Wi-Fi 6 Low Energy Modules for Short Range Networking

ISP5261-WX

This module act as a fully functioning Bluetooth LE and Wi-Fi radio node, with only a battery required ...

LEARN MORE >

A short video presenting the key advantages of WiFi 6 and the ISP5261-WX

Further Information about Wi-Fi and the Wi-Fi 6 update

Wi-Fi is a well-known wireless communications  protocol enabling local area network connections and easy onward access to the Internet. It is a star based network, with end devices connecting to an access point, although end devices can also make peer-to-peer connections.

Key Features and Benefits of Wi-Fi Modules

Our Wi-Fi modules are renowned for their compact size, high efficiency, and energy-saving capabilities, making them a preferred choice for a wide range of applications. Here are some of the key features and benefits:-

• Low Power Consumption: Our ISP5261 takes advantage of the latest Wi-Fi 6 features to offer the possibility of much lower power consumption than previous generations of the technology, thus enabling battery powered devices. 
    
• Cost-Effective: Our Wi-Fi modules are fully integrated, just requiring power to provide an over-the-air connection, with no other components required. This save on design and build cost by offering a fully functional component “out of the box”.
    
• Small Form Factor:, With our advanced System-in-Package design, our modules are ideal for integration into small devices without compromising performance. 
    
• Wireless Connectivity: Our Wi-Fi modules enable seamless wireless connectivity, allowing devices to communicate without the need for cumbersome cables. They also include Bluetooth Low Energy connectivity, thus providing fully flexible communication options. 
    
• Fully Certified: Our modules are fully certified for global markets, allowing customers to get to market faster and avoid this time consuming and expensive process

These features make our Wi-Fi modules an excellent choice for developers looking to create innovative, energy-efficient wireless devices.

Applications of Wi-Fi Modules

Wi-Fi modules are incredibly versatile and find applications across a broad spectrum of industries. Some of the most common uses include:

• IoT Devices: From smart home devices to industrial sensors, Wi-Fi modules are a key component in many Internet of Things ecosystem, providing reliable and efficient wireless connectivity. 
    
• Wearables: Fitness trackers, smartwatches, and wireless headphones all benefit from the low power consumption and compact size of our Wi-Fi modules.
    
• Consumer Electronics and Smart Home: A wide range of consumer products such as fitness machines, musical instruments and domestic appliances  often incorporate Wi-Fi modules to enhance connectivity and user experience.
     
• Industrial Applications: Wi-Fi modules offer robust and reliable performance in industrial settings, including automation systems, medical devices, and various sensors.
     
• Medical Electronics: Many medical devices incorporate Wi-Fi modules to enable data sharing across medical teams and enhance productivity and reliability

Security Considerations for W-Fi modules

While Wi-Fi modules offer numerous advantages, they also come with security challenges that need to be addressed, particularly as they are often designed to have wider internet access. Key security considerations include:

• Authentication: Ensuring that only authorized devices can connect is crucial for maintaining secure communication.
    
• Encryption: Wi-Fi  modules use encryption to protect data transmitted between devices, safeguarding sensitive information.
    
• Secure Access Point Connection: Our WiFi modules offer the latest WPA3 authentication mechanisms to ensure robust security of connections
     
• Secure Update and Root of Trust: Our advanced WiFi modules include features such as ARM Trustzone, and secure key storage to ensure an end to end authentication for data transfer and application update.

By addressing these security considerations, developers can ensure that Wi-Fi modules provide not only efficient but also secure wireless connectivity.

The difference between Wi-Fi 6 and previous upgrades to the Wi-Fi Standard

Up until Wi-Fi 6, upgrades to the Wi-Fi standard were mainly about enabling higher data rates. Typically each Wi-Fi “generation” (Wi-Fi 4, 5 etc) increased data speeds by nearly an order of magnitude.

Wi-Fi 6 is somewhat different. It offers a modest increase in maximum throughput, but is mainly aimed at solving some other long-standing issues with Wi-Fi, namely

• Congestion with dense networks – Wi-Fi has a limited number of principal channels so networks can easily become congested. Via ODFMA, Wi-Fi 6 offers more efficient network usage allowing multiple devices to share the same network. This is especially true for cases where there are many devices with modest data requirements. 

• Improved Power Consumption – Previous Wi-Fi versions demanded that devices were in constant communication with access points, even if they had no data to transmit. Wi-Fi 6 enables the Target Wake Time feature that allows devices to sleep for extended periods and thus save power. 

• Network Interference Management – Devices could be blocked by adjacent networks, even if they weren’t really causing interference issues. Network “colouring” enables better co-existence of neighbouring networks. 

• Spatial Separation of Data Streams – MU-MIMO -Multiple user Multiple Input Multiple Out data streams uses multiple antennas to allow the same access point to direct different data streams in different directions.

More details about Wi-FI 6 and why these upgrades make it much more suited for IOT applications are discussed in the following article WiFi 6 – what it is, why it is different to previous WiFi upgrades, and why it is important for IOT

For details of our Bluetooth only modules please see Bluetooth Low Energy 

For more details on Wi-Fi, see the Wi-Fi Alliance

BLUETOOTH MODULES

Short Range & Low Energy

WI-FI 6 MODULES

Short Range & Low Energy

LORA MODULES

Low Power Wide Area network

UWB & AOA MODULES

Positioning