AX5043: 70 - 1050 MHz Narrow-band, High Performance, Ultra-low Power RF Transceiver IC

The world's highest performance integrated RF transceiver, -126 dBm sensitivity at 1.2 kbps with 43 dB adjacent channel rejection achieved with only 9.5 mA RX current.

Key Benefits

9.5 mA RX current, -126 dBm sensitivity, 45 dB adjacent channel rejection
@ 1.2kbps/6.25 kHz channel BW/868 MHz/FSK
Ultra-low power without sacrificing link budget or selectivity
Carrier ferquency 70 - 1050 MHz
Constant TX output power over the full VDD range of 1.8 - 3.6V
Fully autonomous lowest power wake-on-radio mode (500 nA)
Packet RX/TX without microcontroller intervention
Arbitrarily configurable protocols e.g. HDLC or Wireless M-Bus (S, R, T)

Excerpt from Datasheet

General

Carrier frequency range 70 - 1050 MHz
Frequency step 1 Hz
Data rate RX&TX 1-115.2 kpbs
TCXO/XTAL typical frequency 16 MHz
RSSI step 0.1 dB
Channel filter bandwidth 1 - 220 kHz

RX @ 868 MHz, 1.2 kbps, FSK, channel 6.25 kHz

Sensitivity (BER = 10^-3) -126 dBm
Adjacent channel rejection 43 dB
RSSI range -126 ... -36 dB

TX @ 868 MHz, 1.2 kbps, FSK, channel 6.25 kHz

Output power programmable range -10 ... 16 dBm
Output power programming step 0.5 dB
Adjacent channel power -50 dBc
Output power dependence on VDD and temperature < +/- 0.5 dB

Power

Supply voltage range 1.8 ... 3.6 V
Operating temperature range -40 - 85 ^oC
RX current @ 868 MHz 9.5 mA
RX current @ 169 MHz 6.5 mA
TX current @ 868 MHz, 16 dBm, FSK 51 mA
TX current @ 868 MHz, 10 dBm, FSK 21 mA
TX current @ 868 MHz, 0 dBm, FSK 7.5 mA

Description

RF solution for narrow-band multi-channel operation in licensed and unlicensed bands

The AX5043 is a true single chip narrow-band RF transceiver for the 70 MHz to 1050 MHz frequency bands. It offers the unique combination of ultra-low power consumption for transmit and receive operation combined with highest sensitivity and high selectivity. A link budget of 143 dB is achieved, if the built-in forward error correction (FEC) is used this can be extended to 146 dB without extra external components. Though a TCXO is recommended for such operation, the AX5043 can also be operated with a normal XTAL if the necessary precautions are taken into account.

Designed for low power and direct battery operation

An integrated voltage regulation system allows the direct use of batteries and short start-up times enable time- and energy-efficient protocols. The transmit power varies no more than 1 dB over the supply voltage range of 1.8 - 3.6 V. This makes the AX5043 ideal for battery powered portable applications. AX5043 features a lowest power wake-up clock and timer, which typically cousme 500 nA, allowing it to autonomously handle wake-on-radio cycling.

Advanced receiver, transmitter and radio controller

The AX5043 supports FSK, MSK, 4-FSK, GFSK, GMSK, AFSK and ASK modulations. In transmit mode all modulations are shaped. For FSK gaussian filtes with BT=0.3 or BT=0.5 are available to meet the most stringent regulatory requirements. Power ramping can be configured without restrictions. Maximum output power levels are 16 dBm at 868 MHz and 20 dBm at 70 MHz carrier frequency. The configurable packet engine supports a wide range of packet formats that are handled without microcontroller intervention.

Development kit comes with productivity enhancing complete development tool suite

AX5043 is supported by the AXSEM development kit DVK-2. This is a complete and flexible ready-to-go solution for easy testing, evaluation and development of AXSEM RF ICs. It is suited for real performance tests using professional lab equipment, as well as for application code development.

The DVK-2 is based on the AX8052F100 MCU and AXSEM offers both the AX-RadioLab GUI as well as the advanced graphic integrated development environment AX8052-IDE together with the freely usable SDCC C-compiler to go with it.

AX5043 Blockdiagram

Features

Supported modulations: FSK, MSK, 4-FSK, GFSK, GMSK, AFSK and ASK
All modulations are shaped
Communication with the device via SPI interface
Optionally data transfer can be handled via a UART interface
Small footprint 28 pin QFN 5mm x 5mm package

Sophisticated radio controller

Fully autonomous packet reception and transmission without microcontroller intervention
Supports HDLC, Raw, Wireless M-Bus frames as well as fully user defined formats in hardware by configuration
Automatic channel noise level tracking
μs resolution time stamps for exact timing (e.g. for frequency hopping systems)
256 bytes micro-programmable packet buffer or FIFO
Optionally supports packet sizes > 256 bytes
3 pattern matching units (preamble, synch word, address)
Ability to store RSSI, frequency offset and data-rate offset with the packet data

Flexible antenna interface

Integrated RX/TX switching with differential antenna pins
Optional mode with differential RX pins and single-ended TX pin
Antenna diversity and optional external RX/TX swich control

Advanced RF frequency generation

RF carrier and FSK deviation programmable in 1 Hz steps
Ultra fast synthesizer settling for low power
Configurable for various VCO and loop filter options to suit a wide range of application needs

Wake-on-radio

640 Hz or 10 kHz lowest power wake-up timer
Wake-up time programmable between 100 μs and 100 s
Fully automatic high precision calibration of wake-up oscillator during data transfers

Integrated power management

Wide supply range for direct battery connection
Brown-out detection and power-on-reset
Only small number of decoupling capacitors required

Auxiliary functions

General purpose ADC
Freely programmable general purpose IOs

AX5043 Applicaton Circuit Diagram

Applications

Automatic Meter Reading (AMR)
Security applications
Home and building automation
Wireless networks
Compatible with Wireless M-Bus
Compatible with POCSAG
Compatible with FLEX

Regulatory regimes

Wireless M-Bus S/T 868 MHz
Wireless M-Bus 169 MHz
EN 300 220 wide band
EN 300 220 narrow band
FCC Part 15.249
FCC Part 90 25 kHz
FCC Part 90 12.5 kHz
FCC Part 90 6.25 kHz
ARIB STD T-67

Development Tools & Kits

RadioLab GUI C code generator here...
Development kit here...
AX8052 based development system here...

Ordering Information

Item	Order Code
AX5043 Cut Tape 10 pcs	AX5043-10PCS-CTAPE
AX5043 Cut Tape 100 pcs	AX5043-100PCS-CTAPE
AX5043 Reel 500 pcs	AX5043-500PCS-REEL
AX5043 Reel 2000 pcs	AX5043-2000PCS-REEL