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CC2538

ACTIVE

32-bit Arm Cortex-M3 Zigbee, 6LoWPAN, and IEEE 802.15.4 wireless MCU with 512kB Flash and 32kB RAM

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CC2651R3 ACTIVE SimpleLink™ 32-bit Arm® Cortex®-M4 single-protocol 2.4-GHz wireless MCU with 352-kB flash Higher performance option with upgraded core

CC2538

ACTIVE
Data sheet Order now

Product details

Protocols 6LoWPAN, Zigbee 2.6 Features USB Peripherals 12-bit ADC 8-channel, 2 SPI, 2 UART, 4 timers, I2C, USB Rating Catalog Flash memory (kByte) 512 RAM (kByte) 32 Number of GPIOs 32 Security Crypto acceleration (AES, SHA2, ECC, RSA), Debug security, Device identity Sensitivity (best) (dBm) -97 Operating temperature range (°C) -40 to 125
Protocols 6LoWPAN, Zigbee 2.6 Features USB Peripherals 12-bit ADC 8-channel, 2 SPI, 2 UART, 4 timers, I2C, USB Rating Catalog Flash memory (kByte) 512 RAM (kByte) 32 Number of GPIOs 32 Security Crypto acceleration (AES, SHA2, ECC, RSA), Debug security, Device identity Sensitivity (best) (dBm) -97 Operating temperature range (°C) -40 to 125
VQFN (RTQ) 56 64 mm² 8 x 8
  • Microcontroller
    • Powerful ARM® Cortex®-M3 With Code Prefetch
    • Up to 32-MHz Clock Speed
    • 512KB, 256KB or 128KB of In-System-
      Programmable Flash
    • Supports On-Chip Over-the-Air Upgrade (OTA)
    • Supports Dual ZigBee Application Profiles
    • Up to 32KB of RAM (16KB With Retention in All
      Power Modes)
    • cJTAG and JTAG Debugging
  • RF
    • 2.4-GHz IEEE 802.15.4 Compliant RF
      Transceiver
    • Excellent Receiver Sensitivity of –97 dBm
    • Robustness to Interference With ACR of 44 dB
    • Programmable Output Power up to 7 dBm
  • Security Hardware Acceleration
    • Future Proof AES-128/256, SHA2 Hardware
      Encryption Engine
    • Optional – ECC-128/256, RSA Hardware
      Acceleration Engine for Secure Key Exchange
    • Radio Command Strobe Processor and Packet
      Handling Processor for Low-Level MAC
      Functionality
  • Low Power
    • Active-Mode RX (CPU Idle): 20 mA
    • Active-Mode TX at 0 dBm (CPU Idle): 24 mA
    • Power Mode 1 (4-µs Wake-Up, 32-KB RAM
      Retention, Full Register Retention): 0.6 mA
    • Power Mode 2 (Sleep Timer Running, 16-KB
      RAM Retention, Configuration Register
      Retention): 1.3 µA
    • Power Mode 3 (External Interrupts, 16-KB
      RAM Retention, Configuration Register
      Retention): 0.4 µA
    • Wide Supply-Voltage Range (2 V to 3.6 V)
  • Peripherals
    • µDMA
    • 4 × General-Purpose Timers
      (Each 32-Bit or 2 × 16-Bit)
    • 32-Bit 32-kHz Sleep Timer
    • 12-Bit ADC With 8 Channels and Configurable
      Resolution
    • Battery Monitor and Temperature Sensor
    • USB 2.0 Full-Speed Device (12 Mbps)
    • 2 × SPI
    • 2 × UART
    • I2C
    • 32 General-Purpose I/O Pins
      (28 × 4 mA, 4 × 20 mA)
    • Watchdog Timer
  • Layout
    • 8-mm × 8-mm QFN56 Package
