Nordic nRF24LE1 OTP shortlisted for Design News Golden Mousetrap Awards

Nordic Semiconductor ASA have announced that the nRF24LE1 OTP System-on-Chip (SoC) has been selected from hundreds of nominations to be a finalist in the “Electronics & Test” category of this year's Design News Golden Mousetrap Awards.

For more than two decades, the Design News Awards Program has recognized engineering innovation and creativity in product design. This year, Golden Mousetrap awards were given in four major categories: Electronics & Test, Automation & Control, Design Tools: Hardware & Software, and Materials & Assembly. Managing Editor Jennifer Campbell gathered a record number of entries, distributing them to the magazines beat editors for judging. Based on their expertise in each technology area, 18 winners and 95 finalists were selected.

The nRF24LE1 OTP is a 2.4GHz wireless transceiver that integrates a radio core, enhanced 8051 microcontroller, lower-power oscillators, hardware AES security, a wide range of application peripherals and interfaces, 16kBytes of program One Time Programmable (OTP) memory and 1kByte of data OTP memory onto a single 4x4 mm chip. The chip features a power consumption of 11.1 mA peak TX (at -0 dBm output power) and 13.3 mA peak RX.


This ULP performance allows the nRF24LE1 to run from coin-cell batteries for many months or even years (depending on the application) at up to 2Mbps raw data rate with built-in immunity to interference from other 2.4GHz sources (see “About the nRF24LE1 OTP” below). The chip brings 2.4GHz wireless connectivity to devices requiring a superior alternative to older 27MHz technology in fiercely price-sensitive sectors (see press release).


“We are very pleased that the nRF24LE1 OTP has received recognition from one of the leading U.S. engineering design journals,” comments Geir Langeland, Nordic Semiconductor's Director of Sales & Marketing. “We are naturally proud of this chip, which allows manufacturers of cost-constrained products to take advantage of our leading 2.4GHz transceiver, but to receive the endorsement of an independent judging panel hugely increases our satisfaction in the job done by Nordic’s engineering team.


“The products highlighted in this year's Golden Mousetrap winners and finalists clearly demonstrate both cutting-edge design ideas, and the practical evolution of technologies for systems and product design engineers,” says David Greenfield, Editorial Director at Design News. “Design News congratulates all the engineers and their companies who have been recognized with the Golden Mousetrap Award, and we are grateful for their contribution to this year's competition.”