providing project templates, code generation tools, and debugging capabilities.
The STM32Cube software platform also encompasses a wide range of software libraries, middleware, and example code to expedite application development. These libraries simplify tasks such as wireless communication, sensor integration, and power management. The software can be downloaded from ST’s website.
Hardware development kits and evaluation boards designed specifically for the STM32WB and STM32WBA series are also available. These kits come with pre-installed software and hardware components, streamlining the development process.
STM32WBA series
Building on the success of the STM32WB, the recently released STM32WBA series is yet another powerful family of wireless MCUs from STMicroelectronics, designed for demanding IoT applications that require secure long-range wireless communication. These MCUs offer ultra-low power consumption and support multiple wireless protocols combined with enhanced security, ensuring reliable connectivity.
Based on the Arm Cortex-M33 core running at 100 MHz with TrustZone technology, the STM32WBA series provides a high level of security, protecting data, IPs, and preventing hacks or device cloning.
Focusing on the full Bluetooth Low Energy 5.3 protocol, the STM32WBA series allows developers to easily add wireless communication to their device at an affordable cost. The devices leverage the STM32U5 architecture, meaning the STM32WBA series offers an ultra-low power platform and inherited digital and analog peripherals, suitable for many applications, from industrial, to smart home and consumer markets. The wireless MCU also supports Zigbee, Thread and Matter protocols. The STM32WBA wireless MCUs embed large memory to sustain both applications and connectivity activities, coming with up to 1 Mbytes of flash memory and 128 Kbytes of RAM. A smart set of peripherals like ADC, touch sensing, timers, make this product a self-sufficient application wireless MCU. A variety of interfaces are also included, UART, SPI, I2C, and GPIOs. This rich set of peripherals enables simplified integration with sensors, displays, and other external components, facilitating the development of feature rich IoT applications. The STM32WBA is supported by the NUCLEO-WBA52CG, this STM32 Nucleo-64 development board is based on the STM32WBA52CG MCU.
STM32WBA series MCUs are adept at managing power modes to minimize energy consumption during both active and idle states. Featuring ultra-low power consumption that includes a Background Autonomous Mode (BAM) function which allows any of the peripherals, timers or memory blocks to wake up the MCU core when in sleep mode, this makes the STM32WBA MCUs particularly suitable for battery powered IoT applications. Security is a paramount concern in IoT applications, and STM32WBA MCUs address this with TrustZone
www.cieonline.co.uk
hardware-based security which includes features such as Secure Boot, Hardware Encryption, and secure firmware update mechanisms. These features protect data and device integrity. The devices are psa certified to level 3, a comprehensive IoT security assurance framework for secure digital transformation.
Applications
Both the STM32WB and STM32WBA series are well-suited for a wide spectrum of IoT, consumer and industrial applications, including: wearable devices for fitness tracking, health monitoring and diagnostics; smart home and IoT devices for door locks, appliances, energy management and lighting control; smart cities where for example street lighting, parking meters and waste management systems can be monitored and controlled; smart agriculture where deployment of sensors is allowing farmers to optimize irrigation systems and enhance crop yields; industrial automation allowing real-time monitoring and control of manufacturing processes along with asset tracking, condition monitoring, and predictive maintenance. The list of possibilities is endless.
Development ecosystem
STMicroelectronics provides a comprehensive development ecosystem to support developers working with the STM32WB and STM32WBA series of wireless MCUs. This ecosystem includes the STM32CubeIDE a free, Eclipse- based Integrated Development Environments (IDE) tailored for STM32 microcontrollers, it simplifies development by
Design support
Anglia offers support for customer designs with free evaluation kits, demonstration boards and samples of STMicroelectronics products via the EZYsample service which is available to all registered Anglia Live account customers.
Anglia’s engineering team are also on hand to support designers, we can offer advice and support at component and system level. This expertise is available to assist customers with all aspects of their product design, providing hands on support and access to additional comprehensive STMicroelectronics resources which includes technical application notes and reference designs to help designers select the right product for their application. Visit
www.anglia-live.com to see the full range of STMicroelectronics products available from Anglia.
And as you would come to expect from STMicroelectronics, extensive documentation, including datasheets, reference manuals, and application notes are also provided. There is even a dedicated community which provides solutions and tips to overcome design challenges:
https://community.st.com/
Conclusion
STMicroelectronics’ STM32WB and STM32WBA series of wireless MCUs are empowering developers to create energy-efficient, reliable, and secure IoT devices that can thrive in a connected world.
All brand names or trademarks used are copyright of their respective owners
Components in Electronics October 2023 11
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68
