Low Power Wireless MCU Addresses Battery-Operated Home Automation Systems

Silicon Laboratories Inc. introduces the industry's lowest power single-chip wireless microcontrollers (MCUs). The Si10xx wireless MCU family addresses the power and RF requirements of battery-operated home automation systems, smart meters, in-home utility monitors and security systems. The Si10xx wireless MCUs combine a 25 MHz 8051 core, EZRadioPRO® sub-GHz RF transceiver, up to 64 kB of flash and up to 12-bit ADC — all in a compact 5 mm x 7 mm package. The wireless MCUs offer the lowest active-mode current consumption (160 microamps per MHz). In sleep mode, they consume only 615 nanoamps with an active 32.768 kHz real-time clock (RTC) and down to 315 nanoamps with an active RTC and a low frequency oscillator (LFO). In deep-sleep mode, they can operate on as little as 25 nA with full RAM retention. The ultra-low-power Si10xx wireless MCU family is well suited for battery-operated systems with RF links, as well as for many other embedded wireless applications that require ultra-low power consumption.