ISM 2.4GhZ and Sub-GHz
ISM radio bands are portions of the radio spectrum reserved internationally for industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) purposes. ISM Bands are license free and not available for Telecomm Applications, which are regulated.
When preparing your application, it is important to note that in some regions the permitted frequencies might differ, e.g. 863 to 870 MHz can be used in Europe and Africa, but in North America 902 to 928MHz is the allowed frequency.
Only some bands are used globally such as the most common ISM Band 2.4GHz to 2.5 GHz used for e.g WLAN and Bluetooth, 802.15.4 is also covered in this section.
Very often we refer to SRD (Short Range Devices) if the Sub-GHz band for data communication is used. The benefit of those Sub-GHz devices is mainly the achieved radio range. Avnet Silica offers mesh networking enabled products based on 802.15.4 in Sub-GHz and 2.4 GHz, as well as simple Sub-GHz transceivers.
Additionally, LoRa, using 868 MHZ, 915 MHz and 2.4 GHz band as well chirp spread spectrum (CSS) modulation can extend the radio range to up to 40 km.
The table below will help you select the most suitable product for your application.
| ISM | Chips | Modules | 433 / 868 / 915MHz | 2.4 GHz | LoRa modulation | 802.15.4 compliant (Zigbee / Thread / Matter) |
Dual Radio LoRa and BLE |
Concurrent Mode Zigbee and BLE |
Concurrent Mode Thread and Zigbee |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Supplier | |||||||||
| AzureWave Technologies | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||||||
| Digi | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||||
| Insight-SIP | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||||
| Nordic Semiconductor | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |||||
| Microchip | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |||
| NXP | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |||
| Miromico | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |||||
| Qorvo | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||||
| Rohm | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||||||
| Semtech | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |||||
| STMicroelectronics | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||
| Renesas | ✔ | ✔ | |||||||
WiFi
Avnet Silica offers a full range of WiFi products, including chips, modules, and devices, as well as a full technology range from WiFi 4 to WiFi 6e. We also support routers and gateways.
GNSS
Today GNSS technology is not only used for military and cars, but for many types of vehicle, in applications such as container tracking, animal and people tracking and logistics.
ANTENNAS
Avnet Silica offers antennas from specialised suppliers, that focus solely on antenna design and production, such as Antenova and 2J Antenna, along with other suppliers that offer antennas as part of overall portfolio for wireless products, such as Quectel.
Bluetooth
Bluetooth is one of the most common wireless technologies in the market, propelled into the consumer world by the smartphone, as well as increased demand for fitness, health, and entertainment devices.
RFID / NFC
Radio Frequency Identification, is a technology that enables simple, secure and fast identification of things, persons and animals. It is mainly made for very short ranges, with one exception, the UHF based RFID called RAIN-RFID for mid range identification, used mainly in logistics.
ROUTER / GATEWAYS / MODEMS
Connecting short range wireless devices, or some wired devices to a wired or wireless infrastructure, requires bridging technologies, such as Modems, Gateways or Routers / Access Points.
Cellular
Evolving from GSM to GPRS then to 3G (UMTS / WCDMA) we are now seeing global coverage with LTE / 4G, with next generation 5G leading the way in applications which require higher data transfer.
UWB / Ultrawide Band
Ultra-wideband is a radio technology that can use a very low energy level for short-range, high-bandwidth communications (approx. 500 MHz or 20% of the arithmetic center frequency) over a large portion of the radio spectrum. This co-existing with other radio standards is a major advantage.
LPWAN
In Europe, major networks have announced their intention not to support 3G networks across Europe beyond 2020. We offer LPWAN technology from our market-leading suppliers, available in a range of modules.
DECT
Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications, or DECT, was introduced to the market in 1992. It mainly uses the frequency bands 1880 to 1900 MHz, but due to the extension of the ETSI, also 2010-2025 MHz and 24-00 – 2480 MHz are specified.