New Dual Core 32-bit ARM Microcontroller with Integrated Bluetooth

The Dual ARM® Cortex®-M Cores are individually dedicated to operation and wireless communication

STM32WBx5 dual-core wireless microcontrollers (MCU) from STMicroelectronics come with Bluetooth® 5, OpenThread, and ZigBee® 3.0** connectivity combined with ultra-low-power performance.

Fusing features of ST’s STM32L4 Arm® Cortex®-M4 MCUs and in-house radio managed by a dedicated Cortex-M0+, the STM32WBx5 is power-conscious yet capable of concurrent wireless-protocol and real-time application execution. It is ideally suited to remote sensors, wearable trackers, building-automation controllers, computer peripherals, drones, and other IoT devices.

Extensive feature integration lets product developers minimize bill-of-material costs and footprint. STM32WBx5 MCUs have up to 1Mbyte of on-chip Flash and a Quad-SPI port for efficient connection to external memory, if needed. Additional features include crystal-less Full-Speed USB, 32MHz RF oscillator with trimming capacitors, a touch-sense controller, LCD controller, analog peripherals, and multiple timers and watchdogs. The balun for antenna connection is also integrated.

Leveraging ultra-low-power technologies of the STM32L4 line, STM32WBx5 MCUs feature multiple power-saving modes including 13nA Shutdown mode, adaptive voltage scaling, and the adaptive real-time ART Accelerator™ to maximize energy efficiency and ensure long-lasting performance in self-powered applications.

The integrated radio transmitter is optimized for high RF performance and low power consumption to maximize battery runtime. The RF output power is programmable up to +6dBm in 1dB increments, and the MCU draws only 5.2mA when transmitting at 0dB. Receive sensitivity is -96dBm for BLE communication at 1mbps. Designed for a link budget of 102dB, the radio ensures robust communication over long connection distances and includes support for an external Power Amplifier (PA).

Developing with the STM32WBx5 line is well served through the rich STM32Cube ecosystem. Developers not only get free access to an extensive set of tools but can also take advantage of the STM32CubeWB MCU Package featuring peripheral drivers, middleware, and connectivity libraries, and the STM32WB55 Nucleo pack (P-NUCLEO-WB55). The dedicated STM32CubeMon-RF connectivity tool for RF testing and custom use-case scripting comes as a new addition to STM32Cube to further accelerate time-to-market.

More information on the STM32WBx5 Dual-Core Wireless Microcontroller is available on the ST website at STMicroelectronics STM32WBx5 product page.

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The STMicroelectronics website address is www.st.com
[Reprinted with kind permission from STMicroelectronics - Release Date, 25th February, 2019]