Silicon Labs Category - Page 6 of 8 - CNX Software

May 4, 2021May 4, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Ebyte E104-BT11 Bluetooth Mesh module features Silicon Labs EFR32MG21 MCU

Ebyte E104-BT11 is a Bluetooth Mesh module offered in four variants with support for gateways (G) and node (N) versions, as well as PCB or IPEX antenna versions. Interestingly it is based on Silicon Labs EFR32MG21 Cortex-M33 microcontroller also found in ITEAD Zigbee 3.0 USB dongle, so it’s not impossible that it could be repurposed for Zigbee or Thread with firmware from Silabs. Ebyte E104-BT11 module specifications: Wireless MCU – Silicon Labs EFR32MG21 Arm Cortex-M33 microcontroller @ up to 80 MHz with DSP and FPU, up to 1024 kB flash, up to 96 kB RAM, 2.4 GHz IEEE 802.15.4 for Bluetooth LE, Zigbee, or Thread Wireless connectivity Bluetooth Mesh/BLE support with default firmware, up to 10,922 devices supported Max Tx power – 20 dBm Rx sensitivity- -88 to -97 dBm (-97 dBm typ.) Max data rate – 1Mbps Antenna – PCB antenna up to 200-meter range, or IPX antenna up […]

March 18, 2021March 18, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

$7 ITEAD Zigbee 3.0 USB dongle features Silicon Labs EFR32MG21 MCU

ITEAD is known for its Sonoff home automation products that started with ESP8266 WiFi and/or RF connectivity several years ago, but more recently the company started to offer Zigbee compliant products including Sonoff BASICZBR3 smart switch, Sonoff ZBBridge WiFi to Zigbee Gateway, or a cheap $4 CC2531 Zigbee USB Dongle compatible with Zigbee2MQTT open-source firmware. The company has now launched a more powered Zigbee 3.0 USB dongle, yet still affordable at $6.99, based on the same Silicon Labs EFR32MG21 wireless MCU as used in the Sonoff ZBBridge with a faster core, more RAM, and a more powerful radio. Key features and specifications: Wireless MCU – Silicon Labs EFR32MG21 Arm Cortex-M33 microcontroller @ up to 80 MHz with DSP and FPU, up to 1024 kB flash, up to 96 kB RAM, 2.4 GHz IEEE 802.15.4 for Zigbee or Thread Host interface – USB port Expansion – 7-pin IO header with programming […]

December 21, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

DIY project creates Zigbee to Ethernet bridge with WT32-ETH01

We previously wrote about Ebyte E180-ZG120B-TB an inexpensive ($9.90) Zigbee 3.0 evaluation board based on Silabs EFR32MG1B Arm Cortex-M4 wireless MCU and the equally cheap ($7.78) WT32-ETH01 ESP32 Ethernet board. What do they have in common? Absolutely nothing! But GitHub user tube0013 decided to connect both boards over UART to create a Zigbee to Ethernet DIY coordinator/bridge running open-source firmware. The hardware also includes a Micro USB adapter for power, several 10cm jumper wires, and he/she also designed a 3D printed case. EZSP-Firmware is used for the Ebyte Zigbee 3.0 board, and ESPHome open-source home automation firmware for the ESP32 board. You’ll also need serial to IP code and ESPHome config. Note that flashing firmware to the Ebyte requires a programmer, and the developer used a J-link EDU Mini together with Silicon Labs’ Simplicity Commander. As mentioned above, a 3D printed case has also been designed, so everything is neatly […]

November 19, 2020November 25, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 13 Comments

Shelly Motion sensor to feature Silicon Labs WiFi chip with Bluetooth-like power consumption

[Update: The information from Shelly about a new “Cortana M3” processor is incorrect, we’ve been contacted by Silicon Labs, and there’s no Cortana M3 microcontroller from the company, Shelly is just using one of the company’s Cortex-M3 based WiFi solutions (SoC or module). The article remains unchanged] WiFi is one of the most convenient ways to connect IoT devices as it’s omnipresent, low-cost, and the range is ideal for the typical smart home. That’s all good until you start to power the device with a tiny battery, as WiFi consumes much more power than Zigbee, Z-Wave, or Bluetooth. Over five years ago, Rockchip RKi6000 WiFi SoC promised Bluetooth 4.0 LE power consumption numbers allowing coin-cell powered WiFi devices, and there were some demos the following year, but I’ve yet to see a consumer device based on the solution. This brings me to the main topic of this post: Shelly Motion, […]

