Wi-Fi and Bluetooth LE Enhance Whitegoods and Smart Appliances

Enhanced User Experience

Wi-Fi connectivity allows users to control their appliances remotely via mobile applications. For instance, a user can start their dishwasher while still at work, ensuring clean dishes upon arrival home. Real-time notifications provide updates on cycle completion, maintenance needs, or potential issues—empowering users with timely insights and the ability to respond quickly.

Automated Routines

Integrated Wi-Fi and Bluetooth LE connectivity allows appliances to interface with mobile and cloud platforms, enabling remote operation that is growing the demand for convenience and efficiency. Appliances can be integrated into existing ecosystems in the house like Amazon Alexa or Google Home. In this way, configuring a routine becomes simple with the gateway issuing commands to different appliances in the house. A coffee maker, for example, can start brewing coffee automatically at a scheduled time every morning when a user asks the smart home assistant to do so. Refer to our Matter dishwasher demo for further insight.

Predictive Maintenance

AI and machine learning algorithms analyze appliance data to predict failures before they occur. This proactive approach minimizes downtime, extends appliance lifespans, and reduces maintenance costs for both consumers and manufacturers. For example, in a washing machine, AI models can help analyze usage patterns to predict wear and tear, improper functioning of a part, etc., and send an alert to the user. Part replacement can also be predicted, prompting the user to place an order for a new part.

Energy Monitoring

With support for the Matter protocol, appliances can monitor and report energy consumption in real-time. This empowers users to track energy usage and make informed decisions to optimize energy efficiency, as seen in Matter-enabled dishwashers. Matter-enabled appliances expose attributes such as energy consumption, cycle duration via clusters, and endpoints defined in the Matter specification. These attributes are reported to a central controller using reporting/subscribe queries. Then, AI/ML models are used to suggest strategies such as running the dishwasher during off-peak hours so that the user can optimize usage to lower utility bills. For more information about Matter energy management, read our article, How Matter 1.3 can power our tomorrow.

Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi is ideal for tasks requiring high bandwidth, such as secure OTA firmware updates, remote diagnostics, and cloud connectivity. It ensures seamless updates and real-time monitoring without disruptions.

Always-on and higher bandwidth data-intensive tasks

802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6) is the version of the specification enabling IoT optimizations, offering a theoretical maximum throughput of 9.6 Gbps—significantly higher than the 3.5 Gbps of Wi-Fi 5 and 600 Mbps of Wi-Fi 4. However, such high data rates are excessive and power-inefficient for many end devices like household appliances, which typically only require low-bandwidth, reliable connections. In most cases, a 20 MHz channel with a single spatial stream using MCS0 to MCS7 is more than sufficient to meet the modest data requirements of these devices.

The true value of Wi-Fi 6 for whitegoods lies not in peak speed but in advanced features like Target Wake Time (TWT), MU-MIMO, and OFDMA. These technologies improve network efficiency and reduce power consumption by allowing devices to wake and transmit only when needed, share spectrum effectively, and maintain reliable connections without interfering with other devices in the home. All these strategies help with longer battery life and lower standby current consumption.

A Wi-Fi 6-enabled refrigerator can efficiently stream live images of produce inventory to the cloud—typically requiring less than 1 Mbps—while a connected stovetop can instantly alert users if left on too long using just a few kb/s. As the number of connected devices in homes continues to rise, Wi-Fi 6 is rapidly gaining traction in the appliance market.

Reliability of OTA firmware updates

Smart appliances serve many years in the field, and it's critical to enable secure and convenient updates to the system software and firmware remotely. Reliable OTA firmware update capability transforms smart appliances into dynamic, secure, and future-proof platforms. They ensure ongoing device security, allow rapid deployment of critical patches, and enable feature enhancements post-deployment, significantly extending product lifespans. They improve user experience by fixing bugs remotely without service calls, reducing support costs, and maintaining customer trust. Advanced OTA techniques preserve the previous image so even if the OTA process is interrupted, devices are safeguarded against being bricked. In this way, appliances are always updated to the latest and secure software.

Imagine loading your dishwasher when a few indicator lights blink briefly before everything returns to normal. What you've witnessed is a seamless OTA firmware update. The appliance has automatically downloaded the latest firmware from the cloud, ensuring it stays current with new features, performance improvements, and security updates. Wi-Fi 6 plays a critical role in this process by enabling high-speed, low-latency downloads of large update files without interruptions—delivering a smooth, reliable update experience for the user.

