Introduction
1 Introduction
The KW41Z/31Z/21Z (called KW41Z throughout this document) is an ultra low-power,
highly integrated single-chip device that enables Bluetooth low energy (BLE), Generic
FSK (at 250, 500 and 1000 kbps) or IEEE Standard 802.15.4 RF connectivity for
portable, extremely low-power embedded systems. Applications include portable health
care devices, wearable sports and fitness devices, AV remote controls, computer
keyboards and mice, gaming controllers, access control, security systems, smart energy
and home area networks.
The KW41Z SoC integrates a radio transceiver operating in the 2.36 GHz to 2.48 GHz
range supporting a range of FSK/GFSK and O-QPSK modulations, an ARM Cortex-
M0+ CPU, up to 512 KB Flash and up to 128 KB SRAM, BLE Link Layer hardware,
802.15.4 packet processor hardware and peripherals optimized to meet the requirements
of the target applications.
The KW41Z SoC’s radio frequency transceiver is compliant with Bluetooth version 4.2
for Low Energy (aka Bluetooth Smart or BLE), Generic FSK and the IEEE Standard
802.15.4 using O-QPSK in the 2.4 GHz ISM band. NXP provides fully certified
Bluetooth Low Energy and IEEE Standard 802.15.4 protocol stacks, including Zigbee
3.0, Thread, and application profiles to support KW41Z.
The KW41Z SoC can be used in applications as a "BlackBox" modem by simply
adding BLE or IEEE Standard 802.15.4 connectivity to an existing embedded controller
system, or used as a stand-alone smart wireless sensor with embedded application
where no host controller is required.
KW41Z has 512/256 KB of on-chip Flash and 128/64 KB of on-chip SRAM memory
available to be used by customer applications and chosen communication protocol stack
using a choice of either NXP or 3rd party software development tools.
The RF section of the KW41Z SoC is optimized to require very few external
components, achieving the smallest RF footprint possible on a printed circuit board.
Extremely long battery life is achieved though efficiency of code execution in the
Cortex-M0+ CPU core and the multiple low power operating modes of the KW41Z
SoC. Additionally, an integrated DC-DC converter enables a wide operating range from
0.9 V to 4.2 V. The DC-DC in Buck mode enables KW41Z to operate from a single
coin cell battery with a significant reduction of peak Rx and Tx current consumption.
The DC-DC in boost mode enables a single alkaline battery to be used throughout its
entire useful voltage range of 0.9 V to 1.795 V.
4
MKW41Z/31Z/21Z Data Sheet, Rev. 4, 03/2018
NXP Semiconductors