March 4, 2013 – Silicon Labs (NASDAQ: SLAB, Country Manager In-gyu Kim), a global leader in high-performance analog-intensive mixed-signal ICs, announced the launch of a high-performance, ultra-low-power wireless transceiver targeting China's rapidly growing smart metering market. Silicon Labs' new Si4438 EZRadioPRO® IC is designed to maximize wireless range and battery life while reducing the bill of materials (BOM) for smart meters by up to 30 percent. Designed for the 425-525 MHz ISM band, the Si4438 transceiver provides an ideal sub-GHz wireless solution for smart grid infrastructure applications, ranging from residential energy management systems to long-distance backhaul communications for public service providers.

China is one of the world's fastest-growing smart metering markets, rapidly upgrading its power grid to an "eco-friendly" smart grid, with residential and commercial smart meters being key elements of this grid transition. According to a new report by Pike Research, the number of smart meters installed in China is projected to increase from 139 million in 2012 to 377 million by 2020. The market share of smart meters in China is expected to reach 74 percent by 2020.

Silicon Labs designed the Si4438 transceiver, which can meet the regulatory requirements for smart meters operating in the 470-510 MHz band in China, including in terms of performance, energy efficiency, and system cost. Featuring an efficient on-chip power amplifier (PA), the Si4438 IC provides longer radio range and robust communication links for smart metering by leveraging best-in-class specifications for transmit power (+20 dBm), receive sensitivity (-124 dBm), link budget (144 dB), and adjacent channel rejection (58 dB). Support for built-in antenna diversity and frequency hopping further extends radio range and improves radio performance. The antenna diversity fully integrated into the Si4438 transceiver can improve the system link budget by 8–10 dB and results in increased practical range even under adverse environmental conditions.

The Si4438 transceiver is the most energy-efficient sub-GHz wireless solution and can be used to target the smart metering market in China. The Si4438 IC's 50 nA sleep/standby current (holding register settings) is 40 times lower than competitor transceivers used in the Chinese market. In 50 nA sleep mode, the Si4438 transceiver can switch between receive (RX) and transmit (TX) modes in just 450 microseconds. With an active TX current consumption of 75 mA at +20 dBm and an active RX current consumption of 14 mA, the device offers ultra-low standby current and fast wake times, maximizing battery life for power-sensitive wireless applications and resulting in fewer battery replacements and reduced battery size for the same lifetime cost savings.

The Si4438 transceiver offers high performance and high integration, reducing BOM costs by eliminating the need to add external PAs, low-noise amplifiers (LNAs), or surface acoustic wave (SAW) filters for most wireless applications. The Si4438's on-chip PA allows it to be used to compensate for the performance degradation of low-cost antennas, whereas competitor solutions require larger and more expensive external PAs to achieve competitive performance. Highly integrated temperature sensors, power-on-reset, and GPIOs significantly reduce system cost and board size. The Si4438 IC is designed to operate with low-cost MCUs, crystals, and a few passive components, enabling the construction of cost-effective wireless systems. Its 4 mm x 4 mm package is the smallest in its class, minimizing the actual board area.

The Si4438 IC shares the same pin map as Silicon Labs' Si446x EZRadioPRO transceiver. This product can be used in global sub-GHz ISM frequency bands suitable for smart meter/smart grid products designed for worldwide deployment. The EZRadioPRO product family offers a complete line of transmitters, receivers, and transceivers covering a wide range of wireless applications. Additionally, Silicon Labs provides Ember® ZigBee® wireless networking solutions for smart energy and home applications in the 2.4 GHz band, as well as 32-bit Precision 32 MCUs, mixed-signal 8-bit MCUs, wireless MCUs, and digital isolators for smart metering applications.

Diwakar Vishakhadatta, Vice President and Head of Wireless Embedded Systems at Silicon Labs, stated, “Smart metering and other smart grid applications require highly sophisticated, cost-effective, and easy-to-deploy wireless technology.” He added, “China, which is experiencing the fastest growth in the smart metering market, will benefit from wireless access solutions that provide superior performance and ultra-low slip current with minimal BOM.” “Silicon Labs’ new Si4438 IC is an ideal sub-GHz transceiver that meets the application requirements for China’s smart grid,” he said.

Developer-friendly wireless development environment
Silicon Labs provides hardware and software development tools that help developers bring smart metering products to market more quickly. The 4438-490-PDK development kit provides all the essential tools to evaluate the Si4438 IC for smart metering designs operating at the 490 MHz frequency. This kit includes two C8051F930 MCU-based motherboards, two RF pico boards, and two antennas optimized for the 425-525 MHz frequency band, making it very easy to configure wireless links. Silicon Labs' GUI-based Wireless Development Suite (WDS) software features sample code, enabling developers to quickly and intuitively build robust and cost-effective wireless applications without specific RF design and configuration experience.

Price and supply
The Si4438 EZRadioPRO transceiver is priced at $2.03 per unit in 10,000-unit quantities, and samples are currently available. The 4438-490-PDK development kit is available for $299 (USD MSRP). For additional product information on the Si4438 and information on purchasing samples and development tools, please visit www.silabs.com/pr/EZRadioPRO .