Azure Sphere MT3620 Starter Kit for Creating Secured IoT Edge Devices

Last year, Microsoft signed with Avnet as a strategic partner for their Azure platform – a platform for robust cloud computing. This partnership is expected to help boost the already fragile IoT market and adds some level of reputation to it considering Avnet is a big name in the electronics industry and Microsoft a top brand in the software world.

Security is an utmost priority in the growing Internet of Things market. So, to make it end to end secure, a lot of effort have been put to introduce different setups like handshaking, encryption and many more. A breach in security in IoT might not only affect the product in the short run but also impact on the personal brand of the organization.

Highly secured end to end IoT implementations cannot be overemphasized on and with the flood of several IoT development kits, developers might be easy fall prey to unsecured solution setups. Avnet has unveiled the Azure Sphere MT3620 Starter Kit, which supports rapid prototyping of IoT implementations using Microsoft’s Azure Sphere — an end-to-end solution for creating highly-secured, connected microcontroller devices.

The starter kit launched is built around the Avnet Azure Sphere module which is based on the MT3620 reference development board. The MT3620 is a highly integrated, high-performance IoT MCU with the high level of security necessary for modern, robust internet-connected devices. The MT3620 targets a wide range of IoT applications including smart home, commercial, industrial and many other domains thanks to its extensive I/O peripheral subsystem that allows device design flexibility and freedom.

The starter kit can easily find application in the below markets:

• Consumer appliances
• Smart retail.
• Remote access
• Building automation software.
• Factory automation applications.

Specifications:

• Two MikroEClick Board expansion sockets
• Built-in Microsoft security.
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi.
• Processor: Arm Cortex-A7
• Grove expansion connector (I2C)
• Onboard sensors
• 3-Axis accelerometer
• 3-Axis Gyro
• Temperature
• Pressure/Barometric
• Interface for optional OLED 128×64 display
• USB Interface
• Supports debug, service and recovery UARTs, and JTAG
• User push switches and LEDs
• 5V to 3.3V Power regulation
• DC Supply Input:
• USB 5V from the host computer
• Terminal footprints for external 5VDC and VBAT supplies
• Azure Sphere MT3620 Module features include:
• MediaTek MT3620AN SoC
• 3x ISU interfaces pre-configured for UART, SPI, I2C
• ADC/GPIO: 3x 12-bit ADC inputs (or 3 GPIOs)
• PWM/GPIO: 9x PWM outputs (or up to 24 GPIOs)
• RTC (requires VBAT supply)
• Dual-band 2.4/5GHz 802.11 a/b/g/n WiFi
• Dual-band 2.4/5GHz chip antenna
• Production-ready

Azure Sphere MT3620 module is a 33 x 22 mm module and packs a dual-band Wi-Fi chip antenna and a system clock. It provides support of up to 27 configurable GPIOs, including support for UART, I2C, and SPI.

The MT3620 starter kit includes a carrier board that connects the Azure Sphere MT3620 module I/Os to a pair of MikroE sockets, I2C grove connector, OLED graphical display connector, 3D accelerometer & gyro, temperature and light sensors. All of this together, when put in order, the connected device in harmony with each other will give the best of their results. A 5 V power is applied to the board, due to the in-built debugging. Debugging is achieved through USB to UART interface.

The Avnet Azure Sphere MT3620 Starter Kit is now available for purchase for $75 from Avnet. More information can be found on the product and announcement page.

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