Technical Articles
Silicon Labs has published these technical articles:
(Microprocessors and Microcontrollers)
From this Article:
Consumer and commercial thermal applications all rely on temperature sensors. Complex industrial applications, such as optical transceiver modules and motor control systems, often use the temperature...
(Microprocessors and Microcontrollers)
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Optimizing embedded systems for low power consumption requires developers to find a balance between performance and power usage. However, achieving this balance can mean compromising product...
(Acoustic and Audio Equipment)
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This document applies to Si4702/03-C Firmware 19 and greater. Worldwide FM band support (76-108 MHz). Digital low-IF receiver. Frequency synthesizer with integrated VCO. Seek tuning. Automatic...
(Microprocessors and Microcontrollers)
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Many of Silicon Lab's devices feature an on-chip SAR analog-to-digital converter (ADC). These ADC's use a sample capacitor that is charged to the voltage of the input signal that is used by the SAR...
(Audio and Video IC)
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A touch-sensitive switch is a switch that is implemented as a trace on a printed circuit board. The architecture of the trace creates a capacitive element on the board. Touching this trace with your...
(Timing Circuits)
From this Article:
CMEMS®
technology is an innovative CMOS+MEMS manufacturing process developed by Silicon Labs, a
leading supplier of timing solutions. The term CMEMS is a contraction of the acronyms CMOS and...
(Microprocessors and Microcontrollers)
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With the emerging Internet of Things (IoT) in both consumer and commercial applications, there is a lot of focus on connectivity. IoT is all about connecting devices together to allow for higher order...
(Sensor Chips)
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Gestures represent a fundamental and universal form of nonverbal communication.
Whether you are pointing to select an object out of a group, waving to say hello or
curling your fingers to beckon...
(Microprocessors and Microcontrollers)
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Bridge transducers are the most common sensor type in digital counting scales. They convert a force into a voltage that is proportional to the force applied to the bridge. Bridge transducers are used...
(RF, Microwave, and Wireless Components)
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With the latest advances in color LED technology, the possibilities for choosing and modifying ambient lighting in the home are greater than ever before. Wireless networking further enables new...
(Power and Power Management IC)
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In jitter-sensitive applications, power supply noise sensitivities increase design complexity and reduce functional design margin. This in-depth Silicon Labs white paper examines the primary sources...
(Acoustic and Audio Equipment)
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Edwin H. Armstrong, known as one of the founding fathers of radio technology, invented the superheterodyne radio receiver in 1918 and frequency modulation (FM) in 1933 [1]. These two concepts, along...
(Microprocessors and Microcontrollers)
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Driven by the need for untethered mobility and ease of use, many systems rely on rechargeable batteries as their primary power source. The battery charger is typically implemented using a...
(Microprocessors and Microcontrollers)
From this Article:
Decreased power consumption results in longer battery life, and, in some cases, enables the use of a smaller, less expensive battery. Traditional MCUs perform the voltage conversion with inefficient...
(Microprocessors and Microcontrollers)
From this Article:
Traditional Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) controllers implement the switching of charge across their capacitive segments in an inefficient manner. On the physical LCD, each segment can be thought of as...
(Microprocessors and Microcontrollers)
From this Article:
In today's ARM-oriented MCU development environment, 8-bit devices might look outdated, but looks are deceiving. When coupled with modern process technologies and advanced mixed-signal peripherals,...
(Sensor Chips)
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What defines good human interface design, and how can system designers implement a smarter, friendlier and more intuitive solution? This in-depth Silicon Labs white paper examines these questions and...
(Microprocessors and Microcontrollers)
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Designing a smart water or gas utility meter can present a vexing low-power challenge for embedded control systems requiring RF connectivity. Since a single service call from a technician often...
(Microprocessors and Microcontrollers)
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Maximizing the duration of time in sleep mode is extremely important in low-power applications. In these applications, the microcontroller (MCU) spends the majority of the time in the low power or...
(Microprocessors and Microcontrollers)
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Download this free white paper to learn how to become more adept at finding solutions that increase your ability to effectively and efficiently deliver great designs on schedule....
(Microprocessors and Microcontrollers)
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Choosing the right ultra-low-power microcontroller (MCU) for your next embedded design can be a confusing task when you compare claimed current consumption specifications in a myriad of data sheets...
(RF, Microwave, and Wireless Components)
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Wireless connectivity continues to expand quickly across all industries as wider varieties of electronic devices and appliances add wireless controls and communications. Consumers are used to the...
