- 1. Buy Silicon Labs Pro Kit for Amazon Sidewalk
- 2. Check Amazon Sidewalk Coverage
- 3. Unbox Pro Kit
- 4. Create User Accounts
- 5. Set Up Dev Environment
- 6. Configure Kit with Environment
- 7. Choose Your Hardware Platform
Why Choose Silicon Labs for Your Amazon Sidewalk Project?
Silicon Labs provides IoT device makers with the most complete, one-stop-shop, wireless development solution for Amazon Sidewalk, simplifying your development process, reducing costs, and accelerating time to revenue for Amazon Sidewalk devices. The certified solution comprises the Amazon Sidewalk SDK, wireless hardware, security, and development kits and tools.
What is Amazon Sidewalk?
Amazon Sidewalk is a shared wireless network that uses Amazon Sidewalk Bridges, such as compatible Amazon Echo and Ring devices, to enable communication among devices communicating on the network. Amazon Sidewalk enables reliable, low-bandwidth, and long-range connectivity at home and beyond. It connects IoT devices and applications such as outdoor lights, motion sensors, and location-based devices. It uses Bluetooth Low Energy for short-distance communication and CSS and FSK radio protocols at 900 MHz frequencies to cover longer distances.
How Does Amazon Sidewalk Work?
Amazon Sidewalk is a low-bandwidth wireless network comprised of nearby Bridge devices. Amazon Sidewalk Bridge device owners can opt-in to share a small portion of their internet bandwidth to provide wireless connectivity services to compatible devices within the range of Amazon Sidewalk. Each participating Bridge device expands the range of the network.
Amazon Sidewalk Unlocks a World of New Device Possibilities
Amazon Sidewalk-enabled devices include smart utilities, appliances, and consumer devices. They can also be used for parks management, environmental management, airports and more.
Amazon Sidewalk Architecture
Amazon Sidewalk is built on an architecture comprising of a radio, network, and application layers. It supports 3 different RF protocols. The Amazon Sidewalk application layer then sits on top of both the network layer and Bluetooth LE stack providing an easy way for customers to use the available protocols. All Amazon Sidewalk devices must connect to the cloud using AWS loT Core for Amazon Sidewalk.
Amazon Sidewalk Bridge Devices
Unlike many loT technologies based on a single gateway, Amazon Sidewalk is based on a single distributed network architecture of nearby Bridges. Having more Amazon Sidewalk Bridges in an area can increase the effectiveness of the network. When the infrastructure expands, the Bridges form a distributed network allowing devices to connect and send data to any Bridge in range instead of being limited to one specific Bridge. Amazon Sidewalk Bridges will pick up the message from the compatible device and route it through the AWS cloud to the user with multiple layers of security.
Amazon Sidewalk – Connecting Wireless IoT Devices at Homes and Beyond
In addition to extending connectivity beyond the front door, Amazon Sidewalk can be used by loT applications to deliver end-users convenience while opening up new possibilities for device manufacturers. Here you can find information about our energy-efficient, high-performance wireless hardware and software, development tools, and learning resources for Amazon Sidewalk, including a coverage map to help determine whether or not a Bridge device is needed.
Amazon Sidewalk Radio Layers
Amazon Sidewalk can use three different PHYs at the radio layer to address the different networking use-cases.
Bluetooth Low Energy – In Home and Connect Device-to-phone Connectivity
Bluetooth Low Energy radio PHY can be used for Amazon Sidewalk applications in the home with short-range connectivity for devices such as location-based devices and connect a device to a smartphone with Amazon Sidewalk coverage.
Sub-GHz GFSK – In Home and Beyond Front Door
GFSK radio PHY can cover up to one acre lot and can address applications that need to cover detached buildings and yards such as pool, spa, and water mitigation. GFSK can even support smart city and neighborhood applications with Amazon Sidewalk coverage.
Sub-GHz CSS – In Home and Beyond the Fence
The CSS (Chirp Spread Spectrum) radio PHY can reach several miles to support applications where devices are far from the nearest Bridge - these can include smart neighborhoods, universities, and agriculture with Amazon Sidewalk coverage.
Amazon Sidewalk Developer Journey with Silicon Labs
Silicon Labs can accelerate the development of Amazon Sidewalk devices, starting by outlining each step in the process and helping you along each stage of your project. We’re here to simplify your development journey and help you get your device to market faster and more efficiently.
We’ve outlined below three key stages of your journey, along with what’s required to successfully complete each stage.
Get Started
Develop
Deploy Product
1. Purchase Silicon Labs Pro Kit for Amazon Sidewalk
Silicon Labs Pro Kit for Amazon Sidewalk provides all the necessary hardware for easy evaluation and development of wireless IoT-based devices on Bluetooth and sub-GHz wireless protocols for Amazon Sidewalk.
