Silicon Labs' breakthrough ultra-low power Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth Low Power 5.4 modules accelerate device deployment

     Silicon Labs announced the availability of SiWx917Y ultra-low power Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth Low Power (Bluetooth LE) 5.4 modules. These modules are ideal for low-power Wi-Fi applications in many industries, including smart homes, building automation, healthcare devices, industrial sensors, and asset tracking.

     New to the successful second-generation wireless development platform, the SiWx917Y module is designed to help device manufacturers streamline the complex development and certification process for Wi-Fi 6 devices. The new SiWx917Y module delivers breakthrough energy efficiency, powerful wireless connectivity, advanced security, and a full-featured application processor that reduces design challenges, reduces product size, reduces costs, and enables device manufacturers to reap benefits faster. The SiWx917Y module is pre-certified to global regulatory standards and equipped with optimised antennas, eliminating the need for lengthy RF optimisation and certification.

     Irvind Ghai, Vice President of Wi-Fi Solutions at Chips, said: "The adoption of Wi-Fi technology on the Internet of Things (IoT) has made significant progress, creating exciting opportunities for innovation. To help end device manufacturers accelerate the realization of their full potential, we have developed the SiWx917Y Wi-Fi 6 module. "These pre-certified modules provide a simplified solution that allows manufacturers to easily integrate advanced connectivity technologies into their devices, allowing them to focus on developing differentiated features for real-world solutions while reducing development costs."

     The smart power management of the SiWx917Y module supports a connected sleep mode with currents as low as 20μA and features a target wake time (TWT) function and a 60-second hold activity interval. This enables the battery life of iot devices such as smart locks, thermostats, smart cameras, video doorbells and industrial sensors to last for years. The integrated ARM Cortex-M4 processor, mass memory and peripherals also enable sophisticated edge processing.

     The module supports two modes of operation: SiWG917Y for SoC (Wireless MCU) mode, where customers can execute all application code in the module's ARM Cortex-M4 kernel; The SiWN917Y for NCP (Network Coprocessor) mode allows customers to execute their applications on a separate MCU while the communication functions are managed by a Wi-Fi module.

     The explosive growth of iot devices is driving the need for more efficient and secure Wi-Fi solutions. With Wi-Fi-enabled low-power iot applications growing at a rate of up to 1 billion devices per year, device manufacturers are challenged to integrate powerful connectivity capabilities while addressing issues such as energy efficiency, security, and ease of development. The SiWx917Y module can help them meet these challenges well.