
The kit enables developers to evaluate wireless connectivity designs based on the onboard nRF52840 SoC. It includes four user-programmable buttons and LEDs, is hardware compatible with the Arduino Uno R3-based shields and features connector pins for all inputs and outputs (I/O) and interfaces, including a dedicated connector for the included external NFC antenna.
The nRF52840 SoC builds on the architecture of Nordic Semiconductor's existing nRF52 Series of SoCs to support complex Bluetooth low-energy and other low-power wireless applications. The nRF52840 SoC employs a 64MHz, 32-bit ARM® Cortex®-M4F processor employed on Nordic's nRF52832 SoC, plus a CPU with ample generic processing power, floating point and digital signal processor (DSP) performance.
Compliant with the Bluetooth 5 specification, the nRF52840 SoC delivers Bluetooth low-energy wireless connectivity with up to four times the range or up to twice the raw data bandwidth (2 Mbps) compared with the Bluetooth low energy implementation of Bluetooth 4.2. In addition to Bluetooth 5 support, the nRF52840 SoC includes IEEE 802.15.4 capabilities for ZigBee® and thread-based smart home technologies or as a Network Adaptation Layer with 6LoWPAN and standard Internet protocols.
The nRF52840 SoC's support for 802.15.4 significantly extends its
capability as an interoperable foundation technology for IoT, smart home or industrial sensor wireless networks using several different wireless technologies.