Transceiver module

Microchip has announced the MRF24J40MA FCC-certified RF transceiver module.

The module services the 2.4 GHz unlicensed industrial, scientific and medical short-range wireless frequency band and includes discrete biasing components and an integrated PCB antenna to be used in sensor and control networks.

Providing a complete short-range wireless networking solution, the module is surface mountable and can be used with hundreds of 8-, 16- or 32-bit PIC microcontrollers.

The module is supported by the company’s PICDEM Z demo kit and the ZENA wireless network analyser; as well as free ZigBee, MiWi and MiWi P2P (peer-to-peer) software protocol stacks.

When combined with these development tools, the module enables designers with little or no RF design experience to design low-power wireless networking products.

A variety of wireless networking applications is appropriate for the devices such as industrial monitoring and control, home and building automation, remote control, low-power wireless sensor networks, lighting control and automated meter reading.

Designers looking to incorporate the transceiver into their designs can do so using the PICDEM Z 2.4 GHz demonstration kit that includes a pair of development boards with a PIC18LF4620 MCU, along with the ZENA network analyser and wireless network configuration utility.

Designers can also download any of the company’s free ZigBee, MiWi and MiWi P2P protocol stacks from its online wireless design centre.