(RF, Microwave, and Wireless Components)
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System-on-chip (SoC) transmitter solutions 434 MHz Remote Control PCBgreatly simplify the process of designing a remote control and reduce system bill of materials (BOM) cost by eliminating the need...
(Semiconductors)
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Portable devices have become one of main sources of demand for the semiconductor industry. The high volumes of these products are driving significant semiconductor innovation to add new features in a...
(Light Sources)
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This application note applies to all Silicon Labs USB MCUs. The Human Interface Device (HID) class specification allows designers to create USB-based devices and applications without the need for...
(Semiconductors)
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The purpose of this note is to provide an example of how to add a real-time clock (RTC) feature to a C8051F00x or C8051F01x device. Example software is included at the end of this note....
(Microprocessors and Microcontrollers)
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Energy harvesting technology is rapidly emerging as a viable power supply option for embedded system designers, enabling wireless sensors to be used in applications that previously were not feasible...
(Sensor Chips)
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In the emerging "Internet of Things" era, the traditional approach to humidity measurement using large-footprint legacy discrete circuits or bulky humidity sensing modules is no longer suitable to...
(Microprocessors and Microcontrollers)
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Many applications require measurements using an analog-to-digital converter (ADC). Such applications will have resolution requirements based in the signal's dynamic range, the smallest change in a...
(RF, Microwave, and Wireless Components)
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To build an advanced wireless system, most developers will end up choosing between two industrial, scientific and medial (ISM) radio band options - 2.4GHz or sub-GHz frequencies. Depending on your...
(Microprocessors and Microcontrollers)
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The challenge of identifying which MCUs are truly low power is rarely a simple task, requiring designers to navigate though the numerous (and often confusing) claims made by various semiconductor...
(Microprocessors and Microcontrollers)
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Magnetic stripe readers (MSRs) are widely used in many different applications such as point-of-sale terminals and key card readers. The C8051F330 is capable of integrating MSR functionality in a very...
(RF, Microwave, and Wireless Components)
From this Article:
The goal for wireless system manufacturers is to provide low-cost, robust nodes that maximize battery life while extending the range of the network as far as possible. Today's developers have a wide...
(Motor Controls and Drives)
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Small motors, less than 300 W, are found in a wide variety of applications. These include automobiles, printers, copiers, paper handlers, factory automation, test equipment, robotics, space &...
(RF, Microwave, and Wireless Components)
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During the past decade, there have been considerable advances in radio frequency (RF) communication circuit design. These advances stem from new RF architectures that were once considered impossible...
(Power Supply and Conditioning)
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This application note discusses power management techniques and methods of calculating power in a Silicon Labs C8051F00x and C8051F01x SoC. Many applications will have strict power requirements, and...
(Microprocessors and Microcontrollers)
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Engineers have many options when selecting the optimal battery to support and maximize the service life of their applications. As batteries become more sophisticated in design and function, you must...
(Motor Controls and Drives)
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This reference design provides a hardware and software solution for Sensorless Brushless dc motors. This document includes complete schematics, printed circuit board layout, and firmware. The...
(Communication IC)
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C8051F0xx devices are equipped with an SMBus serial I/O device that is compliant with the System Management Bus Specification version 1.1, as well as the I2C serial bus. The SMBus is a bi-directional,...
(Communication IC)
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This document is intended for developers creating products based on the CP210x USB to UART Bridge Controller. It provides information about serial communications and how to obtain the port number for...
(Sensor Chips)
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Humidity sensing technology is critical to a wide range of applications, and despite its pervasive necessity and application across many industries, relative humidity measurement is among the more...
(Timing Circuits)
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FPGA-based systems have become common and are appropriate for many applications. However, by their nature, FPGAs are power-hungry devices with complex power delivery requirements and multiple voltage...
(Microprocessors and Microcontrollers)
From this Article:
C8051F3xx and C8051F41x devices are equipped with an SMBus serial I/O peripheral that is compliant with both the System Management Bus Specification and the I2C-Bus Specification. The SMBus is a...
(Motor Controls and Drives)
From this Article:
Stepper motors are used in a wide variety of applications. They are prevalent in consumer office equipment such as printers, plotters, copiers, and scanners. Stepper motors are also used in automotive...
(Microprocessors and Microcontrollers)
From this Article:
In today's ARM-oriented MCU development environment, 8-bit devices might look old and outdated, but looks are deceiving. When coupled with modern process technologies and advanced mixed-signal...
