and leave networks without the need for a central controller. This enables networks to adapt to changes and possess a certain degree of resilience. Zigbee's data transfer rate is relatively low, making it suitable for transmitting small amounts of data such as sensor data and control commands, which helps reduce power consumption.
Cellular Internet of things（LTE-M and NB-IoT)
When evaluating the most suitable Low-Power Wide-Area Network (LPWAN) technology for your Internet of Things (IoT) application, considering various factors beyond technical specifications is crucial, as the actual performance may differ significantly from the technical specifications alone. Here are some key reasons why Cellular IoT (including NB-IoT and LTE-M) may be more suitable for your IoT project compared to LoRaWAN, Sigfox, Wi-SUN, or other LPWAN technologies.
Cellular IoT operates in licensed frequency bands utilizing existing global infrastructure. While they require subscription fees, they ensure extensive coverage, scalability, built-in quality of service, reliability, and uncompromised security. The development of NB-IoT and LTE-M technologies aims to facilitate low-power, massive machine-type communication applications.
Revolutionary multi-protocol SoC supports IoT applications
Nordic offers an extensive portfolio of wireless multi-protocol SoC products, among which is the groundbreaking compact ultra-low-power multi-protocol SoC (System-on-Chip), the nRF54H20. It features outstanding processing capabilities, ample memory, excellent efficiency, as well as state-of-the-art multi-protocol radio and advanced security features, enabling developers to build innovative IoT products.
The nRF54H20 reduces design size by replacing multiple components with highly integrated SoCs and can extend battery life or reduce battery size, supporting efficient processing, ultra-low-power radio, and minimal sleep current. It supports long-range transmission, with 10 dBm TX power, -100 dBm RX sensitivity for Bluetooth Low Energy, and -104 dBm for 802.15.4. The nRF54H20 also mitigates security threats, providing state-of-the-art security through secure boot, secure firmware updates, secure storage, and defense against physical attacks.
The nRF54L15 is the next level multi-protocol SoC, which is an ultra-low-power Bluetooth 5.4 SoC with advanced multi-protocol radio and security features. The nRF54L series boasts excellent processing capabilities and efficiency, expanded memory, and new peripherals, all housed in a more compact package.
Bluetooth Low Energy flagship SoCs meet the demands of complex IoT applications
In addition to the aforementioned nRF54H20 and nRF54L15 SoCs, Nordic has also introduced a Bluetooth Low Energy flagship, the nRF5340 SoC. It is the first SoC in the nRF53 series and globally the first wireless SoC equipped with two Arm® Cortex®-M33 processors. The combination of two flexible processors and advanced feature sets makes it an ideal choice for Low Energy audio, advanced wearable devices, and other complex IoT applications.
The nRF5340 is an integrated SoC that includes a superset of the most prominent features of the nRF52® series. It features Bluetooth® 5.4, high-speed SPI, QSPI, USB, and operates at temperatures up to 105 °C. It combines these features with higher performance, memory, and integration while minimizing current consumption. It also provides security features such as trusted execution, root-of-trust, and secure key storage.
Moreover, Nordic also offers the nRF52 series, which consists of seven multi-protocol Bluetooth 5.4 SoCs. These SoCs integrate powerful and efficient 64 MHz Arm Cortex-M4 CPUs. The flash memory ranges from 192 KB to 1024 KB, while RAM ranges from 24 KB to 256 KB. The nRF52 series provides both simpler, cost-effective options and highly advanced options, all with ultra-low power consumption.
Both the nRF52 and nRF53 series are based on fully flash-based SoCs, providing complete flexibility and upgradeability for your products. They can be reprogrammed either at the factory or in the field via Over-The-Air Device Firmware Upgrade (OTA DFU), allowing for product updates and feature additions anytime, anywhere.
For IoT applications, Nordic has also introduced the nRF91 series of LPWAN technology. This series achieves an unprecedented level of integration by incorporating all relevant components into complete communication and application modules within micro-sized 10x16mm System-in-Package (SiP) for nRF9160 SiP and nRF9161 SiP, 11x12mm for nRF9151 SiP, and 7x11mm for nRF9131 Mini SiP. This integration allows for cost-effective and compact designs that competing solutions cannot achieve. For instance, it enables the creation of lightweight solar-powered animal trackers weighing as little as 2.5 grams.
Provide a comprehensive suite of ICs and software development toolkits
In addition to multi-protocol SoCs, Nordic also offers complementary ICs and software development kits to accelerate customer product development. For example, nRF7002 is a low-power, highly secure, seamless coexistence Wi-Fi 6 companion IC, providing seamless Wi-Fi connectivity and Wi-Fi-based positioning (local Wi-Fi hub SSID sniffing). It is designed to be used alongside Nordic's existing nRF52® and nRF53® series Bluetooth SoCs, as well as the nRF91® series cellular IoT SiP. The nRF7002 can also be used with non-Nordic host devices.
The nRF7001 is the second device in Nordic's nRF70 series Wi-Fi companion ICs, designed to easily integrate with Nordic's existing ultra-low-power technology. It features low-power 2.4 GHz radio, ensuring extended battery life, and seamlessly enables Wi-Fi 6 connections in various applications. Additionally, there is the nRF7000 Wi-Fi 6 companion IC, which is a streamlined version of the nRF7002, specifically tailored for SSID-based Wi-Fi positioning. This companion IC primarily focuses on active and passive scanning of Wi-Fi access points, providing reliable and energy-efficient solutions for location-based applications.
Nordic also offers the nRF Connect SDK, a software development kit for building Bluetooth Low Energy, Wi-Fi, cellular IoT, Bluetooth mesh networks, Thread, Zigbee, and Matter products. This SDK is an extensible and unified software package designed to build products based on all Nordic's wireless devices across the nRF52, nRF53, nRF70, and nRF91 series. It provides developers with an expandable framework for building size-optimized software for memory-constrained devices and robust, complex software for more advanced devices and applications. Integrated with Zephyr RTOS, it includes various examples, application protocols, protocol stacks, libraries, and hardware drivers to shorten the product development time for customers.
Conclusion
Smart homes can enhance people's quality of life and elevate the level of intelligence in households, making it a popular direction for application development. To ensure the reliability and security of smart devices and systems, it is essential to choose stable and secure wireless communication technologies to connect all smart home devices. The multi-protocol SoC product series introduced by Nordic can significantly simplify the design of smart home products and enhance the stability and security of the system. Therefore, Nordic can be your optimal partner for developing smart home-related products.