San Jose, CA. Cypress Semiconductor Corp. has announced that its Wi-Fi and Bluetooth combo solution delivers robust wireless connectivity to the new Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ Internet of Things single-board computer. The Cypress CYW43455 single-chip combo provides 802.11ac Wi-Fi for fast Internet connections, advanced coexistence algorithms for simultaneous Bluetooth and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) operations such as audio and video streaming, and low-power BLE connections to smartphones, sensors, and Bluetooth Mesh networks. The Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ board builds on the success of existing Raspberry Pi solutions using Cypress’s CYW43438 802.11n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth combo SoC.
Wi-Fi networks powered by 802.11ac simultaneously deliver low-latency and high-speed with secure device communication, making it a suitable wireless technology for connecting products directly to the cloud. The Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ board with the highly integrated Cypress CYW43455 combo SoC allows developers to quickly prototype industrial IoT systems and smart home products that leverage the benefits of 802.11ac.
“Achieving reliable wireless connectivity in crowded airwaves is a foremost concern for developers of industrial IoT and smart-home systems, which led us to select Cypress’s 802.11ac combo SoC for the Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ board,” said Eben Upton, CEO of Raspberry Pi Trading. “Our new board democratizes high-performance, interoperable, and highly reliable 802.11ac Wi-Fi for use across a huge range of IoT products.”
“Raspberry Pi’s leading IoT development boards with Cypress connectivity have shipped millions of units to date, and the new Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ board brings the benefits of Cypress’ 802.11ac Wi-Fi to even more IoT developers across a diverse range of applications,” said Brian Bedrosian, vice president of marketing for the IoT Business Unit at Cypress. “Our 802.11ac combo SoC helps IoT products meet coexistence challenges in the crowded 2.4-GHz band; delivers cleaner air for audio, video, and voice control data; and improves network performance for multi-user environments.”
The Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ board features a 64-bit, quad-core processor running at 1.4 GHz, 1 GB of RAM, full-size HDMI, four standard USB ports, Gigabit Ethernet over USB2, Power over Ethernet capability, a CSI camera connector, and a DSI display connector. The platform’s resources, together with its 802.11ac wireless LAN and Bluetooth/BLE wireless connectivity, provide a compact solution for the intelligent edge of connected devices.
The Cypress CYW43455 SoC features a dual-band 2.4- and 5-GHz radio with 20-, 40- and 80-MHz channels with up to 433 Mb/s performance. This fast 802.11ac throughput allows devices to get on and off the network more quickly, preventing network congestion and prolonging battery life by letting devices spend more time in deep-sleep modes. The SoC includes Linux open-source Full Media Access Control (FMAC) driver support with enterprise and industrial features enabled, including security, roaming, voice, and locationing. Cypress’ Linux FMAC driver can be found at https://community.cypress.com/docs/DOC-14597.
Cypress’ CYW43455 SoC and other solutions support Bluetooth Mesh networks—low-cost, low-power mesh network of devices that can communicate with each other, and with smartphones, tablets, and voice-controlled home assistants, via simple, secure, and ubiquitous Bluetooth connectivity. Bluetooth Mesh enables battery-powered devices within the network to communicate with each other to easily provide coverage throughout even the largest homes, allowing users to conveniently control all the devices from the palm of their hand. The SoC is also supported in Cypress’ all-inclusive, turnkey Wireless Internet Connectivity for Embedded Devices (WICED) software development kit (SDK), which streamlines the integration of wireless technologies for IoT developers.
More information on the Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ board and ordering information is available at https://www.raspberrypi.org/products/raspberry-pi-3-model-b-plus/, and more information on Cypress’ 802.11ac combo solutions is available at www.cypress.com/802.11ac.