Silicon Labs Launches On-Chip Wireless Remote Control Product: New Sub-Guzzle EZRadio® RF Transmitter IC
RKE / Garage Door Opener / Remote Control / Home Automation / Security System Design Simplification

August 27, 2010 – Silicon Laboratories (Country Manager Jong-Chan Lee, Silicon Laboratories Inc., NASDAQ: SLAB), a leader in high-performance analog-intensive mixed-signal ICs, has launched EZRadio® wireless IC solutions designed to reduce the complexity and cost of unidirectional wireless links widely used in consumer electronics, industrial, and automotive systems. The new Si4010 SoC (System-on-Chip) RF transmitter enables developers to optimize the design of remote keyless entry (RKE), garage door openers, remote controls, building automation, and security devices with the lowest system cost and highest performance while ensuring unidirectional link fidelity.

The Si4010 RF transmitter is the industry's first single-chip remote control IC that enables the design of a complete wireless remote control by adding only a single external bypass capacitor, a PCB, a battery, and an external case equipped with a push button. Based on a patented crystal-less architecture, the Si4010 achieves a carrier frequency accuracy of ±150 ppm in the commercial temperature range and ±250 ppm in the industrial temperature range without an external crystal. This means that the accuracy is improved by twofold compared to existing SAW (Surface Acoustical Wave) based transmitters.

“The Si4010 is the best Sub-GHz transmitter SoC for price-sensitive wireless unidirectional link applications,” said Rafi Fried, Wireless Product Family Manager at Silicon Labs. “The Si4010’s high level of integration can significantly reduce the BOM, design time, and complexity of transmitter nodes compared to competing discrete solutions that typically contain more than 20 individual components.”

The Si4010 transmitter SoC forms the best combination with Silicon Labs' new Si431x RF receiver, which enables transmit/receive solutions to significantly reduce the total BOM and save space on evaluation boards for unidirectional link systems operating in the sub-GHz range of 27 MHz to 960 MHz. Due to its excellent integration, the Si431x receiver requires only two external antenna matching components, a crystal, and a bypass capacitor, eliminating the need for expensive RF SAW and IF ceramic filters.

The Si4010 is the first SoC transmitter to support Automatic Antenna Tuning, a patented tuning circuit technology that automatically fine-tunes the antenna to achieve optimal transmit efficiency and constant output power. Transmit frequency distortion caused by error-generating PCB loop antennas and environmental variations can lead to significant antenna power waste and inefficiency. The Si4010 antenna tuning circuit continuously maximizes antenna efficiency by adjusting on-chip variable capacitors to fully utilize antenna inductive capacitance. The Si4010 supports programmable edge rate control for OOK (On-Off Keying) mode to reduce harmonic oscillations and comply with regulatory RF standards. Furthermore, it demonstrates performance that outperforms competing discrete solutions, including +10dBm output power.