IEEE802.11

Another IoT Platform – WICED

Broadcom is also jumping on the IoT wagon with the WICED  platform.  The platform is targeting Bluetooth and WiFi applications. The WiFi modules feature the BCM43362 WiFi chip integrated into a System in a Package (SiP) module. The Image below shows a WiFI WICED PCB module with a Murata WiFi SiP Module and a STM32F205 microcontroller. Murata also offers SiP modules that have the ARM microcontroller built in.
wiced_BCM943362WCD4
On the software side the platform is supported by a feature rich SDK and support for OSs:

  • WICED Application Framework including bootloader, flash storage API, over-the-air (OTA) upgrades, factory reset, and system monitor.
  • An open source build system and toolchain based on GNU make (native IAR support coming soon!).
  • A GUI Development Environment based on Eclipse CDT that seamlessly integrates with a JTAG programmer and single-step, thread-aware debugger based on OpenOCD and gdb.
  • A software stack with a choice of several RTOS/TCP stack options including ThreadX/NetXThreadX/NetX Duo and FreeRTOS/LwIP.
  • Support for security and networking features such as SSL/TLS, IPv4/IPv6 networking, and mDNS (Bonjour) device discovery.
  • Simple out-of-box device setup using Apple-licensed MFi technology or via a web browser and softAP/web server.

Broadcom also make a set of software examples available that help getting started quickly:

  • Production ready sample applications.
  • Lots of application snippets demonstrating how to use the rich WICED API feature set.
  • Various test applications to aid manufacturing and certification.
  • All documentation included inside the WICED SDK.