New 2.4GHz radio ARM cortex M3 chip

I see another company is having a go at competing against ESP8266 for both a tiny module for embedding and complete little dev board.

https://s.taobao.com/search?q=air602
also aviable for slightly more from seed https://www.seeedstudio.com/Air602-WiFi … -3139.html and complete dev board https://www.seeedstudio.com/Air602-WiFi … -3140.html

The module is much smaller than the ESP modules and the tiny complete dev board is $1US from taobao

The biggest downside is the super limited number of GPIO pins but if you just wanted a node for IOT projects at $1 each it is pretty cheap to put 1 unit on every separate thing.

The CPU is http://www.winnermicro.com/en/html/1/156/158/497.html with 1Mbyte flash and 288Kbyte RAM

… Both on back order at SeeedStudio, and seems like they are only programmable in Lua.

Looks very similar to a device featured on Hackaday about a week ago

https://hackaday.com/2018/10/02/tiny-wi … -projects/

I can’t see why anyone would bother wasting time with this. Its $1 cheaper than the ESP8266 but will have no next to no code libraries or community support.

Spend $2 more and you can get a fully certified ESP32 module(https://www.seeedstudio.com/ESP32S-WiFi … -3151.html) with much greater community support etc etc

IMHO The AllWinner part will mainly get used by very low end commercial devices made in China, as $1 makes a lot of difference when you’re selling millions of units.

It is not Allwinner, it is Winner Micro, I understand the confusion

I am a noob that’s why I post and ask questions as to seek the answers.

First I am a fan of ESP chips especially the ESP32 (use it more then the STM32).

With ESP hasn’t there been lots of problems with the fact the CPU is under a non disclosure with Tensilica and there being bugs in the supplied tool chain?? Would the fact that this is a ARM chip lead to more open source docs in the long term??

Obviously thus chip has no community atm as it is just released but ESP was in the same boat not long ago and look at it now.

My biggest question: Is it an advantage if in the long term there was a ARM competitor to Tensilica/ESP

A competitor is better than nothing. I wander if there will be a new entry on 5GHz band, one day.

Well, if the peak power consumption is really not more than 110mA (as per datasheet) then it could be a real alternative to ESP32/8266, as simple serial<->WIFi adapter.

I noticed that this module doesn’t have an antenna, you need to add one. In mass production it is not an issue but as a noob hobbyist like me can be difficult to add a good one.

[zoomx – Wed Oct 10, 2018 12:18 pm] –
I noticed that this module doesn’t have an antenna, you need to add one. In mass production it is not an issue but as a noob hobbyist like me can be difficult to add a good one.

Maybe https://www.aliexpress.com/wholesale?ca … MT+antenna

Or rubber-duckies are in the $2 – $3 range, qty=1.
But, you can cut a length of hookup wire, or use an interior enclosure version:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1pcs-La … 98277.html

If you canibilize some old notebooks with WiWi, you likely have a 2.4G antenna with IPEX connector.

In the ESP8266, carrier boards are available to host the Espressif module and the antenna is already etched. For ESP32, just buy the NodeMCU board, it is easier for hobby use.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/ESP8266 … 63263.html

A dipole 2.4G antenna is easily made from some sticky-back copper hobby tape.

Ray

Thanks Ray!

[zoomx – Wed Oct 10, 2018 12:18 pm] –
I noticed that this module doesn’t have an antenna, you need to add one. In mass production it is not an issue but as a noob hobbyist like me can be difficult to add a good one.

There is 2 options the tiny module without the antenna or the tiny complete dev board with PCB antenna see https://www.seeedstudio.com/Air602-WiFi … -3140.html

You can buy the complete dev board from Taobao for $1US

http://colinkarpfinger.com/blog/2010/th … na-design/

And while 95% of this has nothing to do with antenna design, they all are lots of fun on a boring, rainy day:
https://www.falstad.com/mathphysics.html

i’m nowhere good about antennas
but that a full wavelength of 2.4ghz is about 122.45 mm
half wave at 61.22 mm and quarter wave at 30.61 mm
hence i’d guess one could make a 1/2 wave dipole with 2 x 30.61mm wire or rod
found a nice article about them
https://www.allaboutcircuits.com/techni … damentals/

The main concern is avoiding transmitting without an antenna load. Good RF design would detect the impedance mismatch (VSWR) of no load and avoid RF output damage, but I have not looked into the specifics… best practice is to never power an RF transmitter without an antenna.
https://esp32.com/viewtopic.php?t=6112

In reading-before-typing, I did see this on the Espressif forum:
Unlike ESP8266, ESP32 DOES require matching if antenna is 50 ohms. This is because ESP32 output impedance is not 50 ohms.

Ray