Silicon Labs FG28 Sub-GHz wireless and 2.4 GHz BLE SoC supports Amazon Sidewalk, Wi-SUN, etc…

Silicon Labs FG28 block diagram

Silicon Labs dual-band FG28 Cortex-M33 SoC comes with sub-Gigahertz and 2.4 GHz Bluetooth LE radios that support long-range networks and protocols like Amazon Sidewalk, Wi-SUN, and other proprietary protocols, as well as a built-in AI/ML accelerator for machine learning inference and SiLabs Secure Vault technology. The chip looks to be an update to the sub-GHz FG25 Cortex-M33 microcontroller with an additional 2.4 GHz BLE radio, but somehow less program memory (up to 256KB) and storage (up to 1024 KB). The peripherals implemented in the chip are almost the same, as the microcontroller gains support for predictive maintenance with a small matrix vector processor for AI/ML acceleration. Silicon Labs FG28 (EFR32FG28) specifications: MCU core – Arm Cortex-M33 @ 78 MHz with DSP instructions and FPU On-chip memory – Up to 256 kB RAM data memory On-chip storage – Up to 1024 kB flash program memory AI accelerator – Matrix Vector Processor […]

Sony ALT1350 5G cellular IoT chip supports NTN connectivity, integrates sub-GHz and 2.4GHz radios

Sony ALT1350 5G IoT 802.15.4 chip

Sony ALT1350 is a new ultra-low-power 5G LPWA LTE-M/NB-IoT chip that supports Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN) for satellite connectivity and also integrates sub-GHz and 2.4 GHz radios for short-range communication and improved efficiency. The chip is comprised of an Arm Cortex-M4 microcontroller core as well as an Arm Cortex-M0+ always-on core for sensors and will be upgradable to 3GPP Release 17 to support higher bitrates for Cat-M1 (eMTC) and Cat-NB2 (NB-IoT). It also implements GNSS, cellular and wifi-based location, supports AI acceleration, and embeds a secure element for secure communication. Sony ALT1350 specifications: MCU cores Arm cortex-M4 with 1MB NVRAM and 752KB RAM Arm Cortex-M0+ low power always-on sensing hub Memory & Storage I/F – Quad SPI flash and PSRAM Wireless Cellular 3GPP Release 15, future proof to support 3GPP up to 17 through SW upgrade CAT-M1: Up to 588 Kbps in DL, and 1119 Kbps in uplink (up to 1.2mbps […]

Silicon Labs FG25 Arm Cortex-M33 SoC targets Wi-SUN FAN networks

Silicon Labs FG25 Wi SUN microcontroller

Silicon Labs announced various new products at its annual Works With Developer Conference including the FG25 Arm Cortex-M33 SoC designed for sub-GHz Wi-SUN FAN networks for Smart Cities and applications such as smart metering, street lighting, electricity distribution automation, municipal infrastructure, and more. The microcontroller runs at up to 97.5 MHz, features 512KB RAM and up to 1920 KB flash, operates at up to 125°C, consumes as little as 2.6 μA in deep sleep mode, and can offer a range of up to 3 km when used in combination with the new EFF01x front-end module delivering up to +30 dBm output power. Silicon Labs FG25 (EFR32FG25) specifications: CPU core – Arm Cortex-M33 core @ 97.5 MHz with DSP instruction and floating-point unit for signal processing Memory – Up to 512 kB RAM data memory Storage – Up to 1920 kB flash program memory Radio Sub-GHz radio operation TX power up […]

Wi-SUN: An LPWAN standard for Smart Cities, Smart Agriculture, large scale IoT deployments

Wi SUN network architecture

Wi-SUN is a standard (IEEE 802.15.4g) managed by the Wi-SUN Alliance and designed for Smart Cities, Smart Agriculture, and other large scale IoT deployments with a large number of devices thanks to the use of IPv6 mesh networking. The organization was founded in 2011 to “support the worldwide development of Wireless Communications Networks for Utilities, Smart Cities and IoT”, but due to the niche nature of target applications, it does not get that much press coverage and was only recently brought to my attention. Wi-SUN stands for “Wireless Smart Utility Networks”or “Wireless Smart Ubiquitous Networks”, and the standard aims to connect streetlights, cameras, weather stations, smart metering, utility transmission systems, and others to enable data-sharing between city services to improve their efficiency, save costs, and offer improves services to citizens. Wi-SUN FAN (Field Area Network) is the latest protocol managed by the Wi-SUN Alliance with over 95 million units shipped […]

Gateworks GW16122 IoT mPCIe Card Comes with Long Range Sub-GHz and 2.4GHz Radios

Gateworks GW16122 Dual-Band IoT mPCIe Card

Gateworks GW16122 is a mini PCIe card that adds sub-GHz and 2.4GHz radio to the company line of Ventana and Newport Linux SBC’s, and is meant for industrial IoT (IIoT) applications as an alternative to LoRa and Sigfox. The second generation of the card is based on Texas instruments CC1352P dual-band wireless SoC that supports Wireless M-Bus, IEEE 802.15.4g, 6LoWPAN, KNX RF, and Wi-SUN at sub-GHz frequencies (EU: 868MHz, US: 915MHz), and Bluetooth 5 Low Energy, Thread, and Zigbee at 2.4 GHz. Gateworks GW16122 key features and specifications: MCU – Texas Instruments  CC1352P Arm Cortex-M4F MCU @ 48 MHz with 352KB flash, 80KB SRAM, dual-band wireless radio transmitter/receiver Radios Sub-1 GHz Radio 868MHz EU, 915 MHz US (default) Low Power, sensor nodes can run on a coin-cell battery -121dBm Receive Sensitivity for long-range communication 20dBm Output Power Texas Instruments TI-RTOS and TI-15.4 Stack M-Bus, IEEE802.15.4g, Contiki 6LoWPAN, Wi-SUN, KNX RF […]

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