As most in our industry are no doubt well aware, Embedded World 2021 is happening this week. Although this year’s event is virtual instead of in-person as it typically is in Nuremberg, Germany, embedded technology innovators from around the world will be logging-in to participate, and Silicon Labs is no exception.

In fact, Silicon Labs will be sharing our IoT expertise throughout Embedded World 2021, with presentations and papers focused on a variety of topics: the compelling advantages of Wi-SUN mesh technology for smart city utility applications, the most pressing IoT security issues the embedded industry faces today, and how to prevent bad actors from penetrating embedded hardware and software applications.

We’ll also be front and center of an expert panel discussion exploring the latest developments in wireless connectivity solutions for IoT, ranging from interoperability to security and reliability, and provide an outlook towards the future.

Here’s the roster of the Silicon Labs experts presenting this week, what they’ll be presenting, and when. We hope you’ll join us for all of them!

March 3rd:

• Soumya Shyamasundar, IoT smart city product manager, and Abhijit Grewal, senior marketing manager, and Wi-SUN Alliance board member, will present “Wi-SUN – Key to Unlocking Massive IoT.” Wireless Smart Ubiquitous Network (Wi-SUN) is the leading IPv6 sub-GHz mesh technology for smart city and smart utility applications. Wi-SUN brings Smart Ubiquitous Networks to service providers, utilities, municipalities/local government, and other enterprises, by enabling interoperable, multi-service, and secure wireless mesh networks. Wi-SUN can be used for large-scale outdoor IoT wireless communication networks in a wide range of applications covering both line-powered and battery-powered nodes. This presentation aims to illustrate the benefits of Wi-SUN as a technology and discuss solutions to grow Wi-SUN to create smart connected sustainable cities.

March 4th:

• Jakob Buron, IoT senior staff engineer, will present “Analyzing a Real-World Wireless IoT Encryption and Authentication Protocol Using a Threat Modeling Framework.” This presentation analyzes the security properties of the Z-Wave Security2 framework, considering the residential home environment it is designed to operate in. The analysis includes 10 years of experience operating and maintaining real-world secure wireless residential networks. A selection of embedded mitigations techniques will be presented and their effect on selected attacks will also be analyzed. 

• Josh Norem, senior systems engineer, will present “Security is a System Level Problem: a Case Study.” Norem will present two case studies highlighting how the interaction between two function entities can result in non-functional security. The first looks at a cross-discipline issue showing how the function of one group (in this case Product Test Engineering) can unintentionally bypass security processes and render device features such as secure boot or debug port locking ineffective. The second looks at an implementation of secure key storage that when combined with an ECC accelerator cannot store keys securely, despite both blocks being secure when in isolation. These case studies will highlight the importance of conducting comprehensive security analyses and highlight the types of issues that security engineers should be on the lookout for.

• DeWitt Seward, IoT principal engineer, will present “Fuzz Attacks for Embedded Network Devices” and “Sidechannel Analysis in Embedded Devices.” The Fuzz Attacks presentation covers fuzz testing, which is used to find bug bounties for operating systems and web protocols. As more deep embedded devices become connected to the internet, they are subject to the same types of attacks as other internet-connected devices. Fuzz testing can and should be used to effectively harden embedded networking stacks. Seward’s Sidechannel Analysis presentation will demonstrate how easy it can be to extract an AES key using sidechannel in the real world and how to use this to select sidechannel-hardened solutions for future embedded system product developments. As more connected devices are deployed, manufacturers need to make sure their devices are built on secure platforms.

March 5th:

• Anders Pettersson, IoT field marketing director, will participate in an expert panel entitled “Embedded Connectivity in IoT – Quo Vadis.” This panel will explore the latest developments in wireless connectivity solutions for IoT, touching on a range of topics from interoperability to security and reliability, as well as provide an outlook on the future of the incredibly dynamic IoT space.

