World’s first dual Arm Cortex-M33 processor wireless SoC for complex IoT applications

The nRF5340 combines a high performance application processor with a fully programmable, ultra low power network processor, plus advanced root-of-trust and trusted execution security features, into a low power multiprotocol SoC ready for professional lighting, industrial automation, advanced wearables, and other complex IoT applications.

Nordic Semiconductor announces the nRF5340 high-end multiprotocol System-on-Chip (SoC), the first member of its next generation of nRF5 Series SoCs. The nRF5340 builds on Nordic’s proven and globally adopted nRF51 and nRF52 Series multiprotocol SoCs while introducing a new flexible, dual-processor hardware architecture with advanced security features. 

The nRF5340 supports major RF protocols including Bluetooth 5.1/Bluetooth Low Energy (Bluetooth LE), Bluetooth mesh, Thread, and Zigbee.

The nRF5340 SoC is designed for extended operating temperature up to 105oC, which together with its multiprotocol support and advanced security features makes it ideally suited for professional lighting and industrial applications.

Further, the SoC meets the demands of next generation sophisticated wearables with its high performance application processor matched to a generous 512 KB of RAM. The QSPI peripheral is augmented to interface with external memory at 96 MHz, and a 32 MHz High Speed SPI peripheral is integrated to interface with displays and complex sensors. 

The nRF5340 incorporates Arm CryptoCell-312, Arm TrustZone technology, and Secure Key Storage for the highest level of security. With Arm CryptoCell-312 the most common Internet encryption standards are hardware accelerated and Arm TrustZone provides system-wide hardware isolation for trusted software by creating secure and non-secure code execution areas on a single core.

The nRF5340’s combined security features enable advanced root-of-trust and secure firmware updates while protecting the SoC from malicious attack. 

The nRF5340 is based around dual Arm Cortex-M33 processors; a high performance application processor running up to 128 MHz (510 CoreMark) with dedicated 1 MB Flash and 512 KB RAM, and a fully programmable, ultra low power network processor running at 64 MHz (238 CoreMark) with dedicated 256 KB Flash and 64 KB RAM.

The powerful application processor is very efficient (65 CoreMark/mA), has an 8 KB 2-way associative cache, is DSP and floating point capable and offers voltage and frequency scaling options.

The application processor integrates the Arm Cryptocell-312, Arm TrustZone, and Secure Key Storage advanced security features, plus a wide range of interface peripherals including NFC, USB, QSPI, and High Speed SPI. The fully programmable network processor is even more efficient (101 CoreMark/mA) and is optimized for low power during radio operation and low duty-cycle sensor data collection. Programmable access to the network processor offers optimal implementation of proprietary 2.4 GHz protocols, ensuring portability from the nRF51 and nRF52 Series. 

The nRF5340 incorporates a new, power-optimized multiprotocol 2.4 GHz radio with a TX current of 3.2 mA (0 dBm TX power, 3 V, DC/DC) and RX current of 2.6 mA (3 V, DC/DC). Sleep current is as low as 1.1 µA. The SoC features enhanced dynamic multiprotocol support enabling concurrent Bluetooth LE and Bluetooth mesh/Thread/Zigbee operation for provisioning/commissioning and interaction with a mesh network from a smartphone using Bluetooth LE.

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