Next-Generation Wireless Connectivity: Exploring Bluetooth, WiFi 6, and Matter

In the ever-evolving landscape of wireless connectivity, staying abreast of the latest advancements is crucial. This page delves into the forefront of innovation, spotlighting three key pillars shaping the future of wireless communication: WiFi 6, Bluetooth, and the emergent standard, Matter.

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WiFi 6 to Dominate WiFi Market in Coming Years

As the demand for faster, more reliable wireless networks intensifies, WiFi 6 emerges as a transformative force poised to dominate the WiFi market in the coming years. With its superior speed, capacity, and efficiency, WiFi 6 promises to revolutionize connectivity across various sectors, from homes and offices to industrial and public spaces. This section explores the features and potential of WiFi 6, shedding light on its implications for the future of wireless communication.

Bluetooth Advancements

Bluetooth technology has undergone remarkable advancements, transcending its traditional role as a short-range communication protocol. From enhanced data transfer rates to extended range capabilities, Bluetooth continues to evolve, offering new possibilities for IoT devices, audio peripherals, and beyond. This segment delves into the latest breakthroughs in Bluetooth technology and their impact on connectivity, interoperability, and user experience.

The Emergence of Matter 

In the realm of smart home devices, interoperability and seamless connectivity are paramount. Enter Matter, a promising standard backed by industry giants aiming to unify smart home ecosystems. By establishing a common language for devices to communicate, Matter holds the potential to simplify setup, enhance compatibility, and foster innovation in the IoT landscape. Here, we explore the genesis, features, and anticipated implications of Matter in shaping the future of connected living spaces.

NXP Featured WiFi Solutions

Technology

The Matter Revolution is Here

Learn more about the fundamentals of Matter, how it works, its fortified security measures, how it will revolutionise smart home solutions and learn about Avnet Silica and its partners Matter solutions.

Matter logo

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Get in touch with our Wireless & Connectivity experts today who can guide you when it comes to choosing the right products or solutions for your next project.

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NXP RW612

The RW612 is a highly integrated, low-power tri-radio wireless MCU with an integrated MCU and Wi-Fi® 6 + Bluetooth® Low Energy (LE) 5.4 / 802.15.4 radios designed for a broad array of applications, including connected smart home devices, enterprise and industrial automation, smart accessories and smart energy.

The RW612 MCU subsystem includes a 260 MHz Arm® Cortex®-M33 core with Trustzone™-M, 1.2 MB on-chip SRAM and a high-bandwidth Quad SPI interface with an on-the-fly decryption engine for securely accessing off-chip XIP flash. The RW612 includes a full-featured 1x1 dual-band (2.4 GHz/5 GHz) 20 MHz Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) subsystem bringing higher throughput, better network efficiency, lower latency and improved range over previous generation Wi-Fi standards. 

The Bluetooth LE radio supports 2 Mbit/s high-speed data rate, long range and extended advertising. The on-chip 802.15.4 radio can support the latest Thread mesh networking protocol. In addition, the RW612 can support Matter over Wi-Fi or Matter over Thread offering a common, interoperable application layer across ecosystems and products.

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NXP IW612

The IW61x is a highly integrated 2.4/5 GHz dual-band 1x1 Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth/Bluetooth Low Energy 5.2 and 802.15.4 tri-radio single-chip solution optimized for a broad array of IoT and industrial applications in smart home, smart devices and accessories, smart appliances, smart energy, industrial automation, gateways and many more. This high degree of integration contributes to very low system costs and a minimum external BOM while achieving efficient coexistence between all internal radios as well as external radios, such as LTE.

IW61x includes a full-feature Wi-Fi subsystem powered by NXP’s 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6) technology bringing higher throughput, better network efficiency, lower latency and improved range over previous generation Wi-Fi standards. The Wi-Fi subsystem integrates a Wi-Fi MAC, baseband, and direct-conversion radio with integrated PA, LNA and transmit/receive switch removing the need for an RF front-end module (FEMs) saving cost and reducing system complexity.

The IW61x integrates dedicated CPUs and memories for both the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth/802.15.4 subsystems, which enable real time, independent protocol processing. Interfaces for connecting the IW61x to external host processors include SDIO 3.0 for Wi-Fi, UART for Bluetooth and SPI for 802.15.4.

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End-to-end solutions for seamless automation - NXP

For enabling Matter devices, NXP offers scalable, flexible and secure platforms to enable the variety of use cases Matter addresses - from end nodes to gateways - so device manufacturers can focus on product innovation and accelerating time to market.

From connectivity to security, processing and software, NXP offers complete end-to-end solutions for enabling Matter devices.

Browse the NXP product portfolio and access Matter resources. 

 

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IW612 / RW612 Comparisons

Topic IW612 RW612
Architecture External host & memory Integrated CM33 application core + 1.2MB RAM
WiFi  
Technology / Band WiFi 6 Dual-band WiFi 6 Single or Dual-band
Peak bit rate 600Mbps (80MHz channel support) 116Mbps (20MHz channel support)
TX power +21dBm +21dBm
BT/BLE  
Version 5.2 full featured BT classic & BLE + BLE audio 5.3 BLE
TX power +19dBm +15dBm
802.15.4  
Radio support Dedicated 15.4 radio Shared BLE/15.4 radio
TX power +20dBm +15dBm
RX sensitivity -103.5dBm -103.5dBm
Coexistence Tri-radio internal and external coexistence Internal and external coexistence 
Security Platform security, secure boot and FW update EdgeLock® secure enclave
Power management Integrated PMIC Integrated PMIC
OS support Host dependent FreeRTOS now, ZephyrOS is WIP 
Matter support Certified with i.MX8MM, i.MXRT1170 & i.MX93 are WIP Certified as standalone, i.MX93 + RW612 planned
Modules/SOM availability Now Now

