Atmel unveils an ultra-low power Bluetooth Smart solution for the IoT

Evident by the sheer volume of connected objects infiltrating our homes, offices, cars and nearly every facet of our life, the Internet of Things (IoT) market is set for explosive growth. With billions of devices expected to become network-enabled, designers of all levels will require a very low-power platform that allows them to develop these smart gadgets in space-constrained applications. Luckily now, there’s the BTLC1000.

The new ultra-low power Bluetooth Smart solution is capable of achieving sub-1µA in standby mode, while delivering the industry’s best dynamic power consumption and increasing battery life by as much as one year for certain applications. The BTLC1000 pushes the limits of space constrained areas with its unprecedented 2.1mm X 2.1mm Wafer Level Chipscale Package (WLCSP), making it ideal for the rapidly growing IoT and wearables spaces, including portable medical, activity trackers, human Interface devices, gaming controllers, beacons and much more.

Expanding upon the Atmel SmartConnect wireless portfolio, the BTLC1000 is a Bluetooth Smart link controller integrated circuit that connects as a companion to any Atmel AVR or Atmel | SMART MCU through a UART or SPI API requiring minimal resource on the host side. The standalone Atmel | SMART SAMB11 Bluetooth Smart Flash MCU leverages the embedded ARM Cortex-M0 core combined with the integrated analog and communication peripherals to implement application-specific functionalities and is available as a system-in-package or a certified module. Both devices are fully integrated with a self-contained Bluetooth Smart controller and stack enabling wireless connectivity for a variety of applications to be quickly implemented without the wireless expertise typically required.

“One of the primary challenges of the IoT market is system integration—connecting one or multiple devices to the gateway and cloud,” explained Reza Kazerounian, Atmel Senior Vice President and General Manager, MCU Business Unit. “Atmel’s new Bluetooth Smart solutions solve these integration issues by enabling IoT designers of all levels the ability to connect their devices to the gateway and cloud with an easy-to-use, low-power Bluetooth connectivity solution. We are excited to enable more designers to bring their connected devices to the IoT market without comprising design time.”

Bluetooth Smart devices are a new breed of Bluetooth 4.1 peripherals with only a single Bluetooth 4.1 radio connecting only to Bluetooth Smart Ready devices. For those unfamiliar with the technology, Bluetooth Smart is the intelligent, power-friendly version of Bluetooth wireless connectivity that works with an application on the smartphone or tablet you already own. In fact, Bluetooth Smart solutions set new low-power standards with at least 30% power savings compared to existing solutions on the market in dynamic mode.

The cost-effective Bluetooth Smart technology can easily provide developers and OEMs the flexibility to create solutions that will work with the billions of Bluetooth-enabled products already in the market today, not to mention is supported by every major operating system. The technology brings every day devices such as toothbrushes, heart-rate monitors, fitness devices and more to be connected, communicating through applications that reside in Bluetooth Smart compatible smartphones, tablets or other similar devices already owned by consumers.

Interested? General samples will be available in March.