New 2.4 GHz SoCs for Bluetooth and other protocols operate at ultra low-power
Nordic Semiconductor has launched the nRF54L series of wireless systems-on-chip (SoCs), offering even lower power consumption, faster processing and longer battery run-time than its earlier nRF52 series.
The new nRF54L series from Nordic Semiconductor are ultra low-power wireless SoCs which support multiple communications protocols operating in the 2.4 GHz band. The SoCs in the nRF54L series are suitable for products using Bluetooth® Low Energy, Bluetooth Mesh, Zigbee, Thread, Matter, Amazon Sidewalk, and proprietary 2.4 GHz protocols.
The nRF54L series consists of the nRF54L15, nRF54L10 and nRF54L05. All the wireless SoCs in the series integrate a multi-protocol 2.4 GHz radio and microcontroller functionality based on a 128 MHz Arm® Cortex®-M33 processor. The ultra low-power consumption is enabled by a new fourth-generation radio, three times better processing efficiency thanks to the Cortex-M33 CPU, and the use of proprietary fabrication technologies implemented on a 22 nm process node.
All SoCs in the series are equipped with the same set of standard peripherals and high-speed serial interfaces. The series features a 14-bit ADC for high-resolution analog sensor measurements, and a global real-time clock capable of running in System OFF mode, drawing just 0.8 µA at 3.0 V.
An integrated RISC-V co-processor is available to offload time-critical tasks from the main Cortex-M33 processor when it is occupied by protocol stack operations. In some cases, the co-processor can even eliminate the need for an external MCU for real-time functions.
The nRF54L series offers a selection of memory size options in devices supplied in pin-compatible QFN packages. The nRF54L15 offers the largest memory capacity in the nRF54L series: 1.5 Mbytes of non-volatile memory and 256 kbytes of RAM, making it suitable for the most demanding applications. In addition, the nRF54L15, which is also available in a 2.4 mm x 2.2 mm CSP package, can run a Wi-Fi® networking protocol stack for the nRF70 series companion ICs.
Memory capacity is lower in the nRF54L10 and nRF54L05: 1.0 Mbyte of non-volatile memory with 192 kbytes of RAM in the nRF54L10, and 0.5 Mbytes of non-volatile memory and 96 kbytes of RAM in the nRF54L05.