Supporting development of next generation Bluetooth wireless streaming applications based on the latest LE Audio specifications, and the new Low Complexity Communication Codec (LC3) with higher quality, lower power wireless streaming compared with existing Classic Bluetooth audio solutions, Nordic now offers its new nRF5340 Audio Development Kit (DK). The Audio DK is based on the company’s nRF5340 SoC and contains everything needed to get started on LE Audio development projects.
And this solution already supports Auracast, the recently announced name of the Broadcast Audio and Audio Sharing features in Bluetooth LE Audio. The technology will enable an audio source device to broadcast one or more audio streams to an unlimited number of devices, opening up several new use cases. As part of the Bluetooth SIG working groups, Nordic Semiconductor has been working on LE Audio for years and is now ready to support developers on Auracast applications using the nRF5340 Audio DK platform. The Nordic nRF5340 Audio DK supports is configurable and can function as a USB dongle to send or receive audio data from a PC. It can also function as a Business Headset or a True Wireless Stereo (TWS) Earbud. For most use-cases, Nordic recommends using two or more DKs.
The nRF5340 Audio DK is typically powered via USB and includes a battery. The current consumption can be measured by using the dedicated current measurement pins. Nordic recommends using its Power Profiler Kit II for that. The new LC3 codec is also available for this DK, allowing superior audio quality compared to SBC, even at about half the wireless data rate. This low data rate is a key factor in minimizing power consumption.
Nordic has also showcased its cutting edge R&D efforts to support Matter, the result of the Connectivity Standards Alliance’s efforts to create a unified application layer for smart home applications. The initiative has seen major tech companies such as Apple, Amazon and Google collaborate such that wireless device makers can develop solutions that work seamlessly with virtual assistant technologies, smart home hubs and smart speakers from these major manufacturers. Nordic has been a key contributor to the Matter specification and at embedded world 2022, the company was showing show how its proven nRF52 and nRF53 Series SoCs support Matter’s adoption for smart home products.
Thingy World
Another interesting series of demonstration and new introductions was based on what Nordic calls the "Thingy World," including demonstrations of the company’s nRF Cloud Location Services using the company’s popular Nordic Thingy:91 multi-sensor cellular IoT prototyping platform. nRF Cloud Location Services builds on Nordic’s cellular IoT connectivity enabler, nRF Cloud, allows users to access detailed, fast and accurate commercial location services for their nRF9160 SiP-powered cellular IoT devices.
And the embedded technology event also provided an opportunity for Nordic to unveil the latest addition to its family of short range wireless and cellular IoT prototyping platforms, with the launch of the Nordic Thingy:53. Nordic’s ‘Thingy’ family has already proven itself with the developer community, and the addition of the Nordic Thingy:53 presents the ideal platform for building advanced wireless proofs-of-concept and prototypes with embedded machine learning (ML) capabilities.
The Nordic Thingy:53 is an ideal platform for building advanced wireless proofs-of-concept and prototypes with ML capabilities on the shortest development schedules. The Thingy:53 is based on Nordic’s nRF5340 dual-core Arm Cortex M-33 advanced multiprotocol System-on-Chip (SoC) and incorporates the company’s nPM1100 Power Management IC (PMIC) and nRF21540 Front End Module (FEM), a power amplifier/low noise amplifier (PA/LNA) range extender. The prototyping platform is equipped with a rechargeable 1350 mAh Li-poly battery and multiple motion and multiple motion sensors (two accelerometers, a gyroscope and magnetometer) environmental sensors (temperature, humidity, pressure, gas), as well as light and color sensors and a digital microphone, all of which can be employed in embedded ML applications.
The platform supports Bluetooth Low Energy (Bluetooth LE), Thread, Matter, Zigbee, IEEE 802.15.4, NFC, and Bluetooth mesh RF protocols, and comes with preinstalled firmware for embedded ML directly on the Thingy:53. The nRF5340 SoC at the heart of the Thingy:53 features a dedicated application processor and a network processor. The Arm Cortex-M33 application processor is clocked at 128 MHz and ensures the prototyping platform can handle advanced algorithms and the complex computational tasks associated with embedded ML. 1 MB Flash and 512 KB RAM ensure plenty of memory for even the most complex applications. The network processor is designed for power-efficient operation and features its own computational resources, thus ensuring robust wireless connectivity without compromising application software execution.
Resulting from a close collaboration between Nordic and US-based Edge Impulse, a ‘tinyML’ specialist, the Thingy:53 is supplied with Edge Impulse firmware and the nRF Edge Impulse mobile app. The firmware collects training and test data from the sensors on the Thingy:53 and forwards the data over-the-air using Bluetooth LE to the mobile app. The mobile app then forwards the data to Edge Impulse Studio (a Cloud-based development platform for ML) where it is used to build and test an embedded ML model. The ML model can then be deployed to the Thingy:53 over-the-air using the same mobile app. The mobile app will also show inferencing results directly in the app. The firmware and the app enable developers to rapidly collect data and test ML models without connecting any cables to the Thingy:53.
The nRF Programmer app supplied with the Thingy:53 significantly simplifies prototyping by allowing the developer to select from pre-made firmware and then update the Thingy:53’s firmware directly over-the-air from an iOS or Android device. This capability means new firmware can be deployed at anytime, anywhere, without needing a desktop computer. Thingy:53 is also compatible with Nordic’s mobile apps, nRF Mesh, nRF Connect, nRF Toolbox, and nRF Blinky.
Finally, the Thingy:53 includes a Pulse Density Modulation (PDM) microphone, which together with the accelerometer can also be used to wake the nRF5340 SoC from sleep when triggered by motion or sound events. This is useful for creating low power embedded ML applications because Thingy:53 can remain in sleep mode (extending battery life) when there are no external stimuli.
The product also features a USB-C charge-and-data port, and a Qwiic, Stemma and Grove-compatible four-pin JST connector. Every Thingy:53 is delivered with a debug and current measurement board, which provides access to relevant pins that would otherwise be unavailable, for troubleshooting application code and monitoring power consumption with additional debug tools.
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