These new wireless modules from Laird consume less than 1uA in sleep mode, so they also allow adding long-distance IoT connectivity to applications powered by small batteries, such as water or gas meters, and sensor capture in home automation, industrial or agricultural environments.
The small size of the RM186 module allows this LoRa-WAN to Bluetooth 4.0 gateway to be implemented in miniature applications, as it occupies only 6.5 cm² of board space.
The RM186 wireless modules come equipped with two antenna connections and incorporate the following features:
Bluetooth 4.0
• On-board ceramic Bluetooth antenna
• +3 dBm air power
• Speeds up to 1 Mbps
• All services covered by the GATT
• Whisper mode (for automatic pairing with Bluetooth devices by detecting their proximity)
LoRa
• U.FL connector for an external 868 MHz or 915 MHz antenna
• +14 dBm air power (in Europe) or +15 dBm (in the United States)
• -135 dBm sensitivity
• Built-in LoRaWAN protocol with a Class A MAC address
Built-in system
• Very low power MCU programmable via Smart Basic
• UART interface, up to 115,200 bps
• 4x UART connectivity 3x SPI, 2x I2C
• 14x GPIO inputs/outputs, 4x ADC inputs
• 128-bit AES encryption
Power Consumption
• Deep Sleep = < 1uA,
• BLE Tx – 10.5mA @ full power
• RM191: LoRa Transmit – 48mA @ 15 dBm, LoRa + BLE Transmit – 58mA
• RM186: LoRa Transmit – 36mA @ 13.5 dBm, LoRa + BLE Transmit – 46mA
Like other Laird Bluetooth Smart modules, the RM186 module includes a SmartBasic interpreter so it can be programmed to operate independently without a host microcontroller. Programming is done in SmartBasic and is very efficient to minimize development effort and expedite time to market.
Laird's new RM186 wireless modules are now officially certified by the LoRa Alliance to communicate via LoRa operators' wireless infrastructure.
They also hold all the relevant global certifications for their wireless communications: Bluetooth SIG, CE, and EN 300 220 & EN 300 328.
For systems intended for installation in the United States, Laird offers the RM191 variant with the frequencies and modulation of LoRa technology in America, FCC/IC certified.
Along with the RM186 gateway module, Laird has also launched its development kit, the DVK-RM186-SM-01.
