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August 26, 2026

[Blog]

Enabling Smarter, More Energy-Efficient Hotels and MDUs Through Z-Wave Long Range

Energy efficiency has become a key differentiator for hotels and multi-dwelling units (MDUs). Rising utility costs, ambitious sustainability goals, and increasing guest expectations are driving property owners to address this by investing in smarter building automation. According to the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) Energy Efficiency 2025 report, buildings account for around 30% of global energy demand, making hotels and MDUs two of the largest opportunities for improving operational efficiency.

For developers building next-generation connected buildings, meeting this challenge requires creating scalable energy-management solutions. This starts with secure, low-power endpoints that communicate reliably across an entire property. Z-Wave Long Range provides the wireless foundation to connect these endpoints at scale, enabling hotels and MDUs to sense, connect, and respond intelligently.

Why Energy Management Needs Smarter Endpoints

Energy management is becoming a broader priority across the connected-device ecosystem. In smart homes, for example, Matter Energy Management is expanding how devices can share energy information and coordinate their operation. Hotels and MDUs take this challenge to a different scale, where wireless coverage, endpoint scalability, and long-term operation become critical.

Today’s Hotels/MDUs already contain connected thermostats, occupancy sensors, smart locks, lighting controls, and environmental sensors. But many energy-saving opportunities remain untapped because these devices often operate independently rather than as an intelligent system.

Consider a hotel room after a guest checks out. Without occupancy awareness, HVAC systems may continue conditioning an empty room, lights remain on unnecessarily, and housekeeping receives no automated indication that the room is vacant. Similar inefficiencies occur in apartment buildings, where common-area lighting, environmental controls, or vacant units continue consuming energy regardless of actual occupancy.

Solving these problems requires endpoints that can securely exchange information, respond locally to occupancy changes, and scale across hundreds or thousands of devices without increasing deployment complexity.

In other words, scalable energy management starts with scalable wireless endpoints.

Why Z-Wave Long Range for Energy Management Devices?

Hotels and MDUs present unique connectivity challenges. Devices are distributed across multiple floors, concrete walls reduce signal propagation, and many endpoints must operate on batteries for years with minimal maintenance.

Z-Wave Long Range addresses these challenges by extending reliable Sub-GHz communication while supporting significantly larger endpoint populations than traditional residential deployments. The combination of long-range communication, low-power operation, and certified interoperability enables occupancy sensors, thermostats, lighting controls, leak detectors, and smart locks to work together as a coordinated energy-management system.

Similarly, certified interoperability allows manufacturers to develop products that integrate into an established ecosystem, giving building operators greater flexibility when selecting devices while reducing deployment risk and protecting long-term infrastructure investments.

For developers, this means building products that can support both today’s installations and tomorrow’s larger, more intelligent properties without redesigning the underlying wireless architecture.

Designing Better Energy-Management Devices with Z-Wave Long Range

Building intelligent endpoints requires more than selecting a wireless protocol. Developers must balance battery life, security, installation simplicity, application complexity, and long product lifecycles within a single device.

Silicon Labs addresses these challenges through a combination of low-power wireless hardware, integrated security, certified software, and a comprehensive development ecosystem. The EFR32ZG28 demonstrates how these capabilities come together for next-generation Z-Wave Long Range products.

One practical challenge is commissioning hundreds of devices across a large property. The EFR32ZG28 combines Z-Wave Long Range connectivity with optional Bluetooth^® Low Energy, enabling installers to use familiar mobile workflows for device commissioning and servicing while maintaining robust connectivity through the Z-Wave network. Part of the Z-Wave 800 family, the ZG28 combines energy-efficient operation, strong RF performance, long-range connectivity, and industry-leading security.

Connected thermostats, locks, and environmental sensors may remain deployed for more than a decade while controlling critical building functions, making security a non-negotiable aspect of development. Secure Vault™ provides hardware-rooted protection for device identities, cryptographic keys, secure boot, and firmware integrity, helping developers build products designed for long-term operation and evolving cybersecurity requirements.

Application complexity also continues to grow. Modern energy-management devices increasingly combine sensing, user interfaces, local control algorithms, firmware updates, and multiple communication interfaces. The EFR32ZG28 provides additional memory and processing resources that give developers room to expand application functionality without requiring a hardware redesign as products evolve.

Edge processing is becoming equally important for practical energy-management applications. Rather than transmitting every sensor event to the cloud, endpoints can locally distinguish between brief movement and sustained room occupancy before triggering HVAC or lighting adjustments. This reduces unnecessary network traffic while enabling faster responses to changing conditions. Integrated AI/ML acceleration provides additional headroom for these evolving endpoint functions as occupancy sensing and environmental monitoring become more sophisticated.

Accelerating Commercial Energy Management Product Device Development

Developing a commercial energy-management product involves considerably more than selecting a wireless SoC. Engineering teams must integrate protocol software, implement security, complete certification, optimize battery life, validate wireless performance, and maintain products throughout long deployment lifecycles.

Developers building energy-management applications can accelerate their workflow using Silicon Labs’ Simplicity Studio, a unified development platform that brings together SDKs, network analysis, and energy-profiling tools in one place. By handling the complexity of foundational technology integration, Simplicity Studio makes it possible for engineers to focus on building differentiated features that deliver real, measurable value to property operators.

Building the Next Generation of Intelligent Buildings

The next phase of energy management will be defined not by the number of connected devices, but by how intelligently they work together to understand occupancy, anticipate energy demand, and adapt building operations in real time. As buildings continue to evolve, developers will face new questions. How can endpoints make more decisions locally while maintaining ultra-low power consumption? How can thousands of connected devices remain secure throughout decade-long deployments? How can building systems become more autonomous without increasing complexity for installers and operators?

The answers to these questions will shape the next generation of intelligent buildings, and the wireless endpoints being designed today will play a central role in enabling that future.

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July 29, 2026

[Blog]

Mastering the Multi-Radio Challenge of Coexistence in Modern IoT Devices

The IoT has evolved, and so have consumers. End users have come to expect more from their connected devices, including being able to communicate with the entire home ecosystem. Driven by standards like Matter, the market is demanding devices that speak multiple wireless languages. It’s not enough for a smart hub, digital assistant, smart speaker, or set-top box to have only Wi-Fi. Now, these products are increasingly expected to act as full-fledged Thread Border Routers or Zigbee hubs. This requires integrating 802.15.4 radios alongside Wi-Fi and Bluetooth into a single, compact design.

Silicon Labs addresses this complex challenge head-on with its wireless SoCs and modules, which are purpose-built for robust, multi-protocol environments.

