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Type-C’s versatility comes at a cost because USB’s once-simple inner workings of cables, ports, dongles, and hubs have been replaced by more complex embedded components.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.

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.

We were excited to recently sit down with Gimmy Chu, the CEO and a cofounder of Nanoleaf, a Smart Lighting company. With worldwide offices in Canada, Hong Kong, and China, Nanoleaf has been delivering never-before-seen lighting designs since 2012 with a passion for cutting-edge design and sustainability.

Tell us a little about Nanoleaf; how do you describe your work to people?
At our core, we are a smart lighting company on a mission for sustainability. We believe in creating smarter, more efficient lighting that offers a more exciting experience for consumers while also forging a more sustainable future for the planet. We often say that we want to break the barriers between doing good, looking good, and feeling good. We’ve focused a lot on thinking outside of the box when it comes down to product design as well; that is truly one of our passions.

Your award-winning design work certainly speaks for itself. How did you even begin to approach smart lighting in the way that you do? You’re very unique.
The other two cofounders and I were actually friends at university. We had a really strong bond. And a lot of that forged over the three of us building solar-powered cars together in a class. After graduation, the world pulled us in different ways. One of us went into pharmaceuticals, one into manufacturing in China, and I was on a more traditional corporate path of my own.

Despite the distance, we kept in touch. And more important, we kept trying to brainstorm ways we could work together again, what we could try and make together that was completely different. Because that’s another one of our drivers: we want to make things that just don’t exist in the market. After many late-night Skype sessions, we landed on lighting as a great way to contribute to sustainability.

Our first product we made together was actually a standard light bulb, but it was actually the most energy-efficient light bulb in the world; and we actually still offer a Classic Series of light bulb technology. But then the market demands of the IoT called us, and the necessity to play in a system where people could control their light bulbs, and where the light bulbs could talk to other devices as needed—that’s what we dove into.

Our forays into the IoT spaces included the Smarter Kit we crowd-funded on Indiegogo—an Apple HomeKit-compatible offering. It was outfitted with a Nanoleaf Hub that allowed integration with Apple and a Nanoleaf Smart Ivy bulb. The Smart Ivy bulb still has more power than any other smart bulb on the market today. It’s a 60W equivalent bulb that uses only 7.5W of energy to produce 800 Lumens, and we managed to give it an Art Deco design no one had ever seen before in a light bulb.

And our newest product offering is the Nanoleaf Aurora. It’s a set of modular LED panels that truly lets people customize and illuminate their space in ways that simply weren't possible before. You can control it and customize it completely to your taste and space—even with your voice. The Aurora was largely inspired by the idea of recreating natural light, so that people could experience the same warm soothing qualities indoors as well—especially during winter when there’s less sunlight hours.

And what’s next for Nanoleaf? Where do you see Smart Lighting itself heading?
We’re working on a new line that will launch this fall called the Aurora Rhythm. Like with everything we’ve done, we’re trying to push people to think outside the notion that lighting is just approximating a candle—the original home lighting product. Lighting has profound effects on your mood, energy levels, and overall well-being. It’s a very important aspect of living well every day, and we want to help improve that with each new product we release.

Can you elaborate on your approximating a candle comment? That’s intriguing.
Well, the thing about lighting in my opinion is that for a long time a light bulb was really just taking the idea of a candle flame and turning it upside down to hang from the ceiling, then connecting it to wires to light up a whole home. This idea of using light in a room is the box that people have placed lighting in. With today’s technology, we’ve eliminated these restrictions. The freedom of the Aurora panels lets people control and customize where they want their lighting, the shape and design, as well as the specific colors they want to set. It offers a full spectrum of lighting customizations to play with. Smart lighting is going to continue to push this boundary, as it should.

What Silicon Labs product are you using at Nanoleaf, and why did you go with it?
We’ve been using Silicon Labs since the beginning, and they’ve been integrated into several products now. The Smarter Kit I mentioned used your ZigBee SoCs and communications stack. These had a very low power implementation and were very easy to use. The Aurora used an 8-bit MCU. And the upcoming Aurora Rhythm slated for release this August is using the Bluetooth Blue Gecko SoC.

