Silicon Labs has released a dual-band SoC for extended communication wireless protocols

Silicon Labs has released a new SoC that supports numerous protocols and is optimized for Amazon Sidewalk.

The Internet of Things (IoT) and the general proliferation of linked devices have increased the importance of wireless hardware significantly. To address the various needs of IoT devices, the demand for wireless hardware that can support numerous wireless protocols at the same time has increased. Silicon Labs responded to this appeal last week with the unveiling of a new dual-band wireless SoC designed specifically to handle long-range wireless protocols like Amazon Sidewalk.

The EFR32FG28 by Silicon Labs is a dual-band, sub-GHz wireless + 2.4 GHz BLE SoC with a number of unusual capabilities for a wireless SoC. According to the datasheet, one noticeable characteristic of the new piece of hardware is that it is a multiprotocol device built to facilitate long-distance communication. The new device, which includes a low-power RF transceiver, can support protocols such as Amazon Sidewalk, Wi-SUN, sub-GHz, and 2.4 GHz BLE.

The goal of this invention, according to Silicon Labs, was to produce a "swiss army knife" wireless SoC. The EFR32FG28 appears to be a device that can serve the needs of many various designs and use cases, with dual-band support for a number of wireless protocols, a configurable CPU core with a plethora of peripherals, and an inbuilt AI/ML accelerator.