Design challenges are a improbable option to hone your expertise and purchase new ones. Stefano Viola, an skilled electronics engineer, sought a miniaturization problem. This journey led to a system-on-module (SoM) named NiCE5340, an ingeniously tiny PCB that merges a Bluetooth SoC, FPGA, and a big selection of sensors.
“I had been questioning for a while what could be the results of combining a strong low-power MCU with an equally versatile low-power FPGA.” —Stefano Viola
Viola packed many built-in circuits (ICs) onto NiCE5340’s 16- by 29-millimeter printed circuit board. A Nordic Semiconductor nRF5340 system-on-chip (SoC) is on the heart. Subsequent to it’s a Lattice semiconductor iCE40 Extremely Plus FPGA. At the very least 11 sensors complement these two processing chips.
The nRF53 SoC comprises two Arm Cortex-M33 processors and a 2.4 GHz radio. The RF block helps Bluetooth 5.4, Bluetooth LE (BLE), Thread, Zigbee, and proprietary protocols. An nPM1100, additionally from Nordic, supplies energy administration and LiPo battery charging.
NiCE5340 High (📷: Stefano Viola/LinkedIn)
Lattice’s iCE40 FPGA has gained notoriety due to the open supply instruments that generate bitstreams for these components. Viola linked the iCE40 to the nRF53 through Quad-SPI (QSPI) and I2C. Its IO pins escape to pads on the again.
Whereas the NiCE5340 incorporates practically each sensor sort in its design, Viola acknowledges that not all of them (collectively) could have a sensible software. Nonetheless, the potential makes use of of those sensors are huge, starting from environmental monitoring to well being monitoring, making the NiCE5340 a flexible and adaptable PCB.
- 6DOF IMU: LSM6DSMTR (STMicroelectronics)
- Biosignal changing unit: AS7057-BWL (Osram)
- Magnetometer: MMC3630KJ (Memsic)
- SAR sensor (contact): SX9328ICSTRT (Semtech)
- PDM MEMS MIC: ICS-41351 (TDK)
- Humidity/temperature: SHTC3 (Sensirion)
- Haptic driver: DRV2605LYZF (Texas Devices)
- RGB IR coloration sensor: BH1749NUC-E2 (Rohm)
- Barometric stress sensor: DPS310XTSA1 (Infineon)
- Cost/discharge present measurement: INA231AIYFDT (Texas Devices)
- RTC: MAX31342EWA+T (Analog Units)
NiCE5340 Bottom (📷: Stefano Viola/LinkedIn)
If you happen to examine the small board carefully, you would possibly discover no apparent option to program both the nRF53 or the iCE40. Because the board has an onboard chip antenna and an MHF4 connector for an exterior antenna, one possibility is to program the nRF53 over-the-air (OTA). The FPGA is perhaps programmable OTA through the nRF53 as nicely. Nonetheless, Viola nonetheless wants to check this functionality.
The PCB’s again has land-grid-array (LGA)-style pads. Viola additionally designed a provider board to connect the NiCE5340 PCB. The pads escape many extra alerts from the SoC, together with the nRF53’s native USB port. A flat ribbon cable connector may additionally assist the nRF53’s NFC antenna!
NiCE5340 on a Provider Board (📷: Stefano Viola/LinkedIn)
As Viola conceived this board as a design train, the long-term intentions are but to be absolutely outlined. The NiCE5340 GitHub repository already hosts a PDF schematic, and Viola says it can finally embody code examples. If you happen to’re desperate to discover this board’s potential or have options for its design, attain out to Stefano Viola through this LinkedIn publish.