This week at Works With, Silicon Labs Sr. Product Manager of IoT Security, Mike Dow, discussed the ever-changing landscape of security attacks, legislation and our products’ preparedness for the modern security landscape. Additionally, Brad Ree, CTO of ioXt Alliance discussed how the organization is working to unify IoT security standards and build trust around end-product safety and security.

To begin, Mike discussed the stakes –  modern ransomware attacks are costing companies millions of dollars. Historically, these ransomware attacks have been remote attacks against individuals, such as vulnerable household families on their desktop computers, for around $200-$500 each. Today, however, “big game hunting” is more common, where organizations like hospitals or companies are targeted, for ransoms upwards of $10M-$15M. The exact price paid for these ransoms is hard to know, but it is safe to say these ransomware attacks include costly prices and downtime that companies cannot afford.

Additionally, the rise of “pivot attacks” have empowered the cyber-criminals behind these attacks. “Pivot attacks” refer to the phenomenon of using an IoT device (such as a thermostat) as an entry point to a victim’s network. A network’s security, after all, is only as strong as its most vulnerable connected device. This, of course, speaks to the importance of having strong security in these network end nodes.

Mike notes that this is leading to new legislation around cyber security. While the legislation varies from country to country (and state –to state within the U.S.), it generally provides that IoT devices like lightbulbs and thermostats must be “reasonably secure” against such threats, to prevent individuals and companies from falling victim to ransomware and the downtime that comes with it. He expects that we’ll continue to see IoT security-related legislation appear and evolve over time.

He then discusses how our Secure Vault technology that launched this year contains the exact features needed to help protect companies and individuals against the aforementioned modern attacks. From cryptography features like secure key management, to hardware features like Anti-Tamper and DPA Countermeasures, we’ve protected devices from network attacks, hardware attacks, and ensured integrity, authenticity, and confidentiality for end users.

Anti-tamper is one of the Secure Vault features that safeguard from modern attacks  

These features, along with others, exemplify our commitment to protecting devices during manufacturing, deployment, and end of life.

You can learn more about the Secure Vault features Mike mentioned by visiting the following links:

• Secure Boot
• Secure Debug
• DPA Countermeasures
• Anti-Tamper
• Secure Attestation
• Secure Key Management

View a full list of features here.

Next, Brad Ree spoke about the ioXt Alliance’s efforts to improve the global standard of IoT security and build confidence in IoT products. The alliance drives adoption of their security standards by harmonizing the security requirements of channel owners and suppliers and providing authorized test labs for devices that require a third-party test lab.

Their mission begins with the ioXt Security pledge which exemplifies the scope of their mission, and the wide variety of security measures that need to be in place for secure IoT products: 

Brad shares the ioXt Security Pledge

 Brad went on to discuss how different devices have different security needs, therefore requiring different threat models. By defining all the threats that can happen throughout the lifecycle of a device, effective tests can be defined and manufacturers can be empowered to thoroughly assess device security.

To preserve the integrity of tests and their self-certification program, ioXt Alliance offers a rewards program (similar to a bug bounty) to researchers who find that test integrity was compromised. Upon completion,  ioXt Alliance provides the following certification symbol, which is the same regardless of device type or testing rigor:

By using the same symbol across devices, the alliance hopes to strengthen the recognition of the symbol, eliminate confusion for customers that might come from a tiered system and ultimately build trust that certified products are protected.

Both Mike and Brad share the common hope that IoT products will continue to receive the security-related attention that they deserve. To watch the on-demand recording of the Works With security presentation, click here and register.

To learn more about securing your products and our Secure Vault technology, visit silabs.com/security. 

On Sept. 9-10, we’re bringing the smart home world together for the first time ever at Works With. This two-day virtual conference will serve as the defining annual smart home developer event, and we’re excited to host developers from beginners to advanced, industry influencers, wireless alliances, ecosystem partners, and more.

While we’re launching Works With virtually, we’re pulling out all the stops to make sure you don’t miss typical conference extra-curricular activities like networking and winning cool stuff. With that in mind, we’ve gamified the conference, and 16 winners will receive our new Thunderboard BG22 Kits! 

