Demystifying the Sub-GHz System-on-Chip with a wireless transmission distance of more than 1 mile
Sub-GHz refers to frequencies below 1GHz, generally 27MHz to 960MHz, and is considered an ideal choice for long-distance and low-power communications. Compared with 2.4 GHz wireless communication, Sub-GHz has obvious advantages, including longer transmission range, quieter spectrum for low interference and low power consumption, and better wall penetration capabilities. These advantages make Sub-GHz have a wide range of application scenarios in consumer electronics, automotive, industrial and medical fields.
Recently, Silicon Labs announced the launch of a new Sub-GHz system-on-chip (SoC), which is the world's first Sub-GHz wireless solution with long-distance radio frequency and energy-saving features and passed ArmPSA Level 3 safety certification , Can meet the global demand for high-performance battery-powered Internet of Things (IoT) products.
We all know that 2.4 GHz wireless communication is open source for use. It is an open and universal wireless frequency band around the world. Various wireless products can use this frequency band. As the number of applications increases, interference problems begin to appear, such as WiFi in offices or homes. All kinds of wireless Bluetooth devices, even microwave ovens in the kitchen...
The introduction of Sub-GHz first solved this problem. Among them, 433MHz can become a substitute for 2.4GHz in the global market except Japan, and 868MHz and 915MHz can be better applied to the US and European markets. In general, Sub-GHz has many available frequency bands that do not require or require authorization, and manufacturers can optimize them according to market needs.
Silicon Labs’ Sub-GHz wireless solutions include EFR32FG23 (FG23) and EFR32ZG23 (ZG23), which extend Silicon Labs’ award-winning second-generation wireless solution platform to support multiple modulation schemes and advanced wireless technologies, including Amazon Sidewalk, mioty, wireless M-Bus, Z-Wave and proprietary IoT networks provide developers with flexible, multi-protocol Sub-GHz connection options.
Taking FG23 as an example, it has low power consumption and high performance receiver performance at 433 MHz, 868 MHz, 915 MHz and 920 MHz.
Low power consumption characteristics of FG23:
-4.2 mA RX current at 920 MHz (400 kbps 4-FSK);
-3.8 mA RX current at 915 MHz (4.8 kbps O-QPSK);
-5.1 mA RX current at 915 MHz (2 Mbps GFSK);
-3.7 mA RX current at 868 MHz (2.4 kbps GFSK);
-3.7 mA RX current at 868 MHz (38.4 kbps FSK);
-4.0 mA RX current at 433 MHz (100 kbps 2GFSK).
High performance of FG23 receiver:
-98.6 dBm sensitivity @ 400 kbps 920 MHz 4-GFSK;
-125.8 dBm sensitivity @ 4.8 kbps 915 MHz O-QPSK;
-96.9 dBm sensitivity @ 2 Mbps 915 MHz GFSK;
-125.3 dBm sensitivity @ 2.4 kbps 868 MHz GFSK;
-111.8 dBm sensitivity @ 38.4 kbps 868 MHz FSK;
-110.7 dBm sensitivity @ 100 kbps 433 MHz 2GFSK.
According to Silicon Labs, the excellent receiver performance of the FG23 wireless SoC solution benefits from its flexible antenna diversity function, which can achieve a first-class wireless link budget. At the same time, advanced wireless features combined with FG23's low active mode current (26µA/MHz) and sleep mode current (1.2µA) make it suitable for outdoor battery-powered networking nodes, wireless sensor nodes, and devices that are difficult to reach. An ideal solution for connection and other fields.
Matt Johnson, President of Silicon Labs, said: "The new developments achieved by our second-generation wireless SoC platform will meet the growing demand for highly integrated long-distance wireless connections, so that cities, industries, and homes can be more efficient and more accessible. Continuous operation. Silicon Labs’ new safe, ultra-low-power Sub-GHz solution extends the wireless communication distance to more than 1 mile, thus providing a broader space for developers who need scalable and high-performance wireless technology. Support them to promote changes in the Internet of Things."
Matt Johnson, President of Silicon Labs
The ability to achieve a transmission distance of more than 1 mile is mainly due to the superior propagation characteristics of sub-GHz wireless communication. In related tests, to achieve the same transmission distance, 2.4 GHz wireless communication consumes more than 8.5 dB more than sub-GHz wireless communication. Additional power.
Another solution, ZG23, realizes more powerful Z-Wave wireless features by adding Secure Vault™ function, while it can provide the same industry-leading RF and power performance as FG23. ZG23 supports Z-Wave remote protocol (Long Range) and mesh network. It is the first SoC optimized for terminal devices and gateways. It can also support all protocols supported by FG23. ZG23 wireless solutions are mainly oriented to markets such as smart homes, hotels, and multi-dwelling units (MDU). ZG23-based ultra-compact system-in-package (SiP) module ZGM230S will also be launched, which only supports Z-Wave, which can simplify development and accelerate product launch.
At the same time, Silicon Labs also released an integrated software development kit (Unify SDK). Unify SDK can provide ready-made protocol-specific conversion functions for Z-Wave and Zigbee (available from now), and plans to implement support for Bluetooth, Thread, OpenSync and Matter, thereby greatly simplifying the interoperability of IoT wireless networks and supporting Companies to expand smart homes, cities, buildings, and industrial ecosystems.
"Silicon Labs' Unify SDK has taken an important step forward for the industry to get closer to a world where all IoT wireless devices can easily work together across multiple industries and in the home." Silicon Labs President Matt Johnson said. "With the powerful function of'design once, support all', Unify SDK can simplify the update process, thereby speeding up product launch, simplifying maintenance and ensuring that the investment will not be out of date. This is the first time that IoT vendors only need to develop and maintain a single software code The library can support multiple IoT devices including gateways, and can easily add wireless protocol support when needed."
How does Unify SDK achieve these excellent performance? Silicon Labs gave the answer in the introduction on its official website. Through clearly defined integration points, help shorten the time for product launch, continuous maintenance and custom development; through the ubiquitous MQTT option in the framework, realize the natural compatible path of ecosystem and cloud service integration, while supporting multi-cloud and reducing local rule engine Complexity; through modular and scalable open architecture, portability and scalability are achieved, multi-protocol products are supported and customers are allowed to integrate new terminal devices from different protocols; through a fully functional wireless protocol roadmap, Customers can reduce their non-strategic and non-core investments and allow the evolution from a single protocol to multiple protocols, thereby increasing target market applications; through a well-defined data model, the complexity of the data model is eliminated from the development cycle.
Currently, the EFR32FG23 SoC in 5mm x 5mm QFN40 and 6mm x 6mm QFN48 packages was officially released at the 2021 Works With Internet of Things Developer Conference held by Silicon Labs, and will be available from September 14, 2021. The FG23 development kit is also available today, with retail prices starting at $39.99. EFR32ZG23 SoC, ZGM230S modules and supporting kits will be available in the fourth quarter of 2021.
If you are interested in the FG23 that has been supplied, you can also pay attention to the following solution. Silicon Labs and the global IoT development platform Tuya Smart recently announced that they have cooperated to provide a complete Sub-GHz solution to achieve low power consumption, high security and long-distance transmission. The solution integrates Silicon Labs’ EFR32FG (Flex Gecko) Sub-GHz system-on-chip into Tuya Smart’s SS3L module, which can be used for indoor and outdoor applications in scenarios such as smart homes, smart buildings, industrial wireless control, smart hotels, and smart communities. IoT applications provide powerful functions.
