Next Generation Wireless Gecko Drives Scalability for the IoT
Silicon Labs introduced the next generation of its Wireless Gecko platform, Series 2, designed to make Internet of Things (IoT) products more powerful, efficient and reliable. Building on the leading RF and multiprotocol capabilities of the Wireless Gecko portfolio, Series 2 delivers the industry’s most versatile and scalable IoT connectivity platform. The initial Series 2 products include small-form-factor system-on-a-chip (SoC) devices with a dedicated security core and an on-chip radio delivering 2.5X the wireless range of competing solutions. The first products in Silicon Labs’ Series 2 portfolio include EFR32MG21 SoCs supporting multiprotocol, Zigbee®, Thread and Bluetooth® mesh networking, and EFR32BG21 SoCs dedicated to Bluetooth Low Energy and Bluetooth mesh. These SoCs provide ideal solutions for line-powered IoT products including gateways, hubs, lights, voice assistants and smart electric meters.
Series 2 SoCs provide developers with unmatched system design advantages:
- Best-in-class RF performance with +20 dBm output power and up to +124.5 dB link budget
- Robust wireless radio with improved blocking performance
- Powerful processing with an 80 MHz Arm® Cortex®-M33 core with TrustZone technology
- Low active current (50.9 µA/MHz) to meet stringent green energy requirements, a benefit of manufacturing on low-power 40 nm process technology
- Industry’s smallest multiprotocol SoCs in a 4 mm x 4 mm QFN package
- Lower BOM count and system cost with fewer matching components and no need for external inductors or power amplifiers
- Flexible pre-certified modules based on EFR32xG21 SoCs planned for Q3
- Secure by Design
EFR32xG21 SoCs provide enhanced security features that enable developers to implement robust security in connected products:
- A dedicated security core enables faster, lower-power encryption than software techniques.
- A true random number generator (TRNG) strengthens device cryptography.
- Secure boot loading ensures authenticity of firmware images and over-the-air updates.
- Secure debug access control helps OEMs prevent unauthorized access to end products.