    • Robust Device for Industrial Operation up to
      125°C
    • Few External Components
    • Only a Single Crystal Needed for Asynchronous
      Networks
  • Development Tools
    • CC2538 Development Kit
    • Reference Design Certified Under FCC and
      ETSI Regulations
    • Full Software Support for Contiki/6LoWPAN,
      Smart Grid, Lighting, and ZigBee Home
      Automation With Sample Applications and
      Reference Designs Available
    • Code Composer Studio™
    • IAR Embedded Workbench® for ARM
    • SmartRF™ Studio
    • SmartRF Flash Programmer
  • Microcontroller
    • Powerful ARM® Cortex®-M3 With Code Prefetch
    • Up to 32-MHz Clock Speed
    • 512KB, 256KB or 128KB of In-System-
      Programmable Flash
    • Supports On-Chip Over-the-Air Upgrade (OTA)
    • Supports Dual ZigBee Application Profiles
    • Up to 32KB of RAM (16KB With Retention in All
      Power Modes)
    • cJTAG and JTAG Debugging
  • RF
    • 2.4-GHz IEEE 802.15.4 Compliant RF
      Transceiver
    • Excellent Receiver Sensitivity of –97 dBm
    • Robustness to Interference With ACR of 44 dB
    • Programmable Output Power up to 7 dBm
  • Security Hardware Acceleration
    • Future Proof AES-128/256, SHA2 Hardware
      Encryption Engine
    • Optional – ECC-128/256, RSA Hardware
      Acceleration Engine for Secure Key Exchange
    • Radio Command Strobe Processor and Packet
      Handling Processor for Low-Level MAC
      Functionality
  • Low Power
    • Active-Mode RX (CPU Idle): 20 mA
    • Active-Mode TX at 0 dBm (CPU Idle): 24 mA
    • Power Mode 1 (4-µs Wake-Up, 32-KB RAM
      Retention, Full Register Retention): 0.6 mA
    • Power Mode 2 (Sleep Timer Running, 16-KB
      RAM Retention, Configuration Register
      Retention): 1.3 µA
    • Power Mode 3 (External Interrupts, 16-KB
      RAM Retention, Configuration Register
      Retention): 0.4 µA
    • Wide Supply-Voltage Range (2 V to 3.6 V)
  • Peripherals
    • µDMA
    • 4 × General-Purpose Timers
      (Each 32-Bit or 2 × 16-Bit)
    • 32-Bit 32-kHz Sleep Timer
    • 12-Bit ADC With 8 Channels and Configurable
      Resolution
    • Battery Monitor and Temperature Sensor
    • USB 2.0 Full-Speed Device (12 Mbps)
    • 2 × SPI
    • 2 × UART
    • I2C
    • 32 General-Purpose I/O Pins
      (28 × 4 mA, 4 × 20 mA)
    • Watchdog Timer
  • Layout
    • 8-mm × 8-mm QFN56 Package
    • Robust Device for Industrial Operation up to
      125°C
    • Few External Components
    • Only a Single Crystal Needed for Asynchronous
      Networks
  • Development Tools
    • CC2538 Development Kit
    • Reference Design Certified Under FCC and
      ETSI Regulations
    • Full Software Support for Contiki/6LoWPAN,
      Smart Grid, Lighting, and ZigBee Home
      Automation With Sample Applications and
      Reference Designs Available
    • Code Composer Studio™
    • IAR Embedded Workbench® for ARM
    • SmartRF™ Studio
    • SmartRF Flash Programmer

