Wireless ICs Deliver Reliable Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth LE Connections Anywhere

April 25, 2023

SimpleLink wireless connectivity devices enable efficient Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth Low Energy 5.3 connections in any environment.

Alix Paultre

Related To: Microwaves & RF

This article is part of the TechXchange: The Internet of Things.

Texas Instruments introduced its latest SimpleLink family of Wi-Fi 6 companion ICs that provide cost-effective, reliable, secure, and efficient Wi-Fi connections for applications in high-density or high-temperature environments. The CC33xx family includes devices for Wi-Fi 6 only, or for Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) 5.3 connectivity in a single IC. The devices enable a secure IoT connection with reliable RF performance when attached to a microcontroller or processor.

The 2.4-GHz SimpleLink CC3300 Wi-Fi 6 companion IC and CC3301 Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth LE companion IC offer greater Wi-Fi network efficiency and a stable connection across more than 230 access points. Operating temperature ranges from –40 to 105ºC.

Able to connect to IoT edge nodes directly, to home or enterprise access points without additional equipment, the Wi-Fi 6 companion devices offer orthogonal frequency-division multiple access (OFDMA) technology and basic service set (BSS) coloring for reliable network performance. They can connect more devices simultaneously, without interference from congestion. In addition, they support Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) security features, including WPA3 cryptographic technologies and a secure-boot feature with firmware authentication.

SimpleLink CC3300 and CC3301 Wi-Fi 6 companion ICs easily attach to TI and many other companies' MCUs and processors that support Linux or real-time operating systems. Furthermore, the CC3300 can incorporate host MCUs such as TI's 2.4-GHz CC2652R7 SimpleLink multiprotocol wireless MCU or an AM243x MCU-hosted system to handle Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth LE 5.3, Thread, Zigbee 3.0, and Matter protocols.

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Alix Paultre | Editor-at-Large, Microwaves & RF

Alix is Editor-at-Large for Microwaves & RF.

An Army veteran, Alix Paultre was a signals intelligence soldier on the East/West German border in the early ‘80s, and eventually wound up helping launch and run a publication on consumer electronics for the U.S. military stationed in Europe. Alix first began in this industry in 1998 at Electronic Products magazine, and since then has worked for a variety of publications, most recently as Editor-in-Chief of Power Systems Design.

Alix currently lives in Wiesbaden, Germany.