Like other wireless-communications specifications, ZigBee is driving increasingly higher levels of integration. A recent example is a line of ZigBee transceiver integrated circuits (ICs) that combines a ZigBee-compliant RF transceiver with an 8051-based, 8-b microprocessor. Known as the ZIC2410 series, these systems-on-a-chip (SoCs) have a transmit/receive frequency range of 2.400 to 2.4835 GHz. They deliver +8 dBm output power. Receiver sensitivity is 98 dBm. The transceivers flaunt a link budget of 106 dB. They operate from +1.5 to +3.3 VDC. Power consumption in transmit mode is 30.6 mA at 0 dBm for the QN48 package. For the VFBGA72, current consumption is 29.7 mA at 0 dBm (also in transmit mode). In receive and standby mode, current consumption is 33.2 mA and 0.3 A, respectively. The microprocessor offers peripherals including an on-board a-law/ - law audio codec with ADPCM support. When combined with an I2S interface, this codec enables the ZIC2410 to transmit voice data.
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