Wireless Bluetooth® and Wi-Fi® Evaluation KitsEasy to Use, Plug and Play Evaluation Kits for Prototyping and Development

SummaryWhether you want to do an impressive on-the-fly demo or create a complete wireless prototype, Microchip has you covered with easy-to-use evaluation kits for all of its Wi-Fi and Bluetooth modules. Unlike other evaluation kits that require external drivers and extensive set up, these kits are small, self-contained demo boards that instantly enable wireless connectivity allowing the user to create working prototypes in hours instead of weeks.

For evaluating the RN series, the RN-171-EK and RN-131-EK are battery-powered, compact boards that quickly add Wi-Fi connectivity to embedded applications. For example, simply power it up, and the board becomes a data pipe, transferring bi-directional information with simple ASCII commands to and from computer and Smartphone.

For evaluating the MRF series, the battery-powered Wi-Fi G Demo board uses the PIC® microcontroller with TCP/IP stack on the board to add Wi-Fi connectivity. Easily configure embedded devices on a wireless network or utilize the web server of the stack and a wireless network to enter the desired network information from a client browser.

For adding instant Bluetooth connectivity to embedded applications, the RN-41-EK and RN-42-EK demos are stand-alone demo boards that connect directly to a PC via a standard USB interface or to embedded processors through the TTL UART interface. The boards send and receive data from a remote Bluetooth device over the serial port profile (SPP). The status LEDs, switches, and signal headers enable rapid prototyping and integration into existing systems.

Features ■ USB/UART interface ■ Battery-powered or USB-powered ■ Pushbuttons ■ Status LEDs ■ GPIO pins / headers

Typical Wi-Fi Applications ■ Remote sensors ■ Security ■ Industrial sensors and controls ■ Home automation ■ Remote equipment monitoring

Typical Bluetooth Applications ■ Cable replacement ■ Barcode scanners ■ Measurement and monitoring systems ■ Medical devices ■ Asset tracking

Base Module Block Diagrams

Crystal

FlashMemory

PA

RN41/42 Bluetooth® Module

RFSwitch

Balun

CSR BlueCore-04

Ant

enna

(Chi

p or

PC

B T

race

)

Tx

Rx

(RN41)Class 1 Option

(RN42)Class 2 Option

VccGND

P104P105P106USBUARTPCM

2 MB ROM2 kB NVM

Timers

32-bit CPU

CryptoAccelerator

802.11 b/g MAC/PHY

128 KB RAM

GPIO

SPI

SDIO

Sen

sor

Inte

rface

2.4 GHzRadio

PA

LNA

RN131/171Wi-Fi® Module Flash

Crystal

RF Filters

PowerAmplifier

PCB Antenna(MRF24WG0MA Only)

2.4 GHzRadio

EAP EncryptionAccelerator

AES, TKIP, WPAEncryption Engine

IEEE 802.11 MAC/LLC,802.11b/g Protocol

InternalRegulators

RAM

ROM

Host – SPIInterface

MRF24WG0MA/MBWi-Fi® Modules

Chip Enable

RST

Interrupt

Slave SPIInterface

Information subject to change. The Microchip name and logo, the Microchip logo, dsPIC, PIC are registered trademarks and MiWi, PICtail and ZENA are trademarks of Microchip Technology Incorporated in the U.S.A. and other countries. All other trademarks mentioned herein are property of their respective companies. © 2013, Microchip Technology Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Printed in the U.S.A. 3/13DS70005116A

Visit our web site for additional product information and to locate your local sales office.

Microchip Technology Inc. • 2355 W. Chandler Blvd. • Chandler, AZ 85224-6199

www.microchip.com/wireless

Part Number Protocol Battery-Powered

USB-Powered

Module Antenna

Description

RN-171-EK Wi-Fi® ü üRF pad for

external antenna

Adds Wi-Fi connectivity: based on RN171 modules, 0 to +12 dBm output power

RN-131-EK Wi-Fi – üChip and U.FL

connector

Adds Wi-Fi connectivity: based on the RN131 module, +18 dBm output power

Wi-Fi® G Demo Wi-Fi ü – PCBAdds Wi-Fi connectivity: PIC® MCU based systems with MRF24WG0MA module and PIC32

RN-42-EK Bluetooth® – ü PCB traceAdds Bluetooth connectivity:based on Class 2 RN42 Bluetooth module (~30 m range)

RN-41-EK Bluetooth – ü ChipAdds Bluetooth connectivity:based on Class 1 RN41 Bluetooth module (~100 m range)

RN-42-HID-RD1 Bluetooth ü – PCB trace

Remote control reference design with RN42 module running the HID (Human Interface Device) Bluetooth profi le

Additional InformationFor more information on Wi-Fi: www.microchip.com/wifiFor more information on Bluetooth: www.microchip.com/bluetooth