NXP Semiconductors has released a pair of new wireless microcontrollers (MCUs) designed specifically for Zigbee 3.0 and Thread applications. The JN5189 and the JN5188 IEEE 802.15.4 MCUs are part of NXP’s JN product line, and will enable a variety of connected features in IoT devices.

To that end, the low-power MCUs are built with the Arm Cortex-M4 processor and offer 640KB of onboard flash and 152KB of SRAM. They also boast an optional NFC NTAG that can be integrated directly into the device, a first for an NXP MCU. The NTAG will standardize out-of-band communications and make it easier to link an IoT device to a Zigbee or Thread network through a simple tap.

The MCUs are also compatible with multiprotocol radio frequency and Bluetooth devices.

NXP is hoping that the new offerings will accelerate development and allow manufacturers to deliver IoT devices more quickly. The company emphasized their utility in smart home, building automation, and sensor network solutions.

The JN5189 and JN5188 can operate in a wide range of temperatures (-40 ℃ to +125 ℃) and boast onboard hardware keys for AES128 and AES256 data encryption. Customers interested in the microcontrollers can use NXP’s MCUXpresso SDK with the entire JN portfolio. 

The news comes shortly after NXP released SLN-LOCAL-IOT, a new development platform built for offline voice control. SLN-LOCAL-IOT utilizes the i.MX RT106L crossover MCU, which was unveiled back in September. NXP has created a similar i.MX RT106F MCU to enable offline facial recognition.