Morse Micro Launches Its Second-Generation MM8108 Wi-Fi HaLow Chip, Complete with Evaluation Kits

Wi-Fi HaLow pioneer Morse Micro has announced the general availability of the MM8108 system-on-chip, a second-generation part that it says "represents a major leap forward" for the wireless communication technology — delivering long-range data rates of up to 43Mb/s.

"The MM8108 and our rapidly expanding ecosystem mark a breakthrough moment for the Internet of Things," claims Morse Micro co-founder and chief executive officer Michael De Nil. "With Wi-Fi HaLow, we're not just delivering silicon, we're laying the foundation for IoT 2.0: an era where billions of devices can connect seamlessly, reliably, and with unprecedented throughput and range. This is about enabling cities, industries, and households to rethink what’s possible with connectivity; transforming how we monitor, automate, and interact with the world around us. What begins here is the start of a new wave of innovation that will define the next decade of IoT."

The new part, general availability of which was announced during The Things Conference this week, is based on the IEEE 802.11ah standard with MCS0-10 support, offering global coverage in the 1GHz band and hitting a single-stream maximum data throughput of 43.33Mb/s at 8MHz in 256-QAM mode — a lower throughput than traditional Wi-Fi, by far, but at a lower power draw and with a considerably higher maximum range.

The MM8108, like its predecessor the MM6108, system-on-chip isn't designed to be used on its own but to act as a communications coprocessor with offload support — and to demonstrate that the company has announced three evaluation kits: the MM8108-EKH01, which pairs the chip with a Raspberry Pi 4 Model B single-board computer and is available with or without an optional camera module; the MM8108-EKH05, which uses an STMicroelectronics STM32U585 running FreeRTOS to demonstrate an embedded IoT use-case; and the MM8108-EKH19, which places the MM1808 on a USB thumb-stick to show how it can connect to a GLi.net GL-MT3000 router to extend its communication capabilities. An Arduino/Nucleo development shield, the MM8108-EKH08, has also been announced, but was not yet available at the time of writing.

Morse Micro has also confirmed that it is upgrading its existing HaLowLink evaluation platform and reference design to the MM8108; while the chip itself is available now, however, the HaLowLink 2 won't be generally available until some time in the first quarter of 2026, the company says.

More information on the chip is available on the Morse Micro website, while links to purchase the evaluation kits are available on a separate page — priced at $243.10 for the MM8108-EKH05, $318.43 for the MM8108-EKH19, $804.11 for the MM8108-EKH01, and $884.13 for the variant which includes a Raspberry Pi Camera Module.