The Thunderboard BG22 is a small form-factor, optimized development platform for adding Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity to battery-powered IoT products. Our EFR32BG22 secure SoC is at the heart of this dev kit and is able to operate for more than 5 years, and potentially up to 10, on a CR2032. The Thunderboard BG22 has humidity, temperature, UV, ambient light, and hall effect sensors, and the ready-to-go iOS and Android apps let you remotely manage and monitor the kits by toggling LEDs, detecting push-button presses, and viewing sensor data. 

Sound interesting to you? Review the challenges below:

• Works With Amplifier Award (quantity 5): The top five people that produce the most social media content across LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram about Works With Sept. 9-10 win.
• Works With Full-Stack Content Award (quantity 3): Describe what your Works With experience was like through a blog or video then share it on social media. Submissions close by the end of day Sept. 13. The three best pieces of content will be chosen according to the discernment of May Ledesma, Silicon Labs’ Sr. Technical Writer and Community Manager.
• Works With APIKnow How Award (quantity 3): Share something you learned at Works With on social media that will help the smart home developer community. The top three people will be chosen after submissions close by the end of day Sept. 13 by a panel of engineers at Silicon Labs.
• Works With Head in the Cloud Award (quantity 5): Take a selfie while attending Works With virtually. The five people with the most engaged post either on LinkedIn, Twitter, or Instagram by the end of day Sept. 13 win.

Additional Rules:

• To be entered to win, posts need to be shared publicly on LinkedIn, Twitter, or Instagram using the #workswith hashtag and tagging @siliconlabs. 
• Winners must be reachable via social media and respond with shipping details within two weeks of being selected as a winner.
• Silicon Labs employees and distributors are encouraged to participate but will not be included in the awards. 

Get a jump start and join the conversation before, during, and after Works With by following Silicon Labs on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram and using the #workswith hashtag.

There’s still time to register for free to join us at Works With.

Good luck!

For more than a decade Silicon Labs has been a trusted partner for developers of smart home devices and gateways, offering wireless experiences backed by more than one billion IoT chips shipped and deployed. That’s a lot of silicon! With that in mind, we thought it was time to leverage our key connector status in the world of smart home IoT to bring the industry together for a two-day virtual conference: “Works With.”  

The conference will take place September 9 – 10, and our goal is for Works With to serve as the defining annual smart home developer conference. Attendees will experience keynotes, panel discussions and technical sessions led by Amazon, Apple HomeKit, Google, Comcast, Samsung SmartThings, Silicon Labs and many other smart home innovators. After attending, you’ll be equipped to more effectively work with smart home ecosystem partners as you design, build and go-to-market with secure, scalable connected devices.  You’ll also learn the latest information about IoT wireless protocols like Bluetooth, OpenThread, Zigbee, Z-Wave, and others.  

Attendees will have more than 40 industry breakout sessions to choose from once logged into the event. Designers and developers can dive deep into areas like security, energy harvesting, battery life, cloud computing, and environmental sensing. Smart home engineers will teach workshops and hands-on sessions using the latest technologies to build real-world devices like smart locks, sensors, lightbulbs and switches. Amazon, Google, HomeKit, Samsung and Z-Wave and others will lead specialized technology tracks and host one-on-one developer meetings.   

We will share more updates on Works With as we approach the conference. In the meantime, we encourage you to mark your calendar, register for free, and keep checking the agenda to pick your schedule.  

Being part of the smart home developer community means collaborating, learning how to work with different smart home ecosystems, and pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in our everyday environments. Almost overnight, we’ve seen our cities and workplaces disrupted (and begin to transform) to the point where many homes need multi-device capability and dynamic connectivity to ease collaboration, connection, and communication. The increasing need for the connected home puts developers in a position to accelerate innovation and the adoption of devices and gateways. While smart home development has been underway for some time, today’s disruptions amplify the need to strengthen relationships within the ecosystem and enhance, reimagine or rethink your go-to-market strategies. 

