Low-power Bluetooth VR standalone and handheld controllers provide low-latency gaming operation

NOLO Sonic VR all-in-one, a product of NOLO, a well-known domestic VR hardware manufacturer, uses Nordic nRF52833 SoC to wirelessly connect the game controller and VR headset via low-power Bluetooth.

OSLO, Norway – September 27, 2021 – Nordic Semiconductor announced that Beijing-based VR/AR technology company Lingyu Intelligent Control (NOLO) has selected Nordic’s nRF52833 Bluetooth 5.2/Bluetooth® Low Energy (Bluetooth LE) universal multiprotocol system-on-chip (SoC) to provide wireless connectivity for its “NOLO Sonic VR Standalone” device. This 6-degree-of-freedom (6DoF) virtual reality (VR) standalone VR device supports SteamVR streaming, providing users with access to more than 6,000 SteamVR games, and also has a number of built-in high-quality games. In addition, the device can also meet other industry needs such as a range of education and training applications.

NOLO Sonic VR is equipped with a VR headset and two game controllers, all of which integrate Nordic nRF52833 SoC devices. Lingyu Zhikong said that its controller is the first VR interactive controller equipped with a wide-band vibration motor, which can simulate hundreds of realistic tactile feedback effects and support "real-time" heart rate monitoring (HRM). The company's proprietary "SodarTraq®" spatial positioning technology uses ultrasonic technology for precise positioning tracking.

Nordic's nRF52833 SoC not only provides a low-latency (<10ms) Bluetooth LE connection to relay data from the controller to the headset device, but also provides the processing power to support the controller's vibration motor data processing requirements. The nRF52833 SoC's 64MHz, 32-bit Arm® Cortex® M4 processor with floating-point (FP) unit is designed to support the typical FP and digital signal processing (DSP) calculations of high-end wireless applications such as VR. Its radio architecture with on-chip PA has a -95dBm RX sensitivity (1Mbps in Bluetooth LE mode), which can easily solve the connection problem between the controller and the headset, while significantly extending the battery life of the controller after charging.

Nordic’s nRF52833 advanced multiprotocol SoC combines an Arm Cortex processor with a 2.4GHz multiprotocol radio supporting Bluetooth 5.2, Bluetooth 5 (including 2x raw data bandwidth over the air (2Mbps); 4x range, 8x broadcast capability with advertising extensions (advertising packet payload size increased to 251 bytes, and improved channel selection algorithm (CSA #2) compared to Bluetooth 4.2), Thread, Zigbee, IEEE 802.15.4, and proprietary 2.4GHz RF protocol software). With an ample 512kB Flash and 128kB RAM, the nRF52833’s dynamic multiprotocol capabilities uniquely support concurrent wireless connections for each protocol.

The nRF Connect SDK software development kit is recommended for nRF52833 software development. nRF Connect SDK integrates Zephyr RTOS, supports applications using low-power Bluetooth, Bluetooth mesh and Thread, and includes examples, low-power Bluetooth profiles and driver support for all peripherals. The SDK also includes the Nordic Bluetooth SoftDevice controller, which is ported from the company's proven SoftDevice for the nRF52 series. When developing products, the nRF5 SDK can also be used with Nordic's Bluetooth RF protocol stack S113, 122 and 140 SoftDevices.

“Nordic’s nRF52833 SoC is an ideal solution for NOLO Sonic VR because it meets the core processing and RF requirements without sacrificing power consumption,” said Zhang Jianing, CTO of NOLO.

“Nordic provides a complete SDK, which allows us to develop faster and more efficiently, so that we can quickly launch other new products. Nordic also provides many useful reference designs and detailed technical information.”

About NOLO

NOLO is a national high-tech enterprise focusing on the research and development, production and manufacturing of VR/AR. Founded in 2015, the company has received investment from many star VCs such as LanChi, Weilai, and Joy, and is the only VR company invested by China Mobile. The "NOLO" brand is taken from the four letters of "TECHNOLOGY", which means "technology as the core". The core team is composed of technical experts led by doctors from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the R&D team comes from Huawei, Xiaomi, Sony, Ericsson and other top global Internet companies. The company currently has more than 200 global industry technology patents, covering more than 12 mainstream countries.

NOLO has been deeply engaged in 6DoF interactive technology for many years. Its self-developed positioning solutions "SodarTraq®" and "PolarTraq®" are in a leading position in the world. NOLO is also one of the few technology companies in the world that has completely [systematized] independent intellectual property rights 6DoF patented technology. The company's products cover 6DoF VR all-in-one machines, 6DoF VR interactive handles, VR acceleration routers, and 3DoF Bluetooth handles, allowing users to get a fully immersive VR experience on mobile devices anytime, anywhere.

NOLO has always been at the forefront of technological innovation and has won the title of Top 50 Companies at the World VR Conference for two consecutive years. In 2018, it won the 2018 Top 50 Disruptive Innovation Award together with 50 companies including Baidu, Tencent, Alibaba, and SenseTime, and became the only VR technology innovation company on the list in China. So far, NOLO's users and products have spread to more than 70 countries and regions around the world. We will continue to create more high-quality products and services to meet the diversified and personalized needs of consumers and continue to lead the development of the industry.

About Nordic Semiconductor

Nordic Semiconductor is a Norwegian fabless semiconductor company specializing in wireless communication technologies that power the Internet of Things (IoT). Founded in 1983, Nordic has more than 1,000 employees worldwide. Our award-winning Bluetooth low energy solutions pioneered ultra-low power wireless communication technology, making us a global market leader. We have supplemented our technology range with ANT+, Thread and Zigbee technologies, and launched compact and low-power LTE-M/NB-IoT cellular IoT solutions in 2018 to expand the penetration of the Internet of Things. In 2021, we further supplemented our product portfolio with Wi-Fi technology.

We have built our reputation by delivering leading wireless technologies supported by development tools that shield designers from the complexity of RF technology, enabling anyone with a bright idea to create innovative products based on IoT platforms. Today, our award-winning, high-performance and easy-to-design Bluetooth low energy solutions are used by the world's leading brands in a wide range of products, including wireless PC peripherals, gaming, sports and fitness, mobile accessories, consumer electronics, toys, healthcare and automation products. Nordic is a member of the ANT+ Alliance, Bluetooth SIG, Thread Group, Zigbee Alliance, Wi-Fi Alliance and GSMA.