New Cortex-M33 Wireless MCUs Unveiled for Bluetooth LE and Matter at Embedded World

Silicon Labs has recently made a significant announcement regarding their latest innovation in the realm of secured wireless microcontrollers. The new family of microcontrollers is based on Arm Cortex-M33 architecture and is designed to cover a wide range of wireless communication protocols including Matter, OpenThread, Zigbee, and Bluetooth LE.

Referred to as xG26, this family of microcontrollers comprises MG26 devices tailored for Matter, OpenThread, and Zigbee applications, BG26 devices optimized for Bluetooth LE and Bluetooth Mesh functionalities, and PG26 devices that offer the same processing power minus the wireless transceivers.

According to Silicon Labs CEO Matt Johnson, "As users across various sectors, from consumer to industrial, continue to derive more benefits from their IoT deployments, their demands are steadily increasing." This underscores the importance of developing advanced solutions that can meet the evolving needs of IoT applications.

The MG26 (EFR32MG26) MCUs are equipped with a 2.4GHz radio and a 78MHz Cortex-M33 processor, along with up to 3Mbyte of flash memory and 512kbyte of RAM. Silicon Labs emphasizes that these devices have been designed with ample headroom to accommodate the requirements of Matter over Thread, reflecting the company's commitment to future-proofing their products.

Furthermore, the MG26 devices feature a matrix vector AI and machine-learning algorithm accelerator block, as well as robust security hardware. Silicon Labs highlights that the AI/ML acceleration capability enables significantly faster processing of machine learning algorithms while consuming minimal power, making them ideal for a wide range of applications.

In addition to the MG26 devices, Silicon Labs also introduced the BG26 (EFR32BG26) microcontrollers, which come with a 2.4GHz radio, a 78MHz Cortex-M33 processor, up to 2Mbyte of flash memory, and 256kbyte of RAM. These devices are specifically tailored for Bluetooth LE and Bluetooth Mesh applications, catering to a diverse set of use cases including gateways, sensors, smart plugs, and more.

Lastly, the PG26 (EFM32PG26) devices, which do not include a radio, feature an 80MHz Cortex-M33 processor, up to 2Mbyte of flash memory, and 256kbyte of RAM. With an emphasis on low power consumption and efficient performance, these microcontrollers are well-suited for applications that require a balance between processing power and energy efficiency.