Ultra low-power 2.4 GHz transceiver for Bluetooth Low Energy 5

Overview

The icyTRX ultra-low-power RF transceiver is designed to meet standards such as Bluetooth Low Energy (Bluetooth Smart), 802.15.4 PHY Layer (e.g. ZigBee), and proprietary standards with data-rates from 62.5 kBit/s up to 4 Mbit/s. icyTRX offers less than 5.5mW consumption in receive mode from a 1.0 V supply. icyTRX is a complete transceiver that is designed for miniaturization, yielding a die size of less than 1.1 mm2 in 55 nm CMOS, requiring minimal external components thanks to high degree of integration. icyTRX is designed for easy integration into ASICs and SoCs.

Various PMU options also available on demand.

Key Features

Voltage supply: 1.3V to 1V
RX current 5.3 mA (1 MBit/s)•
TX current 8.6 mA (@ 1 dBm)•
Exceeds BLE and IEEE802.15.4 requirements
Proprietary modes with adjustable bitrate from 62.5 kBit/s up to 4 Mbit/s
Bluetooth 4.x sensitivity: -97 dBm at 1 Mbit/s•
Bluetooth 5 sensitivity: -94 dBm at 2 Mbit/s, -105 dBm at 125 kbit/s (Long Range S=8) and -101 dBm at 500 kbit/s (Long Range S=2)
No calibration needed, ultra fast settling
Single Rx and Tx port
No external RF matching components required
Fully integrated FSK-based modem, with programmable pulse shape, data rate and modulation index
Link layer functionalities, including automatic packet handling, CRC, separate Rx and Tx FIFOs, AES-CCM
Silicon area < 1.1 mm2 (55 nm CMOS)

Benefits

Extended battery life, small silicon area, low BOM cost, direct use from 1V battery.

Block Diagram

Applications

Wearables
Wireless sensor networks
Portable medical
IOT
Energy harvesting applications

Deliverables

Available under license as embedded IP block for integration in CMOS SoCs and ASICs
Samples and development kits are available

Technical Specifications

Foundry, Node

TSMC65, TSMC55, GF55, USJC, others

Maturity

Silicon proven

Availability

Available now

GLOBALFOUNDRIES

In Production: 55nm
Silicon Proven: 55nm

TSMC

In Production: 55nm ULP
Silicon Proven: 55nm ULP

UMC

Silicon Proven: 90nm G

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