Silicon Labs Expands Bluetooth Portfolio to Provide Greater Flexibility for IoT Devices

Silicon Labs (NASDAQ: SLAB), a leading supplier of chips, software and solutions for a smarter, more connected world, is expanding its Bluetooth® Low Energy product line with industry-leading RF performance for IoT developers. Silicon Labs offers excellent performance, flexibility and packaging options for Bluetooth 5.2, including system-on-chip (SoC), system-in-package (SiP), modules and network coprocessors (NCP). Silicon Labs' Internet of Things (IoT) solutions feature best-in-class performance, advanced security and are optimized for power, cost, size and turnkey simplicity.

Silicon Labs has announced the launch of the BGM220S to expand its low-power Bluetooth product family. Measuring only 6x6 mm, the BGM220S is one of the world's smallest Bluetooth SiPs. It provides an ultra-compact, low-cost, long-battery-life SiP module that adds full Bluetooth connectivity to ultra-small products. Also launched is the BGM220P, a slightly larger PCB module optimized for wireless performance and with a better link budget for a wider range. The BGM220S and BGM220P are among the first Bluetooth modules to support Bluetooth direction finding, and they can support up to 10 years of battery life on a single coin cell battery.

“Our Bluetooth LE portfolio demonstrates Silicon Labs’ unique ability to deliver complete wireless solutions with best-in-class performance, power, size and security,” said Matt Johnson, senior vice president of IoT at Silicon Labs. “Silicon Labs has a long and proven track record of success in a broad range of IoT wireless technologies, including mesh, multiprotocol, proprietary, Thread, Zigbee and Z-Wave. We are focused on wireless expertise and are committed to building leadership in Bluetooth LE, with our secure Bluetooth 5.2 SoCs being well-received in the market. The BG22, launched in January 2020, is being used in a wide range of consumer, medical and smart home products, bringing us unprecedented product adoption and growth opportunities.”

According to the 2020 Bluetooth Market Report of the Bluetooth SIG, low-power Bluetooth is still the fastest growing Bluetooth RF chip, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 26%.

Industry-leading performance and top security

Silicon Labs offers high-performance and secure low-power Bluetooth SoCs and modules. SoCs have highly customizable software and RF design options, making them ideal for IoT device manufacturers who require a high degree of flexibility in IoT device development. SiP modules are ideal for low-power Bluetooth device manufacturers who require ultra-small size and pre-certification, with little to no RF design or engineering required; while PCB modules have many of the advantages of SiP modules at a lower cost.

Silicon Labs' chip and module solutions also support multi-protocol connectivity for demanding applications including gateways, hubs and smart lighting. Silicon Labs has been a leader in wireless mesh networks for decades, and the company is introducing an advanced security feature suite called Secure Vault to its high-performance low-power Bluetooth product line. Secure Vault is an advanced hardware and software security protection suite currently available for IoT devices, enabling device manufacturers to better protect their brands, product designs and consumer data.

Just last week, Silicon Labs’ new EFR32MG21B multiprotocol wireless SoC with built-in Secure Vault received Arm PSA Level 2 certification, which is based on a comprehensive assurance framework to help standardize IoT security and remove security barriers to market. EFR32MG21B is the first RF chip to receive Arm PSA Level 2 certification.

In August 2020, the EFR32xG22 Wireless Gecko Series 2 development kit received the ioXt SmartCert security certification issued by the ioXt Alliance. As an alliance dedicated to improving the security of the Internet of Things, the ioXt Alliance certification program evaluates devices based on the eight ioXt commitment principles, and only devices that meet or exceed the corresponding security level can obtain ioXt SmartCert certification.

Silicon Labs' high-performance Bluetooth low energy products include the EFR32BG21A SoC and BGM210PA module with Secure Element. The new EFR32BG21B SoC with Secure Vault is available for order now, and the BGM210PB module with Secure Vault is scheduled to be available later this year.

Optimizing performance and cost

Silicon Labs also offers a range of optimized low-power Bluetooth solutions that feature low cost, low power consumption, and high storage efficiency, as well as strong RF performance and security features, including Secure Boot with Root of Trust and Secure Loader. Silicon Labs' optimized low-power Bluetooth solutions are ideal for battery-powered terminal node applications such as wireless sensors, actuators, portable medical, and asset tags. The BGM220 module released today is a good example. It is ultra-compact and low-cost, supporting a single button battery for 5 to 10 years of battery life, while easily adding turnkey pre-certification, including CE and FCC regulatory certification and Bluetooth certification, for quick time to market.