The Growing Pressure on 2.4 GHz Networks and What Interference Means for 802.15.4

The pressure on the 2.4 GHz band is relentless. Every new Wi-Fi router adds to the noise. For a low-power, low-data-rate protocol like 802.15.4, Wi-Fi interference is an existential threat to its reliability, which is its core value proposition

When an 802.15.4 radio encounters interference from a strong or nearby Wi-Fi transmission on an overlapping channel, it experiences several detrimental effects, including:

Reduced range: The interference raises the effective noise floor through in-band interference. For a receiver to successfully decode a packet, the signal must be significantly stronger than the interference. As this interference increases, the effective range of the device shrinks dramatically.
Increased latency: When a packet is corrupted by interference, it has to be retransmitted by the protocol. Additionally, CSMA/CA backoff delays increase. Each retry adds delay, leading to a sluggish and unresponsive user experience.
Reduced battery life: Radio transmissions are the most power-hungry operations for a battery-powered IoT device. A high number of retries keeps the radio active longer, significantly reducing battery life potentially from years to months depending on conditions.
Network Instability: In severe cases, a device may be unable to successfully transmit after multiple attempts, causing it to lose its connection to the network and require a rejoining process.

Understanding these impacts is key to appreciating why a robust coexistence strategy is a fundamental requirement for any successful IoT product.

The Limitations of Unmanaged Wireless Coexistence

The first line of defense against interference is unmanaged wireless coexistence, where systems operate independently but are designed to minimize conflict. This approach relies on a combination of physical design, protocol behavior, and radio performance.

One of the most effective techniques is frequency separation. By selecting channels that are distant from active Wi-Fi channels, 802.15.4 networks can reduce the likelihood of overlap. However, this strategy has limitations. Wi-Fi signals are wideband and often strong enough to interfere even with channels that are nominally non-overlapping. This is particularly true in environments where access points are located within a meter to IoT devices.

Spatial separation is another important consideration. Increasing the physical distance between devices or improving antenna isolation can significantly reduce interference. This is relatively straightforward for distributed end devices but becomes more challenging in compact, multi-radio products.

For devices interacting with a noisy external environment, “unmanaged” coexistence using a robust radio to passively resist interference – is beneficial. However, when multiple radios are operating tens of millimeters apart on the same circuit board, this strategy is insufficient. The raw power of a nearby Wi-Fi radio can completely overwhelm a low-power 802.15.4 radio.

For the complex multi-radio devices that are now becoming standard, a proactive, managed wireless coexistence strategy is needed.

Managed Wireless Coexistence: Packet Traffic Arbitration (PTA) is the Foundation of Cooperation

Managed coexistence moves from passive resilience to active, hardware-level coordination. The industry-standard mechanism for this is Packet Traffic Arbitration (PTA). Silicon Labs’ EFR32MG24 SoCs provide flexible hardware support for all standard PTA configurations, allowing seamless integration with a wide variety of Wi-Fi chipsets.

As shown in the diagram below, Packet Traffic Arbitration operates on a simple but highly effective principle of request and grant signals exchanged between the MG24 (handling 802.15.4) and the Wi-Fi radio.

Wireless coexistence engineering for multi radio devices image1

How Packet Traffic Arbitration Works

802.15.4 Needs Access
The 802.15.4 radio has data to send or receive.
Request Sent
The 802.15.4 radio asserts a REQUEST to the Wi-Fi radio.
Wi-Fi Evaluates
The Wi-Fi radio evaluates the request based on its internal policy (e.g., priority, fairness, current activity).
Grant Sent
The Wi-Fi radio asserts a GRANT back to the 802.15.4 radio.
Access Granted
The 802.15.4 radio uses the channel; the Wi-Fi radio pauses or defers its transmissions.

The level of coordination can be scaled depending on the system’s needs:

2-Wire PTA: A COEX_REQ signal from the MG24 and a COEX_GRANT signal from the Wi-Fi radio.

Wireless coexistence engineering for multi radio devices image2

Normal Operation: Wi-Fi is using the airwaves (No request — 802.15.4 is idle.)
802.15.4 Requests Access: MG24 asserts COEX_REQ to request the airwaves.
Wi-Fi Grants Access: Wi-Fi acknowledges by asserting COEX_GRANT.
802.15.4 Transmits: MG24 now has the airwaves and can transmit/receive.

3-Wire PTA: Adds a COEX_PRIORITY signal, allowing the MG24 to flag the urgency of its request (e.g., a high-priority ACK vs. a low-priority sensor reading).

Wireless coexistence engineering for multi radio devices image3

802.15.4 Needs Access: The MG24 has data to send or receive. (Wi-Fi may already be using the airwaves.)
Request + Priority Sent: MG24 asserts COEX_REQ and sets COEX_PRIORITY to indicate urgency (High or Low).
Wi-Fi Evaluates Priority: Wi-Fi evaluates the priority level and decides whether to grant access (immediate grant or delay/defer).
Grant Returned: If access is granted, Wi-Fi asserts COEX_GRANT.
802.15.4 Uses the Airwaves: MG24 transmits or receives without Wi-Fi interference.

4-Wire PTA: Provides the richest context by adding signals that can specify the exact packet type (TX or RX), giving the Wi-Fi arbiter maximum information to manage traffic most efficiently.

Wireless coexistence engineering for multi radio devices image4

802.15.4 Needs Access: The MG24 has data to send or receive.
COEX_REQ + COEX_PRIORITY + COEX_FREQ Sent: The MG24 asserts COEX_REQ and provides context using: COEX_PRIORITY for urgency and COEX_FREQ for frequency/channel information.
Wi-Fi Evaluates Request + Frequency Context: The Wi-Fi radio evaluates the request using current activity, priority level, and COEX_FREQ frequency/channel information.
COEX_GRANT Returned: If access is allowed, the Wi-Fi radio asserts COEX_GRANT.
802.15.4 Uses the Airwaves: The MG24 transmits or receives in a protected window while Wi-Fi defers its activity.

The timing diagram below illustrates how MG24 uses PTA to create clear, protected windows of operation. The MG24 asserts its REQ signal before its transmission begins. It keeps the REQ asserted not only for its own transmission (TX) but also for the critical window when it is waiting to receive an acknowledgment (RX ACK). Only after the entire transaction is complete does it de-assert the REQ. This process guarantees that the full 802.15.4 transaction is protected from self-interference.

Wireless coexistence engineering for multi radio devices image5

Duty-Cycled Packet Traffic Arbitration for Advanced Management

For battery-powered devices where power conservation is important, the MG24 platform also supports duty-cycled PTA. Instead of a continuous request, the MG24 can be programmed to request access only during very specific, scheduled windows. The Wi-Fi radio, aware of this schedule, can proactively quiet itself just for those brief, critical moments. This minimizes the time the Wi-Fi radio is paused, increasing throughput while still helping to manage essential 802.15.4 traffic and saving power.

The Signal Identifier: A Patented Leap in MG24 Intelligence

Normal PTA allows the 802.15.4 radio to request access to the shared medium and can defer Wi-Fi activity to avoid collisions. However, this approach has inherent limitations. Without awareness of ongoing Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) or Zigbee activity during Wi-Fi idle periods, the system has to rely on conservative or aggressive scheduling strategies such as increased priority or duty cycling. These approaches can either degrade Wi-Fi performance or fail to guarantee reliable low-power wireless communication.