We hope you’ll join our embedded IoT experts online at Embedded World 2021. For more information on Silicon Labs’ state-of-the-art security solutions, visit silabs.com/security. For more information regarding the advantages of Wi-SUN for smart city mesh networking applications, we encourage you to read our recent guest blog Q&A with Wi-SUN president and CEO Phil Beecher.

We are excited that Dr. Manish Kothari has joined Silicon Labs as Vice President of Silicon Labs India. In this role, Manish will grow our company's wireless engineering talent, build scalable infrastructure, and foster local partnerships in Hyderabad, Silicon Labs' newest and fastest-growing wireless development center.

Manish brings more than 20 years of technology management experience, most recently serving as head of wireless software product development at Qualcomm Hyderabad. He has built and managed teams of more than 1,000 wireless developers, holds more than 100 patents, graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, and received his MS and Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

I had the pleasure of chatting with Manish as he steps into this new and important role for the company.

MS: Could you share your high-level vision for our Hyderabad development center? 

MK: The Hyderabad development center is Silicon Labs’ fastest-growing site, playing an important and strategic role in helping the company as a whole scale to meet the huge demand for Silicon Labs’ solutions.  

My vision is to build a world-class development center here that embodies Silicon Labs’ culture and engineering best practices, with a highly motivated and talented team that has a passion for execution, innovation, collaboration, integrity, and fun. We will also remain very customer-focused and strive for continuous improvement. Another key goal is to become an industry-leading technology center of excellence for Wi-Fi, including Wi-Fi 6. Silicon Labs’ 2020 acquisition of Redpine Signals’ Wi-Fi and Bluetooth businesses included a very strong IP portfolio that expanded and accelerated the company’s ability to be a true leader in low power, secure Wi-Fi solutions.

MS: What is your management style and philosophy? 

MK: My management philosophy is grounded in humility (I know that I don’t know everything and there’s something to learn from everyone), reliability, accountability, integrity, a thirst for learning, and respect for everyone. The technology industry can be a very intense environment, so I seek to inspire, empower and motivate teams by setting the same standards for myself as I do for my teams and work with a sincere focus to help ensure successful outcomes. Work-life balance starts with all of us enjoying the work we do, and I am always mindful about making the office a fun place to be.

MS: From your point of view, what are the most exciting things happening in IoT? 

MK: The IoT is already improving productivity and quality of life in a variety of consumer and commercial settings. In my humble opinion, the most exciting things in IoT are still to come and perhaps not yet even imagined. Here’s an example of one such possibility: the creation of powerful, decentralized AIoT (artificial intelligence IoT) networks with ubiquitous wireless end nodes. In this scenario reliability, privacy, and security improvements promise to be huge, much like the key underpinnings of Satoshi-San’s bitcoin, because there won’t be a single point of failure anymore. This scenario also shifts power away from centralized ecosystem/cloud and opens new possibilities and the benefits that come with a decentralized system. 

Silicon Labs is uniquely positioned to disrupt the industry as these “not so simple” wireless end nodes leverage AI and machine learning to become more intelligent (and powerful) over time. And history is on our side. After all, technology disruptions typically occur from the bottom up, as detailed in the famous book Innovator’s Dilemma. We are only limited by our imaginations, as the saying goes, and I consider myself fortunate to be part of this incredible journey of disruption where Silicon Labs is right at the forefront.

MS: What do you like to do outside of work?

MK: I love spending time with my family, especially my two boys, and participating in their various activities like losing badly in NBA 2K/FIFA on PlayStation. I have always been an “outdoor” person and love to travel. Both my wife and son are certified yoga instructors, so I am a (sometimes forced) fitness freak. Sports is a big deal in our family, and almost every major sport is a topic of discussion during dinner time. I love traditional dance, called “Bhangra,” and I used to teach it to school kids when my boys were younger. For me, dancing is my go-to stress buster!

MS: Thank you, Manish, and best of luck to you!

Silicon Labs’ Hyderabad site headcount has grown approximately 30% since the Redpine Signals acquisition. The company continues to hire hardware and software engineers in Hyderabad, and candidates may review and apply for open positions here.

