Matter, Thread, Zigbee, Wi-Fi 6, and Bluetooth LE 5.4 rarely converge in a single module, but the new AX61 series from Abietec manages exactly that. Built on NXP's RW612 and RW610 microcontrollers, the modules squeeze multi-protocol wireless into a footprint of just 15.9 x 24.9 x 2.3 mm (0.6 x 1.0 x 0.1 in). The RW612-based variants are the fuller-featured option, supporting Matter over both Wi-Fi and Thread alongside Zigbee, while the RW610 variants cover Wi-Fi 6, BLE 5.4, and Matter over Wi-Fi without Thread or Zigbee.
Each module is powered by a 260 MHz Arm Cortex-M33 processor with a floating-point unit and TrustZone-M security, backed by 1.2 MB of on-chip SRAM and 8 MB of external flash. The peripheral set is generous for something this compact: 57 GPIOs, high-speed USB, RMII for Fast Ethernet, QSPI, SPI, UART, I2C, I2S, PWM, ADC, and NFC. All variants are rated for -40°C to +85°C (-40°F to +185°F), covering both indoor IoT and harsher industrial environments.
The underlying RW612 platform has upstream board support in the Zephyr Project, and NXP maintains an open-source Matter stack with RW61x enablement running on Zephyr RTOS. Companion libraries for cryptography and secure boot are also released under open-source licenses, giving developers an open toolchain from RTOS to application layer, a meaningful advantage for teams that want to audit or customize their wireless stack. That upstream work currently centers on NXP's own FRDM-RW612 reference board rather than on Abietec's modules directly, and it has already enabled real community projects: Golioth built its open-source Pouch Gateway Bluetooth-to-cloud bridge on the RW612 running Zephyr. Raytac Group, Abietec's parent company, has a track record of getting its own module demo boards merged into Zephyr's upstream tree for its Nordic-based lineup, though the AX61 series does not yet have a dedicated board definition of its own there.
Abietec offers six module variants across the two chipsets, split by antenna type: integrated ceramic chip, PCB trace, and u.FL connector for external antennas. A companion AX61-DB-C28M evaluation board is available for prototyping. Samples are expected in Q4 2026, with pricing and production availability still to be announced.
