Cypress's new Bluetooth Low Energy solution with extended memory enables in-flight firmware upgrades

     Cypress Semiconductor announced that its highly integrated single-chip Bluetooth Low Energy solution for the Internet of Things and other wireless applications now offers double the memory. The PSoC 4 BLE programmable system-on-chip and PRoC BLE programmable on-chip RF solutions both offer 256KB of flash memory and 32KB of SRAM options, giving designers the flexibility to upgrade firmware over the air (OTA) without the need for external memory. Devices with this capability are compatible with Cypress's existing Bluetooth Low Energy solution pins, making them easy to upgrade.

     Cypress's easy-to-use PSoC Creator Integrated Development Environment (IDE) supports this new 256KB Bluetooth low energy solution. Cypress has added support for several new Bluetooth Low energy profiles to PSoC Creator to smooth the flow of more app designs, such as blood sugar monitoring, environmental sensing, and Apple Notification Center Service.

     John Weil, vice President of marketing at Cypress Programmable Systems, said: "The new PSoC 4 and PRoC BLE devices demonstrate our commitment to expanding our smart Bluetooth solutions to better meet customer needs. The expanded memory of this new solution further increases design flexibility and enables OTA firmware upgrades in the field."

     With unprecedented ease of use and high integration, Cypress's customizable Bluetooth Low Energy solutions can be used in customizable networking applications, home automation, medical, sports and fitness monitoring, and other wearable smart devices. PRoC BLE is a smart Bluetooth microcontroller with Cypress's industry-leading CapSense capacitive touch sensing capability, while the PSoC 4 BLE offers a variety of designs by adding intelligent analog and programmable digital modules. Both incorporate a smart Bluetooth RF, a high-performance 32-bit ARM Cortex-M0 core with ultra-low power mode, 256KB flash memory, 36 GPIOs, and customizable serial communication modules, timers, and counters. Together, these technologies provide Bluetooth Smart products with unmatched system value, longer battery life, customizable sensing capabilities, and a beautiful and intuitive user interface. In addition, the solution has an on-chip barron that simplifies antenna design and reduces board size, reducing system costs.

     Currently, smart Bluetooth products must be designed with software tools from multiple vendors, and complex firmware needs to be developed to meet the requirements of wireless specifications. Cypress has simplified Bluetooth Low Energy's protocol stack and profile into a new, fee-free, GUI-based BLE component, the equivalent of a free embedded IC in the PSoC, represented by a drag-and-drop icon in the PSoC Creator Integrated Design Environment (IDE). PSoC Creator enables the entire system design to be implemented in a single tool, thus accelerating the product to market process. Of course, users of Eclipse and other ARM-based tools can also customize their Bluetooth Low Energy solutions with PSoC Creator and then export that design into their preferred IDE.