I will also genuinely say that we’ve truly valued our partnership with Silicon Labs. Our R&D team has spent time with your R&D teams. The environment is collaborative with an openness to help each other and share knowledge. This kind of collaboration has helped us push boundaries and reach our goals. It’s been a trusted, pivotal partnership in my mind.

Where do you see the collective IoT heading in the next 5–8 years in your opinion given your overall exposure to the space?
Well, I think it’s safe to say that the standardization issue hopefully will get more resolution. A lot of entities out there still seem to be vested in a more proprietary approach to the IoT. Real standardization of the protocols everyone is following will really push the IoT to its next level of innovation in my opinion. The other thing to watch for is the progress of both voice recognition and AI within the space.

IoT product developers are under constant pressure to reduce time to market. Being first to market with a new connected product can provide first-mover advantages, but developers should not compromise on key aspects to achieve that goal. That’s a big part of why we launched xGM210x Series 2 pre-certified modules. Developers can accelerate time to market by several months when they take advantage of highly integrated modules that come complete with global regulatory certifications and important, brand protecting features such as device security. 

Simplifying IoT Development  

Series 2 Modules enable faster and easier IoT development for smart building, industrial IoT, and smart lighting applications. Designed to optimize the performance of resource-constrained IoT products without requiring functionality tradeoffs, the Series 2 portfolio decreases the time, cost, and risk factors through the availability of a suite of development tools including the Simplicity Studio design environment, software stacks that have a proven track record in large deployments, support personnel, and security capabilities integrated into the modules.   

Securing IoT Wireless Devices 

The enhanced security features, implemented in the Series 2 modules, enable developers to use modern and highly robust security features in their IoT products.

• A dedicated security core isolates the application processor and delivers fast, energy-efficient cryptographic operations with differential power analysis (DPA) countermeasures. 
• Secure boot with root of trust and secure loader (RTSL) technology helps prevent malware injection and the execution of authentic signed firmware.
• An anti-rollback feature ensures patched software delivered locally or via OTA (over-the-air) update cannot be rolled back to older yet signed firmware that may have known security issues.
• A true random number generator (TRNG) compliant with NIST SP800-90 and AIS-31 strengthens device cryptography. 
• A secure debug interface with lock/unlock protected via a Diffie-Helman key exchange allows only authenticated access for failure analysis without the need to wipe memory.

Taking Advantage of the xGM210P 

xGM210P is a broad-based module optimized for line powered IoT applications in smart home, building automation, and industrial IoT.  With a long RF range, dedicated security core, and large flash memory, the broad-based module is perfect for smart HVAC, building, and factory automation systems.

When integrating the xGM210P, the high temperature rating of up to 125°C allows the module to function in demanding environmental conditions such as solar baking in utility meter applications. The module’s low profile also makes it perfect for space-constrained IoT designs particularly in smart home applications including smart light bulbs, fixtures, LED strips, dimmers, fire alarms, and power sockets. 

Optimizing Smart Lighting with xGM210L 

The xGM210L is designed and built for smart LED bulbs and allows developers to add wireless connectivity to LED light bulbs in an easier fashion. One key optimization is the inclusion of a 6-pin header, which enables horizontal and vertical mounting, an interface for power, and pulse width modulation (PWM) for LED temperature and dimming control. The 125°C high temperature rating ensures correct operation despite the harsh operating conditions and compliance with California Title 20 ensures low power reduces wasted power. Developers can design dimmable, color tunable smart LED lightbulbs that support Bluetooth mesh, Thread, Zigbee or multiprotocol connectivity.  Extensive global regulatory certifications make developing with the xGM210L cost-efficient through saving development cycles. By enabling smart lighting with robust, scalable mesh networking, consumers can control lights through a smartphone and adjust lighting settings while away from their home. 

Recently, Tom R. Halfhill, a senior analyst at The Linley Group and a senior editor of Microprocessor Report, contributed a review of our new Wireless Gecko Series 2 SoCs in the June issue of Microprocessor Report. He analyzes key EFR32 Series 2 upgrades and how the next-generation portfolio compares with the EFR32 Series 1 family in areas such as wireless performance, security features, on-chip CPU and package size.