(Microprocessors and Microcontrollers)
From this Article:
The ability to power wireless sensor nodes from harvested energy sources allows embedded designers to offer self-sustaining systems with a significantly reduced cost of ownership for the end-user as...
(RF, Microwave, and Wireless Components)
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Recent advances in semiconductor, networking and material science technologies are driving the ubiquitous deployment of large-scale wireless sensor networks (WSNs). Together, these technologies have...
(Microprocessors and Microcontrollers)
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Embedded developers and product managers are under continuous pressure to push the envelope of cost, size, power consumption and performance in their next portable medical device designs. In order to...
(Signal Conditioning)
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By incorporating modern CMOS isolation devices into new high-voltage consumer devices, manufacturers can ensure that their smaller, improved systems don't give end users a nasty shock.
When we were...
(IC Interface Devices)
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The ToolStick development platform consists of a ToolStick Base Adapter and a ToolStick Daughter card. The ToolStick Virtual Tools application provides a set of tools for the PC that can be controlled...
(Sensor Chips)
From this Article:
Touchless lavatory applications such as toilet flushers, automatic faucets, soap dispensers and towel dispensers are becoming increasingly common. Key design issues to consider include: flushers and...
(Sensor Chips)
From this Article:
This Silicon Labs in-depth white paper examines how through advancements in human interface (HI) technology and design, infrared proximity sensors are poised to usher in the next user interface...
(Audio and Video IC)
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Isochronous data transfers can be used by universal serial bus (USB) devices designed to transfer data to or from a host at a constant rate. Systems streaming audio employ isochronous transfers to...
(IC Interface Devices)
From this Article:
The rapid expansion of the USB standard in consumer electronics products has extended the use of USB connectivity to propagate and control digital audio. However, streaming audio over USB is a complex...
(IC Interface Devices)
From this Article:
Although universal serial bus (USB) connectivity has become a key requirement for most embedded applications, in most cases, it is just one of many design requirements for a typical application. For...
(IC Interface Devices)
From this Article:
Designing USB communications into an application enables a system to communicate with a variety of USB host devices and provides a convenient power option through the USB connection. Today's printers,...
(Microprocessors and Microcontrollers)
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The information in this document and the associated software download is intended for use by developers creating USB products based on the CP210x USB to UART Bridge Controller device family or the...
(Networking Equipment)
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This USB FM Radio design is intended as a reference for incorporating FM radio functionality into a USB product. The design consists of two major components, the Si4701 FM radio receiver and the...
(Microprocessors and Microcontrollers)
From this Article:
Among the USB device classes natively supported by popular operating systems, the USB Mass Storage Device (MSD) class is one of the most widely supported device classes. A USB device that supports...
(Communication IC)
From this Article:
This white paper looks at the principles of antenna diversity and how RSSI (received signal strength indicator) can be used in a software-based algorithm to reduce the processor load when managing...
(Microprocessors and Microcontrollers)
From this Article:
The implementation of direct memory access (DMA) in 32-bit microcontrollers (MCUs) based on ARM® cores has limitations. Specifically, DMA does not support chaining (connecting a string of...
(Microprocessors and Microcontrollers)
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Developers are always looking for ways to reduce the cost of their embedded systems without compromising the availability of peripherals or system performance. This white paper explores the option of...
(Microprocessors and Microcontrollers)
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Digital signal processing algorithms are powerful tools that provide algorithmic solutions to common problems. For example, digital filters provide several benefits over their analog counterparts....
(Power and Power Management IC)
From this Article:
Over the last four decades, optocouplers have been the "default" signal isolation device, but recent breakthroughs in silicon isolation technology have spawned smaller, faster, and more reliable and...
(Memory Chips)
From this Article:
The Flash memory on all Silicon Labs MCU devices is readable and writable from application code. This capability allows user software to store values to the Flash such as calibration constants or...
(RF, Microwave, and Wireless Components)
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With growing interest in using ZigBee for smart metering HANs in the UK and elsewhere around the world, testing propagation properties of these devices at 2.4 GHz is important to advise technology...
(RF, Microwave, and Wireless Components)
From this Article:
For end devices and routers that do not require a host processor, the single-chip wireless SoC system partitioning approach delivers the best network performance, the lowest power consumption and the...
(RF, Microwave, and Wireless Components)
From this Article:
Home Area Networks (HANs) are becoming more prevalent as new wireless home automation and energy management products for controlling entertainment, lighting, climate and security systems hit the mass...