No matter which ecosystem your solutions are designed for, the Silicon Labs Works With event is your gateway to the most advanced technical smart home training. This Smart Home Developer Virtual Event provides 15 hours of free, deep technical training and interactive sessions especially designed for developers by developers. In addition, there two dynamic keynotes and a great panel discussion featuring Project CHIP that is certain to be informative. Today we want to share a glimpse into a few of our 40 sessions we’re excited to attend. 

First, Google Introduction and Certification, will be on Wednesday, September 9, at 10:00 a.m. CDT, led by engineer Mark Hallam as he introduces attendees to IoT product development for the Google Home Ecosystem. This technical track will give you an overview of the Google Home Ecosystem and how it will use the CHIP standard to connect devices. The course will also cover the process developers must follow in order to become a recognized and certified device operating in the Google Home Ecosystem. Mark will also present the technical track on Thread/CHIP Development, where he will demonstrate the development of a CHIP-based product for the Google Home Ecosystem. This talk is slated for Day 1 on Wednesday, September 9, from 2:00 to 6:00 p.m. CDT. 

We’re also excited about the Amazon Introduction and Certification track on Wednesday, September 9, 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. CDT. This session will show engineers how to get started designing Alexa Connected Devices. Specifically, Silicon Labs’ Jake Wood and Jason Whitney, the founder and CEO of Darwin Tech, will present a holistic overview of how Zigbee and Bluetooth are used to provide connectivity and dive deep into the process required to become a recognized and certified Amazon Alexa Connected Device. 

Next is How to Build an Energy Harvesting Switch which will be held on Wednesday, September 9 from 2:00 p.m. CDT and repeat on Thursday, September 10 at 10:30 a.m. CDT. Co-led by Sunthoshi Kothapalli, Silicon Labs, and Amdom Giday, Arrow Electronics, Inc. this session will explore the need for green energy and low powered wireless control and sensing. After attending, you’ll be able to implement a robust, secure and reliable solution more easily. This session will utilize an example of a Zigbee® Green Power for energy harvesting light switch reference design and implementation.  

New security standards are leading to the development of security requirements tailored to each vertical device type and then measured reliably and repeatably. The Security Regulations session will be held on Wednesday, September 9 from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. CDT and repeats on Thursday, September 10, from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. Led by Mike Dow, Silicon Labs, and Brad Ree, CTO, ioXt Alliance will explore the security landscape, showcase Silicon Labs’ new Secure Vault technology, reveal how the ioXt Alliance is addressing the need for uniform evaluation and certification of the security level of your products to prove adherence to evolving regulations. In 2020, Silicon Labs joined the ioXt Alliance Board to support critical work towards creating the internet of secure things. 

Finally, How to Build a Light Switch will be held on Wednesday, September 9 at 12:00 p.m. CDT and repeat on Thursday, September 10 at 11:30 a.m. This session will teach you about the evolution of the light switch. Silicon Labs Senior Field Application Engineer David Seymour and Jasco Products Test Engineering Manager Mark Simpkins will provide a reference for designing and building a connected smart switch. They’ll also explore options for leveraging existing solutions and offer guidance on choosing the best approach depending on your specific system requirements. 

These are just a few of the programming highlights from Works With 2020, the premiere digital smart home experience filled with innovative technology, engineer-led sessions, and online networking with industry game-changers.  

Smart Home Development is Here. Register now for Works With.  

For more than a decade Silicon Labs has been a trusted partner for developers of smart home devices and gateways, offering wireless experiences backed by more than one billion IoT chips shipped and deployed. That’s a lot of silicon! With that in mind, we thought it was time to leverage our key connector status in the world of smart home IoT to bring the industry together for a two-day virtual conference: “Works With.”  

The conference will take place September 9 – 10, and our goal is for Works With to serve as the defining annual smart home developer conference. Attendees will experience keynotes, panel discussions and technical sessions led by Amazon, Apple HomeKit, Google, Comcast, Samsung SmartThings, Silicon Labs and many other smart home innovators. After attending, you’ll be equipped to more effectively work with smart home ecosystem partners as you design, build and go-to-market with secure, scalable connected devices.  You’ll also learn the latest information about IoT wireless protocols like Bluetooth, OpenThread, Zigbee, Z-Wave, and others.  