In this report, Halfhill highlights Series 2 security features such as secure boot with Root of Trust and Secure Loader (RTSL) in addition to hardware crypto accelerations with side-channel countermeasures that considerably strengthen resistance to adversary attacks. The report also compares key specifications of EFR32MG21 and EFR32BG21 SoCs, the first products in the Series 2 portfolio. EFR32MG21 supports multiprotocol, Zigbee®, Thread and Bluetooth® mesh networking, and EFR32BG21 is dedicated to Bluetooth Low Energy and Bluetooth mesh connectivity.

Our Wireless Gecko Series 2 portfolio leads a growing crowd of wireless MCUs and SoCs for connected devices. Halfhill compares EFR32MG21 features and performance with several competing products from other large wireless MCU/SoC vendors:

•            NXP’s Kinetis K32W0x

•            ST Microelectronics’ STM32WB

•            Texas Instrument’s SimpleLink CC1352R

Halfhill acknowledges that our new Series 2 portfolio includes the lowest power wireless SoCs on the market while offering the tiniest footprint, boasting a 4 mm x 4 mm surface-mount QFN package with only 32 pins. The SoCs also offer the highest ambient temperature range, making them suitable for applications with extreme heat exposure such as connected LED lighting and various Industrial IoT applications. The latest Series 2 SoCs are ideal for a wide range of line-powered IoT products including gateways, hubs, lights, voice assistants and smart electric meters.

Series 1 customers can easily upgrade to the Series 2 platform. With IoT security threats increasing, Wireless Gecko Series 2 leads the pack in providing improved security features but comes at virtually no additional cost when upgrading to Series 2. The enhanced radios offer a +20 dBm option for longer range, allowing customers to choose the right power level and wireless range for each design. The Series 2 radio also offers better selectivity, which is helpful as more and more wireless devices use the crowded 2.4 GHz band.

Read the full Microprocessor Report: https://www.silabs.com/documents/public/white-papers/the-linley-group-microprocessor-report-silicon-labs-upgrades-wireless-mcus.pdf

Wi-Fi may not be the first wireless technology one thinks of when considering low power IoT applications, but it should be. In this Q&A, Silicon Labs’ senior product manager for Wi-Fi products Siddharth Sundar discusses Wi-Fi's advantages and challenges that developers should keep in mind when choosing the right approach to wireless IoT.

What are the advantages to using Wi-Fi in low power IoT applications?

Being a widely deployed protocol with approximately 13 billion deployed devices means that Wi-Fi connectivity is available in most home and commercial/office environments. This avoids the need for a gateway and lets devices be cloud connected without needing new infrastructure. Wi-Fi is also highly interoperable, so you can have confidence that your devices will connect to most Wi-Fi networks out there. The higher data rates and range offered by Wi-Fi also enable a wider range of applications.

How does Wi-Fi compare to other IoT wireless communication protocols?

Wi-Fi has significantly higher data throughput than most other IoT wireless communication protocols – often 10-100x higher, allowing it to tackle higher throughput applications like audio and video. The broad deployment and range of Wi-Fi is also a significant benefit compared to many other protocols.

These benefits do come at a cost. Wi-Fi products typically have higher power consumption and higher implementation costs than IoT specific protocols like BLE and Zigbee, since the range and throughput offered by Wi-Fi demands higher design complexity. However, most of this design complexity can be managed through using pre-certified modules, and the cost and power consumption of Wi-Fi devices is decreasing to a point where it is competitive for many IoT applications.

Why implement 802.11n rather than 802.11ac for IoT platforms?

There are a few key reasons why 802.11n (Wi-Fi 4) may be better suited for most IoT applications than 802.11ac-based products (Wi-Fi 5). First, 802.11ac is based on 5 GHz versus 802.11n which supports both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz. 2.4 GHz offers more range and better object penetration compared to 5 GHz. This is a key benefit in home environments with multiple walls and barriers.

Also, IoT Wi-Fi devices like Silicon Labs transceivers and modules are designed with enhanced RF selectivity to maintain reliable communication even in the presence of blockers such as nearby APs, 802.15.4 and Bluetooth devices. The below figure illustrates how advanced interference mitigation techniques help overcome the channel limitations related to the 2.4 GHz band. Learn more in Wi-Fi Learning Center.