The Signal Identifier (SI), a unique and patented hardware feature integrated into the Silicon Labs MG24 SoC, adds a higher level of coexistence intelligence. Rather than detecting Wi-Fi packets, SI continuously monitors the airwaves for valid Bluetooth LE and Zigbee signals with protocol awareness.

During natural gaps between Wi-Fi transmissions, the SI listens for active Bluetooth LE or Zigbee packet activity. If a valid signal is detected, SI immediately asserts a high-priority PTA request to delay the next Wi-Fi transmission. This creates a protected receive window, allowing the Bluetooth LE or Zigbee packet to be successfully received without interference.

This intelligent coexistence mechanism enables the MG24 to dynamically protect critical low-power wireless traffic while minimizing unnecessary impact on Wi-Fi performance, delivering a major improvement in robustness and coexistence efficiency.

Wireless coexistence engineering for multi radio devices image6

The following sequence highlights how the MG24’s Signal Identifier intelligently protects BLE and Zigbee traffic during Wi-Fi coexistence, enabling far more efficient and reliable operation than conventional PTA-only approaches:

Wi-Fi transmission starts: The Wi-Fi radio is actively transmitting and occupying the channel.
A Wi-Fi gap occurs: A natural gap appears between Wi-Fi packets, creating a short opportunity for other radios to communicate.
SI detects a valid Bluetooth LE/Zigbee Signal: During the Wi-Fi gap, the Si detects a valid Bluetooth LE or Zigbee packet on the airwaves.
SI requests Wi-Fi delay: The SI immediately asserts a high-priority PTA request to delay the next Wi-Fi transmission.
Wi-Fi defers transmission: The Wi-Fi radio honors the PTA request and temporarily pauses its next transmission.
Bluetooth (LE)/Zigbee communication proceeds: The MG24 safely receives or transmits the Bluetooth LE/Zigbee packet during the protected window.
Transaction completes: The Bluetooth LE/Zigbee communication finishes successfully without Wi-Fi interference.
Wi-Fi resumes transmission: The PTA request is released, allowing Wi-Fi to resume normal transmissions.

This patented, intelligent coexistence mechanism transforms coexistence from a static scheduling problem into a dynamic, protocol-aware protection system. By selectively delaying Wi-Fi transmissions only when valid Bluetooth LE or Zigbee activity is detected, the MG24 delivers significantly improved wireless robustness and coexistence efficiency, serving as a key differentiator for the platform.

Managed Wireless Coexistence is a Requirement for the Modern Smart Home

As the smart home accelerates and standards like Matter push for more integrated functionality, managed coexistence is no longer a niche feature. The proliferation of OpenThread Border Router (OTBR) and hub functionality into a wider range of consumer devices makes it an essential requirement. By leveraging the comprehensive coexistence toolkit built into the Silicon Labs MG24 family, from flexible multi-wire PTA to the patented, intelligent Signal Identifier, developers can build the reliable, high-performance, multi-protocol devices that will power the next generation of the IoT.

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July 16, 2026

[Blog]

Zephyr Brings the SiWx917 Ultra-Low-Power Wi-Fi to Everyone

With the Q2 release of Simplicity SDK for Zephyr, support for the SiWx917 is expanding. This is a meaningful step forward and provides developers a more mature Zephyr path for building with the SiWG917, supported by continued validation with a focus on product development.

This release offers an opportunity to take a fresh look at the SiW917 and what it represents for manufactures of energy-sensitive IoT devices. A key feature is that the SiWx917 brings together ultra-low-power Wi-Fi, Bluetooth Low Energy (LE), and application processing integrated on one device. In this blog, we’re going to take a closer look at what the SiWx917 + Zephyr means for developers.

The General Availability of Simplicity SDK for Zephyr Represents Full Quality Assurance

The quality levels associated with Simplicity SDK for Zephyr map to concrete commitments and provides insight into a fully tested development tool. These levels include:

Feature completeness – a complete implementation of the documented feature set, not a partial preview.
Verification – fully verified according to the test plan, rather than the incomplete verification that defines earlier stages.
Bug and security fixes – critical fixes land in the latest GA release as well as the development branch.
Technical support – issues in tagged releases raised through Silicon Labs support channels are handled by our support staff.

The Industry’s Leading Ultra-Low-Power Wi-Fi Device, Now With the Flexibility of Zephyr

If you’re unfamiliar with the SiWx917, or haven’t looked closely at it lately, here’s why this is interesting. The SiWx917 is an ultra-low-power Wi-Fi 6 + Bluetooth LE 5.4 wireless SoC with an integrated Arm Cortex-M4F application processor (up to 180 MHz), radio, and security — all in a single 7×7 mm package. It’s available with as much as 8 MB of in-package Flash and includes a full complement of digital and analog peripherals.

It’s built for the kind of devices where battery life and board space are at a premium, including smart home sensors, wearables, connected health, asset tracking, and industrial IoT devices. On Zephyr, the SiWx917 is supported as a wireless SoC, giving developers a flexible path for building connected applications on a single device. Now all of that is available with the flexibility of Simplicity SDK for Zephyr.

Bringing the SiWx917 to GA brings much of its Wi-Fi capability into production-ready Zephyr environments. On Zephyr, the SiWx917’s Wi-Fi feature set covers the core requirements real products depend on, including reliable connectivity, security, power-aware operation, and the flexibility needed to support connected devices across a range of IoT use cases.

Station (STA) mode for connecting to existing networks
Access Point (AP) mode for provisioning and standalone deployments
Power Save modes for battery-sensitive designs
Target Wake Time (TWT) – the Wi-Fi 6 scheduling feature that lets a device negotiate exactly when it wakes to talk to the AP, a big lever for low-power operation

These features have been through additional levels of testing and a few capabilities continue to mature at earlier quality levels, so the Quality Levels page remains the authoritative, feature-by-feature reference — always worth checking against your specific design.

Broad Bluetooth LE Support for Multi-Protocol IoT Designs

The SiWx917 isn’t just a Wi-Fi part, and its Bluetooth LE support moves to GA in this release as well. The Bluetooth LE feature set on Zephyr is genuinely broad and includes:

PHYs: 1 Mbps, 2Mbps and Coded PHY
Advertising: legacy, extended, and periodic advertising, plus advertising extensions
Scanning: active and passive
Roles: concurrent roles and Data Length Extensions
Connectivity: L2CAP connection-oriented channels and Enhanced ATT
Security and privacy: LE privacy, LE security mode 1 (levels 1–4) and mode 2, LE Secure Connections, Just Works and Passkey Entry pairing, and Out-of-Band support

That’s enough to build modern, secure Bluetooth LE applications, from simple peripherals to more sophisticated multi-role designs, on the same chip handling your Wi-Fi.

