Silicon Labs today has launched a Bluetooth Smart solutions portfolio intended to minimize the energy consumption, cost, and complexity of wireless Internet of Things (IoT) designs. Silicon Labs’s new Blue Gecko solutions include ultra-low-power wireless system-on-chip (SoC) devices, embedded modules, and Bluegiga’s software development kit (SDK) and Bluetooth Smart software stack. Blue Gecko wireless SoCs and modules help you simplify design and speed time to market for a wide range of applications (e.g., connected home, wearable, and automotive).
The Blue Gecko portfolio addresses the largest, fastest-growing low-power wireless connectivity opportunity in the IoT market. It provides developers with the flexibility to begin development with modules and transition to SoCs when needed with little to no system redesign.
The first in a family of wireless SoCs optimized for IoT applications, Blue Gecko SoCs combine Silicon Labs’ energy-friendly EFM32 Gecko MCU technology with an ultra-low-power Bluetooth Smart transceiver. This innovative, single-die solution provides industry-leading energy efficiency, the fastest wake-up times, superior RF sensitivity and no-compromise MCU features combined with the Bluegiga Bluetooth Smart software stack to help developers reduce system power, cost and time to market. Unlike other Bluetooth Smart IC alternatives, a Blue Gecko SoC can transmit +10 dBm or higher output power with its fully integrated power amplifier and balun, further reducing design complexity.
Blue Gecko SoCs are based on the ARM Cortex-M3 and M4 cores and offer 128- to 256-KB flash sizes and 16- to 32-KB RAM sizes. The SoCs integrate an array of low-energy peripherals as well as Silicon Labs’s Peripheral Reflex System (PRS) for autonomous peripheral operation. The Blue Gecko SoC family also offers a roadmap of enhanced flash and RAM memory sizes and additional package options to meet future application needs.
Bluegiga modules based on Blue Gecko SoCs are designed to help developers accelerate time to market and reduce development costs and compliance risks by providing a precertified, plug-and-play RF design. Bluegiga Bluetooth Smart modules incorporate all features of Blue Gecko SoCs and are certified for use in all key markets including North America, Europe, Japan and South Korea. Bluegiga modules include the Bluegiga Bluetooth Smart software stack and profile toolkit and come with 256 kB flash and 32 kB RAM, providing ample available memory for onboard applications. Flexible hardware interfaces enable easy connection to a variety of peripherals and sensors, and an integrated antenna makes RF operation consistent and straightforward for the design engineer. Bluegiga Bluetooth Smart modules provide very low power operation, enabling wireless system designs to be powered from a standard 3-V coin cell battery or two AAA batteries.
Samples of Bluegiga modules based on Blue Gecko SoCs are scheduled to be available in late Q2 2015. Samples of Blue Gecko wireless SoCs are planned to be available in early Q3 in 5 mm × 5 mm QFN32 and 7 mm × 7 mm QFN48 packages. Pricing for Blue Gecko-based Bluegiga modules starts at $4.99 in 10,000-unit quantities. Blue Gecko SoC start at $0.99 in 100,000-unit quantities. The Bluegiga SDK and Bluetooth Smart software stack will be available to Silicon Labs customers at no charge.
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Source: Silicon Labs
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