Attendees will have more than 40 industry breakout sessions to choose from once logged into the event. Designers and developers can dive deep into areas like security, energy harvesting, battery life, cloud computing, and environmental sensing. Smart home engineers will teach workshops and hands-on sessions using the latest technologies to build real-world devices like smart locks, sensors, lightbulbs and switches. Amazon, Google, HomeKit, Samsung and Z-Wave and others will lead specialized technology tracks and host one-on-one developer meetings.   

We will share more updates on Works With as we approach the conference. In the meantime, we encourage you to mark your calendar, register for free, and keep checking the agenda to pick your schedule.  

For more than a decade Silicon Labs has been a trusted partner for developers of smart home devices and gateways, offering wireless experience backed by more than one billion IoT chips shipped and deployed. That’s a lot of silicon! With that in mind, we thought it was time to leverage our key connector status in the world of smart home IoT to bring the industry together for a two-day virtual conference: “Works With.”  

The conference will take place September 9 – 10, and our goal is for Works With to serve as the defining annual smart home developer conference. Attendees will experience keynotes, panel discussions and technical sessions led by Amazon, Apple HomeKit, Google, Comcast, Samsung SmartThings, Silicon Labs and many other smart home innovators. After attending, you’ll work be equipped to more effectively with smart home ecosystem partners as you design, build and go-to-market with secure, scalable connected devices.  You’ll also learn the latest information about IoT wireless protocols like Bluetooth, OpenThread, Zigbee, Z-Wave, and others.  

Attendees will have more than 40 industry breakout sessions to choose from once logged into the event. Designers and developers can dive deep into areas like security, energy harvesting, battery life, cloud computing, and environmental sensing. Smart home engineers will teach workshops and hands-on sessions using the latest technologies to build real world devices like smart locks, sensors, lightbulbs and switches. Amazon, Google, HomeKit, Samsung and Z-Wave and others will lead specialized technology tracks and host one-on-one developer meetings.   

We will share more updates on Works With as we approach the conference. In the meantime, we encourage you to mark your calendar, register for free, and keep checking the agenda to pick your schedule.  

As a leader in IoT wireless solutions, we're excited to offer you the broadest range of wireless connectivity options – and today we’re further strengthening our wireless portfolio. 

We’re thrilled to announce that we entered into a definitive asset purchase agreement of Redpine Signals' ultra-low-power Wi-Fi and Bluetooth products. Their history of engineering excellence and world-class products aligns closely with our core values and will ultimately result in your success in the market. 

By adding Redpine Signals' Wi-Fi 4, Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth Classic products, we can now offer a rich and comprehensive Wi-Fi portfolio for the IoT, enabling you to get to market quickly. The potential for Wi-Fi to drive future IoT applications is tremendous, and going forward, low-power Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) is a key wireless technology. We look forward to accelerating our joint roadmap of Wi-Fi 6 that works in environments with hundreds or thousands of connected IoT devices. The additional Bluetooth Classic capabilities, including Extended Data Rate, will be ideal technology for your audio applications like voice assistants and smart speakers. 

We value our customers, partners and engineering community, and we're eager to bring this innovative technology to you. Together, we are driving innovations for smart home, industrial IoT and commercial markets and building a smarter, more connected world. 

You can learn more in our press release. 

First published 5.31.2016

There’s no denying the role connectivity plays in regards to devices and how efficiently they communicate information. While wireless capabilities continue to make headlines, there’s still a great deal of value in wired specifications, first and foremost with USB connections.

USB connectors are easy to confuse. They’ve come in many shapes and sizes over the years beginning with Mini, Micro, Type-A, Type-B and now Type-C. For reference, a USB type simply refers to the shape of the ports and plugs while the version, such as 1.1, 2.0, or the current USB 3.1, usually denotes speed. The Type-A connector connects into a host, such as a laptop, while the Type-B connector plugs into a peripheral device. Type-A is always the flat and wide connector shown in the figure below while Type-B can show up in many different shapes due to the differences in devices it connects into.

USB Type-C was first introduced in 2014, implemented to some degree in 2015 (more notably on Macbooks), and is increasingly becoming a standard for many devices in 2016. It’s being called “a leap forward” in connectivity and for good reason.

