SparkFun Thing Plus - Development Board with NORA-W306 Module

Description

The SparkFun Thing Plus NORA-W306 board is a development platform in the Feather format, based on the u-blox NORA-W306 module, which contains the Realtek RTL8720DF microcontroller chip. The module supports dual-band Wi-Fi (2.4GHz and 5GHz) and Bluetooth® Low Energy (BLE 5.3) communication. The two processor cores, Arm Cortex-M33 and Cortex-M23, provide high performance while maintaining low energy consumption, making this module ideal for complex IoT projects that require battery power. The module allows easy programming of various functions, from controlling LEDs to data transmission to a selected web platform. Additionally, the board can be programmed using the Arduino IDE after installing the Realtek Arduino Core.

The board features a USB Type-C connector used for programming, data transfer, and power supply, and provides USB data line protection through ESD diodes. Code transmission or serial communication is facilitated by the CP2102N USB-UART converter. The board has three buttons: a general-purpose button, a reset button, and a boot button. For battery-powered applications, the board has a 2-pin JST connector for connecting a LiPo battery, and the MCP73831 circuit handles battery charging with a current of 500mA. The built-in battery charge indicator MAX17048 allows monitoring the battery's charge level. The power for the NORA-W306 module is provided by the XC6222 3.3V/700mA regulator. The board features LEDs indicating power, charging, and a user LED. Additionally, the board is equipped with a small, addressable RGB WS2812-2020 LED. The edge connectors of the board include 20 GPIO pins, supporting features such as interrupts, 12-bit analog inputs, PWM, UART, SPI, and I2C.

The board has a built-in microSD card slot with power control, useful in low-power applications. On the back of the board, there are nine jumpers allowing the configuration of functions such as LiPo charging current, current measurement, microSD power, and I2C pull-up resistors. The board also features a Qwiic connector, enabling easy addition of modules and devices communicating via I2C within the Qwiic system. The SparkFun Thing Plus is an ideal platform for building IoT projects, enabling cloud connectivity, weather data collection, UTC clock synchronization, home automation, and monitoring HVAC systems in smart buildings.

Features

• u-blox NORA-W306
  • Dual-band Wi-Fi 4 (802.11a/b/g/n)
  • Wi-Fi Frequencies: 2.4GHz and 5GHz
  • WPA2/WPA3 Authentication
  • Bluetooth® Low Energy 5.3
  • Bluetooth Frequency: 2.4GHz
  • Secure Bluetooth LE pairing
  • Built-in PCB antenna
  • Realtek RTL8720DF processor with dual cores
    • Main core: Arm® Cortex®-M33, 200MHz
    • Low-power core: Arm Cortex-M23, 20MHz
  • Arm TrustZone™ (hardware encryption)
  • Cryptographic accelerator
  • Secure bootloader and debug
  • Encrypted 4MB Flash memory
  • 512kB RAM for the main core
  • 64kB RAM for the low-power core
• 20 GPIO:
  • Up to 20 interrupts
  • Up to 3x 12-bit ADC
  • Up to 12x PWM
  • Up to 2x UART
  • Up to 2x SPI
  • 1x I2C
• USB Type-C connector
• 2-pin JST connector for LiPo battery (not included)
• 4-pin Qwiic connector
• Micro SD slot
• CP210X USB-UART converter
• Battery charger MCP73831, charging current: 213 mA for 3.3V
• Battery monitor MAX17048, I2C address: 0x36
• LEDs:
  • Red power LED
  • Yellow battery charging LED
  • Blue STAT status LED
  • WS2812 RGB LED
• Buttons: USER, BOOT, and RESET
• Four mounting holes
• Dimensions: 73.66 x 22.86 mm