We recently released a new software safety package designed to help developers ensure the safe, reliable operation of a wide range of home appliances such as washing machines, refrigerators, ovens, vacuum cleaners, blenders, and automatic gates. Available free of charge as a set of software libraries, the package enables end products using Silicon Labs’ EFM8 microcontrollers (MCUs) to quickly comply with the International Electro-technical Commission’s IEC-60730 Class B standard.

Our new safety software library has been certified by external compliance bodies to adhere to the IEC-60730 Class B standard. The IEC certification applies to systems or components of end products that use the EFM8 family of 8-bit MCUs along with the new software library. Home appliances or components used in home applications that could cause a fire, leak or personal injury must be IEC-certified, especially for the European market. End products will pass IEC certification more easily if all components and sub-systems have been pre-certified.

The library consists of test functions that continually monitor the state of the device, ensuring that the EFM8 MCU will not malfunction and cause a failure of the home appliance, endangering the home or its occupants. The software tests the EFM8 MCU’s system clock, timers, volatile memory (RAM), non-volatile memory (flash), UART interface, ADC and DAC, registers and other critical peripheral functions. The library includes all the Power On Self Test (POST) functions executed when a device is first powered on, as well as Built-In Self Test (BIST) functions that are called periodically to ensure correct operation.

We’re committed to helping home appliance developers pass stringent IEC safety certification testing all the way down to the component level. The combination of our IEC-60730 software package, EFM8 MCU portfolio, Simplicity Studio development tools and extensive documents provides developers with the fastest, easiest path to safety certification for global markets.

Pricing and Availability

Silicon Labs’ IEC-60730-compliant software package libraries offer everything developers need to achieve IEC-60730 certification for a final product or module. The software package is available now to developers free of charge in Silicon Labs’ comprehensive Simplicity Studio™ suite of tools. For more information on the libraries, visit silabs.com/appliances.