Why Zephyr SDK Support for the SiWx917 Matters

The appeal of the SiWx917 has always been the combination of capabilities: Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth LE, and an application MCU. What the Q2 release changes is the foundation you build that combination on. A GA-quality Zephyr target means a complete feature set, full verification against the test plan, and a real support path — the things you need to take a design from prototype to production with confidence.

The full, feature-by-feature breakdown of quality levels for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, drivers, security, and bootloaders lives here: Quality Levels — Simplicity SDK for Zephyr.

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July 2, 2026

[Blog]

Takeaways From Unify 2026

This month, I had the opportunity to attend Unify 2026, hosted by the Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA). As a senior campaign manager on the Global Marketing team, I work closely with Product Marketing to translate product strategy into integrated campaigns that educate and engage audiences around emerging technologies, thought leadership, and Silicon Labs solutions. Unify gave me a valuable opportunity to hear directly from the people shaping these technologies and to better understand where the industry is headed.

The goal of Unify was to bring together leaders and product makers across the IoT ecosystem to explore the future of connected technology. Through technical sessions, product demonstrations, and networking, the event highlighted the industry’s shared goal of accelerating adoption of open, interoperable IoT standards.

After experiencing a range of panels and networking events, I left with one overarching takeaway: the future of IoT isn’t just about connecting devices, it’s about building smarter, more secure, and more interoperable experiences through collaboration.

A Message from Kevin Ashton

Photo courtesy of the CSA

The event opened with IoT pioneer Kevin Ashton, best known for coining the term “Internet of Things”. His message challenged us to think beyond today’s smart home devices and imagine technologies that solve meaningful, everyday problems.

Rather than creating connected products simply because we can, Ashton encouraged us to focus on innovations that genuinely improve people’s lives, including ways to detect if someone is sick or making everyday chores easier with a self-folding dryer. Think bigger!

Security is No Longer Optional

Photo courtesy of the CSA

Although there was a dedicated security panel, security quickly emerged as a theme throughout the entire conference.

The key message we heard consistently was that security is now a baseline expectation. Consumers, enterprises, and regulators expect connected devices to be secure from day one, and that responsibility extends across every layer of the ecosystem from silicon and devices to networks, applications, and cloud services.

This reinforced Silicon Labs’ approach to security. Security isn’t treated as just a feature, it’s a foundational design principle. Through features like Secure Boot, Secure Over-The-Air updates, and through third-party security evaluations and testings, we help customers build products that are protected throughout their lifecycle. As an active contributor to Matter, Thread, Zigbee, Bluetooth, Wi-SUN, and Z-Wave, we’re also helping strengthen the security of the broader IoT ecosystem.

Silicon Labs Helping Shape the Conversation

Photo courtesy of the CSA

One of my favorite parts of the week was watching fellow Silabers take the stage to share their expertise.

Colin Cureton, Product Line Vice President of Home, explored one of today’s hottest topics: Edge AI.

As AI continues to transform the industry, IoT devices are becoming more intelligent and capable of making decisions locally rather than relying entirely on the cloud. Running AI at the edge reduces latency, improves privacy, and enables faster, more reliable decision-making for applications ranging from manufacturing and smart buildings to predictive maintenance and energy management.

For me, the main takeaway was that the future of IoT is about more than just connecting devices. It’s about enabling devices to think and respond in real time.

Rob Alexander, Principal Product Manager and Vice Chair of the CSA Board of Directors, spoke about how companies can actively shape the future of Matter by participating in alliances.

The key message here was that Matter evolves through collaboration. The standard can’t be built in a silo. It needs to be shaped through contributions from Alliance members, technical working groups, implementation feedback, and real-world experience. Rather than waiting for new capabilities to arrive, companies have an opportunity to help define what’s next.

Our very own Campaigns Team Manager and Vice President of Marketing for Thread, Ann Olivo, joined two sessions focused on Thread and Matter. She helped attendees better understand how the technologies work together and where they fit into a product roadmap.

One of the biggest misconceptions addressed throughout the week was the idea that it’s “Thread or Matter.” In reality, it’s both.

Thread provides the reliable, low-power mesh networking foundation for many connected devices, while Matter builds on that foundation to deliver interoperability across ecosystems. Together, they allow manufacturers to focus less on ecosystem-specific development and more on building innovative, high-quality products.

The conversations also reinforced that these technologies extend far beyond the smart home. From commercial buildings and energy management to industrial and enterprise deployments, Thread and Matter are enabling connected solutions at much larger scales.

In fact, Silicon Labs is already demonstrating this through our Large-Scale Matter over Thread Deployment in our Boston office, proving that Matter-over-Thread networks can deliver reliable, enterprise-scale performance. Check out our white paper on Matter over Thread to learn more.

Innovation Happens Through Collaboration

Photo courtesy of the CSA

Beyond the sessions, the demo showcase offered a chance to see the latest innovations up close. At the Silicon Labs booth, attendees experienced demos featuring technologies like Aliro, while our booth neighbor, Thread Group, demonstrated how Thread connects devices across a growing ecosystem.

Some of my most engaging conversations actually happened between sessions. Whether attendees were just beginning to explore Thread or were already building Matter products, it was clear that people were excited to learn more and contribute to open standards.

I left Unify energized, both by the expert-led panels and the collaboration I saw firsthand between the companies driving the industry forward.

I gained a much deeper appreciation for the work happening across the CSA community. From security and AI to interoperability and open standards, every company has a role to play in shaping the future of IoT.

Seeing Silicon Labs contribute not only through our technology, but also through leadership, technical expertise, and active participation in standards development made me especially proud to be part of the team helping build what’s next!

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June 17, 2026

[Press Release]

Silicon Labs Advances Large-Scale Matter Deployments with 200-Node Matter-over-Thread Validation Network

AUSTIN, Texas, June 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Silicon Labs (NASDAQ: SLAB), the leading innovator in low-power wireless connectivity, today announced the successful deployment and operation of a 200-node Matter-over-Thread validation network, demonstrating the scalability, reliability and performance of Matter for large-scale smart building, commercial IoT and next-generation smart home applications.

Announced at the Connectivity Standards Alliance’s (CSA) inaugural Unify event, this highlights a key evolution in the Matter ecosystem: the industry is moving beyond proving interoperability and toward demonstrating scalability for real-world deployments. Silicon Labs’ 200-node Matter-over-Thread validation network provides evidence that Matter can support the larger, more complex environments expected in commercial buildings, multi-dwelling units and next-generation smart home installations.

“Matter is rapidly evolving from a smart home technology into a platform capable of supporting much larger deployments,” said Daniel Cooley, Chief Technology Officer at Silicon Labs. “This work demonstrates not only that Matter-over-Thread can theoretically scale to thousands of devices, but also how Silicon Labs is helping customers deploy, manage and future-proof those networks through innovations spanning Matter, Thread, and Concurrent Multiprotocol technologies.”

