Microchip Announces Four Low-Power Embedded Wi-Fi® Solutions for Growing IoT Market

Microchip Technology Inc., a leading provider of microcontroller, mixed-signal, analog and Flash-IP solutions, announced today four compact, low-power, highly integrated solutions that allow Wi-Fi^®and networking capability to be embedded into virtually any device, including Internet of Things (IoT) applications.  These four modules provide complete solutions for 802.11b/g/n and are industry certified in multiple countries.

The new RN1810 and RN1810E are stand-alone, surface-mount WiFly radio modules that include a TCP/IP stack, cryptographic accelerator, power management subsystem, 2.4 GHz 802.11b/g/n-compliant transceivers and 2.4 RF power amplifier. They can be paired with any microcontroller and configured using simple ASCII commands. WiFly provides designers with a simple data pipe for sending data over a Wi-Fi network, requiring no prior Wi-Fi experience to get a product connected. Once configured, the device automatically accesses a Wi-Fi network and sends and receives serial data. The RN1810 has an integrated PCB antenna while the RN1810E supports an external antenna.

The new MRF24WN0MA and MRF24WN0MB are Wi-Fi modules that interface with Microchip’s PIC32 microcontrollers and support Microchip’s MPLAB^® Harmony integrated software framework with a TCP/IP stack that can be downloaded for free fromwww.microchip.com/harmony. The modules connect to the microcontroller via a 4-wire SPI interface and are an ideal solution for low-power, low-data-rate Wi-Fi sensor networks, home automation, building automation and consumer applications. The MRF24WN0MA has an integrated PCB antenna while the MRF24WN0MB supports an external antenna.

“This new family of Wi-Fi modules provides design flexibility for a broad range of consumer, industrial retail, and utility/smart energy applications,” said Clayton Pillion, worldwide marketing manager of Microchip’s Wireless Solutions Group. “They greatly streamline the integration and configuration process, allowing designers to concentrate instead on the host product.”

Each module is FCC (USA), IC (Canada) and ETSI (Europe) certified and supports multiple networking features including TCP/IP, Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6) and Secure Sockets Layer/Transport Layer Security (SSL/TLS 1.2).

Pricing and Availability

The RN1810/E and MRF24WN0MA/B are available today for sampling and volume production, starting at $13.05 each in 1,000-unit quantities. To learn more about Microchip’s Wi-Fi offerings, please visit www.microchip.com/wifi.

Development Support

Also available today from Microchip is the MRF24WN0MA Wi-Fi PICtail™/PICtail Plus Daughter Board, a demonstration board for evaluating Wi-Fi connectivity using PIC^® microcontrollers and the MRF24WN0MA module (part # AC164153). This kit is available now for $34.95 from microchipDIRECT at www.microchipdirect.com/ProductSearch.aspx?Keywords=ac164153and any of Microchip’s authorized worldwide distributors.

In addition, the RN1810 Wi-Fi PICtail/PICtail Plus Daughter Board is also available today with a fully integrated TCP/IP stack and USB interface for easy plug-and-play development with a PC (part # RN-1810-PICTAIL). This kit is available now for $49.95 from microchipDIRECT at www.microchipdirect.com/ProductSearch.aspx?Keywords=RN-1810-PICtail and any of Microchip’s authorized worldwide distributors.

For additional information, contact any Microchip sales representative or authorized worldwide distributor, or visit Microchip’s website at www.microchip.com/wifi. To purchase products mentioned in this press release, go to microchipDIRECT or contact one of Microchip’s authorized distribution partners.