The CC2538xFnn is the ideal wireless microcontroller System-on-Chip (SoC) for high-performance ZigBee applications. The device combines a powerful ARM Cortex-M3-based MCU system with up to 32KB on-chip RAM and up to 512KB on-chip flash with a robust IEEE 802.15.4 radio. This enables the device to handle complex network stacks with security, demanding applications, and over-the-air download. Thirty-two GPIOs and serial peripherals enable simple connections to the rest of the board. The powerful hardware security accelerators enable quick and efficient authentication and encryption while leaving the CPU free to handle application tasks. The multiple low-power modes with retention enable quick startup from sleep and minimum energy spent to perform periodic tasks. For a smooth development, the CC2538xFnn includes a powerful debugging system and a comprehensive driver library. To reduce the application flash footprint, CC2538xFnn ROM includes a utility function library and a serial boot loader. Combined with the robust and comprehensive Z-Stack software solutions from TI, the CC2538 provides the most capable and proven ZigBee solution in the market.

The CC2538xFnn is the ideal wireless microcontroller System-on-Chip (SoC) for high-performance ZigBee applications. The device combines a powerful ARM Cortex-M3-based MCU system with up to 32KB on-chip RAM and up to 512KB on-chip flash with a robust IEEE 802.15.4 radio. This enables the device to handle complex network stacks with security, demanding applications, and over-the-air download. Thirty-two GPIOs and serial peripherals enable simple connections to the rest of the board. The powerful hardware security accelerators enable quick and efficient authentication and encryption while leaving the CPU free to handle application tasks. The multiple low-power modes with retention enable quick startup from sleep and minimum energy spent to perform periodic tasks. For a smooth development, the CC2538xFnn includes a powerful debugging system and a comprehensive driver library. To reduce the application flash footprint, CC2538xFnn ROM includes a utility function library and a serial boot loader. Combined with the robust and comprehensive Z-Stack software solutions from TI, the CC2538 provides the most capable and proven ZigBee solution in the market.
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Technical documentation

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Type Title Date
* Data sheet CC2538 Powerful Wireless Microcontroller System-On-Chip for 2.4-GHz IEEE 802.15.4, 6LoWPAN, and ZigBee Applications datasheet (Rev. D) PDF | HTML 07 Apr 2015
* Errata CC2538 SoC for 2.4-GHz IEEE 802.15.4, 6LoWPAN and ZigBee Applications Errata (Rev. A) 06 Jan 2014
* User guide CC2538 SoC for 2.4-GHz IEEE 802.15.4 & ZigBee/ZigBee IP Apps User's Guide (Rev. C) 03 Sep 2013
Application note CE Regulations for SRDs Operating in License-Free 2.4GHz/5GHz Bands-WiFi Devices (Rev. A) PDF | HTML 20 Oct 2022
Selection guide Leitfaden zur Auswahl drahtloser Kommunikationstechnologie (Rev. B) 07 Mar 2022
Selection guide 無線連線技術選擇指南 (Rev. B) 07 Mar 2022
Selection guide 무선 연결 기술 선택 가이드 (Rev. B) 07 Mar 2022
Selection guide Wireless Connectivity Technology Selection Guide (Rev. B) 14 Feb 2022
Application note CC2538/CC26x0/CC26x2 Serial Bootloader Interface (Rev. D) PDF | HTML 19 Aug 2021
Application brief What's New in Zigbee 3.0 (Rev. A) PDF | HTML 06 Jun 2019
Application note Debugging Communication Range (Rev. A) PDF | HTML 23 May 2019
Selection guide Zigbee® Selection Guide for SimpleLink MCUs (Rev. F) 21 Feb 2019
White paper Wireless Connectivity For The Internet of Things, One Size Does Not Fit All (Rev. A) 16 Oct 2017
Technical article Get connected with WEPTECH's 6LoWPAN IoT gateway solution PDF | HTML 26 Jan 2016
Application note Using GCC/GDB With CC2538 (Rev. A) 04 Feb 2015
White paper 6LoWPAN Demystified - 6LoWPAN Demystifed – A Low Power IP Mesh Network 28 Oct 2014
Application note Developing a Low-Cost, Zigbee-Enabled Smart Energy Meter On CC2538 10 Sep 2014
Application note AN-131 Pwr Consumption Meas & Optimization for CC2538 End Device With Z-Stack 04 Jun 2014
Application note AN130 - Using CC2592 Front End with CC2538 27 Feb 2014
More literature TI: The IoT technology leader 01 Nov 2013
More literature The Evolution of the Internet of Things 09 Sep 2013
User guide CC2538 Peripheral Driver Library User's Guide (Rev. A) 06 May 2013
User guide ROM Texas Instruments CC2538 Family of Products User's Guide (Rev. A) 18 Apr 2013

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