IoT developers routinely face product design tradeoffs around wireless range, power consumption, size, security and cost. The Series 2 wireless connectivity portfolio aims to simplify IoT product design with highly-integrated SoC options and reusable software, designed to make RF communication more dependable and energy efficient.
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. According to Silicon Labs this delivers 2.5x the wireless range of competing solutions. The device is also said to "offer best in class RF performance", with +20 dBm output power and up to +124.5 dB link budget.
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 are suitable for line-powered IoT products including gateways, hubs, lights, voice assistants and smart electric meters.
