Silicon Labs brings the easiest energy analysis method for power-sensitive IoT applications

     Silicon Labs, a leading provider of microcontrollers, wireless connectivity, analog and sensor solutions for the Internet of Things (IoT), has released the latest version of its Simplicity Studio development platform, designed to make IoT system design simpler, faster and more efficient. As the industry's first IoT development platform for both microcontroller (MCU) and wireless design, Simplicity Studio now features enhanced real-time Energy Profiler tools, faster execution, and an easier installation process.

     Battery-powered IoT applications, such as wearables, personal medical devices, wireless sensor nodes, and gas and water meters, require ultra-high energy efficiency to extend battery life. Extrapolating system-level energy consumption and battery life from MCU and wireless IC data books can be time-consuming and laborious. Silicon Labs' new Energy Profiler helps developers optimize their IoT designs for ultra-low energy consumption and longer battery life by providing a more intuitive user interface, improved usability, and improved energy analysis accuracy and reliability.

     The Energy Profiler tool provides a new Energy Score feature unique to the embedded industry, which enables developers to quantify the energy efficiency of their IoT system designs. The Energy Score helps developers determine which design modifications provide the highest score directly related to battery life. A higher score (in the 0-10 range) represents lower energy consumption and longer battery life. The Energy Profiler also allows developers to save sessions, so they can compare relevant data with previously saved sessions to better understand how design changes affect overall energy efficiency.

     The Energy Profiler has an enhanced energy graph display performance, similar to the oscilloscope interface. Developers can now scale the X(time) and Y(energy) axes of the energy graph to more accurately analyze the details of energy consumption. In addition, the analysis tool establishes a direct correlation between energy graphs, function analyzers, and application code. This tripartite connectivity enhances developers' ability to optimize designs for ultra-low energy consumption.

     Silicon Labs improves the download and use efficiency of Simplicity Studio, helping developers build and run projects faster and more efficiently. The Simplicity Studio installation package has been reduced to one-tenth of its original size, and developers can access the Silicon Labs website, download the Simplicity Studio, and run demo samples in less than ten minutes. In addition, the most frequently performed tasks in Simplicity Studio, such as obtaining software code and demo examples, are now up to three times faster than in the previous version.

     Daniel Cooley, vice president and general manager of microcontrollers and Wireless products at Silicon Labs, said: "Today's developers not only need 'faster, smaller, cheaper' chips, they also expect continuous improvements in the development ecosystem to help them reduce energy consumption and reduce time to market. We pay close attention to the needs of our growing developer community and continue to improve Simplicity Studio to make it the most productive and functional development platform in the embedded industry."