Largest Public Validation Network Demonstrates Matter Scalability for Industrial and Commercial Applications

Believed to be among the largest publicly documented Matter-over-Thread performance test networks to date, the deployment was designed to evaluate how Matter performs as networks expand beyond traditional residential use cases. Unlike a controlled laboratory simulation, the network operated across Silicon Labs’ Boston Connectivity Lab and office environment, with devices distributed throughout the facility and exposed to real-world wireless conditions including active Wi‑Fi, Bluetooth and Thread traffic. The network tested multicast messaging, unicast communications, commissioning workflows and long-term network stability under deployment-like conditions.

The validation effort reflects Silicon Labs’ ongoing commitment to advancing the Matter ecosystem and helping device manufacturers confidently deploy Matter-enabled products at scale. As one of the industry’s leading contributors to Matter, Silicon Labs provides wireless SoCs, software, development tools Thread Border Routers based on the OpenThread implementation, certification resources and ecosystem support that help developers accelerate Matter adoption from concept through production.

The results come as the Matter ecosystem continues to mature and expand. Silicon Labs supports the latest Matter specifications, including Matter 1.6 capabilities that broaden device interoperability, expand supported device categories and enable new smart home and smart building experiences. Through its comprehensive Matter portfolio, Silicon Labs helps developers build products that work seamlessly across major ecosystems while simplifying development, certification and deployment.

Key findings from the 200-node Matter-over-Thread validation network include:

Successful deployment and sustained operation of a 200-node Matter-over-Thread network in a real-world office environment.
100% commissioning success using on-network commissioning.
Reliable multicast and multi-hop unicast communications with mean multicast latencies as low as 87 ms and less than 1% packet loss across most payload sizes.
Consistent operation despite active Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and Thread traffic, with no specialized topology engineering required.
Validation that Matter-over-Thread can support commercial-scale lighting, building automation and large IoT deployments.

Silicon Labs OpenThread Border Router and Concurrent Multiprotocol Technology Provide Stable Matter Foundation

The 200-node Matter-over-Thread validation network was built using the OpenThread Border Router (OTBR) implementation, which provided the Thread network infrastructure used to commission and manage devices participating in the test. As Matter-over-Thread deployments scale, Border Routers play a critical role in securely connecting Thread devices to controllers, cloud services and broader IP networks. Silicon Labs provides developers with OTBR solutions and development resources that help simplify deployment of large Matter networks.

The results also reinforce the value of Silicon Labs’ leadership in Concurrent Multiprotocol (CMP), a technology pioneered by Silicon Labs that enables devices to simultaneously support multiple wireless protocols on a single radio. CMP enables support for both Zigbee and Matter-over-Thread networks within the same device, helping manufacturers simplify migrations while preserving compatibility with existing deployments and future-proofing product portfolios.

This capability allows manufacturers to support current customer installations while preparing for future Matter adoption, reducing development complexity, streamlining inventory management and enabling a smoother transition between ecosystems. Silicon Labs supports CMP across its latest wireless platforms, including MG26 and Series 3 devices, helping developers build interoperable products that span multiple wireless ecosystems.

The complete Matter Large Network Performance report is available at: https://www.silabs.com/wireless/matter/matter-over-thread-large-network-performance-testing.

About Silicon Labs

Silicon Labs (NASDAQ: SLAB) is the leading innovator in low-power connectivity, building embedded technology that connects devices and improves lives. Merging cutting-edge technology into the world’s most highly integrated SoCs, Silicon Labs provides device makers with the solutions, support, and ecosystems needed to create advanced edge connectivity applications. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, Silicon Labs has operations in over 16 countries and is the trusted partner for innovative solutions in smart home, industrial IoT, and smart cities markets. Learn more at https://www.silabs.com.

SOURCE Silicon Labs

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June 2, 2026

[Press Release]

Powered by Silicon Labs, Comminent Ships 500,000 Wi-SUN Modules

BENGALURU, India and AUSTIN, Texas, May 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Comminent®, an innovator in next-generation IoT communication network platforms, and Silicon Labs (NASDAQ: SLAB), the leading innovator in low-power wireless, today announced a major milestone for India’s smart grid infrastructure with the successful shipment of over 500,000 Wi-SUN-compliant communication modules powered by Silicon Labs’ EFR32FG28 Wireless SoC.

Scaling Wi-SUN for India’s Smart Grid Modernization
India’s Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS) is driving one of the world’s largest infrastructure transformations. To support this ambitious smart meter rollout, the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) officially adopted the global Wi-SUN Field Area Network (FAN) specification (IEEE 2857-2021 and ISO/IEC/IEEE 32857:2026) as the national standard (IS 18010) for smart meter RF communication networks. This standardization ensures secure, interoperable wireless mesh networks for large-scale Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI), smart cities, and IoT applications.

“Comminent’s 500,000-unit milestone highlights the growing adoption of Wi-SUN in large-scale deployments,” said Ross Sabolcik, Senior Vice President of Product Lines at Silicon Labs. “We are proud to partner with Comminent to provide the robust, scalable, and highly secure underlying technology needed to support India’s ambitious grid modernization efforts and deliver reliable connectivity to millions.”

Solving Complex Deployment Challenges at Scale
Comminent’s deep focus on solving India’s complex deployment challenges is central to delivering scalable and reliable rollouts. As utilities move closer to real-time monitoring and grid resilience, interoperable and self-healing networks like Wi-SUN are functioning as the primary infrastructure for large-scale deployment.

“India’s smart metering rollout is one of the largest infrastructure transformations, and this milestone reflects the growing shift toward scalable, utility-grade communication networks like Wi-SUN,” said Amarjeet Kumar, Founder & CEO of Comminent. “Our collaboration with Silicon Labs strengthens our ability to deliver high-performance communication modules engineered for advanced smart grid deployments.”

Built on the EFR32FG28 Wireless SoC for Resilient, Utility-Grade Connectivity
To meet these demands, Comminent’s communication module is powered by Silicon Labs’ EFR32FG28 Wireless SoC, architected specifically for large-scale smart grid and industrial IoT applications. The EFR32FG28 platform enables reliable, long-range connectivity in demanding field environments, offering key advantages including:

Optimized Dual-Band Connectivity: Combines a high-performance, long-range Sub-GHz radio optimized for India’s RF environment with a 2.4 GHz Bluetooth LE radio for increased design flexibility.
Resilient Processing & Infrastructure: Features a high-performance multi-core architecture with dedicated ARM cores for application processing, radio, and edge intelligence, complemented by ample memory to deliver robust mesh networking performance in dense urban and geographically distributed deployments.
Enterprise-Grade Security: Powered by Silicon Labs’ Secure Vault™ technology with PSA Level 3 certification, delivering secure key storage, anti-tamper capabilities, and advanced hardware cryptographic acceleration.

This combination enables utilities to deploy scalable, secure, and future-ready Wi-SUN networks capable of supporting millions of endpoints. With capabilities proven in India’s large-scale deployments, Comminent is expanding into global smart grid markets, including the United States, Japan, and emerging energy-transition regions.

To learn more about how Silicon Labs is powering the next generation of smart grids, explore the EFR32FG28 Wireless SoC and our Wi-SUN solutions.