The Pro Kit includes a KG100S radio board that provides a complete reference design to support Bluetooth, FSK, and CSS protocols used in Amazon Sidewalk. It also includes a BG24 radio board for Bluetooth only development and an FSK/CSS adapter board for customers who want a discrete design. The Pro Kit main board (WPK main board) contains an onboard J-Link debugger with a packet trace interface and a virtual COM port, enabling application development and debugging of the attached radio board as well as external hardware through an expansion header. The WPK mainboard provided in this kit also allows developers to evaluate new devices by purchasing a radio board only.
Contents
- 1x BRD4002A Wireless Pro Kit Mainboard
- 1x KG100s Radio Board (Bluetooth LE, FSK, CSS) - KG100S-RB4332A
- 1x BG24 Radio Board (Bluetooth LE) +20 dBm - xG24-RB4187C
- 1x BRD8042A CSS/FSK Adapter Board (for SX1262MB2CAS Shield Board)
- 1x 915 MHz Antenna
- 1x Mini Simplicity Cable
- 1x AA Battery holder
- Pre-flashed with Amazon Sidewalk image and pre-registered with AWS
2. Check Amazon Sidewalk Coverage
To connect to AWS using Amazon Sidewalk, you must use an Amazon Sidewalk-enabled Bridge device. If you are in a low-coverage area, you may need to purchase a Bridge device. Today, Amazon only enables Sidewalk capability on Bridges located in the United States. If you’re developing a product for Amazon Sidewalk outside the United States, you may need to take the necessary steps to enable Amazon Sidewalk on your Bridge while complying with your regional regulatory rules.
Don’t have coverage in your area and need a Bridge device?
Echo (4th Gen) | With premium sound, smart home hub, and Alexa
The Amazon Echo 4th generation is the recommended Amazon Sidewalk Bridge for development purposes. Silicon Labs validates the Amazon Sidewalk SDK against this product. The list of Amazon Sidewalk Bridges and their supported capabilities is available in the secondary link.
3. Unbox Pro Kit
Once you’ve received your Pro Kit and you’re ready to get started, unboxing couldn’t be easier. The Pro Kit comes pre-programmed with an application to demonstrate how easy it is to power on a device and get it connected to the Amazon Sidewalk network. Once you are ready to begin your own development, it will only take a few extra minutes to find a sample app, create a project, and build and run the code on your Pro Kit. Watch this quick unboxing video for step-by-step instructions or follow them below.
Step-by-step instructions:
Ensure you are in Bluetooth LE range of a US-based Echo 4 (or other Amazon Sidewalk-compatible Bridge)
- Install radio board (EFR32xG24) onto the main board (BRD4002)
- Connect main board to your host PC (or any USB power source)*
- Wait for QR code to appear on the main board LCD
- Read QR code with mobile device, open the embedded URL in a browser
- Interact with main board and demo AWS application, demonstrating uplink/downlink over Amazon Sidewalk between the end device and the cloud
* Cable not included - use an appropriate cable to connect power to the board’s USB-C port
For more information, please visit Software Documentation.
4. Create User Accounts
While you wait for your Pro Kit, we recommend setting up your user accounts. If you already have the accounts listed below, you can skip this step. If not, here’s what you’ll need:
Silicon Labs Account:
Silicon Labs Account: This account will offer you access to our developer community, Getting Started guides, private GitHub repositories and our Simplicity Studio development environment. You can create your account or verify access to your account here.
Create AWS Account:
Amazon Web Services Account: To connect your device to the cloud, you will need an AWS account. Note: you will need to know if you are a root user or an IAM user. If you’re a new developer, then we recommend setting up a root user account. If you’re an experienced developer, then an IAM user account is right for you. You will be prompted to add your payment and billing details to secure cloud connection. AWS offers a multitude of configuration tools to support you along your journey. More to come on that in the following steps.
5. Set Up Development Environment
We know you have many options when it comes to choosing your development environment, but we believe Simplicity Studio is the right choice for developing your device with Amazon Sidewalk. Here’s why:
- Includes your programmer and debugger functions so you don’t have to worry about manual setup.
- Automatically recognizes the boards you’ve purchased and filters out sample apps that are not applicable; only exposes the sample apps that are related to your hardware selection.
- Potentially saving you hours of time in installation, setup and configuration.
- Simplicity Studio links directly to the private GitHub repositories.
- Need help setting up your environment? Our Getting Started Guide will have you up and running in no time. Note: You will need to install the Sidewalk SDK Extension.
Download the Full Online Installer Version of Simplicity Studio v5:
System Requirements
| Windows | Windows 10 (64-bit) Windows 11 |
| MacOS | 10.14 Mojave 10.15 Catalina* 11.x Big Sur* 12.x Monterey* *if trying to use the Keil 8051 or IAR toolchains, click here |
| Linux | Ubuntu 20.24 LTS |
| CPU | 1 GHz or better |
| Memory | 1 GB RAM (8 GB rcommended for wireless protocol development |
| Disk Space | 600 MB disk space for minimum FFD installation 7 GB for wireless dynamic protocol support |
6. Configure Kit with Simplicity Studio
From the moment you have unboxed your Pro Kit, it will take you less than a minute to find the sample app, create the project, and build and run the code project. Here’s another video to demonstrate just how easy it can be. Once you’ve plugged in your Pro Kit, Simplicity Studio will automatically recognize the boards you’ve purchased and expose the sample apps related to your hardware selection while filtering out sample apps that are not applicable.