Security

Wi-Fi 6 doesn't just mean faster speeds—it also means better security. As part of the Wi-Fi 6 certification, WPA3 support is mandatory. This is significant because WPA3 brings stronger encryption, protection against brute-force attacks, and forward secrecy so even if someone captured your data, they couldn't decrypt it later.

And yes, malicious hackers are out there scanning for the easiest way into your network, often through the most overlooked devices—like your smart coffee maker or connected toothbrush. It might sound like a joke, but unsecured appliances have been used in real-world attacks. With WPA3 built into Wi-Fi 6 appliances, you get all the convenience of a connected home, with enterprise-grade security working quietly in the background. It's like upgrading your locks without changing your lifestyle.

Bluetooth LE

Bluetooth LE plays a critical role in smart appliances by enabling seamless, low-power connectivity for device setup, control, and maintenance. By combining Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth LE in larger appliances and using Bluetooth LE alone in lightweight devices, manufacturers can optimize for both performance and power efficiency across their smart home product portfolios.

1. Seamless device commissioning

   Bluetooth LE is commonly used for the initial setup and pairing of appliances via a smartphone. Once paired, the appliance connects to Wi-Fi for ongoing communication.

   This approach provides a smooth, user-friendly onboarding experience—the user simply follows guided steps in the app while staying connected to the device over Bluetooth LE. It's no surprise that the Matter protocol also recommends this method for device onboarding.

2. Standalone Bluetooth commissioning and control

   Designed for low power consumption, Bluetooth LE is ideal for local control and secure, energy-efficient onboarding. It enables reliable communication between mobile devices and appliances without draining battery life.

   With newer versions like Bluetooth 5.x, Bluetooth LE gets even better with updates that include:

   • Improved coexistence with Wi-Fi
   • Advanced low-power modes
   • Higher data throughput
   • Stronger security
   • Optimized performance for IoT and smart home devices

   Together, these features make Bluetooth LE a key enabler of responsive, efficient, and secure smart appliance experiences.

3. Bluetooth Channel Sounding for localized control

   Let's imagine this scenario: a consumer purchases a Bluetooth LE-enabled coffee maker. They're not tech-savvy and struggle with pairing the devices or following app instructions. When they open the coffee maker's companion app, the app uses Bluetooth channel sounding to verify proximity, then prompts: "We've detected a coffee maker nearby. Would you like to connect?" The coffee maker uses channel sounding to detect the closest Bluetooth LE-enabled device (like their smartphone) and just simplified the pairing process.

   Instead of needing to scroll through a list of nearby devices, the coffee maker automatically detects their phone as the most likely candidate because it's physically the closest (e.g., within 30 cm). Once connected, the coffee maker can detect their location relative to the phone and continue prompting while they complete the setup.

Efficient operation

Addition of these accelerators enables simultaneous task execution, resulting in higher throughput and faster response times for real-time applications. They handle these computations more efficiently than general-purpose processors. This leads to faster processing and minimal latency delays. This is beneficial especially in video streaming to perform image processing.

Low power consumption

By offloading the AI/ML tasks to the AI/ML accelerator, the main processor remains free, saving energy. This is critical for battery-powered devices, extending their longevity.

Resource optimization

By offloading intensive computations to the AI/ML accelerator, the main CPU is freed to handle other tasks. This division of work allows for simultaneous processing, enhancing the overall efficiency and responsiveness of the system. Such an approach is particularly beneficial in embedded systems where computational resources are limited. For instance, Silicon Labs' integration of AI/ML accelerator into their microcontrollers has demonstrated up to 8x faster inference speeds and up to 6x lower power consumption on EFR32BG24 compared to traditional Cortex-M processors. (Reference this article - CMP103 Edge Intelligence: How to Leverage Silicon Labs AI/ML to Improve Efficiency and Performance)

Reduced latency

By performing operations at the edge, the need to transmit data to the cloud is eliminated. Real-time decision making is now moved to where the data is collected. This also allows for nodes to operate autonomously and make decisions even when the network is unavailable.

Dual-processor architecture

The SiWx917 integrates an ARM Cortex-M4 processor (180 MHz) for the application, alongside a 160 MHz dedicated Network Wireless Processor (NWP) for wireless protocol stack execution (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth LE), networking stack execution, and security engine processing. Both processors operate on independent clock and power domains.