About Comminent
Comminent Pvt Ltd, headquartered in Bengaluru, Karnataka, offers IPv6-compliant open standards-based machine-to-machine (M2M) communication solutions that are device agnostic and built to provide high reliability. The company’s state-of-the-art device management platform is powered by AI/ML tools combined with edge-computing technologies to ensure faster decision-making and trigger control actions based on predefined policies. Comminent has proven expertise in large-scale IoT networks, providing a variety of communication solutions and engineering tools to silicon vendors, module and product OEMs, system integrators, and service providers.

About Silicon Labs
Silicon Labs (NASDAQ: SLAB) is the leading innovator in low-power connectivity, building embedded technology that connects devices and improves lives. Merging cutting-edge technology into the world’s most highly integrated SoCs, Silicon Labs provides device makers with the solutions, support, and ecosystems needed to create advanced edge connectivity applications. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, Silicon Labs has operations in over 16 countries and is the trusted partner for innovative solutions in smart home, industrial IoT, and smart cities markets. Learn more at https://www.silabs.com.

SOURCE Silicon Labs

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May 6, 2026

[Press Release]

Silicon Labs Announces Promotion of Dr. Aslam Rafi to Senior Fellow

AUSTIN, Texas, April 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Silicon Labs (NASDAQ: SLAB), the leading innovator in low-power wireless, today announced the promotion of Dr. Aslam Rafi to Senior Fellow. The Senior Fellow designation represents the highest level of technical achievement at Silicon Labs, recognizing individuals whose sustained innovation and leadership have materially shaped the company’s technology and long-term strategy.

“Aslam represents the highest standard of technical excellence at Silicon Labs,” said Daniel Cooley, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at Silicon Labs. “His work has fundamentally shaped our wireless leadership, and this promotion reflects both the scale of his impact and the critical role he continues to play in defining our future.”

Dr. Rafi has been with Silicon Labs for 26 years, driving foundational advancements in RF and analog technologies across a broad set of end markets, including cellular, broadcast, timing, and IoT wireless applications. His innovations deliver industry-leading performance and are embedded across virtually all Silicon Labs products.

Dr. Rafi has authored over 112 patents and has published in leading forums, including the IEEE Solid-State Circuits conference, the Journal of Solid-State Circuits and the Custom Integrated Circuits Conference. Dr. Rafi holds a Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin, a Master of Science from Carnegie Mellon University, and a Bachelor of Science from IIT Madras.

The Senior Fellow designation is reserved for individuals whose contributions are foundational and uniquely transformative, representing the company’s most distinguished technical leaders. It is awarded through a rigorous and highly selective process, with candidates evaluated on technical mastery, impact on engineering culture, commercial success, and overall industry influence.

About Silicon Labs

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April 23, 2026

[Blog]

Series 2 Brings Consolidation, Simplicity, and Scale to Next-Gen IoT

For more than a decade, wireless microcontrollers (MCUs) have been evaluated primarily on radio performance. Range, sensitivity, protocol support, and transmit power defined leadership. These metrics still matter, but in modern IoT systems, connectivity is no longer the primary constraint. System complexity is.

Rethinking the Role of the IoT MCU

Today’s IoT products are expected to deliver more intelligence, tighter power efficiency, and faster time to market, all while reducing cost. Yet many designs still rely on multiple MCUs operating on the same board. A single device might have one MCU for connectivity, another for application control, and a third for real-time processing. And sometimes a fourth is required for sensing or device management.

This architecture persists because it’s familiar. But it’s far from optimal.

As IoT systems evolve, RF performance alone is no longer the defining metric. What matters today is how efficiently the entire system is architected.

Silicon Labs Series 2 was designed around the premise that wireless MCUs should not just connect devices, but consolidate them.

The Hidden Inefficiency in Today’s IoT Designs

A typical connected device often includes:

A wireless SoC for Bluetooth Low Energy (LE), Zigbee, Thread, or proprietary connectivity
An application MCU for control logic
A motor-control MCU for deterministic actuation
A low-power controller for sensing or housekeeping

Each additional device increases:

Bill-of-material cost (BOM)
PCB area
Firmware complexity
Validation effort
Inter-processor latency
Idle and leakage power

Ironically, much of this duplication is unnecessary. Wireless workloads are event-driven and burst-based. In many systems, the connectivity stack consumes a fraction of available CPU cycles. The processor becomes active during packet handling, then remains idle for extended intervals.

This creates a structural inefficiency. Significant compute headroom remains unused while additional MCUs are added elsewhere on the board. This presents an opportunity to reclaim that headroom and consolidate system functionality without compromising wireless performance.

Consolidation Only Works if Isolation is Guaranteed

The primary reason many systems remain partitioned is concern. Engineers hesitate to combine workloads for fear of degrading wireless determinism or introducing timing jitter into real-time tasks.

Silicon Labs Series 2 addresses this directly. It employs a multicore, event-driven architecture with functional separation:

Dedicated cores manage radio and security operations
Latency-critical wireless tasks execute independently
The application core remains available for control, sensing, and AI workloads

This separation ensures that adding application functionality does not degrade wireless performance or real-time behavior. Instead of protecting RF integrity through partitioning, designers can now protect it through architecture.

Event-Driven Compute: Doing More with Less Power

Reducing component count is only part of the system equation. Power efficiency is equally critical. Traditional MCU-based systems rely heavily on CPU intervention. Interrupt-driven designs wake the processor frequently, increasing dynamic power consumption and adding software overhead.

Series 2 takes a fundamentally different approach.

Its Peripheral Reflex System enables peripherals to communicate directly with one another. Hardware events trigger hardware responses. Data can move through DMA pathways without waking the CPU.

For example:

An ADC conversion can automatically initiate a memory transfer
A comparator event can directly adjust a PWM output
Timers can coordinate control loops autonomously

The processor wakes only when meaningful computation is required. This architecture delivers:

Lower dynamic power consumption
Deterministic real-time behavior
Higher effective compute utilization

More work is done in hardware, so less energy is spent orchestrating it in software. In battery-powered and energy-sensitive systems, this is a structural advantage.

Real-Time Control and Connectivity on One Chip

Motor control illustrates the consolidation challenge clearly.

Closed-loop Field-Oriented Control (FoC) demands precise timing, high-speed ADC sampling, and coordinated PWM updates. Historically, this required a dedicated MCU to guarantee deterministic performance.

Series 2 challenges that assumption.

By combining advanced PWM peripherals, high-performance ADCs, hardware-based event routing, and efficient Arm Cortex-M33 processing, Series 2 can execute closed-loop FoC while simultaneously maintaining a Bluetooth LE stack on the same device.

This enables:

Single-chip motor and wireless designs
Reduced system latency
Simplified firmware architecture
Lower PCB complexity

For customers, the impact is direct:

BOM reduction
Lower power consumption
Shorter validation cycles
Faster time to market

The economics of intelligent devices shift when real-time control and connectivity coexist on one platform.

