Some programmable wireless ICs and modules

Updated: 29-Mar-2023

Some integrated circuits or modules providing wireless connectivity (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Public Land Mobile Radio aka 2G/3G/4G, etc.) or satellite positioning, can host some customer code. Below, some of them.

Note (on the 29-Mar-2023): I haven’t been updating this post for almost a year now. It may contain some old references that are no more valid. I will review it some time soon. Continue reading “Some programmable wireless ICs and modules”

The Internet of Things: an overview

This is the fourth year I give my classes about the Internet of Things, to postgraduate students of a Telecom and Electronics Master of the University of Nice (France). From six hours for previous years, my course slot increased to nine hours. Consequently, I was able to spend more time on some important topics, like communications and embedded software. And I introduced two new sections: big data and security.

The new edition of the presentation I use as a support is available on SlideShare.

IoT device development kits

Updated: 17-May-2021

Here is a list of various low cost programmable boards or kits, with some (wireless) connectivity. This list is maintained on a best effort basis only.

  • B-L462E-CELL1, from ST: LTE-M/NB-IoT modem, eSIM with prepaid connectivity, accelerometer, magnetometer, humidity, temperature, pressure, etc. – US$ 74 (May-2021)
  • mangOH, an open-source project from Sierra Wireless – three versions, the mangOH Yellow being the latest one: 2G to 4G & LTE-M/NB-IoT, GNSS, Wi-Fi, BT 5.0, built-in antennas, accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer, pressure, humidity, acoustic mic, air Index quality, temperature, and light sensors, battery charger and battery gauge, LEDs, buzzer, touch button, expansion connector, SD card, etc. – from 96 € to 116 €, depending on the model (Jan-2021) – to be considered along with Legato, another open-source project from Sierra Wireless, for the software part
  • QuickFeather Development Kit, from QuickLogic – FPGA-enabled Arm Cortex®-M4F MCU, 16-Mbit of Flash memory, accelerometer, pressure sensor, PDM digital microphone, integrated battery charger – US$49 (Jan-2021)
  • M5Stack Core2 ESP32 IoT Development Kit for AWS IoT EduKit – US$42 (Dec-2020)
  • Thunderboard Sense 2 Sensor-to-Cloud Advanced IoT Development Kit, from Silicon Labs – ARM Cortex M4 core with 256 kB RAM and 1024 kB Flash, multi-protocol radio, sensors, source code of applications for Android, iOS and web – US$21 (Dec-2020)
  • Icarus IoT Board, from Actinius – based on the nRF9160 – LTE-M / NB-IoT, GPS – 99.50 € (Dec-2020)
  • Thingy:91, from Nordic – based on the nRF9160 – LTE-M / NB-IoT, GPS, 16 sensors, Bluetooth / Thread / Zigbee / ANT, plastic and rubber case – around 111 € (Dec-2020)
Continue reading “IoT device development kits”