Microchip announces the MRF24J40MA FCC-certified Radio-Frequency (RF) transceiver module and the MiWi Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Wireless Protocol Stack, based upon the IEEE 802.15.4 specification. Together the MRF24J40MA module and MiWi (P2P) stack can target a variety of wireless networking applications, such as industrial monitoring and control, home and building automation, remote control, low-power wireless sensor networks, lighting control and automated meter reading. Providing a complete short-range IEEE 802.15.4 wireless networking solution, the MRF24J40MA transceiver module is surface mountable and can be used with hundreds of 8-bit, 16-bit, or 32-bit PIC® microcontrollers (MCUs).

It includes discrete biasing components and an integrated PCB antenna to be used in sensor and control network environments. The module is fully regulatory-agency certified for the US (FCC), Canada (IC) and Europe (ETSI). The MiWi P2P protocol stack supports star and peer-to-peer wireless-network topologies with an ultra-small code implementation of 3K bytes for Microchip’s PIC microcontrollers (MCUs). As a result, the stack provides short-range wireless customers with hundreds of possible MCU implementations for applications that require simple node-to-node communication. Additionally, the new MiWi P2P stack provides sleeping-node, active-scan, and energy-detect features.

Available as a free download from Microchip’s new online Wireless Design Centre, the proprietary stack complements the new MRF24J40MA 2.4GHz FCC-certified transceiver module. As well as Microchip’s free ZigBee, MiWi and new MiWi P2P software-protocol stacks, the module is supported by Microchip’s PICDEM Z Demo Kit and the ZENA Wireless Network Analyser.