Device-to-cloud connectivity solution maximises battery life

27th October 2016

Lanna Deamer

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Datasheet

The industry's first FCC-certified, fully integrated RF transceiver and kit for developing IoT solutions for use of the Sigfox network has been announced by Microchip.

Powered by Microchip’s ATA8520E, a low-power RF transceiver with an integrated AVR microcontroller, the new kits contain the first FCC-certified board that allows developers to easily connect to Sigfox’s long-range, two-way global IoT network resulting in a low-cost, low-power device-to-cloud connectivity solution.

This is well suited for IoT applications, ranging from logistics, to agriculture, smart cities and other machine-to-machine (M2M) sectors. The ATA8520E is also the first fully Sigfox-certified chip suitable for both North America and Europe.

The solution is available in two versions. Customers can either purchase Microchip’s Sigfox-certified ATA8520-EK as a standalone kit, designed primarily to test the technology, or as a kit combined with an Xplained PRO board for system-design purposes. Both are dedicated for Sigfox’s IoT network in the licence-free ISM bands. The solutions come complete with the Sigfox library, modulation, ID and PAC code, and a security key enabling IoT developers to quickly get their design to market.

Currently operating in 24 countries and registering over eight million devices in its network, Sigfox is on its way to establishing one global, seamless network that provides simple, ubiquitous, energy-efficient connectivity for billions of devices that periodically will send small quantities of data over long distances. Sigfox and Microchip are partnering to drive down IoT device costs, operational costs and power consumption, ultimately resulting in substantially longer battery life compared to traditional cellular, Bluetooth or WiFi connectivity.

The ATA8520x family features the industry's highest performance, lowest power sub-GHz SoC (System-on-Chip) transceiver designed to maximise range and battery life for power-sensitive wireless systems. Offering frequency coverage for 868MHz in Europe and 902MHz in North America, the ATA8520x transceivers offer industry-leading RF performance resulting in extended wireless range and compliance with the industry's most stringent narrowband regulatory standards. The ATA8520x transceivers provide exceptional power efficiency resulting in fewer battery replacements and/or reduced battery size.