One final point, the cost and power consumption of 802.11ac based systems is higher due to the higher protocol complexity. While it does provide enhanced throughput, the data rates provided by 802.11n are more than sufficient for most IoT applications including audio and security/IP camera video streaming.

What are some ways to reduce power requirements using Wi-Fi in IoT applications?

There are a number of ways to reduce power consumption using Wi-Fi:

1. Minimize the time spent in active TX and RX modes: With Wi-Fi’s high data rates, it may make sense to aggregate data and transmit/receive infrequently. It may also make sense to use higher data rates to transmit data more quickly and reduce the amount of time spent in high power transmit modes.
2. Choose the right devices: Not all Wi-Fi chipsets are made the same, so make sure you choose the devices with the lowest possible current consumption for the TX, RX, sleep and DTIM modes you are interested in. Watch out for datasheet tricks and make sure you are comparing apples to apples – this is especially important when looking at “sleep” and “associated” current definitions, as they are defined differently by vendors.
3. Think about the system level: The best power optimizations can be found at the system level, by seeing if you can turn off the radio and only power it on infrequently or using techniques like beacon skipping to reduce idle/sleep current if you are OK with tolerating latency.
4. Use the low power features available in the Wi-Fi standard: The Wi-Fi standard has a number of power optimizing features like DTIM sleep modes and Power Save that can save you a significant amount of power.

Are Wi-Fi solutions as integrated and compact as something like Bluetooth?

Wi-Fi solutions have traditionally been more complex and larger than solutions for Bluetooth. However, this gap is reducing, and there are increasingly smaller, optimized solutions available for Wi-Fi. This new class of IoT Wi-Fi devices takes advantage of Moore’s law to deliver higher performance, and eliminates size/cost adding features like MIMO. For example, Silicon Labs has a pre-certified Wi-Fi SiP module (including a Wi-Fi Radio, RF, XTAL and antenna) in a 6.5 mm x 6.5 mm package, which allows you to add Wi-Fi to small form factor devices.

Wi-Fi may not be the first wireless technology one thinks of when considering low power IoT applications, but it should be. In this Q&A, Silicon Labs’ senior product manager for Wi-Fi products Siddharth Sundar discusses Wi-Fi's advantages and challenges that developers should keep in mind when choosing the right approach to wireless IoT.

What are the advantages to using Wi-Fi in low power IoT applications?

Being a widely deployed protocol with approximately 13 billion deployed devices means that Wi-Fi connectivity is available in most home and commercial/office environments. This avoids the need for a gateway and lets devices be cloud connected without needing new infrastructure. Wi-Fi is also highly interoperable, so you can have confidence that your devices will connect to most Wi-Fi networks out there. The higher data rates and range offered by Wi-Fi also enable a wider range of applications.

How does Wi-Fi compare to other IoT wireless communication protocols?

Wi-Fi has significantly higher data throughput than most other IoT wireless communication protocols – often 10-100x higher, allowing it to tackle higher throughput applications like audio and video. The broad deployment and range of Wi-Fi is also a significant benefit compared to many other protocols.

These benefits do come at a cost. Wi-Fi products typically have higher power consumption and higher implementation costs than IoT specific protocols like BLE and Zigbee, since the range and throughput offered by Wi-Fi demands higher design complexity. However, most of this design complexity can be managed through using pre-certified modules, and the cost and power consumption of Wi-Fi devices is decreasing to a point where it is competitive for many IoT applications.

Why implement 802.11n rather than 802.11ac for IoT platforms?

There are a few key reasons why 802.11n (Wi-Fi 4) may be better suited for most IoT applications than 802.11ac-based products (Wi-Fi 5). First, 802.11ac is based on 5 GHz versus 802.11n which supports both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz. 2.4 GHz offers more range and better object penetration compared to 5 GHz. This is a key benefit in home environments with multiple walls and barriers.