If you need additional help, we’ve created a Getting Started Guide to walk you through these steps so you can run test projects and start prototyping.
Visit our Community forum where we have project-specific areas ready for you to access.
7. Choose Your Hardware Platform
Once you have completed the evaluation of Amazon Sidewalk using Silicon Labs Pro Kit for Amazon Sidewalk, you are ready to continue your development for Amazon Sidewalk. We have the most comprehensive solutions for developing Amazon Sidewalk devices. We provide multiple hardware options for Bluetooth, FSK and CSS to get you started.
Which hardware platform is right for you? The below table will help guide you through your selection.
Choose Your Hardware Platform
| Part Number | RAM | Flash | Max TX Power | Package Type | BLE | FSK-Sub-GHz | CSS | Secure Vault | For Battery Power | Recommended Kit | |
| EFR32BG24B220F1024IM48 | 128 kB | 1024 kB | +20 dBm | QFN48 | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | KG100S-PK6130A | Learn More |
| EFR32BG21B020F1024IM32 | 96 kB | 1024 kB | +20 dBm | QFN32 | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | EFR32xG21 Bluetooth Starter Kit | Learn More |
| EFR32SG23B020F512IM40 | 64 kB | 512 kB | +20 dBm | QFN40 | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | EFR32xG23 Pro Kit +20 dBm | Learn More |
| EFR32SG28B320F1024IM48 | 256 kB | 1024 kB | +20 dBm | QFN48 | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | EFR32xG28 Pro Kit +20 dBm | Learn More |
| EFR32SG28B320F1024IM68 | 256 kB | 1024 kB | +20 dBm | QFN68 | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | EFR32xG28 Pro Kit +20 dBm | Learn More |
| EFR32SG28B322F1024IM48 | 256 kB | 1024 kB | +20 dBm | QFN48 | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | EFR32xG28 Pro Kit +20 dBm | Learn More |
| EFR32SG28B322F1024IM68 | 256 kB | 1024 kB | +20 dBm | QFN68 | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | EFR32xG28 Pro Kit +20 dBm | Learn More |
| Quectel KG100S |
96 kB | 1024 kB | +20 dBm | LGA56 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | KG100S-PK6130A | Learn More |
If you need help with your SoC purchase, please fill out the form to get connected with a member of our team who can support you.
1. Develop Your Own Product
These resources will be helpful during your development cycle.
2. Test & Iterate
More information about the protocol and test specifications can be found here.
3. Qualify Product
- Read the Amazon Sidewalk qualification policy here.
This will include documents pertaining to qualification, security, Works with Amazon Sidewalk requirements and branding guidelines. - Download the test specification here.
- Run the tests against the test spec in your labs and verify you pass all tests.
- Use Amazon Sidewalk’s qualification form to provide details of your Sidewalk product, company, and contact information.
- Once the form is submitted, the Amazon Sidewalk qualification team will email you instructions for shipping your test samples to the qualification test team.
- Follow the instructions in the email to ship your product to the qualification test team.
- Plan to send the test units to Amazon with instructions on how to execute the tests.
- If a device passes all tests, device data will go into the Amazon Sidewalk qualification database, which is accessible to the public (optionally for pre-release products the qualification listing can be kept private until your release date).
- Incorporate Amazon Sidewalk badging:
1. Manufacture Product
Amazon has defined a manufacturing process which uses a Hardware Security Module (HSM) and other tools for in-factory provisioning of Sidewalk devices and uploading factory logs to Amazon services. Please see details here.
If you need help with your SoC purchase, please fill out the form to get connected with a member of our team who can support you.
Get Started
1. Buy Silicon Labs Pro Kit for Amazon Sidewalk
2. Check Amazon Sidewalk Coverage
3. Unbox Pro Kit
4. Create User Accounts
5. Set Up Dev Environment
6. Configure Kit with Environment
7. Choose Your Hardware Platform
Develop
1. Develop Your Product
2. Test & Iterate
3. Qualify Product
Deploy Product
1. Manufacture Product
2. Operate Product
Resources
Filter
Case Studies
Recorded Webinar
Silicon Labs Blog
Tech Talk
Recorded Webinar
Tech Talk
Silicon Labs Blog
Start Your Amazon Sidewalk Development Journey Here
Silicon Labs provides IoT device makers the most complete, one-stop-shop, wireless development solution for Amazon Sidewalk. Let our ecosystem experts help you navigate the development journey, from concept to execution.