September 24, 2020 by Ayo Ayibiowu - 2 Comments

Amazon Sidewalk – A Low Bandwidth Network For Connecting Smart Devices and IoT

In 2019, Amazon introduced the Sidewalk with privacy and security at the core. Amazon Sidewalk a low-bandwidth, long-distance wireless protocol that is expected to provide a new way for devices to stay connected especially when smart devices leave their WiFi or Bluetooth coverage range by leveraging the 900 MHz spectrum. Amazon Sidewalk will most likely be an LPWAN type network since it is promising neighborhood-like device connectivity with is crowdsourcing initiative. It uses Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) for short distances, the 900 MHz spectrum, and other frequencies for longer distance coverage. Sidewalk attempts to make sure your BLE devices can still connect to your home network even when you take a walk away from your home. According to Amazon, users can easily access the Sidewalk network using two types of devices: Sidewalk Bridges and Sidewalk-enabled devices. Amazon has now announced that compatible Echo devices can now act as bridges and also some […]

September 14, 2020September 14, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Silicon Labs Introduces Bluetooth 5.2 BGM220S SiP and BGM220P PCB Module

Silicon Labs has recently announced two hardware modules based on the company’s BG22 secure Bluetooth 5.2 SoC, namely BGM220S System-in-Package (SiP) measuring just 6x6mm, and BGM220P, a slightly larger PCB variant optimized for wireless performance along with a better link budget for greater range. Both modules can be integrated into products with up to 10-year battery life from a single coin cell. All BGM220S/P variants can support Bluetooth Direction Finding and some of the parts can also handle Bluetooth Mesh Low Power protocol. Silicon Labs BGM220S/P key features: Wireless SoC – Silicon Labs EFR32BG22 Arm Cortex-M33 with DSP instructions and floating-point unit, up to 512 kB Flash, 32 kB RAM, 2.4 GHz radio with TX power up to 8 dBm, and Embedded Trace Macrocell (ETM) for advanced debugging Supported Protocols Bluetooth Low Energy (Bluetooth 5.2) Direction-finding Bluetooth mesh Low Power Node Various MCU peripherals include ADC, up to 25x GPIOs, […]

September 11, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 11 Comments

Z-Wave Long Range (LR) Promises Up to 4 Times the Range, 10-year Battery Life

The new Z-Wave Alliance Technical and Certifications workgroup, part of the Z-Wave Alliance, has announced the new Z-Wave Long Range (Z-Wave LR) specifications offering up to four times the range, support for ten times larger network, and 10-year coin cell battery life while keeping backward compatibility and interoperability Z-Wave LR will support up to 2000 nodes on a single smart home network making it suitable for indoor and outdoor smart home applications in multi-dwelling units, hotels, and hospitals, and removing the need for repeaters. The Z-Wave LR specification will be managed and certified under the Z-Wave Plus V2 certification program that currently mandates the inclusion of the enhanced S2 security framework as well as SmartStart plug-and-play setup feature for the consumer smart home. More details may be found on the press release and some of the sessions that were presented at Works With by Silicon Labs Virtual Conference on September […]

July 27, 2020February 21, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

Sonoff Zigbee Bridge Now Supports Tasmota Firmware, Home Assistant, Zigbee2Tasmota

Sonoff Zigbee Bridge & Tasomota Home Assistant

Sonoff ZBBridge (aka Sonoff Zigbee Bridge) WiFi to Zigbee gateway was launched a few months ago for $16.90 plus shipping, and it’s now also listed on Banggood for $17.99 shipped. It allows users to control Zigbee devices connected to the gateway using the eWelink mobile app used with other Sonoff devices. But many people like to run Tasmota firmware on their Sonoff devices since it’s open-source and provided more flexibility such as integration with Home Assitant or Domoticz. There was already support for Zigbee in Tasmota at the time but only for Texas Instruments SimpleLink CC253x Zigbee MCU’s, and Sonoff ZBBridge is made of an ESP8266 WiSoC and a Silicon Labs EFR32MG21 Gecko Series 2 Cortex-M33 Zigbee microcontroller. So I just suspected that eventually, Sonoff Zigbee Bridge could support Tasmota open-source firmware but that would take some time… It took about four months. Not too bad. It started in the […]