 

IW61x - Avnet Silica's Module Offering

Module Partner H&D Wireless Panasonic Ublox

Ezurio

(Previously Laird)

Part number SPB611 PAN9019 Maya-W2 Sona NX611
WiFi host interface
Bluetooth interface
802.15.4 interface opt opt opt  
Dimensions (mm)

14 x 14mm

14 x 21mm

15.3 x 12mm 10.4 x 14.3 x 1.9mm

11 x 11mm

12 x 16mm

Antenna

Antenna pin 

PCB antenna

Antenna pin

2 antenna pins

2 u.FL connectors

2 antenna pins

2 u.FL connectors

Certifications

Europe (RED)

US (FCC)

Canada (IC)

More to follow

Europe (RED)

US (FCC)

Canada (IC)

Japan (TELEC)

Australia / New Zealand (RCM)

Europe (RED)

US (FCC)

Canada (IC)

Japan (TELEC)

Europe (RED)

US (FCC)

Canada (IC)

More to follow

Operating temperature -40C to +85C
Software support RTOS / Linux / Android
Evaluation board

HDA611-M

HDA611-S

PAN9019 Eval Kit

EVK-MAYA-W271

EVK-MAYA-W276

453-00165-K1

453-00166-K1

 

RW61x - Avnet Silica's Module Offering

Module Partner u-blox Insight-SiP AzureWave
Part number IRIS-W1x
W10 / W16
ISP5261 AW-CU598
WiFi host interface
Bluetooth interface
802.15.4 interface
Dimensions (mm)

14.6 x 16.8

14.6 x 20.9

12x12 28x15
Antenna

Antenna pin

Trace antenna

Integrated antenna Integrated antenna
Certifications

Europe (RED)


US (FCC)


Canada (IC)


And more

Europe (RED)


US (FCC)


Canada (IC)

Europe (RED)


US (FCC)


Canada (IC)


Japan (TELEC)

Operating temperature -40C to +85C
Software support RTOS / Linux
Evaluation board EV K-IRIS-W1
USB-IRIS-W1
   

H&D Wireless WiFi Host Controlled Modules

SPB611 

The SPB611 is a comprehensive Wi-Fi® / Bluetooth® / 802.15.4 Tri-Radio module, ready for host connected solutions. With only 14x14x2.5mm it has an ultra small footprint and is based on NXPs IW61x chip series that enables low power along with high performance and as such is ideally made for deeply embedded applications.

It comes in different versions: With Wi-Fi® and Bluetooth® only, but also with additional 802.15.4 capability which opens the world of Thread, Zigbee® and other proprietary mesh network implementations. Different flavors are available, with and without integrated antenna and/or LTE filter.

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SPB209

SPB209A is a complete WLAN and Bluetooth Dual-mode module ready for onboard integration in Linux platforms. .The ultra-small 12x14x2.5mm low power, high performance module enables a feature rich client solution providing up to 433Mbit/s data rate. SPB209A fully supports concurrent or independent operation of WLAN and Bluetooth. The SPB209A connects to the host through SDIO and high speed UART interfaces.

The module comes in versions with or without integrated antenna and LTE filter supporting shortest time to market for multimedia, industrial and smart home products. SPB209A is based on NXP 88W8887.

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Ublox Embedded Modules

u-blox IRIS-W10 series

IRIS-W10 series are small, stand-alone, dual-band Wi-Fi and Bluetooth Low Energy wireless microcontroller unit (MCU) modules. The modules are ideal for users looking to add advanced wireless connectivity to their end products.

Several Wi-Fi 6 features improve network efficiency, latency, range, and power consumption compared to earlier Wi-Fi generations. In addition, Bluetooth Low Energy 5.3 and Thread mesh networking protocol make IRIS-W10 suited to many different use cases. The Matter application protocol is supported over Thread, Wi-Fi, and Ethernet, allowing interoperability with various products in a growing ecosystem.

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U-blox IRIS-W16 Series

IRIS-W16 series are small, stand-alone, dual-band Wi-Fi and Bluetooth Low Energy wireless modules, with everything needed for integration into end-products. The modules are ideal for users looking to add advanced wireless connectivity to their end products.

With Wi-Fi 6, several features improve network efficiency, latency, range, and power consumption compared to earlier Wi-Fi generations. In addition, Bluetooth Low Energy 5.3 further expands the number of use cases supported.

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Other NXP based wireless products

Technology

Wireless & Connectivity Overview

From Chip and module to complete solutions, including antenna implementation, connectivity, and Cloud services, Avnet Silica has a full portfolio of wireless products to support your designs and team of engineers.

Bluetooth

Technology

Smart Home & Smart Building Overview

Whether you’re developing a smart-home appliance or a system to control all of the functions in a commercial building, you need a partner who understands the associated standards, security aspects and data models. We helped create these standards.a

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Panasonic

PAN9019

The PAN9019 is a dual band 2.4 GHz / 5 GHz 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax Wi-Fi radio module with integrated Bluetooth BDR/EDR/Low Energy (LE) and optionally 802.15.4 radio, specifically designed for highly integrated and cost-effective applications.

Insight-SiP

Insight-SiP ISP5261-WX

This module acts as a fully functioning Bluetooth LE and Wi-Fi radio node, with only a battery required. It forms the core of an autonomous IOT device requiring Bluetooth LE and Wi-Fi connectivity.

ISP5261
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Wireless technologies are a key factor in enabling IoT applications both today and in the future, providing connectivity, security and reliability for people and devices.

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