Silicon Labs’ optimized Bluetooth low energy products, including the award-winning EFR32BG22 SoC and the new BGM220P/S modules, are available now.

NCP realizes complete low-power Bluetooth solution, helping products to be launched quickly

Silicon Labs' NCP is ideal for IoT manufacturers because it virtually eliminates engineering and development cycles, enabling rapid time to market. Silicon Labs' NCP enables device manufacturers to easily add turnkey security and pre-certified Bluetooth capabilities to their existing microcontrollers (MCUs) with embedded security features including root of trust.

Silicon Labs is expanding its NCP product line with the new Bluetooth Xpress BGX220 pre-certified PCB and SiP modules. Scheduled to be available before the end of September, the BGX220 UART to Bluetooth Low Energy bridge module is expected to provide a fast path to market for secure low-power Bluetooth connected products. Like the BGM220, the Bluetooth Xpress BGX220 simplifies design by providing customers with a certified hardware platform that simplifies code development by converting the protocol stack into a simple API that can be used with an external microcontroller.

Silicon Labs Simplifies IoT Development with Simplicity Studio 5

They recently released Simplicity Studio 5, a major upgrade to its integrated development environment (IDE). The new version of Simplicity Studio can provide a consistent access and development experience for various wireless protocols through a centralized, web-style user interface.

Silicon Labs designed the new version of this all-in-one software suite to simplify the development of wireless system-on-chip (SoC) and modules, microcontrollers and other embedded products for IoT devices. Simplicity Studio 5 also provides IoT device developers with consistent security configuration and code for IoT SoCs and modules. This portability greatly reduces device development time.

“IoT developers face many technical challenges, including optimizing for performance, power, size, multiprotocol coexistence and security. In addition, developers face business pressures, including development cycles, certifications and code reuse,” said Matt Johnson, senior vice president of IoT at Silicon Labs. “Simplicity Studio 5 is a free new development platform that addresses these challenges and makes it faster and easier than ever to create smart home, commercial, consumer and industrial applications. It supports all of Silicon Labs’ wireless technologies and helps developers easily create sophisticated, flexible multiprotocol products using OpenThread and Bluetooth Dynamic Multiprotocol technology without having to understand every implementation detail.”

Based on feedback from customers, employees and developers, Silicon Labs has redesigned the Simplicity Studio platform to address the challenges faced by IoT developers, helping users with different experience levels gain quick access to resources and the ability to quickly develop, prototype and deploy connected devices. Simplicity Studio 5 features a modern user interface, optimized workflows, higher performance, and debugging and analysis capabilities to help developers get wireless solutions to market faster.

Simplicity Studio 5 can also intelligently identify all evaluation and development kits released by Silicon Labs, providing users with appropriate software development kits (SDKs), tools, and development resources.

Highlights of Simplicity Studio 5

· Extensibility: One set of tools and environment supports multiple protocols; support for other protocols will be added continuously. This includes support for OpenThread, making it easier to develop mesh applications based on IPv6 and paving the way for future development of Project Connected Home over IP devices running on Silicon Labs’ EFR32 Wireless Gecko.

· Responsive User Interface (UI): Brand new web-style user interface.

Modern platform: Based on the latest version of C/C++ development tools and the open source Eclipse platform, supporting the use of Eclipse Marketplace plug-ins.

Core upgrades: Higher performance and industry-standard code editors, compilers, and debuggers.

Network Analyzer: Simplifies the development of Mesh solutions by collecting, organizing, and analyzing data results from the entire network.

Project Configuration: New project tools enabled by a software component-based SDK enhance discoverability, configurability, and dependency management of software components beyond competing tools.

Power Analyzer: Analyzes the power consumption of the device to help optimize the design to reduce power consumption and extend battery life.

Advanced security: Enables new Secure Vault capabilities to future-proof IoT devices to meet evolving security challenges and regulatory requirements.

Automatic board detection: Once a board is connected, technical documentation and software examples for that device are automatically found.

Value-added tools: Code-correlated power analysis, wireless network analysis and improved debugging capabilities for easier debugging to accelerate time to market for complex applications.