Also, IoT Wi-Fi devices like Silicon Labs transceivers and modules are designed with enhanced RF selectivity to maintain reliable communication even in the presence of blockers such as nearby APs, 802.15.4 and Bluetooth devices. The below figure illustrates how advanced interference mitigation techniques help overcome the channel limitations related to the 2.4 GHz band. Learn more in Wi-Fi Learning Center.

One final point, the cost and power consumption of 802.11ac based systems is higher due to the higher protocol complexity. While it does provide enhanced throughput, the data rates provided by 802.11n are more than sufficient for most IoT applications including audio and security/IP camera video streaming.

What are some ways to reduce power requirements using Wi-Fi in IoT applications?

There are a number of ways to reduce power consumption using Wi-Fi:

1. Minimize the time spent in active TX and RX modes: With Wi-Fi’s high data rates, it may make sense to aggregate data and transmit/receive infrequently. It may also make sense to use higher data rates to transmit data more quickly and reduce the amount of time spent in high power transmit modes.
2. Choose the right devices: Not all Wi-Fi chipsets are made the same, so make sure you choose the devices with the lowest possible current consumption for the TX, RX, sleep and DTIM modes you are interested in. Watch out for datasheet tricks and make sure you are comparing apples to apples – this is especially important when looking at “sleep” and “associated” current definitions, as they are defined differently by vendors.
3. Think about the system level: The best power optimizations can be found at the system level, by seeing if you can turn off the radio and only power it on infrequently or using techniques like beacon skipping to reduce idle/sleep current if you are OK with tolerating latency.
4. Use the low power features available in the Wi-Fi standard: The Wi-Fi standard has a number of power optimizing features like DTIM sleep modes and Power Save that can save you a significant amount of power.

Are Wi-Fi solutions as integrated and compact as something like Bluetooth?

Wi-Fi solutions have traditionally been more complex and larger than solutions for Bluetooth. However, this gap is reducing, and there are increasingly smaller, optimized solutions available for Wi-Fi. This new class of IoT Wi-Fi devices takes advantage of Moore’s law to deliver higher performance, and eliminates size/cost adding features like MIMO. For example, Silicon Labs has a pre-certified Wi-Fi SiP module (including a Wi-Fi Radio, RF, XTAL and antenna) in a 6.5 mm x 6.5 mm package, which allows you to add Wi-Fi to small form factor devices.

Wi-Fi may not be the first wireless technology one thinks of when considering low power IoT applications, but it should be. In this Q&A, Silicon Labs’ senior product manager for Wi-Fi products Siddharth Sundar discusses Wi-Fi's advantages and challenges that developers should keep in mind when choosing the right approach to wireless IoT.

What are the advantages to using Wi-Fi in low power IoT applications?

Being a widely deployed protocol with approximately 13 billion deployed devices means that Wi-Fi connectivity is available in most home and commercial/office environments. This avoids the need for a gateway and lets devices be cloud connected without needing new infrastructure. Wi-Fi is also highly interoperable, so you can have confidence that your devices will connect to most Wi-Fi networks out there. The higher data rates and range offered by Wi-Fi also enable a wider range of applications.

How does Wi-Fi compare to other IoT wireless communication protocols?

Wi-Fi has significantly higher data throughput than most other IoT wireless communication protocols – often 10-100x higher, allowing it to tackle higher throughput applications like audio and video. The broad deployment and range of Wi-Fi is also a significant benefit compared to many other protocols.

These benefits do come at a cost. Wi-Fi products typically have higher power consumption and higher implementation costs than IoT specific protocols like BLE and Zigbee, since the range and throughput offered by Wi-Fi demands higher design complexity. However, most of this design complexity can be managed through using pre-certified modules, and the cost and power consumption of Wi-Fi devices is decreasing to a point where it is competitive for many IoT applications.

Why implement 802.11n rather than 802.11ac for IoT platforms?

There are a few key reasons why 802.11n (Wi-Fi 4) may be better suited for most IoT applications than 802.11ac-based products (Wi-Fi 5). First, 802.11ac is based on 5 GHz versus 802.11n which supports both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz. 2.4 GHz offers more range and better object penetration compared to 5 GHz. This is a key benefit in home environments with multiple walls and barriers.

