STMicro's STM32WB Family Gets a Lower-Cost Entry Point with New Value Line Parts Starting at $1.57
Entry-level part still boasts a dedicated Arm processor for the radio, multi-protocol support, and a wealth of security features.
STMicroelectronics has announced two new entry points for low-power, dual-core microcontroller projects boasting multi-protocol Bluetooth Low Energy, Zigbee, and Thread connectivity: the STM32WB35 and the STM32WB30 Value Line families.
Designed to provide a lower-cost entry point to the STM32WB ecosystem, the STM32WB and STM32WB30 include a radio subsystem driven by a dedicated Arm Cortex-M0+ processor core alongside a primary 64MHz Arm Cortex-M4 application processor — offering, the company boasts, uninterrupted real-time performance. Both feature multi-protocol support from the 2.4GHz radio portion, including Bluetooth 5.0 Low Energy (BLE), Zigbee 3.0, and OpenThread, with fully-certified stacks available from STMicro itself free of charge.
The new parts are made available in a QFN48 package, and are pin-compatible with the company's existing STM32WB5x range — meaning that any designs built around the higher-cost variants should be able to be moved to the lower-cost models without a hardware respin.
Precise specifications of the chips vary, offering up to 512kB of integrated flash memory, up to 96kB of static RAM (SRAM), and a quad-SPI interface for anyone requiring additional storage space. As with the higher-end models, a security stack includes secure firmware installation, hardware encryption in both the radio and application side, hardware public-key authority (PKA), cryptographic accelerators, and support for secure over-the-air (OTA) firmware updating.
Both lines are in production now, with STMicro setting an entry point of just $1.57 in volume for the base STM32WB30CEU5A model. More information is available on the STMicro website.