Silicon Laboratories introduced energy-efficient microcontroller (MCU) and wireless MCU solutions for power-sensitive embedded applications. The C8051F96x MCU and Si102x and Si103x wireless MCU families are based on low-power technology that enables 40 percent less system current draw and up to 65 percent longer battery life than competing MCU solutions.
Designed to address the unique power requirements of battery-operated embedded systems, Silicon Labs’ ultra-lower-power MCU families are ideal for smart metering (water, gas and heat meters), in-home utility monitoring, wireless security, home and building automation, portable medical and asset tracking products.
The Si102x/3x wireless MCUs combine the power-saving features of the F96x MCUs with the company’s EZRadioPRO sub-GHz transceiver into a single-chip solution that is ideal for battery-operated embedded systems requiring both energy efficiency and industry-leading RF performance. F96x and Si102x/3x families’ on-chip dc-dc buck converter enables significantly higher efficiency in voltage conversion compared to a linear regulator, resulting in energy transfer efficiencies of up to 85 percent.
The on-chip buck converter can supply up to 250 mW of power, providing energy not only for the MCU but also for other circuits in the system such as an RF transceiver. Silicon Labs is the first semiconductor company to integrate a power-saving dc-dc buck converter on an MCU, resulting in not only superior energy efficiency but also lower component count and BOM cost.
An on-chip Dedicated Packet Processing Engine (DPPE) with hardware acceleration blocks enables more than a fivefold increase in RF message processing speed and allows the CPU to remain idle during transactions, thereby reducing active time and the current load on the battery. The MCUs also include a low-power pulse counter that operates autonomously in sleep mode without CPU intervention. The on-chip pulse counter is especially useful in reducing power in utility metering applications that use pulse trains or switch closures while monitoring fluid flow.
The MCUs achieve 400nA sleep current with the RTC running and 70nA sleep current (without the RTC) at 3V. An ultra-low 10nA sleep current mode is additionally available at minimum voltage. The MCUs offer wakeup time from sleep mode at 2 microseconds. As a result of these state-of-the-art low-power design techniques, systems based on the F96x and Si102x/3x families can support battery life greater than 20 years.
Development Environment
Silicon Labs’ F96x and Si102x/3x families are supported by a new Unified Development Platform (UDP) featuring a single motherboard, modular boards, integrated LCD, and ample real estate for prototyping, expansion and system integration. The UDP supports MCU code and firmware development, RF design and optimization, and network and protocol stacks such as the wireless M-Bus stack for smart metering applications.
Silicon Labs also offers Wireless Development Suite (WDS) software that enables developers to easily create efficient, robust and cost-effective wireless applications with little or no RF design experience.
Pricing and Availability
Production quantities of Silicon Labs’ F96x MCUs and Si102x/Si103x wireless MCUs are available now in a variety of small-footprint packages. Pricing in 10,000-unit quantities begins at $2.41 for the F96x MCUs, $4.39 for the Si102x wireless MCUs and $3.27 for the Si103x wireless MCUs (all prices in USD). Silicon Labs offers a number of hardware and software development kits ranging in price from $129 to $829 (USD MSRP).
