Poing, Germany, 2 November, 2016: Avnet Abacus, one of Europe’s leading interconnect, passive, electro-mechanical and power distributors and a business unit of Avnet Electronics Marketing EMEA, a business region of Avnet, Inc. (NYSE: AVT), today announced availability of a new and highly compact module that is compliant with the LoRaWAN specification for narrowband wireless connectivity. Measuring only 12.5 x 11.6 x 1.76mm in a metal-shielded LGA package, the low-cost module from Murata is one of the world’s smallest solutions for adding LoRa based wireless connectivity for a range of products and applications including Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communications and the Internet of Things (IoT).

Murata’s CMWX1ZZABZ-078 LoRa wireless module is a stand-alone, https://abacus.avnet.com/wps/portal/abacus/manufacturers/murata/products/cmwx1zzabz-078/ compact and low-power solution that supports the LoRaWAN wireless protocol. Designed to be a fully stand-alone solution, the module is ideal for deployment in a wide range of applications including smart metering such as gas and water meters, wearables, the tracking of livestock or other assets, M2M communications and sensor-based end nodes in IoT networks. The module also has pre-certified radio regulatory approvals for operating in the 868 and 915MHz ISM spectrum. This makes it suitable for most geographical regions, thereby removing the requirement for developers to deliver separate solutions for different regions worldwide.

The module integrates the SX1276 RF transceiver from Semtech, along with the low-power STM32L Cortex M0+ based microcontroller from STMicroelectronics. The STM32L includes 192-kbytes of flash memory and 20-kbytes of RAM, providing enough memory for customer applications and to host other modulation protocol stacks. An integrated TCXO crystal oscillator has robust low drift thermal characteristics and provides an accurate clock source for the RF transceiver.

Other specifications of the module include UART, SPI or I2C peripheral interfaces and integration of an ADC and up to 16 GPIOs, which provides plenty of flexibility for connecting sensors, switches and status LEDs. The module operates from a 2.2 to 3.6VDC input voltage range and has an operating temperature range of –40 to +85°C, making it suitable for LoRaWAN networks that require the placing of sensor nodes in remote and unpredictable environments.

Targeting the key requirements of the IoT, including secure bi-directional communication, mobility and localisation services, LoRaWAN is a low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) specification designed for low-power wireless devices in regional, national or global networks. Providing seamless interoperability among smart devices or ‘things’ in the network, LoRaWAN delivers narrowband capability with low data rates from 0.3 to 50-kbps, and maximises the battery life of network-edge devices as well as the overall network capacity.

Engineering samples of the Murata CMWX1ZZABZ-078 are available now on request; mass production quantities will be available to order within the next quarter.

About Avnet Abacus

?Avnet Abacus is a pan-European demand creation distributor specialising in interconnect, passive, electromechanical, power supply and battery products. Avnet Abacus’ extensive product range and exceptional linecard is supported by a team of over 50 product specialists based across Europe, delivering technical expertise and technology focused initiatives. Avnet Abacus is a business unit of Avnet Electronics Marketing EMEA, a business region of Avnet, Inc., (NYSE:AVT). For more information, visit: http://www.avnet-abacus.eu or follow us on http://www.twitter.com/Avnet_Abacus 

About Avnet, Inc.

From components to cloud and from design to disposal, Avnet, Inc. (NYSE:AVT) accelerates the success of customers who build, sell and use technology by providing a comprehensive portfolio of innovative products, services and solutions. Avnet is a global company ranked on the FORTUNE 500 with revenues of $26.2 billion for the fiscal year 2016. For more information, visit http://www.avnet.com.

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