Encompassing both hardware and software elements, ON Semiconductor's multi-faceted product, with a unique modular construction, presents a configurable platform that enables engineers to evaluate, develop and release to market highly differentiated IoT systems in the shortest possible timeframes. The inherent flexibility of the IDK means that it has the necessary scope to address a broad spectrum of industry sectors including environmental monitoring, healthcare, home/building automation, industrial control, and wearable electronics.

The IDK’s baseboard features the company’s advanced NCS36510 system-on-chip (SoC) with a low-power-optimized 32-bit Arm^® Cortex^®-M3 core running the Arm mbed™ OS. By attaching different daughter boards to the Wi-Fi enabled IDK baseboard, a wealth of connectivity protocols enabled by the company’s ultra-low power radios (SIGFOX, Thread, EnOcean, Wireless M-Bus, Bluetooth^® Low Energy, ZigBee^®, PoE, CAN, etc.), sensors (temperature, moisture, ambient light, proximity and pressure, along with heart rate monitoring and bio sensor interfaces), and actuators (with stepper and brushless motor driving, plus the ability to drive LED strings) can be added to the system. In addition, the portfolio includes support for numerous functions important for implementing security, including encryption, secure debug, secure boot, and authentication.

This is complemented on the software side by an Eclipse-based integrated development environment (IDE) that includes a C++ compiler, debugger, and code editor. A comprehensive set of application examples, use cases, and related libraries have also been incorporated into the package, to facilitate the process of taking IoT designs from the initial concept phase through to full scale deployment. In addition to the default cloud software platform, support for industry standard Cloud connectivity protocols (MQTT and REST) allows utilization of other widely used IoT cloud service providers.

BB-GEVK: The base board is the host of multiple hardware combination of shield (sensor and/or actuators and connectivity ) defined for the IoT application hardware implementation. Physical connectors to the shield include Pmod and Arduino format. The base board is also hosting the USB interface to the host PC for programming the embedded application onto the Arm Cortex-M3 processor, for simple debugging and powering up the application. Additionally, the base board is equipped with a JTAG debug interface to accommodate any complex software debugging tasks.

ALS-GEVB: The NOA1305 ambient light sensor (ALS) is designed for handheld applications and integrates a 16-bit ADC, a 2-wire I²C digital interface, internal clock oscillator and a power down mode. The built-in dynamic dark current compensation and precision calibration capability coupled with excellent IR and 50 Hz to 60 Hz flicker rejection enables highly accurate measurements from very low light levels to full sunlight. The device can support simple count equals lux readings in interrupt-driven or polling modes. The NOA1305 employs proprietary CMOS image sensing technology from ON Semiconductor to provide large signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and wide dynamic range (DR) over the entire operating temperature range. The optical filter used with this chip provides a light response similar to that of the human eye.

PIR-GEVB: The PIR shield evaluation board uses the NCS36000, a fully integrated mixed-signal CMOS device designed for low-cost passive infrared controlling applications, with the PCA9655E's 16 bits of general purpose parallel input and output (GPIO) expansion through the I²C bus and SMBus to create a functional passive infrared sensor evaluation board.

TS-GEVB: The touch switch shield evaluation board demonstrates the LC717A00AR which is a high-performance, low-cost capacitance-digital-converter LSI for electrostatic capacitive touch sensor, especially focused on usability. It has eight channels for capacitance-sensor input. The built-in logic circuit can detect the state (ON/OFF) of each input and output the result. This makes it ideal for various switch applications. The calibration function is automatically performed by the built-in logic circuit during power activation or whenever there are environmental changes. In addition, since initial settings of parameters, such as gain, are configured, LC717A00AR can operate in stand-alone mode when the recommended switch pattern is applied. Since LC717A00AR has a serial interface compatible with I²C and SPI bus, the PCA9655E is used to provide provides 16 bits of general purpose parallel input and output (GPIO) expansion through the I²C-bus and SMBus, detecting outputs of the LC717A00AR's 8-input capacitance data and measuring it as 8-bit data.

D-STPR-GEVK: The dual stepper motor driver shield evaluation board evaluates the AMIS30543, a micro-stepping stepper motor driver for bipolar stepper motors. It has an on-chip voltage regulator, reset output and watchdog reset able to supply peripheral devices. The chip is connected through IO pins and an SPI interface with an external microcontroller that is regulated through the PCA9655E's 16 bits of general purpose parallel input and output (GPIO) expansion.

POE-GEVB: The Power over Ethernet (PoE) shield evaluation board demonstrates the NCP1083, a member of the ON Semiconductor high power HIPO™ Power over Ethernet Powered Device (PoE-PD) product family which represents a robust, flexible, and highly integrated solution targeting demanding medium and high power Ethernet applications. It combines in a single unit an enhanced PoE-PD interface supporting the IEEE 802.3af and the upcoming draft IEEE 802.3at (D3.0) standard and a flexible and configurable DC-DC converter controller. The NCP1083's exceptional capabilities enable applications to smoothly transition from non-PoE to PoE enabled networks by also supporting power from auxiliary sources such as AC power adapters and battery supplies, eliminating the need for a second switching power supply.

BLE-IOT-GEVB: The BLE-IOT-GEVB evaluation board adds Bluetooth 5 and BLE functionality to the IoT Development Kit (IDK) via ON Semiconductor’s RSL10 ultra-low power SoC. The BLE-IOT-GEVB connects to the IDK through Arduino style connectors and can be combined with sensor and actuator shields on the IDK to prototype complex use cases.

US-SIGFOX-GEVB and EU-SIGFOX-GEVB: These Sigfox shield evaluation boards demonstrate the AX-SFUS and AX-SFEU single chip connectivity solutions to create an ultra-low power consumption node on the Sigfox network for RCZ2 region (Americas) and RCZ1 region (Europe).

SPS-READER-GEVK: The SPS-READER-GEVK evaluation board mates with the IoT Development Kit (IDK) baseboard and allows rapid prototyping of battery-free smart passive sensor (SPS) based use cases. The kit ships with temperature and moisture detection battery free tags (ETSI and FCC compliant).