As the world becomes more connected through the Internet of Things (IoT), data security and privacy issues continue to grow more complex. IoT solutions providers need to take the proper steps to protect and secure against new and innovative attacks. Doing so is a must.

Silicon Labs is committed to working with the security community, our customers, and our industry to deliver state-of-the-art technology designed to help protect connected devices. To that end, we created Secure Vault: cutting-edge hardware and software dedicated to securing Internet of Things (IoT) devices against a wide variety of growing and evolving threats.

First launched in September in our Wireless Gecko Series 2 platform, Secure Vault already boasts third-party IoT security certifications from Arm’s PSA Certified program and the ioXt Alliance. Secure Vault features best-in-class security including secure boot based on hardware root of trust, secure debug, physical tamper, secure identity for attestation, and physically unclonable function (PUF) key management technology to significantly reduce the risk of IoT security breaches and compromised intellectual property. Market reception has been enthusiastic.

And now, Secure Vault has earned another significant feather for its cap, winning gold in this year’s LEAP (Leadership in Engineering Achievement Program) Awards Connectivity category. Recognizing Secure Vault as a “new contemporary solution to an ever-evolving problem,” the LEAP Awards’ independent judges panel of 14 engineering and academic professionals recognized just how far Silicon Labs has advanced connected privacy and security.

The annual LEAP Awards celebrate the most innovative and forward-thinking products serving the design engineering space. More than 100 entries were received for this annual competition, which honors the most innovative and forward-thinking products in design engineering.

In a webinar available on replay here, Mike Dow, Senior Product Manager of IoT Security, talks through how security threats have changed and escalated, focusing more than ever on IoT. In addition, government regulations like GDPR in Europe and SB-327 in California have recently been implemented to protect vulnerable data and privacy by placing more pressure on manufacturers to step up security best practices, such as security certifications for IoT devices.

Silicon Labs co-hosted a security regulations workshop with the ioXt Alliance during the 2020 Works With virtual smart home developer conference. The workshop explored the security regulatory landscape, how Secure Vault assists in meeting those regulations, and how the ioXt Alliance is addressing the need for uniform evaluation and certification of the security level of IoT products. A replay of that workshop is available here.

On September 29th, Silicon Labs promoted Serena Townsend to be our new Chief People Officer. In this role, Townsend is now responsible for the company's global talent strategy, people programs, and values-driven, inclusive culture. Serena joined Silicon Labs in February 2017 as director, HR business partners and was promoted to vice president, HR business partners in March 2020. She has held various HR leadership positions at companies including Samsung Austin Semiconductor and HomeAway (Expedia). Serena deeply believes in giving back to the community and actively volunteers for organizations including Crossing Thresholds and Make-A-Wish Central & South Texas.

I spoke with Serena to get her thoughts on a variety of topics, and that discussion is reflected in the Q&A below.

MS: Congratulations on the new role, Serena! You’ve been at Silicon Labs for several years now. How would you describe our company culture?

ST:  We have a deeply curious organization. Solving complex problems is a competitive sport for us and a part of our DNA.  We’re proud of our heritage of innovation but we never rest on our laurels. There’s a drive and ambition central to the culture here that’s exciting to be a part of. While we are an engineering-led business at heart, we care not only about making great products but also about the positive impact they can and do have in our world. Making our world a better place is a really inspiring and motivating concept within our culture and helps bring everyone together – engineers and non-engineers alike.  

One of the biggest things that attracted me to Silicon Labs in the first place is the company’s values and ethical compass. Our commitment to giving back to our communities, being a great place to work, and “doing the right thing” resonate with me personally. It’s important that the values of where I work mesh with my own guiding principles, and that’s certainly the case at Silicon Labs.

I’d also like to point out Silicon Labs’ commitment to an inclusive workplace. This is not a quick fix, but a long-term investment to create a global culture of belonging where everyone can thrive, exchange ideas, and innovate together. I grew up internationally and have been lucky enough to experience diversity of culture and thought from an early age, and I’m so excited to be part of this effort.

