Silicon Labs has recently released its next-generation Series 3 platform, purpose-built for embedded IoT devices.

Accordingly, the new Silicon Labs Series 3 devices will offer industry-leading compute, wireless performance, and energy efficiency. Moreover, with the highest levels of IoT security architected to the silicon.

To help developers and device manufacturers streamline and accelerate product designs, Silicon Labs also announced the next version of their developer tool suite, Simplicity Studio. With support for Silicon Labs’ entire portfolio, including Series 3, Simplicity Studio 6 will allow developers to utilize integrated development environments (IDEs) on the market. On the other hand, giving developers the latest tools to support their continued development on Series 2 as well as Series 3.

Meets Needs of Developers, Manufacturers

Silicon Labs CEO Matt Johnson said the new Series 3 platform suits demands of a more connected world that demands development flexibility. In addition, Johnson said, “Series 3 not only meets the needs of developers and device manufacturers today but is built to meet their needs for the next decade.”

The initial Series 1 and current-gen Series 2 platforms continue to be successful in helping to scale the IoT, connect more and more devices, and open new applications. Consequently, this is because they formed a platform with many commonalities that developers could leverage, and Series 3 follows in the same mold.

Series 3 devices will be able to answer the challenges that the continued acceleration of IoT poses. Particularly, the demands for more processing power at far-edge devices across all IoT applications in key areas. These include smart cities and civil infrastructure; commercial buildings; retail and warehouses; smart factories and Industry 4.0; smart homes, among many others.

Industry-Leading Wireless Platform

Series 3 advances Silicon Labs’ industry-leading wireless platform:

• More Security and Power Efficiency. Series 3 builds on Silicon Labs’ industry-leading Secure Vault™ technology. Particularly, it is the first security package to earn PSA Level 3 certification. Thus, Series 3 devices will include all the security features available on Series 2 devices with new enhancements to make them the most secure devices in the IoT marketplace. 

• New Levels of Compute: Series 3 will bring more than 100X processing capability, including integrated AI/ ML accelerators for edge devices. Thus, enabling consolidation of system processing into wireless SoCs. In other words, with Series 3, with the increases in programmable compute, developers can eliminate MCUs taking up space and adding cost to their systems.

• More Scalable: Series 3 will be the only multi-radio IoT platform with a common code base for over 30 products across key wireless protocols. These include but not limited to, Bluetooth LE, Wi-Fi, Wi-SUN, 15.4, multiprotocol, and proprietary protocols. This will allow developers to use one common set of tools to build applications and program countless devices. In addition, Series 3 will support an extendable, scalable memory architecture, including support for external flash.

Strategic Production

The move to 22 nm will also open significant scalability for Series 3. The past several years have included trends that have put a strain on the semiconductor supply chain. Moreover, IoT hasn’t been immune. For that reason, Series 3 will be produced in multiple fabs across multiple geographies to minimize geographic risks and disruptions.

Silicon Labs Simplicity Studio 6 Enhances Developer Tools with Visual Studio Code Support

Silicon Labs continues to invest in the developer experience for its customers. These include everything from documentation, partnerships with external tool providers, integrating new plug-ins and extensions into existing SDKs. Along with the Series 3 hardware, today Silicon Labs is also announcing Simplicity Studio 6, the latest version of its award-winning application development and productivity tools. Simplicity Studio 6 will bring the latest development tools to the entire Silicon Labs portfolio of devices, including Series 1 and Series 2, will giving developers a bridge to Series 3.