Murata LPWAN technology - CMWX1ZZABZ-078 Module

milleg — Wed, 06 Oct 2021 21:28:50 GMT

Current Revision posted to Documents by milleg on 10/6/2021 9:28:50 PM

Mature technologies like
Wi-Fi, Zigbee, Bluetooth and Cellular have a role to play in making the
Internet of Things work for many companies and applications. However there are also some limitations in
the deployment for some applications, such as the lack of range or short
battery life. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are
well established in SmartPhones and Tablets and are widely used in consumer
products but they do not support long range use. While a Cellular Modem used in
a M2M application will support high data rates, this is at the expense of the
power consumption, as well as needing the suitable coverage from the Network
Operator. The desire for some applications in the IoT world to have long range
and low power consumption has been a key driver in the emergence of the LPWAN
technologies now available. Nonetheless, it is very unlikely that any one
technology is able to provide a single solution for all circumstances.

LPWAN technology is being
used and developed in a number of different standards. For any of these standards, the benefits that
are available for users are:

Low
Power Consumption
Long
Range
Lower
Cost

For these LPWAN technologies,
the balance against these benefits is that the various standards are supporting
lower data rates than Wi-Fi or conventional Cellular, with Kbps (kilobits per second)
data rates rather than Mbps (megabits
per second) being handled.

To offer product solutions
for the emerging LPWAN market, Murata partnered with Semtech and
STMicroelectronics, to develop a Module solution which leverages the strengths
of all three partners for this technology. Semtech’s LoRa technology is
providing the core RF capability to meet many of the requirements for
applications in IoT; STMicroelectronics’ Microcontroller is supporting the
Application needed by users as an industry standard approach; and Murata’s
strengths in the development and manufacturing of small sized RF Modules - combine
to offer users a highly integrated, small size Module which can support both
the Stack and Application in the Module as the major part of a stand-alone
Sensor End Node.

Diagram 1:
Block Diagram of Murata CMWX1ZZABZ-078 Module

The Module, part number
CMWX1ZZABZ-078, has been designed to support operation in the sub-GHz ISM bands
with support for operation in 868MHz (EU), 915MHz (USA) and 920 / 925MHz
(APAC). The output power of the Module
will support up to +14dBm in normal operation and includes a PA boost function
for higher output power, up to +18.5dBm, in regions where this is allowed and
this is provided at an 50W antenna output pin on the Module. STMicroelectronics has
developed a dedicated Discovery Board based on the Murata Module and the
I-CUBE-LRWAN software expansion tool is available for various solutions,
including the Murata Module. The device
is in a shielded package 12.5mm x 11.6mm x 1.7max mm and only a minimum number
of external components are required as part of the reference design. Radio Certification was done by Murata for
FCC/IC as Limited Modular Certification, is compliant with EN 300 220 for
Europe and has LoRa Alliance^TM Certification.

While the main focus for
Murata’s development of this Module solution was to support the LoRaWAN market,
the hardware will also support other protocols based on FSK technology and to
switch between the two if required. The
Open MCU Module will also support use with Sigfox and the development of a
dedicated Firmware release for the Murata Module, which is in the final stages
of development and will be released some time in mid Q1, 2018. This can allow users the flexibility to
develop a generic Application for use with either LoRaWAN or Sigfox networks
using a common hardware solution.