USB Type-C separates itself from its predecessors because it:

• Can send or deliver up to 100W of power to charge a high-current device
• Supports USB 3.1 with data transfer speeds of up to 10 Gbps
• Will support up to two 4K displays at a 60Hz refresh rate
• Maintains backwards compatibility with USB 2.0
• Has reversible connectors so it does not matter which end is used and in what direction
• Cuts down on waste by eliminating the need for multiple connectors

Though it can handle a wide variety of tasks that previously took multiple cables, Type-C’s versatility comes at a cost because USB’s once-simple inner workings of cables, ports, dongles, and hubs have been replaced by more complex embedded components. There are two main complications that arise when developing Type-C solutions. The first relates to power distribution. A Type-C connector can send or receive up to 100W of power, but this can be a problem for devices that don’t require that much power.

The second common roadblock when developing a Type-C solution deals with the potential for communication failures due to the increase in supported communication standards. Since communication between hosts and devices requires detecting and processing digital and analog signals, an embedded MCU is required. Silicon Labs can alleviate these issues through the creation of it’s new MCU, which integrates more functionalities in a package as small as 3X3 mm².

Although it’s clear USB Type-C represents a new wave of enhanced connectivity, it unfortunately can cause problems for developers and designers. To learn more about how we’re simplifying Type-C development, download this whitepaper.

We’ve also released a comprehensive reference design featuring cost-effective, ultra-low-power EFM8 microcontrollers (MCUs), USB Power Delivery (PD) protocol stacks certified by the USB Implementation Forum (USB-IF), and USB Billboard Device source code.

Our reference design provides a complete solution for a USB Type-C to DisplayPort (DP) adapter, making it easy to communicate with legacy products that do not support USB-C. Available to qualified developers at no charge, the reference design includes schematics, software libraries and stacks, source code, code examples and access to Simplicity Studio™ development tools, enabling developers to design USB-C cables and adapters quickly, easily and at minimal cost.

Get all the details about the USB Type-C reference design including software stacks, schematics, documentation, tools, and EFM8 MCU information at www.silabs.com/usb-type-c.

First published 5.31.2016

There’s no denying the role connectivity plays in regards to devices and how efficiently they communicate information. While wireless capabilities continue to make headlines, there’s still a great deal of value in wired specifications, first and foremost with USB connections.

USB connectors are easy to confuse. They’ve come in many shapes and sizes over the years beginning with Mini, Micro, Type-A, Type-B and now Type-C. For reference, a USB type simply refers to the shape of the ports and plugs while the version, such as 1.1, 2.0, or the current USB 3.1, usually denotes speed. The Type-A connector connects into a host, such as a laptop, while the Type-B connector plugs into a peripheral device. Type-A is always the flat and wide connector shown in the figure below while Type-B can show up in many different shapes due to the differences in devices it connects into.

USB Type-C was first introduced in 2014, implemented to some degree in 2015 (more notably on Macbooks), and is increasingly becoming a standard for many devices in 2016. It’s being called “a leap forward” in connectivity and for good reason.

USB Type-C separates itself from its predecessors because it:

• Can send or deliver up to 100W of power to charge a high-current device
• Supports USB 3.1 with data transfer speeds of up to 10 Gbps
• Will support up to two 4K displays at a 60Hz refresh rate
• Maintains backwards compatibility with USB 2.0
• Has reversible connectors so it does not matter which end is used and in what direction
• Cuts down on waste by eliminating the need for multiple connectors

Though it can handle a wide variety of tasks that previously took multiple cables, Type-C’s versatility comes at a cost because USB’s once-simple inner workings of cables, ports, dongles, and hubs have been replaced by more complex embedded components. There are two main complications that arise when developing Type-C solutions. The first relates to power distribution. A Type-C connector can send or receive up to 100W of power, but this can be a problem for devices that don’t require that much power.

The second common roadblock when developing a Type-C solution deals with the potential for communication failures due to the increase in supported communication standards. Since communication between hosts and devices requires detecting and processing digital and analog signals, an embedded MCU is required. Silicon Labs can alleviate these issues through the creation of it’s new MCU, which integrates more functionalities in a package as small as 3X3 mm².

