Simultaneous management of Bluetooth and Wirepas mesh connectivity on a single EFR32 SoC

Silicon Labs (NASDAQ: SLAB) and Wirepas, a leading provider of mesh software solutions, announced today a collaboration to deliver integrated hardware and software solutions for multiprotocol connectivity for mesh networks.

Building on their growing network and success in the smart metering market, Silicon Labs and Wirepas have collaborated to develop an industry-first: a true concurrent multiprotocol switching solution based on a single ERF32 Wireless Gecko radio, enabling a range of innovative use cases for applications such as connected lighting, smart energy, and asset management.

This solution development enables customers and partners of both Silicon Labs and Wirepas to leverage the unique RF performance and multiprotocol connectivity of Silicon Labs’ EFR32 SoCs, along with the network scalability, reliability and ease of implementation of Wirepas Mesh software. This integrated solution leverages Wirepas' mesh networking stack and Silicon Labs' Bluetooth software, Micrium OS, and RAIL (Radio Abstraction Interface Layer) software to manage both Bluetooth and Wirepas mesh connectivity on a single EFR32 SoC.

Bluetooth is an ideal protocol for controlling lighting systems and indoor navigation via easy-to-use smartphone apps, further enhancing user satisfaction. This smartphone-based technology allows for simple device provisioning without the need for dedicated hardware, simplifying installation and commissioning. Wirepas Mesh software serves as the backbone for large-scale Internet of Things (IoT) networks, while Bluetooth provides an accessible, peer-to-peer user interface. This protocol combination meets the diverse needs of connected lighting solutions in the retail, commercial, food service, and hospitality industries.

“The combined efforts of Wirepas Mesh and Silicon Labs’ EFR32 platform address one of the pressing challenges facing the Industrial IoT,” said Teppo Hemiä, CEO of Wirepas. “The challenge is how to wirelessly connect billions of devices with evolving network requirements,” he said. “The combination of high-performance mesh networks and Bluetooth technology presents a powerful solution that can meet the multiprotocol connectivity needs of our partners and customers.”

“By leveraging the integrated multiprotocol solution from Wirepas and Silicon Labs, application developers are freed from complex tasks such as network stack development and scheduling of multiple wireless protocols,” said Dennis Natale, vice president and general manager of IoT products at Silicon Labs. “Now, our joint customers can focus on developing their unique, high-value mesh networking applications across a broad range of IoT applications.”