Wireless MCUs Address Future ZigBee Smart Energy 2.0, IP Specs

To tackle the increased processing and memory requirements associated with future ZigBee Smart Energy 2.0 and Internet Protocol specifications, Freescale developed the Kinetis KW2x wireless microcontroller family. The low-power, 2.4-GHz KW2x wireless platform integrates an 50-MHz ARM Cortex-M4 processor and 802.15.4 standard-compliant RF transceiver that’s designed to reduce transmit and receive power. The transceiver’s antenna diversity improves RF reliability, particularly under multipath interference conditions. Memory includes 512 kbytes of flash and 64 kbytes of RAM, plus an optional 64K of FlexMemory. Hardware-assisted, dual personal-area-network (PAN) support enables a single device to communicate wirelessly on two ZigBee networks, eliminating the need for multiple radios. Advanced security features handle more advanced encryption methods, such as key generation, secure memory, and tamper detect functionality. A cryptographic acceleration unit supports a set of specialized operations to improve encryption/decryption throughput as well as message digest functions. Applications include smart energy, home/building automation, and home entertainment.

FREESCALE SEMICONDUCTOR