Bluetooth Low-Energy, Wireless Multi-Core SoCs for IoT and Wearables

Dialog Semiconductor plc debuted the SmartBond™ DA1469x family of Bluetooth low-energy SoCs. The DA1469x family is the company's most advanced, feature-rich range of multi-core microcontroller units (MCUs) for wireless connectivity. The new product family, which includes four variants, builds on Dialog's SmartBond products adding greater processing power, resources, range and battery life for a broad variety of IoT consumer applications.

Applications for the DA1469x SoC product family include fitness trackers, sports watches, toys, consumer appliances, home automation, industrial automation, voice-controlled remote controls access control, and game controllers and headsets.

Dialog designed the DA1469x product family to expand the range of applications, supported by Dialog's proven SmartBond technology. Three integrated cores were each carefully chosen for their capabilities to sense, process, and communicate between connected devices.

Dialog says that the product family is the first SoC in production with a dedicated application processor based on the ARM Cortex-M33 processor. The M33 gives developers greater processing power for more intensive applications, including high-end fitness trackers, advanced smart home devices, and virtual reality game controllers.

The DA1469x range equips developers with advanced connectivity to future-proof their devices and fit the needs of multiple applications.

Its new integrated radio offers double the range compared to its predecessor. The family also is combined with an ARM Cortex-M0+ based software-programmable packet engine that implements protocols and grants full flexibility for wireless communication.

An emerging application for accurate positioning via the angle of arrival and angle of departure features of the newly introduced Bluetooth 5.1 standard.

With its radio front end and configurable protocol engine, the DA1469x complies with this new version of the Bluetooth standard and opens new opportunities for devices that require accurate indoor positioning including building access and remote keyless entry systems.

A Sensor Node Controller (SNC) enhances the sensing functionality of the DA1469x complimenting the M33 application processor and M0+ protocol engine. The SNC is based on a programmable micro-DSP that runs autonomously and independently processes data from the sensors connected to its digital and analog interfaces. It wakes the application processor only when needed. In addition to this power-saving feature, a PMU controls the different processing cores and only activates them as needed.

Developers can work with a full range of computing power and functionality on the DA1469x family. The SoCs feature up to 144 DMIPS, 512KB of RAM, memory protection, a floating-point unit, a dedicated crypto engine to enable end-to-end security, and expandable memories.

The memory and computing performance enables the implementation of a wide range of advanced smart device applications using the chipset family and a supporting range of key value-added interfaces that extend functionality even further.

The PMU also provides three regulated power rails and one LDO output to supply external system components, eliminating the requirement of a separate PMIC.

Additionally, the DA169x product family comes equipped with a range of critical value-added interfaces including a display driver, an audio interface, USB, a high-accuracy ADC, a haptic driver capable of driving both ERM and LRA motors as well as a programmable stepping motor controller.

"The demands of today's connected consumer are expanding with each new product cycle," said Sean McGrath, Senior VP & GM of Dialog Semiconductor's Connectivity Business Group. "Our SmartBond™ wireless microcontrollers are recognized in the market as being designed not only to meet the needs of today's users but to anticipate where the market is heading and offer development opportunities for our customers for their next product cycles. With the DA1469x family, we have doubled the processing power, quadrupled available resources and doubled the battery lifetime compared to its predecessor, making it by far, one of the most advanced, feature-rich Bluetooth products we've developed to date."

Dialog says that developers working with the DA1469x product family can rely on its software development suite, SmartSnippets™, which gives them the tools necessary to develop best-in-class applications on the new SoCs.

Benefits

• Supports complex applications while guaranteeing extreme low power consumption
• SW programmable protocol engine ensures end products are future proof
• Enables a rich user experience
• Provides banking-level security for application, data, and communication
• Saves up to $1.28 on BoM vs existing wireless MCUs
• Saves up to 38mm2 of PCB space (components + routing) vs existing wireless MCUs

The company will begin volume production of DA1469x variants in the first half of 2019. Samples and development kits are available.