MS: What’s it like to be a non-engineer in an engineering culture, and what do you bring from outside of engineering that contributes?

ST: Pretty obvious I’m not the engineer in the room. I’m not going to out-math or out-design the engineers I work with. They know and appreciate that I bring a completely different perspective to the table. Diversity of experience and perspective is a strength, and I try really hard to bring unique value by looking at challenges through a people lens first and foremost. I’m happy to say that – since day one – that perspective I bring has been welcome at Silicon Labs, and a big part of the responsibility I bring to my seat at the executive table is to represent the human needs of our global workforce.

MS: What are your main priorities as Chief People Officer and how will you measure success?

ST: Generally, my role as Chief People Officer, and really the role of anyone leading people, is to enable business, people, and culture. I must be in-tune with Silicon Labs strategy, know our products and markets, understand the needs and concerns of our teams, and align our people programs to fit. I believe culture is built through a thousand small deliberate acts that influence and impact others. We can build great programs, but that’s just one piece of the puzzle. Building culture is on all of us.

Success means that employees feel supported and valued, are doing their best work, and that we are achieving our company goals. In a typical year, we measure that in many ways, ranging from employee engagement scores to attrition percentages.

This isn’t a typical year, of course. In 2020 our focus has been solely on taking care of our people, and that includes taking care of the caretakers – ensuring our essential workers and support organizations (including our People team) are healthy so that they can support our workforce at large. We’ve taken a very flexible and personalized approach to it all.

MS: No doubt, COVID-19 presented some very unique challenges for you and your team as you provided continued support to our people through an unprecedented time. Can you share a little more about that, and what changes to work at Silicon Labs triggered by the pandemic that may ultimately be long-term?

ST: For sure, a big focus has been on wellness. The mental, emotional, and physical well-being of our workforce is a top priority for the People team and everyone who manages people at Silicon Labs.

As you might suspect, there is no playbook for how to do HR in a global pandemic.  Our workforce relied on us to figure out what happened next in an environment where people’s health was on the line across a number of global sites.

We quickly formed a cross-functional global COVID-19 Response Team (CRT), which includes our COVID Taskforce in our Austin headquarters, our Global Site Health Leaders (GSHL), and key individuals from our offices around the world to ensure the right measures at the right sites happen at the right time. This approach proved highly effective in handling curveballs coming our way and witnessing the level of care and urgency of each site team has been truly inspiring.

We of course had to quickly pivot every people program to remote delivery. Recruiting, training, onboarding and so forth – it all had to turn on a dime to virtual. We were about to welcome over 100 interns into our global offices and that needed a quick and creative overhaul. We are fortunate to have very skilled, very innovative people who were able to make the move to virtual in a people-first way.

In general, our rapid transition to virtual and remote has helped challenge some of the pre-pandemic norms, assumptions, and beliefs about the effectiveness of in-person vs virtual engagement, and some of these changes will be long-lasting. Virtual meetings and trainings are prime examples, as this has led to more accessibility and created a level playing field for all attendees.

As I mentioned before, we are a deeply curious culture so we always look for opportunities to learn and evolve. COVID-19 is certainly a teachable moment for us all.

MS: You have managed some pretty complex onboarding from acquisitions, most recently Redpine. What are the most challenging aspects of onboarding large numbers of employees in other parts of the world, and what wisdom can you share with other HR professionals from that experience?

ST: I’ve learned that every acquisition is unique, so you have to check your assumptions at the door. You can’t assume something that worked well in a previous acquisition will work well in the next one.

In terms of wisdom to share, it definitely takes a village to do acquisition work: you have to have close collaboration, clear swim lanes, and mutual trust with all of your internal partner teams to orchestrate a complex integration. Early engagement with the acquired leadership team is key to success. When you have both teams working together, aligned on milestones, and leading through change, the entire process is so much smoother. Establishing a baseline early of trust, mutual respect and teamwork is crucial. Our philosophy in acquisitions is that we can learn as much from them as they can learn from us, so let’s be open-minded and collaborative throughout.

