Make it Small, Make it Fast, Make it First: Miniaturizing IoT Designs

Summary

As we wirelessly connect more and more devices to the Internet, electronics engineers face several challenges, including packaging a radio transmitter into existing device real estate and the demand to build increasingly smaller devices. In this webinar, we’ll explore some of the obstacles that come with the size expectations of IoT designs, from concerns around antenna integration to new packaging options that can help solve issues like detuning and size limitations.

Join our hour-long webinar on January 11, 2017 at 10:00 AM and get your questions answered during our Live Q&A session at the end.

We know designers face a host of stressful design challenges, day in and day out, as well as the never-ending rush to get their products to market ahead of the pack. That’s why we’re always genuinely excited when we can release truly cutting-edge, industry-first innovations that can help our customers — innovations such as our new BGM12x system-in-package (SiP) module.

Ultimately the industry’s smallest Bluetooth low-energy SiP module with an integrated antenna, the BGM12x offers designers a way to finally effectively miniaturize many IoT applications in a manner that’s both cost-effective and doesn’t compromise on performance. We think the BGM12x is poised to help lead innovations in many application types, including sports and fitness wearables, smartwatches, personal medical devices, wireless sensor nodes, and other space-constrained connected devices.

One of the biggest benefits of the BGM12x is simply helping vent pressures on designers by helping lessen the traditional development cycle thanks to the integrated antenna, radio, MCU, and software stack. With the BGM12x, engineering departments don’t have to spend any time on antenna designand certification testing. And quite simply, there is nothing else on the market with the size and performance combination that includes a high-performance antenna and an always up-to-date Bluetooth stack together. On top of this, designers get to utilize the favored ARM Cortex-M4 processor.

Additionally, there is just the overall benefit that using a wireless module reduces design time and long-term costs by lowering risks. With a proven, ready-to-go system, designers can skip complex RF design and move on to adding value to their core applications – what meaningful IoTdevelopment is all about anyway. And the exceptionally small size makes it very easy to use in two-layer PCB designs where board clearance continues to remain a critical concern.

We’re also happy that like all our Blue Gecko modules, designers can begin with a module-based design but easily migrate to a Blue Gecko SoC with minimal system redesign and full software reuse because of very similar technical features and identical APIs. Again, it’s about giving designers huge time savings, flexibility, and reduced headaches in the long term and helping work seem more a labor of love vs. going down a rabbit hole of chaotic alternatives.

And speaking of flexibility, we’re also excited that BGM12x is supported by our efficient wireless software development kit (SDK) that gives designersthe ability to use either a host or fully standalone operation with BGScript. Our Bluegiga BGScript tool lets designers create Bluetooth applications quickly without using an external MCU to run the application logic, ultimately reducing system cost, board cost, and time to market as well.

BGM12x Features Overview:

• Best-in-class SiP module size: 6.5 mm x 6.5 mm x 1.5 mm
• Integrated chip antenna with exceptional RF performance (70% antenna efficiency) and an RF pad option for connecting to an external antenna
• Output power: +3 dBm to +8 dBm supporting ranges from 10 meters to 200 meters
• Based on Silicon Labs’ Blue Gecko SoC combining a 2.4 GHz transceiver with a 40 MHz ARM Cortex-M4 processor core and 256 kB flash and 32 kB RAM
• Energy-efficient Bluetooth solution consuming 9.0 mA (peak receive mode) and 8.2 mA @ 0 dBm (peak transmit mode)
• Hardware cryptography accelerator supporting advanced AES, ECC and SHA algorithms
• Industry-proven Silicon Labs Bluetooth 4.2 stack with frequent feature enhancements
• Rapid time to market with global RF certifications
• Easy-to-use development tools: Simplicity Studio, Energy Profiler, BGScript
• Worldwide application engineering support

How Do I Get My Hands on One?
We always encourage people to grab a Starter Kit or sample module to explore our new technologies hands-on, and the BGM12x Blue Gecko is no exception. Learn how to get both here to check out the technology first-hand.

Minaturizing IoT Designs

To better understand and consider the major impact the BGM12x will have on wireless application development, we highly encourage you to check out one of our current whitepapers, Miniaturizing IoT Designs, penned by our own Tom Nordman and Pasi Rahikkala.

This whitepaper gives a great overview of valuable information for designers to understand as they start to really push the envelope of IoT development, including antenna integration and how system-in-package modules can assist. We’re excited to see the innovations our customers discover and implement in their own product portfolios using the BGM12x module as we all help make the IoT realm a richer, even more dynamic environment.

Jesse Masters
Product Marketing Manager
Silicon Labs

Tom Nordman
Marketing Director, Wireless Modules
Silicon Labs

Source: http://community.silabs.com/t5/Official-Blog-of-Silicon-Labs/Make-it-Small-Make-it-Fast-Make-it-First-Introducing-the-World-s/ba-p/182220