Reliable, Simple and power efficient Embedded Wireless Solutions

The new CyFi Low-Power RF solution from Cypress Semiconductor delivers the industry’s leading combination of reliable connectivity, power-efficiency and superior range, and is supported by the flexible and easy-to-use PSoC programmable system-on-chip. The solution is optimized for low-power wireless sensor networks and human-to-machine interfaces in a broad range of applications, including home and building automation, remote controls, health and fitness equipment, and industrial monitoring.

CyFi Low-Power RF enables designers to quickly and simply implement wireless systems without compromising reliable performance, or low-power consumption. The solution consists of the CyFi protocol stack in PSoC Designer embedded design software, the selected PSoC device, and the CyFi transceiver (CYRF7936).

The solution’s unrivaled interference immunity is a result of its Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (DSSS) modulation and the agility to move to 80 channels in the 2.4-GHz band. It intelligently manages DSSS, data-rate and agility to minimize retransmissions, maximizing time in sleep mode for increased power efficiency. CyFi transceivers are powered by PSoC devices, which can replace multiple discrete components, integrate numerous functions and can be reprogrammed at any stage of development. The CyFi protocol stack offers a pre-configured, customizable PSoC firmware module that can be dropped into the PSoC Designer 5.0 integrated development environment (IDE) with no complex coding.

Cypress also rolled out a PSoC FirstTouch Starter Kit with CyFi Low-Power RF (CY3271) to easily evaluate the quick prototyping and debugging of wireless systems based on the CyFi solution, along with development and expansion kits to streamline system design for beginning and expert designers.

The kits supporting the CyFi solution include:

• The CY3271 PSoC FirstTouch Starter Kit with CyFi Low-Power RF is a low-cost USB thumbdrive kit including PSoC IDE software, a sense and control dashboard for data collection, a PC dongle with RF, a multifunction board, an RF expansion board with power amplifiers for long-range wireless applications, and two battery boards. Designers can also use the kit to leverage the touch-sensing, temperature-sensing, lighting-sensing and proximity sensing capabilities of PSoC devices.
  
• The CY3271-EXP1 Environmental Sensing Kit is the first of many future expansion kits to the CY3271. It enables a wireless sensor solution with pressure, humidity, temperature and ambient light sensors.
• The CY3271-RFBOARD.CY3271-RFBOARD. RF Expansion Kit is an add-on to the CY3271 that provides two additional RF expansion and AAA battery boards – allowing further evaluation of the CyFi Low-Power RF solution.
• The CyFi Low-Power RF Development Kit (CY3210-CYFI) is a general-purpose development kit that enables seamless prototyping and debugging of PSoC devices and CyFi transceivers. The kit includes two development boards, two PSoC modules and three CyFi modules to build wireless applications.

Features & benefits:

RELIABLE
ENSURE A WORRY-FREE LINK IN THE 2.4-GHz BAND
Reliable transmission is a key challenge in any wireless system. Cypress CyFi-based networks dynamically vary operating channel, data rate, and output power in real-time to maintain reliable communication in the presence of interference. This provides the designer with the benefits of using the 2.4-GHz ISM band (such as worldwide acceptance) without the reliability pitfalls commonly associated with other RF technologies in this congested band.

SIMPLE
DESIGN EFFORTLESSLY AND GET TO MARKET FASTER
The CyFi solution offers a revolutionary level of simplicity to RF design. The CyFi Star Network Protocol stack is encapsulated in a firmware user module, which is literally dragged and dropped into any PSoC design in the PSoC Designer IDE. Setting up the network and reliably transmitting and receiving data, is then a matter of a few simple API calls.

POWER-EFFICIENT
INTELLIGENT LOW POWER CONSUMPTION
Besides very low active and sleep currents, the CyFi Low-Power RF solution takes a system approach to power efficiency. CyFi networks minimize periods of peak current consumption and maximize sleep. In some cases that means transmitting data as fast as possible. In others, it means enabling DSSS modulation, and possibly increasing RF output power to eliminate the need for retransmission. CyFi networks automatically make such decisions in real-time – the only low-power RF technology to do so.

Application information:

The solution is optimized for low-power wireless sensor networks and human-to-machine interfaces in a broad range of applications, including home and building automation, remote controls, health and fitness equipment, and industrial monitoring.

Product information table: