Nordic Semiconductor Introduces nRF7001: A Low-Cost Wi-Fi 6 Companion IC for Budget-Friendly IoT Designs

Nordic Semiconductor has expanded its nRF70 Series of Wi-Fi 6 companion chips by introducing the nRF7001. This new chip is designed to offer a low-cost Wi-Fi 6 solution for IoT devices that specifically require 2.4 GHz single band connectivity. The nRF7001 is ideal for smart home, smart city, and industrial automation applications, providing reliable and power-efficient Wi-Fi connectivity at a reduced cost.

The nRF7001 works seamlessly with Nordic's nRF52 and nRF53 Series multiprotocol Systems-on-Chip (SoCs) and the nRF9160 cellular IoT System-in-Package (SiP). It is also compatible with non-Nordic host devices. The nRF7001 complements the dual-band nRF7002 by serving as a drop-in, single band alternative for devices operating solely in the 2.4 GHz band.

Featuring support for various Wi-Fi modes, including Station, SoftAP, and Wi-Fi Direct, the nRF7001 complies with Wi-Fi standards such as IEEE 802.11b, a, g, n (Wi-Fi 4), and ax (Wi-Fi 6). It also works well alongside Bluetooth Low Energy, Thread, and Zigbee technologies. With power-saving features like Target Wake Time (TWT), the nRF7001 reduces energy consumption. The chip offers reliable connectivity with a single spatial stream, 20 MHz channel bandwidth, 64 QAM (MCS7), OFDMA, up to 86 Mbps PHY throughput, and BSS coloring.

Developers can easily get started with nRF7001-based designs using Nordic's nRF Connect SDK, which is a software development kit for building products based on Nordic's wireless devices. The nRF7001 is supported by the nRF7002 Development Kit (DK), allowing developers to emulate the nRF7001 IC during application development. This combination simplifies the process of adding 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi capabilities to products, enabling seamless connection to nRF Cloud Services and facilitating communication with other devices over a Wi-Fi network. The nRF7001 companion IC and nRF7002 DK are now available through Nordic's distribution partners.

Key features of nRF7001 Wi-Fi Companion IC

• ­ Low-power and secure Wi-Fi for the IoT
• ­ Ideal coexistence with Bluetooth LE
• ­ Supported in nRF Connect SDK
• ­ Target Wake Time (TWT)
• ­ WPA3 Personal/Enterprise
• ­ SPI / QSPI
• ­ Wi-Fi 6 Station (STA)
• ­ Complies with 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax
• ­ 1 Spatial Stream (SS)
• ­ 20 MHz channel bandwidth
• ­ 64 QAM (MCS7), 86 Mbps PHY throughput
• ­ OFDMA (Downlink and Uplink)
• ­ BSS coloring
• ­ Co-existence interfaces