Embedded AI Without Additional Silicon

The next generation of IoT systems requires local intelligence. Sensor fusion, anomaly detection, predictive maintenance, and signal classification are increasingly moving from cloud to edge.

Traditional approaches add hardware. External NPUs or larger application processors increase cost, board space, and power complexity.

Series 2 integrates a Matrix Vector Processor (MVP) optimized for linear algebra, DSP workloads, and neural network inference.

By offloading math-intensive operations:

CPU cycles remain available for control and connectivity
Inference latency becomes predictable
Energy per inference is significantly reduced

AI becomes a native system capability rather than an architectural add-on. Intelligence is integrated, not appended.

Platform Consistency That Scales

Architectural consistency is as important as performance.

Series 2 capabilities extend across Bluetooth, multiprotocol, sub-GHz, and proprietary families. Motor-control peripherals, AI acceleration, event routing, and security architecture are shared across the portfolio.

This enables:

Software reuse across product variants
Reduced SKU proliferation
Simplified qualification processes
Faster feature scaling

As organizations expand product lines or enter adjacent markets, a consistent platform reduces both technical and operational friction. Platform continuity becomes a multiplier for engineering productivity.

Connectivity is No Longer the Edge of the System, It’s at The Center

Many vendors approach connectivity by adding radios to traditional MCU architectures.

Series 2 takes the opposite path by absorbing application compute, control logic, and AI into the wireless platform itself. Instead of adding features through more silicon, the objective becomes removing silicon entirely.

In modern IoT systems, leadership will be measured by:

How many components can be eliminated
How efficiently compute headroom is utilized
How intelligently power is managed
How seamlessly functionality scales

A New Definition of the Wireless MCU

Series 2 redefines what a wireless MCU can be. A connectivity platform, an application processor, a real-time control engine, and an embedded AI accelerator. All within a single, power-efficient architecture optimized for real-world IoT systems.

As IoT architectures continue to consolidate, the question is no longer whether wireless MCUs should do more.

The real question becomes, how efficiently can they replace the rest of the system?

Series 2 was designed for this future from day one.

In modern IoT design, the most valuable innovation may not be what is added to the board, but what can finally be removed.

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March 31, 2026

[Blog]

The FG23L SoC Brings Cost-Optimized Sub-GHz Wireless to Large Scale IoT Deployment

IoT deployments are moving from pilot programs to scaled rollouts, and the conversation is changing.

As deployments scale, different application tiers demand different optimization points. High-end platforms are built to manage complex, multiprotocol, and mesh networking environments. Broad-market deployments, however, prioritize streamlined capability—long-range, multi-year battery life, deterministic responsiveness, built-in security, and cost structures aligned with volume production.

That’s the design philosophy behind Silicon Labs’ EFR32FG23L sub-GHz wireless SoC.

Sub-GHz Wireless: Designed for Structured, Real-World Architectures

Many high-volume sub-GHz systems follow structured topologies such as sensor-to-gateway, remote-to-controller, and endpoint-to-hub. These are not massive mesh networks, but purpose-built wireless links that prioritize predictability, fast response, and architectural simplicity.

Designing Large Scale Sub-GHz Wireless Systems Requires Discipline

The EFR32FG23L SoC was built specifically for these types of deployments. Rather than carrying the overhead of multiprotocol stacks intended for complex network coordination, FG23L delivers a streamlined architecture optimized for proprietary and star network topologies. The result is a tightly integrated platform that balances performance, memory footprint, and cost efficiency.

This approach allows developers to focus on what matters most: building responsive, reliable wireless products without paying for silicon they don’t need.

Extending Sub-GHz Wireless Range Where It Matters

Sub-GHz connectivity continues to be the preferred choice for applications that demand deep penetration, extended coverage, and reliable performance in challenging RF environments.

From industrial campuses and agricultural fields to commercial buildings and residential perimeters, longer range directly impacts system economics. Fewer gateways. Simplified installation. Lower infrastructure costs.

The FG23L SoC supports global sub-GHz bands and delivers a strong link budget that enables robust connectivity across diverse deployment scenarios. Whether navigating dense industrial structures or covering wide outdoor spaces, the device is engineered to maintain reliable communication over distance.

In this context, range is just as much a business enabler as an RF metric.

Deterministic Communication for Responsive Systems

In many sub-GHz applications, timing is everything.

A remote key fob has to respond instantly, an access control system needs to be authenticated without delay, and an industrial safety trigger cannot tolerate uncertainty.

These use cases demand deterministic, low-latency communication rather than complex routing protocols. By leveraging Silicon Labs’ RAIL (Radio Abstraction Interface Layer), developers can implement custom PHY and MAC layers that are optimized for responsiveness and efficiency. This flexibility allows precise control over airtime, data rate, and power consumption assuring predictable system behavior.

For designers building proprietary wireless systems, this level of control is often more valuable than protocol breadth.

Power Efficiency That Enables Large Scale IoT

Battery life remains one of the defining constraints in IoT design. Maintenance costs, service intervals, and user experience are all shaped by energy consumption.

The FG23L SoC is engineered to support multi-year battery operation across a wide range of endpoint devices. Its low sleep currents, fast wake-up capabilities, and intelligent low-power listening modes allow systems to remain energy-efficient without sacrificing responsiveness.

From security sensors and smart agriculture nodes to consumer remotes and monitoring devices, efficient power design directly reduces operational costs and supports large-scale deployment models.

At scale, every microamp matters.

Security as a Foundation, Not an Afterthought

As IoT devices proliferate across industrial and residential environments, security expectations rise. Device identity, encrypted communication, and secure firmware management are baseline requirements.

The FG23L integrates Secure Vault™ embedding hardware-rooted security directly into the device architecture. Secure boot, hardware-accelerated cryptography, secure debug capabilities, and advanced protection mechanisms provide a strong foundation without requiring external security components.

By integrating security at the silicon level, developers can meet modern protection requirements while maintaining cost and design efficiency.

Multicore Architecture and Integration That Simplifies System Design

With dedicated cores for application, radio, and secure engine, the FG23L SoC provides ample compute headroom to minimize protocol and application processing latency, ensuring responsive sub-GHz wireless communication.

In cost-sensitive designs, integration drives advantage, and the FG23L brings together a rich set of analog and digital peripherals to support real-world product requirements, including precision data acquisition, autonomous sensing, flexible communication interfaces, and extensive GPIO to enable compact, single-chip solutions.

Higher integration also reduces external components, simplifies PCB layout, and accelerates development cycles. For manufacturers targeting competitive markets, these efficiencies translate directly into lower total system cost and faster time to market.

FG23L Sub-GHz SoC: Built for Broad-Market Opportunity

Sub-GHz technology continues to expand beyond traditional industrial niches into commercial infrastructure and home automation ecosystems. Wireless I/O modules, condition monitoring systems, building automation platforms, lighting control, access systems, smart locks, perimeter sensors, and remote-control devices all share a common set of requirements: structured communication, long-range reliability, battery-powered operation, hardware-rooted security, and cost alignment for volume deployment.

