The nRF21540 RF Front End Module is a range extender optimized to boost the link budget of Nordic’s nRF52 and nRF53 Series advanced multiprotocol wireless SoCs. When combined with an nRF52 Series SoC, the nRF21540 RF FEM’s +21 dBm TX output power and 13 dB RX gain ensure a superior link budget for up to 16x range extension

Nordic Semiconductor recently announced the nRF21540TM RF Front End Module (FEM), its first power amplifier/low noise amplifier (PA/LNA) product. The nRF21540 has been developed to perfectly complement Nordic’s nRF52 and nRF53 Series multiprotocol Systems-on-Chip (SoCs). The RF FEM’s PA offers a highly adjustable TX power boost up to +21 dBm, with the LNA providing +13 dB RX gain. The LNA’s low noise figure (NF) of only 2.5 dB also ensures increased RX sensitivity for Nordic’s Bluetooth® 5/Bluetooth Low Energy (Bluetooth LE), Thread, Zigbee, and 2.4GHz RF low power wireless solutions. When combined with an nRF52840 SoC running Bluetooth LE at 1 Mbps, for example, the nRF21540 improves the RX sensitivity by 5 dBm. Coupled with the increased output power, the connection link budget is raised by 18 dBm. For other devices with less than +8 dBm TX power on-chip, the improvements are even larger. The resulting increase in connection link budget offers significantly longer range and helps lower the number of retransmissions due to corrupt packages. The nRF21540 is a valuable addition for all applications that may require increased range or robust coverage. Some example applications are asset tracking, audio, smart home, or industrial use cases.