Amazon Sidewalk

Simplifying cloud connectivity for IoT devices 

About Sidewalk

Combining technologies to increase range and reliability

Amazon Sidewalk is a community network that uses Amazon Sidewalk Bridges, such as Amazon Echo and Ring devices, to give cloud connectivity to IoT devices at no network connection cost. It is designed to provide persistent connectivity to devices that are outside of the range of a home Wi-Fi network or that depend on a mobile app or proprietary gateway for a cloud connection. Amazon Sidewalk is optimal for devices such as smart outdoor lights, environmental sensors, utility meters, and appliances. Amazon Sidewalk Bridge devices share a small portion of internet bandwidth to provide services to any Sidewalk end device. This enables use cases like tracking and finding lost items. Sidewalk over Bluetooth LE streamlines connecting Bluetooth LE devices to AWS Cloud with a focus on data privacy and security. Sidewalk over sub-GHz uses a combination of Bluetooth Low Energy and sub-GHz MHz spectrum to enable IoT. Amazon Sidewalk allows devices to communicate with each other and the internet, even if they are not within range of a home Wi-Fi network, allowing for a reliable and stable connection to AWS. This enables connected devices to use the tools available on AWS with very little effort and no network connection cost.

 

Amazon Sidewalk is only functional in the US.

Amazon Sidewalk qualification

Works with Amazon Sidewalk

Nordic has officially completed Works With Amazon Sidewalk Qualification for nRF52840 SoC (Bluetooth LE) and nRF52840 (Bluetooth LE) + Semtech SX1262 (LoRa and FSK), both with Nordic nRF Connect SDK version 2.3.0works with amazon sidewalk

Sidewalk over Bluetooth LE

With Amazon Sidewalk over Bluetooth LE, developers get enhanced reliability in device connectivity by eliminating the need for proprietary gateways or mobile apps running in the background. The technology leverages Bluetooth LE to enable Amazon Sidewalk end devices to effortlessly access the cloud, utilizing a shared portion of the internet bandwidth from nearby Amazon devices such as Echo speakers, Ring Doorbells, or Ring Sidewalk Bridge PRO. The Nordic nRF52840 Multiprotocol System-on-Chip (SoC) fully supports Amazon Sidewalk, making it easy for developers to incorporate this technology into their projects. This makes Amazon Sidewalk for Bluetooth LE a very good choice for providing seamless and persistent connectivity to.

Sidewalk over sub-GHz

Better together

Nordic SoC in combination with a Semtech sub-GHz transceiver

One main benefit of Sidewalk is that it can help expand the range of smart home devices and make them more reliable. It can also provide connectivity to devices where it might be difficult to get a strong internet connection, such as in rural areas or neighborhoods with much interference. diagram A combination of an nRF52840 SoC for Bluetooth LE and a Semtech SX1262 sub-GHz radio transceiver provides the complete solution to build an Amazon Sidewalk device. Each chip has its strengths and capabilities that can be leveraged to create a more effective and reliable device.

A Nordic SoC as the host provides best-in-class BLE communication, which is used by Amazon Sidewalk to connect devices to the network. Bluetooth LE is well known as the low-power, short-range wireless communication technology ideally suited for IoT devices. This enables developers to use our nRF Connect SDK, the scalable, unified software development kit for the nRF52840, and build products based on all our nRF52, nRF53, and nRF91 Series wireless devices. It enables developers to build software optimized for size and performance on devices with limited memory, as well as more sophisticated and feature-rich software for more advanced devices and applications.

The Semtech transceiver provides communication over the sub-GHz spectrum. The sub-GHz spectrum has a longer range and is less susceptible to interference, making it well-suited for communication over longer distances or in areas with much interference.

Sidewalk in sub-GHz provides two options:

    • Sidewalk over LoRa – provides the longest possible range with low data throughput
    • Sidewalk over FSK – a long range option which provides higher data throughput than Sidewalk over LoRa but its range is shorter

Get started developing

nRF Connect SDK and Sidewalk

To get the most out of Amazon Sidewalk we made it easy to integrate the Amazon Sidewalk repository into our nRF Connect SDK. 

You can find the getting started documentation here.

Ideal for your Sidewalk project

nRF52840 SoC

Bluetooth 5.4 SoC supporting Bluetooth Low Energy, Bluetooth mesh, NFC, Thread and Zigbee

64 MHz Arm Cortex-M4 with FPU
1 MB Flash, 256 KB RAM
2 Mbps, 1 Mbps, Long Range
Bluetooth Low Energy
Bluetooth mesh
Thread, Zigbee
+8 dBm TX Power
128-bit AES CCM, Arm CryptoCell-310
UART, SPI, TWI, PDM, I2S, QSPI, PWM
12-bit ADC
NFC
USB 2.0