Also, IoT Wi-Fi devices like Silicon Labs transceivers and modules are designed with enhanced RF selectivity to maintain reliable communication even in the presence of blockers such as nearby APs, 802.15.4 and Bluetooth devices. The below figure illustrates how advanced interference mitigation techniques help overcome the channel limitations related to the 2.4 GHz band. Learn more in Wi-Fi Learning Center.

One final point, the cost and power consumption of 802.11ac based systems is higher due to the higher protocol complexity. While it does provide enhanced throughput, the data rates provided by 802.11n are more than sufficient for most IoT applications including audio and security/IP camera video streaming.

What are some ways to reduce power requirements using Wi-Fi in IoT applications?

There are a number of ways to reduce power consumption using Wi-Fi:

1. Minimize the time spent in active TX and RX modes: With Wi-Fi’s high data rates, it may make sense to aggregate data and transmit/receive infrequently. It may also make sense to use higher data rates to transmit data more quickly and reduce the amount of time spent in high power transmit modes.
2. Choose the right devices: Not all Wi-Fi chipsets are made the same, so make sure you choose the devices with the lowest possible current consumption for the TX, RX, sleep and DTIM modes you are interested in. Watch out for datasheet tricks and make sure you are comparing apples to apples – this is especially important when looking at “sleep” and “associated” current definitions, as they are defined differently by vendors.
3. Think about the system level: The best power optimizations can be found at the system level, by seeing if you can turn off the radio and only power it on infrequently or using techniques like beacon skipping to reduce idle/sleep current if you are OK with tolerating latency.
4. Use the low power features available in the Wi-Fi standard: The Wi-Fi standard has a number of power optimizing features like DTIM sleep modes and Power Save that can save you a significant amount of power.

Are Wi-Fi solutions as integrated and compact as something like Bluetooth?

Wi-Fi solutions have traditionally been more complex and larger than solutions for Bluetooth. However, this gap is reducing, and there are increasingly smaller, optimized solutions available for Wi-Fi. This new class of IoT Wi-Fi devices takes advantage of Moore’s law to deliver higher performance, and eliminates size/cost adding features like MIMO. For example, Silicon Labs has a pre-certified Wi-Fi SiP module (including a Wi-Fi Radio, RF, XTAL and antenna) in a 6.5 mm x 6.5 mm package, which allows you to add Wi-Fi to small form factor devices.

More and more embedded systems rely on the use of Real-Time Operating Systems (RTOSs) to: satisfy real-time requirements, reduce time-to-market, simplify development, increase code portability, and simplify development. Despite its many benefits, an RTOS also has its drawbacks, such as introducing improperly assigned task priorities, stack overflows, starvation, deadlocks, priority inversions and other hard-to-find bugs.

In these three articles published on Embedded Computing Design, Jean Labrosse, distinguished engineer at Silicon Labs and Micrium founder, will look at tools specifically designed to help RTOS-based application developers uncover some of these elusive bugs, identify issues and offer corrective actions. These tools are readily available yet often unknown to embedded developers.

1. Uncovering Real-Time Bugs with Specialized RTOS Tools - Part 1
2. Uncovering Real-Time Bugs with Specialized RTOS Tools - Part 2
3. Uncovering Real-Time Bugs with Specialized RTOS Tools - Part 3

More and more embedded systems rely on the use of Real-Time Operating Systems (RTOSs) to: satisfy real-time requirements, reduce time-to-market, simplify development, increase code portability, and simplify development. Despite its many benefits, an RTOS also has its drawbacks, one of which is the possibility of introducing improperly assigned task priorities, stack overflows, starvation, deadlocks, priority inversions and other hard-to-find bugs.

In these three articles published on Embedded Computing Design, Jean Labrosse, distinguished engineer at Silicon Labs and Micrium founder, will look at tools specifically designed to help RTOS-based application developers uncover some of these elusive bugs, identify issues and offer corrective actions. These tools are readily available yet often unknown to embedded developers.

1. Uncovering Real-Time Bugs with Specialized RTOS Tools - Part 1
2. Uncovering Real-Time Bugs with Specialized RTOS Tools - Part 2
3. Uncovering Real-Time Bugs with Specialized RTOS Tools - Part 3