EM357 System-on-Chip Platforms

Silicon Labs' EM357 is a fully integrated system-on-chip that integrates a 2.4 GHz, IEEE 802.15.4-2003-compliant transceiver, 32-bit ARM® Cortex™-M3 microprocessor, flash and RAM memory, and peripherals of use to designers of ZigBee-based systems.

The transceiver uses an efficient architecture that exceeds the dynamic range requirements imposed by the IEEE 802.15.4-2003 standard by over 15 dB. The integrated receive channel filtering allows for robust co-existence with other communication standards in the 2.4 GHz spectrum, such as IEEE 802.11-2007 and Bluetooth. The integrated regulator, VCO, loop filter, and power amplifier keep the external component count low. An optional high performance radio mode (boost mode) is software-selectable to boost dynamic range.

The integrated 32-bit ARM Cortex-M3 microprocessor is highly optimized for high performance, low power consumption, and efficient memory utilization. Including an integrated MPU, it supports two different modes of operation: privileged mode and user mode. This architecture could allow for separation of the networking stack from the application code and prevents unwanted modification of restricted areas of memory and registers resulting in increased stability and reliability of deployed solutions.

The EM357 has 192 kB of embedded flash memory and 12 kB of integrated RAM for data and program storage. Silicon Labs' software for the EM357 employs an effective wear-leveling algorithm that optimizes the lifetime of the embedded flash.

Block Diagram	Circuit Diagram