M2COMM Ushers in a New Wave of Wireless Electronic Shelf Labels with the FG23 and Si4463
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Advantages of Wireless Electronic Shelf Labels
Electronic shelf labels (ESL) have emerged as one of the most innovative technologies for the retail industry, bringing a wide range of benefits from streamlining inventory management to hyper-responsive pricing flexibility. The advantages of ESL adoption also extend to customers as well, providing better shopping experiences and always accurate prices.
M2COMM Leads the Way in Wireless ESL Development
Taiwan-based M2COMM is known for its ultra-low-power, high-performance wireless technologies that help developers address applications requiring excessive battery consumption and complicated wireless network management. Their expertise in these areas is one of the reasons the company’s ELSA smart e-label system is leading the way in ESL development.
Integrating ESL into existing retail infrastructure requires overcoming development challenges around coverage, maintaining low installation costs, ensuring high data reliability and security, and seamless software integration. M2COMM required a sub-GHz solution because of the range it offered as well as its ability to better penetrate shelves and other obstacles common in retail stores. Sub-GHz is also less susceptible to interference, making communication in large, densely populated shopping environments more reliable. Its extended range and interference resilience improve scalability, streamline operations, and enable consistent data synchronization across diverse layouts.
The Challenge
M2COMM, a leading specialist in ultra-low-power, high-performance wireless communication, needed a strong wireless solution and an experienced IoT provider for its highly sought-after ELSA smart electronic shelf label to meet the demanding coverage, battery life, and performance demands required for ESL applications.
The Solution
The high-performance Si4463 made it an ideal fit for the ELSA platform’s base station, and the single-chip FG23 SoC has been integrated into the ESL tags due to its high level of integration, low power, and high performance at long-range.
The Result
M2Comm’s ESL solution has been deployed worldwide and is currently rolling out to more than 800 Simple Mart locations across Taiwan with plans to expand to more than 1,300 stores to deliver lower prices, faster response times for workers, and a better in-store experience.
Why FG23 and Si4463 are Ideal for M2COMM’s ESL Applications
When M2COMM set out to select a transceiver for its base station solution, it wanted an MCU-based platform that would leverage previous development experience. The low power consumption of the Si4463, together with its sub-GHz range and performance, made it an ideal choice for the ELSA platform. The flexibility it offers makes it easily adaptable for other emerging IoT scenarios where M2Comm is focused, including smart medical applications and logistics management. Each base station, however, will host up to thousands of individual ESL tags. This means that low cost of ownership is a critical design consideration for the individual ESL tags. The FG23 lowers overall system cost by combining the MCU and high-performance Sub-GHz radio into a single package while meeting the highly demanding power consumption requirements set by the ESL application.
How M2COMM’s Wireless ESL Solution Benefits Their Customers
For customers, M2COMM’s ELSA reduces the cost associated with printing paper price cards and eliminates the need for manual, error-prone pricing. Based on M2COMM’s estimates, customers could save more than an hour of manual labor every day while increasing the level of service it offers shoppers. The longevity of the devices compounds these benefits. For example, Simple Mart will reduce carbon emissions by nearly 7,000 metric tons every year, and the average lifespan of an ESL is up to 10 years.
The response to ELSA from users has been overwhelmingly positive, and M2COMM is quickly expanding its presence in stores ranging from pharmacies and convenience stores to shoe and electronics retailers.
In addition to its capable wireless devices, M2COMM benefited from the superior technical support and development tools Silicon Labs has become known for and now has a complete wireless solution that can scale with ELSA far into the future.