Nordic Semiconductor
Manufacturer Overview
Nordic Semiconductor ASA
Nordic Semiconductor is a Norwegian fabless semiconductor company specializing in wireless communication technologies that support the Internet of Things (IoT), and Kaga Device serves as its authorized distributor in Japan. Founded in 1983, Nordic Semiconductor has more than 1,400 employees worldwide. Its Bluetooth Low Energy solutions pioneered ultra-low-power wireless technology and have established the company as a global market leader. In addition to ANT+, Thread, and Zigbee, Nordic began offering compact, low-power LTE-M/NB-IoT cellular IoT solutions in 2018. Since 2023, the company has also introduced new Wi-Fi products, further contributing to the expansion of the IoT market.
Product Information
Low Power cellular IoT Module [LTE-M/NB-IoT]
The nRF91 Series is one of the most compact and energy-efficient cellular IoT solutions on the market, integrating an LTE modem, application processor, RF front end, and power management system. The LTE modem provides global support for both LTE-M and NB-IoT. GNSS functionality is also supported, enabling location tracking based on satellite and cellular base station information. The integrated application processor features an Arm Cortex-M33 CPU, 1 MB of Flash, and 256 KB of RAM, enabling advanced standalone application development without the need for an external CPU. Because Nordic designs both the hardware and software for the nRF91 Series, it can provide highly efficient and optimized low-power IoT solutions.
For information on the current consumption of the nRF91 Series, please refer to the following article.
| Features | nRF9151 |
|---|---|
| CPU | Arm Cortex-M33 @ 64MHz |
| Flash / RAM | 1 MB / 256 KB |
| Arm Trustzone | |
| Crypto Acceleration | Arm Cryptocell 310 |
| Cat.1 Bis | – |
| LTE-M/NB-IoT | 3GPP release 14 |
| DECT NR+ | |
| Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) | 3GPP release 17 |
| GNSS | GPS, QZSS |
| Wi-Fi Scan | – |
| Bluetooth LE | – |
| Maximum TX Power | 23dBm(Class3)/20dBm(Class5) |
| Supply Voltage Range | 3.0 to 5.5 V |
| Operating Temperature | -40 to 85℃ |
| Package | 11.1×12.1×1.2 mm LGA |
Development Kits
Thingy:91 X
nRF9151 DK
For information on getting started with nRF91 Series development, please refer to the following article.
ShortRange Wireless [Bluetooth Low Energy, IEEE802.15.4RF]
nRF54 Series
The nRF54 Series is positioned as the successor to the highly regarded nRF52 and nRF53 Series for Bluetooth LE. It is a groundbreaking family of SoCs offering high processing performance, excellent energy efficiency, and advanced security capabilities.
nRF53 Series
The nRF5340 is an SoC equipped with two Arm Cortex-M33 processors. Its advanced feature set and operating temperature of up to 105°C make it ideal for LE Audio, professional lighting, advanced wearables, and other complex IoT applications.
nRF52 Series
The nRF52 Series consists of Bluetooth 5.2 SoCs supporting seven multiprotocol technologies and featuring a powerful and efficient 64 MHz Arm Cortex-M4 CPU. Flash memory options range from 192 KB to 1024 KB, while RAM ranges from 24 KB to 256 KB, with all devices designed for ultra-low-power operation.
For the nRF54L Series lineup, please refer to the following article.
Development Kits
nRF54L15 DK
For information on getting started with nRF54L15 development, please refer to the following article.
Low Power Wi-Fi IC
nRF70 Series
The nRF70 Series is a new family of low-power Wi-Fi SoCs. The nRF7002 is the first product in the lineup and is a low-power Wi-Fi 6 companion IC that provides seamless dual-band connectivity at 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz. It is optimized for use with Nordic’s nRF54L and nRF91 Series devices, but can also be used with host devices from other manufacturers. When used together with Nordic’s nRF54L Series, the nRF7002 is an ideal solution for the Matter smart home standard.
nRF7002 Wi-Fi Companion IC Features
- ・2.4 GHz and 5 GHz dual-band
- ・Supported in nRF Connect SDK
- ・Target Wake Time (TWT)
- ・SPI / QSPI
- ・Complies with 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax
- ・1 Spatial Stream (SS)
- ・20 MHz channel bandwidth
- ・64 QAM (MCS7), 86 Mbps PHY throughput
- ・Supply voltage range 2.9 – 4.5 V
- ・Operating temperature range -40° C to 85° C
- ・6×6 mm QFN48 package
Block Diagram
Development Kits
nRF7002 DK
Power Management IC (PMIC)
nPM130x
The nPM130x Series is optimized to provide highly efficient power regulation while maximizing efficiency and minimizing size for the nRF52, nRF53, and nRF54 Series. It also provides a wide range of management functions, including push-button control, hard reset, battery fuel gauging, and watchdog functionality, accessible through an I2C-compatible two-wire interface. This helps reduce the number of external components required by the user.
nPM2100
The nPM2100 is designed to provide highly efficient power regulation for a wide range of primary battery applications. It features an ultra-high-efficiency boost regulator capable of delivering up to 150 mA, as well as various power-saving features including a hibernation mode with a current consumption of 175 nA and a ship mode with a current consumption of 35 nA.
RF front end module(FEM)
nRF21540
The nRF21540 is an RF front-end module (FEM) designed to extend communication range and improve connection robustness. As a complementary device, the nRF21540 can be combined with nRF52 Series and nRF53 Series SoCs using a minimal number of external components. It integrates a 2.4 GHz power amplifier (PA: transmit output power of 5–22 dBm) and an LNA (LNA gain: 13 dB).
nRF21540 DB
Development Environment
nRF Connect SDK
The nRF Connect SDK is an integrated software development kit that includes the software required for development, such as Zephyr OS (a real-time operating system), application protocols, libraries, protocol stacks, hardware drivers, and sample software.
For instructions on setting up the nRF Connect SDK environment, please refer to the following article.
Power Profiler Kit II
A current measurement tool for embedded development. By connecting it to a development board, you can easily measure power consumption.
For more information about the Power Profiler Kit II, please refer to the following article.
Technical Topics
Smart Home Communication Standard
Matter
Matter is an open-source application layer developed by the Connectivity Standards Alliance (formerly the Zigbee Alliance) with the goal of creating a unified communication standard for smart home devices, mobile applications, and cloud services.
It enables the development of interoperable devices across different smart speaker manufacturers.
Nordic provides solutions compliant with the Matter standard through the nRF Connect SDK. Nordic also offers DevAcademy, a learning platform for understanding the fundamentals of Matter.
Bluetooth 6.0 Channel Sounding
Channel Sounding is a technology that measures distance using round-trip time (RTT) and phase-based ranging (PBR) with Bluetooth radio signals.
Compared with conventional distance measurement based on received signal strength, Channel Sounding is expected to provide highly accurate ranging on the order of tens of centimeters. Channel Sounding is supported by the nRF54L Series and can be easily evaluated using nRF54L Series development boards.
For more information about Channel Sounding, please refer to the following article.
Nordic Edge AI
Nordic Edge AI technology can be broadly divided into the following two categories.
1. Neuton model
An ultra-compact, ultra-low-memory Edge AI model that runs on the main CPU of Nordic SoCs/SiPs. Its extremely small model size makes it possible to implement simple AI functionality even on devices with strict memory constraints.
2. Axon NPU (AI hardware accelerator)
Nordic’s proprietary NPU (Neural Processing Unit), a hardware accelerator designed to execute LiteRT models quickly and efficiently.
For more information about Nordic Edge AI, please refer to the following article.
Technical Support and Resources
Related information
Links