RTX, a leading provider of wireless communications solutions has announced that it is launching the world’s smallest fully embedded Wi-Fi module, the RTX4100, together with Energy Micro at the Embedded World exhibition in Nuremberg, Germany at the end of February.
The RTX4100 Wi-Fi module allows fast and easy application development of low power sensor and actuator solutions – enabling devices, machines and other systems to connect directly to the Internet for a wide range of emerging machine to machine (M2M) applications. Embedding Wi-Fi directly inside a device makes installation extremely simple as it can use existing infrastructure and works “out of the box” with applicable cloud services.
The module is ideal for application development due to its small footprint, high efficiency and low power consumption, which is achieved through the use of the Energy Micro EFM32 Gecko MCU and the Qualcomm Atheros AR4100 Wi-Fi System-in-Package.
Peter Mariager, chief technology officer at RTX, comments, “Our Board Support Package and application framework makes rapid and efficient development possible, and the customer can choose from a range of different libraries to rapidly enable e.g. emerging white goods and smart energy applications to be integrated using a zero-cost tool chain.”
“The RTX4100 Wi-Fi module can be integrated into devices to support various wireless standards including 802.11 b/g/n. The module features a built-in and an external antenna.“
Energy Micro’s worldwide vice president of sales and marketing, Andreas Koller, comments, “EFM32 Gecko microcontrollers are a perfect fit for the low power wireless applications made possible with RTX’s Wi-Fi module. We are delighted that RTX has achieved such a significant low power advantage by integrating our energy friendly Gecko MCU into their module.”
At a time when the growth of the Internet-connectable M2M market is soaring, RTX’s new Wi-Fi module will meet the demand for small low-cost and low-power products.
Jesper Mailind, CEO of RTX, comments, “The small RTX4100 Wi-Fi module, measuring just 30×18 mm, reduces the complexity involved in advanced Wi-Fi application designs. Developers can bring their product to market faster using less energy and space compared to existing solutions. This is really an important step forward for M2M communication worldwide.”