There are always things that happen along the way that you don’t expect, that can be difficult, and having that baseline of trust, respect, and teamwork makes a real difference in those situations.

Lastly, the work to support acquisitions doesn’t end on day one. It takes a year to 18 months of very disciplined, thoughtful, targeted work to get teams integrated and thriving. That may be an eye-opener to those who haven’t done an acquisition yet.

MS: Serena, thanks for taking the time to talk. Any final thoughts you’d like to share?

ST:  I want to take a moment to recognize my predecessor, Lori Knowlton. I worked with Lori for many years, and I respect her deeply. She’s been a great coach, cheerleader, and advocate for this team and she’s helped prepare me to step into this role and do it successfully. I know I speak not just for myself and the People Team, but everyone at Silicon Labs when I express deep thanks to Lori for all she did during her tenure here.

Through Lori’s efforts leading the People team, we have formed strong partnerships with our business groups. We are collaborating and innovating in new ways, unlocking potential that’s really starting to pay off. That’s extremely rewarding, and I look forward to continuing on this path with our team.

On September 29th, Silicon Labs promoted Serena Townsend to be our new Chief People Officer. In this role, Townsend is now responsible for the company's global talent strategy, people programs, and values-driven, inclusive culture. Serena joined Silicon Labs in February 2017 as director, HR business partners and was promoted to vice president, HR business partners in March 2020. She has held various HR leadership positions at companies including Samsung Austin Semiconductor and HomeAway (Expedia). Serena deeply believes in giving back to the community and actively volunteers for organizations including Crossing Thresholds and Make-A-Wish Central & South Texas.

I spoke with Serena to get her thoughts on a variety of topics, and that discussion is reflected in the Q&A below.

MS: Congratulations on the new role, Serena! You’ve been at Silicon Labs for several years now. How would you describe our company culture?

ST:  We have a deeply curious organization. Solving complex problems is a competitive sport for us and a part of our DNA.  We’re proud of our heritage of innovation but we never rest on our laurels. There’s a drive and ambition central to the culture here that’s exciting to be a part of. While we are an engineering-led business at heart, we care not only about making great products but also about the positive impact they can and do have in our world. Making our world a better place is a really inspiring and motivating concept within our culture and helps bring everyone together – engineers and non-engineers alike.  

One of the biggest things that attracted me to Silicon Labs in the first place is the company’s values and ethical compass. Our commitment to giving back to our communities, being a great place to work, and “doing the right thing” resonate with me personally. It’s important that the values of where I work mesh with my own guiding principles, and that’s certainly the case at Silicon Labs.

I’d also like to point out Silicon Labs’ commitment to an inclusive workplace. This is not a quick fix, but a long-term investment to create a global culture of belonging where everyone can thrive, exchange ideas, and innovate together. I grew up internationally and have been lucky enough to experience diversity of culture and thought from an early age, and I’m so excited to be part of this effort.

MS: What’s it like to be a non-engineer in an engineering culture, and what do you bring from outside of engineering that contributes?

ST: Pretty obvious I’m not the engineer in the room. I’m not going to out-math or out-design the engineers I work with. They know and appreciate that I bring a completely different perspective to the table. Diversity of experience and perspective is a strength, and I try really hard to bring unique value by looking at challenges through a people lens first and foremost. I’m happy to say that – since day one – that perspective I bring has been welcome at Silicon Labs, and a big part of the responsibility I bring to my seat at the executive table is to represent the human needs of our global workforce.

MS: What are your main priorities as Chief People Officer and how will you measure success?

ST: Generally, my role as Chief People Officer, and really the role of anyone leading people, is to enable business, people, and culture. I must be in-tune with Silicon Labs strategy, know our products and markets, understand the needs and concerns of our teams, and align our people programs to fit. I believe culture is built through a thousand small deliberate acts that influence and impact others. We can build great programs, but that’s just one piece of the puzzle. Building culture is on all of us.

Success means that employees feel supported and valued, are doing their best work, and that we are achieving our company goals. In a typical year, we measure that in many ways, ranging from employee engagement scores to attrition percentages.

