Wireless Solution for Smart Home Gateways, Hubs, and Bridges

Gateways, hubs, and bridges are the core devices that connect and control various smart home devices, such as lights, thermostats, cameras, speakers, and sensors. They enable users to create a seamless, personalized, and secure smart home experience with features like voice control, automation, scheduling, and remote access. They also integrate with popular smart home ecosystems, such as Amazon Alexa, Apple Home, Google Home, Samsung SmartThings, and support Matter.

See how LEEDARSON uses Silicon Labs MG24 to simplify Matter development for home IoT devices such as smart switches, lighting, and more.

Silicon Labs’ Solutions for Smart Home Hubs, Panels, and Bridges

Our portfolio covers all your needs for building advanced wireless smart home gateways, hubs, and bridges. Here are some of the key features of our portfolio:

• Support for multiple wireless protocols: Thread, Bluetooth, Z-Wave, Zigbee, Wi-Fi, and Proprietary.
• Support for the most popular ecosystems, including Matter.
• Robust and certified software stack for device compatibility and simplified development and testing.
• Integrated AI/ML accelerator or for edge processing and energy-saving.
• Secure Vault with PSA Level 3 certification for enhanced security and trust.
• RF-certified modules with integrated antennas for fast time-to-market and reduced design complexity. (cut your time-to-market by up to 9 months).

Thread, Bluetooth, Z-Wave, Zigbee, Wi-Fi, and Proprietary. Matter? You can ensure device compatibility and simplify product development and testing through a robust certified software stack from Silicon Labs. An integrated AI/ML accelerator can enable you to process data at the edge without waking up the main processor or radio to transmit data, saving time and energy. Furthermore, our Secure Vault is certified up to the highest PSA Level 3, ensuring your product won’t be the weakest link in smart home security. If you are looking for a fast time-to-market, our portfolio also includes RF-certified modules with integrated antennas that can cut your time-to-market by up to 9 months!

Smart Home Hubs, Panels, and Bridges Design Considerations

Several factors must be considered when designing wireless smart controllers to ensure optimal performance, user experience, and compatibility. Here are some questions you should ask yourself:

• What kind of RF performance and coverage area is needed for your application?
• What wireless
• What is the latency activation and responsiveness required for your device?
• Do you want to enable easy onboarding with Dynamic Multi-Protocol (DMP) Bluetooth?
• Do you want to be Matter compliant and future-proof your device?

How to Ensure Exceptional Wireless Performance on Smart Home Gateways, Hubs, and Bridges?

The home is a challenging RF environment with multiple devices, obstacles, and potential wireless interference. Gateways, hubs, and bridges are often placed in locations not optimal for signal strength. Multiple connected devices may be far apart or behind walls. You need superior wireless performance to ensure fast, reliable connectivity across the largest wireless smart home technologies.

Silicon Labs provides several solutions for maximizing wireless capabilities, such as:

   -  High transmit (TX) power of up to +20 dBm without additional Power Amplifiers – See these examples: MG21, MR21, and MG24.

   -  Exceptional receiver (RX) sensitivity on SoCs such as MG21, MR21, and MG24, reducing re-transmissions, latency, and output power.

   -  Wireless Co-existence support, for example, Wi-Fi and 15.4 co-existence.

   -  Several degrees of antenna diversity optimize devices, such as gateways, to be able to see, manage, and control the device network.

   -  Sub-GHz protocols, such as Z-Wave, Amazon Sidewalk, and Proprietary, for long-range, efficient wall penetration and security system integration.

   -  Our products are also tested in large-scale industrial settings, ensuring seamless operation in dense environments.

The superior wireless performance of our portfolio enables you to enhance user experience, decrease negative customer reviews and returned products, improve brand image, and increase sales.

How to Simplify Multiprotocol Hubs, Panels, and Bridges?

Multiprotocol capabilities allow you to address several wireless regions and markets with a single wireless design. But how do you simplify multiprotocol development and integration? With Silicon Labs' dynamic multiprotocol solutions, you can create a single wireless design for an application while enabling multiple wireless protocols – Bluetooth, Bluetooth mesh, Thread, Zigbee, Matter, Proprietary, Z-Wave, Wi-Fi, and more. Here are some of the benefits of our dynamic multiprotocol solutions:

• Simplified development and testing with a single software stack and hardware platform
• Reduced design complexity and cost with fewer components
• Enhanced user experience and compatibility with easy onboarding and interoperability
• A future-proofed device with support for Matter and other emerging protocols

How to Simplify Device Setup for the Users?

Silicon Labs’ DMP Bluetooth and Bluetooth LE co-existence with other protocols can be used for quick setup using a mobile app. Additionally, Z-Wave SmartStart and Amazon Frustration-Free Setup (FFS) can simplify device setup and avoid frustration.

How to Improve the Security of Hubs, Panels, and Bridges?

Silicon Labs’ Secure Vault is the most advanced IoT security solution (up to PSA Level 3) that can be used to comply with security regulations like California SB 327/NIST 8259A and EU 303645. Silicon Labs is the only silicon vendor offering customized security. We also provide security updates with up to 10 years of longevity so that so you can create the most secure smart devices you can create the most secure smart devices.

How to Integrate Hubs, Panels, and Bridges with Smart Home Ecosystems?

Many users control smart home devices with ecosystems like Amazon, Apple, Google, and Samsung SmartThings. You can use Silicon Labs’ Matter solution to develop a single SKU and quickly certify it for multiple smart home ecosystems. You can also use Unify SDK to simplify multiprotocol software development for the Matter Bridge, which connects Z-Wave and other protocols to Matter.

Hubs/Panels Block Diagram