The FG23L was designed precisely to meet these design requirements.

Focused Capability for the Next Phase of Sub-GHz IoT Growth

The future of sub-GHz IoT growth won’t be driven by maximum feature density as much as by focused capability and devices that deliver the performance designers need while eliminating unnecessary overhead.

The FG23L sub-GHz wireless SoC embodies this trend, combining low cost, long-range connectivity, deterministic communication, integrated security, ultra-low power operation, and streamlined memory into a cost-optimized platform tailored for scale.

As IoT continues its transition from specialized deployments to mainstream infrastructure, right-sized wireless solutions will define competitive advantage.

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March 17, 2026

[Blog]

A Consolidated Compute Platform for Modern Motor Systems

Motors power billions of devices across homes, industry, agriculture, and consumer products. For decades, motor architectures were optimized around one primary objective: control performance. Connectivity, analytics, and intelligence were layered on only when necessary.

That model is reaching its limits because today’s motor-driven products are expected to connect, adapt, update securely, and respond intelligently to changing conditions. They’re no longer isolated control nodes, but intelligent endpoints within broader digital systems. This evolution requires more than better control algorithms. It requires integrated wireless, compute, and machine learning (ML) at the core of the motion system.

Silicon Labs’ MG24-based connected motor solution represents this architectural shift.

Why Traditional Motor System Architectures No Longer Scale

Historically, connected motor systems were assembled from multiple components:

A dedicated motor-control MCU
A separate wireless SoC or module
Optional security elements
Additional processors for sensing or analytics

While functional, this fragmented model increases bill of materials (BOM) cost, PCB footprint, firmware complexity, and system latency. More importantly, it divides processing responsibility across devices, making feature expansion more difficult over time.

Adding wireless commissioning, over-the-air (OTA) updates, predictive diagnostics, or anomaly detection often requires redesigning system architecture rather than extending it. At the same time, product expectations have expanded. Modern motor-driven devices must be:

Wirelessly connected for configuration and diagnostics
Secure and field-updatable
Capable of local analysis and intelligent response
Compact and energy-efficient
Cost-optimized for scale

Meeting all these requirements with a multi-chip approach is increasingly inefficient.

MG24: A Wireless Compute Platform for Connected Motion

MG24 Multiprotocol Wireless SoC is designed for mid-range, connected motor systems where integration, efficiency, and intelligence drive differentiation.

MG24 consolidates the following all within a single SoC:

Real-time BLDC Field-Oriented Control (FOC)
Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) connectivity
Hardware-based security with Silicon Labs Secure Vault
DSP capability and machine learning acceleration
Event-driven hardware subsystems such as PRS and LESENSE

This integration enables a unified architecture where motion control, wireless communication, and intelligent processing operate together without competing for system resources.

Deterministic Motion Meets Wireless Responsiveness

Running real-time FOC alongside an active Bluetooth stack traditionally required separate processors to consistently meet tight control loop deadlines. The MG24 demonstrates that this separation is no longer necessary by maintaining precise motor control while sustaining wireless communication and application-level processing.

Designers can build connected motion systems without worrying that protocol activity will disrupt time-critical control loops. This balance is fundamental to next-generation wireless compute architectures for motion.

Intelligence at the Edge

As motion systems become connected, they must also become aware. With integrated DSP capability and the Matrix Vector Processor (MVP) hardware accelerator, MG24 enables local data processing for:

Vibration analysis
Anomaly detection
Predictive maintenance
Performance optimization

By processing data at the edge, systems can respond immediately to mechanical changes, reduce cloud bandwidth, and improve overall efficiency. Motor-driven products evolve from executing commands to making informed decisions.

Hardware-Level Event Handling for Efficiency and Stability

The Peripheral Reflex System (PRS) and LESENSE allow hardware-triggered responses to motor and sensor events without CPU intervention. This event-driven design reduces latency, improves stability, and optimizes power consumption. It also frees processing headroom for higher-level functionality, strengthening the overall system architecture.Security as a System Foundation

Connected devices must be trusted over their lifetime. MG24 integrates Secure Vault™ with PSA Level 3 certification, ensuring secure boot, protected key storage, device identity, and encrypted OTA updates. This security foundation enables large-scale deployment of connected motor systems with confidence.Demonstration: Wireless Compute Controlling Motion in Real Time

The architectural shift becomes clear in this demonstration.

In this showcase, a BLDC motor is controlled entirely by a single MG24 device. The SoC executes real-time FOC while maintaining active wireless communication.

During operation, external mechanical interference is introduced. The system detects the anomaly immediately and safely stops the motor. Once normal conditions return, it resumes operation automatically. A connected mobile device provides live interaction and visibility into system behavior throughout the process.

What traditionally required separate controllers for motor control, connectivity, and supervisory logic is consolidated into one integrated wireless compute platform. The demonstration highlights how architectural integration improves responsiveness, safety, and system simplicity simultaneously.

Security as a System Foundation

Demonstration: Wireless Compute Controlling Motion in Real Time

The architectural shift becomes clear in this demonstration.

VIDEO

In this showcase, a BLDC motor is controlled entirely by a single MG24 device. The SoC executes real-time FOC while maintaining active wireless communication.

Enabling the Next Generation of Connected Motion

This approach unlocks new possibilities:

Smart shades that detect increased resistance and prevent wear
Fluid-handling pumps that identify cavitation and adjust proactively
Power tools that monitor vibration signatures for maintenance alerts
Actuators that receive firmware updates wirelessly to improve performance

In these applications, differentiation comes from integration and intelligence, not just torque precision.

Where This Architecture Delivers Immediate Value

The impact is strongest in mid-range, high-volume markets where size, efficiency, and connectivity are essential:

Smart Home and Building Automation

Curtains, blinds, vents, compact robotics

Light Industrial and IoT Automation

Actuators, valves, small conveyors

Connected Tools and Appliances

White goods, power tools

Smart Agriculture

Pumps, irrigation systems, feeders

In each category, consolidating motion, connectivity, and intelligent processing into a single device reduces complexity while expanding capability.

A Platform Approach to Motor Systems

The future of motor systems will not be defined solely by faster control loops. It will be defined by integrated platforms. By combining motion control, wireless connectivity, security, and edge intelligence within one architecture, manufacturers can:

Accelerate development cycles
Simplify hardware design
Enable fleet-wide OTA updates
Introduce predictive maintenance and service-based business models

MG24 represents this evolution toward wireless compute-driven motion systems.

One Device. Unified Architecture. Scalable Innovation.

Every motor that benefits from connectivity will ultimately require more than a standalone controller. MG24 demonstrates how a single secure, wireless-enabled platform can replace fragmented multi-chip designs and enable smarter, more adaptable products. As connected systems continue to evolve, wireless compute will sit at the center of motion, enabling a new generation of intelligent, integrated devices.

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