Wireless Connectivity: A Universal Solution

Could this be true?  Can there really be one standard?  If only. 

Today, engineers wanting to add wireless connectivity to their products must consider lots of options: WiFi, Bluetooth, ZigBee, Thread, Proprietary and even Cellular.  You may have seen a table like this comparing various wireless connectivity options.

So indeed, there are appropriate uses for each, tradeoffs to consider and resources to apply.  But what if the task can be made just a bit easier?  What if a platform existed where all (or at least some) of these could be created with minimal incremental work?

Good news… there is.  Let’s talk about Silicon Labs EFM32 Wireless Gecko Family.  As the block diagram below shows, we offer a universal SoC platform that includes an ARM M4 core, multi-frequency radio, and broad range of peripherals coupled with a flexible set of energy management modes capable of supporting Bluetooth, Mesh and Proprietary protocols.

From this common platform we offer three product families:

The Mighty Gecko family provides the superset of functionality and capabilities and can support mesh networking such as ZigBee and Thread, low energy, point-to-point applications like Bluetooth and proprietary applications that may exist in home appliances, metering or remote monitoring.

The Blue Gecko family is purpose built for Bluetooth applications and provides capabilities for both long range (beacon) as well as shorter range, low power applications

Finally, Flex Gecko enables proprietary applications in both the 2.4 GHz as well as Sub GHz spaces.  These are ideal for customers that have created their own ecosystem or do not have a need conform to other industry standards.  With Flex Gecko comes our Connect and RAIL enabling software to provide easy configuration and network formation.

The table below summarizes:

If you know Silicon Labs, you’ll know that we have a powerful development tool: Simplicity Studio.  This is where the magic happens.  It provides the capability to do all of your wireless development from configuration, to stacks to applications, performance and network analysis and targets any of these devices.

By the way, these are offered as SoC or Modules.  I had previously discussed the tradeoffs between these solutions.  And as noted, one can develop using the same Simplicity Studio environment.

While the connectivity conundrum does not go away entirely, we do have a solution that gets you much further down the road.  A flexible platform that can cover Mesh, Bluetooth and Proprietary wireless connectivity requirements coupled with the development environment that makes it all possible.

Products - 

SLWSTK6000A Mighty Gecko Mesh Dev Kit RS - 915-6604

Flex Gecko 2.4GHz Wireless Starter Kit RS - 915-6446

EFR32BG Bluetooth Smart Starter Kit RS - 909-4095