Zigbee SoC comes with free protocol stack, reference designs

Remote control application designers can now use what has been billed as the world's first fully optimized IEEE 802.15.4 SoC. Texas Instruments Inc. said the CC2533, which succeeds the CC2530 SoC released in May 2009, is the first device designed for the ZigBee RF4CE specification for radio-frequency communications.

An "out-of-the-box" solution for home entertainment devices such as TVs, set top boxes, Blu-Ray players, and home theaters, it promises lower power consumption, higher reliability and lower bill-of-materials (BOM) cost than competing devices. The free RemoTI protocol stack with reference designs and sample applications is available to designers to allow them to quickly implement remote controls and target controllers.

The CC2533 is available in 64KB and 96KB in-system programmable Flash versions and also provides a pin-compatible upgrade path to CC2531 with 256KB of Flash and USB interface.

Other key features are: four power modes, including a 1uA sleep mode, which means 10 times longer battery life compared to IR-based remote controls; a best-in-class transceiver with a typical receiver sensitivity of -97dBm and output power of 7dBm; and 5-channel DMA, 23 GPIOs, 2 USARTs, SPI, I2C and 4 timers.

The ZigBee RF4CE specification, announced in March 2009, allows for faster, more reliable and greater flexibility for devices operating across larger distances.

Pricing for the CC2533, which is available in a QFN-40 package, starts at $1.99 per 10,000 units.