Although it’s clear USB Type-C represents a new wave of enhanced connectivity, it unfortunately can cause problems for developers and designers. To learn more about how we’re simplifying Type-C development, download this whitepaper.

We’ve also released a comprehensive reference design featuring cost-effective, ultra-low-power EFM8 microcontrollers (MCUs), USB Power Delivery (PD) protocol stacks certified by the USB Implementation Forum (USB-IF), and USB Billboard Device source code.

Our reference design provides a complete solution for a USB Type-C to DisplayPort (DP) adapter, making it easy to communicate with legacy products that do not support USB-C. Available to qualified developers at no charge, the reference design includes schematics, software libraries and stacks, source code, code examples and access to Simplicity Studio™ development tools, enabling developers to design USB-C cables and adapters quickly, easily and at minimal cost.

Get all the details about the USB Type-C reference design including software stacks, schematics, documentation, tools, and EFM8 MCU information at www.silabs.com/usb-type-c.

First published 5.31.2016

There’s no denying the role connectivity plays in regards to devices and how efficiently they communicate information. While wireless capabilities continue to make headlines, there’s still a great deal of value in wired specifications, first and foremost with USB connections.

USB connectors are easy to confuse. They’ve come in many shapes and sizes over the years beginning with Mini, Micro, Type-A, Type-B and now Type-C. For reference, a USB type simply refers to the shape of the ports and plugs while the version, such as 1.1, 2.0, or the current USB 3.1, usually denotes speed. The Type-A connector connects into a host, such as a laptop, while the Type-B connector plugs into a peripheral device. Type-A is always the flat and wide connector shown in the figure below while Type-B can show up in many different shapes due to the differences in devices it connects into.

USB Type-C was first introduced in 2014, implemented to some degree in 2015 (more notably on Macbooks), and is increasingly becoming a standard for many devices in 2016. It’s being called “a leap forward” in connectivity and for good reason.

USB Type-C separates itself from its predecessors because it:

• Can send or deliver up to 100W of power to charge a high-current device
• Supports USB 3.1 with data transfer speeds of up to 10 Gbps
• Will support up to two 4K displays at a 60Hz refresh rate
• Maintains backwards compatibility with USB 2.0
• Has reversible connectors so it does not matter which end is used and in what direction
• Cuts down on waste by eliminating the need for multiple connectors

Though it can handle a wide variety of tasks that previously took multiple cables, Type-C’s versatility comes at a cost because USB’s once-simple inner workings of cables, ports, dongles, and hubs have been replaced by more complex embedded components. There are two main complications that arise when developing Type-C solutions. The first relates to power distribution. A Type-C connector can send or receive up to 100W of power, but this can be a problem for devices that don’t require that much power.

The second common roadblock when developing a Type-C solution deals with the potential for communication failures due to the increase in supported communication standards. Since communication between hosts and devices requires detecting and processing digital and analog signals, an embedded MCU is required. Silicon Labs can alleviate these issues through the creation of it’s new MCU, which integrates more functionalities in a package as small as 3X3 mm².

Although it’s clear USB Type-C represents a new wave of enhanced connectivity, it unfortunately can cause problems for developers and designers. To learn more about how we’re simplifying Type-C development, download this whitepaper.

We’ve also released a comprehensive reference design featuring cost-effective, ultra-low-power EFM8 microcontrollers (MCUs), USB Power Delivery (PD) protocol stacks certified by the USB Implementation Forum (USB-IF), and USB Billboard Device source code.

Our reference design provides a complete solution for a USB Type-C to DisplayPort (DP) adapter, making it easy to communicate with legacy products that do not support USB-C. Available to qualified developers at no charge, the reference design includes schematics, software libraries and stacks, source code, code examples and access to Simplicity Studio™ development tools, enabling developers to design USB-C cables and adapters quickly, easily and at minimal cost.

Get all the details about the USB Type-C reference design including software stacks, schematics, documentation, tools, and EFM8 MCU information at www.silabs.com/usb-type-c.