This isn’t a typical year, of course. In 2020 our focus has been solely on taking care of our people, and that includes taking care of the caretakers – ensuring our essential workers and support organizations (including our People team) are healthy so that they can support our workforce at large. We’ve taken a very flexible and personalized approach to it all.

MS: No doubt, COVID-19 presented some very unique challenges for you and your team as you provided continued support to our people through an unprecedented time. Can you share a little more about that, and what changes to work at Silicon Labs triggered by the pandemic that may ultimately be long-term?

ST: For sure, a big focus has been on wellness. The mental, emotional, and physical well-being of our workforce is a top priority for the People team and everyone who manages people at Silicon Labs.

As you might suspect, there is no playbook for how to do HR in a global pandemic.  Our workforce relied on us to figure out what happened next in an environment where people’s health was on the line across a number of global sites.

We quickly formed a cross-functional global COVID-19 Response Team (CRT), which includes our COVID Taskforce in our Austin headquarters, our Global Site Health Leaders (GSHL), and key individuals from our offices around the world to ensure the right measures at the right sites happen at the right time. This approach proved highly effective in handling curveballs coming our way and witnessing the level of care and urgency of each site team has been truly inspiring.

We of course had to quickly pivot every people program to remote delivery. Recruiting, training, onboarding and so forth – it all had to turn on a dime to virtual. We were about to welcome over 100 interns into our global offices and that needed a quick and creative overhaul. We are fortunate to have very skilled, very innovative people who were able to make the move to virtual in a people-first way.

In general, our rapid transition to virtual and remote has helped challenge some of the pre-pandemic norms, assumptions, and beliefs about the effectiveness of in-person vs virtual engagement, and some of these changes will be long-lasting. Virtual meetings and trainings are prime examples, as this has led to more accessibility and created a level playing field for all attendees.

As I mentioned before, we are a deeply curious culture so we always look for opportunities to learn and evolve. COVID-19 is certainly a teachable moment for us all.

MS: You have managed some pretty complex onboarding from acquisitions, most recently Redpine. What are the most challenging aspects of onboarding large numbers of employees in other parts of the world, and what wisdom can you share with other HR professionals from that experience?

ST: I’ve learned that every acquisition is unique, so you have to check your assumptions at the door. You can’t assume something that worked well in a previous acquisition will work well in the next one.

In terms of wisdom to share, it definitely takes a village to do acquisition work: you have to have close collaboration, clear swim lanes, and mutual trust with all of your internal partner teams to orchestrate a complex integration. Early engagement with the acquired leadership team is key to success. When you have both teams working together, aligned on milestones, and leading through change, the entire process is so much smoother. Establishing a baseline early of trust, mutual respect and teamwork is crucial. Our philosophy in acquisitions is that we can learn as much from them as they can learn from us, so let’s be open-minded and collaborative throughout.

There are always things that happen along the way that you don’t expect, that can be difficult, and having that baseline of trust, respect, and teamwork makes a real difference in those situations.

Lastly, the work to support acquisitions doesn’t end on day one. It takes a year to 18 months of very disciplined, thoughtful, targeted work to get teams integrated and thriving. That may be an eye-opener to those who haven’t done an acquisition yet.

MS: Serena, thanks for taking the time to talk. Any final thoughts you’d like to share?

ST:  I want to take a moment to recognize my predecessor, Lori Knowlton. I worked with Lori for many years, and I respect her deeply. She’s been a great coach, cheerleader, and advocate for this team and she’s helped prepare me to step into this role and do it successfully. I know I speak not just for myself and the People Team, but everyone at Silicon Labs when I express deep thanks to Lori for all she did during her tenure here.

Through Lori’s efforts leading the People team, we have formed strong partnerships with our business groups. We are collaborating and innovating in new ways, unlocking potential that’s really starting to pay off. That’s extremely rewarding, and I look forward to continuing on this path with our team.

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.  

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, dubbed “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.  

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, dubbed “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.