The advantage of this dual-processor architecture is that the tasks are isolated. The application performance and wireless stack execution occurs concurrently, eliminating the need for an external MCU. This reduces system BOM complexity, power consumption, and saves costs.

Power domains

These strategies are employed per system block within the chip. This helps in turning off the unused blocks in the chip when not needed. As an example, a battery-powered appliance could enter an ultra-low-power mode. The Ultra-Low-Power peripherals (ULP) are operational while the Cortex-M4 core is shut down. The Cortex-M4 can be woken up when an interrupt is triggered (e.g., button press to preheat an oven).

These features collectively allow embedded systems to scale performance vs. power dynamically, enabling multi-year battery life and lower appliance standby current consumption.

Efficient power states

The SiWx917 Wi-Fi 6 wireless MCU chip supports multi-level power states (PS0 – PS4). It supports deep sleep current as low as 3.7 µA, active mode down to 32–50 µA/MHz, and Wi-Fi standby associated current of just 65 µA @ DTIM10 intervals. The SoC supports the following.

Dynamic voltage and frequency scaling

Allows adjusting the clock frequency of the SiWx917 processor and other blocks on the chip to balance between power consumption and performance for the application—for instance, using a high-performance mode when executing computationally intensive tasks and switching to a power-save mode during idle periods to conserve energy.

Root of trust hardware security

Security is very important for us at Silicon Labs. The SiWx917 supports PUF-based Root-of-Trust, Secure Boot, anti-rollback firmware protection, encrypted XIP (AES-CTR/XTS), and runtime attestation. It also includes hardware cryptographic accelerators (AES-128/256, SHA-256/512, RSA, ECC, ChaCha-Poly, HMAC).

These features provide a secure software and manufacturing chain, enabling secure key provisioning, firmware IP protection. OTA firmware updates are cryptographically verified, mitigating the risk of remote hijacking.

Fully-integrated dual-radio Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth LE 5.4

On the Wi-Fi side, the SiWx917 supports 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) with OFDMA, TWT, and MU-MIMO. There is an integrated PA/LNA, RF Switch, and Coexistence manager enabling a single antenna design. In this way, in congested environments, the SiWx917 offers high throughput, low-latency networking in busy 2.4GHz environments along with Bluetooth LE supporting low power and easy onboarding. Hardware coexistence guarantees smooth and seamless multi-radio operation critical in appliances.

Large memory

The SiWx917 supports up to 672 KB shared SRAM, Flash up to 8 MB (in-package), or Optional External Flash up to 16 MB and PSRAM up to 8 MB (in-package), Optional External PSRAM up to 16 MB. The optional PSRAM/Flash provide flexibility to customers who have memory-intensive applications. The architecture allows flexible memory partitioning between M4 and NWP while enabling encrypted Execute-in-Place (XiP) from flash or PSRAM.

The encrypted XiP reduces RAM footprint while enhancing code execution security. The SiWx917 can execute directly from encrypted flash, and the data is decrypted on the fly by the hardware-accelerated AES engine. This reduces the requirement for additional SRAM while maintaining secure applications.

System On Chip mode

By embedding the Wi-Fi/Bluetooth LE protocol stacks on the chip, it enables the possibility to use simpler or cost-optimized host processors. The ICs are pre-certified for Wi-Fi Alliance, Bluetooth SIG, and Matter. The M4 core can manage a wide range of appliance control tasks, such as sensor data acquisition (temperature, humidity, current sensing), interface management (buttons, panels), user interaction logic (settings, modes, notifications), cloud communications (via Wi-Fi), and secure OTA firmware updates all while maintaining real-time responsiveness.

The M4 also supports advanced capabilities like lightweight AI/ML inference at the edge for predictive maintenance or anomaly detection, leveraging the SiWx917's AI/ML accelerator. With features like low-power operation, secure boot, and hardware cryptography, the M4 in SoC mode offers a robust, secure, and highly integrated solution for modern connected appliances, eliminating the need for an external host MCU in many designs.

Furthermore, the SiWx917Y Module offers several distinct advantages beyond the SiWx917 SoC, particularly in terms of integration and ease of use. One of the primary benefits is the inclusion of an integrated antenna and worldwide RF regulatory certifications, which significantly simplify the development and certification processes. This integration reduces both time and costs associated with bringing a product to market. The SiWx917Y Module is certified worldwide, with modular radio type approvals for several countries.

Integrated AI/ML accelerator for low-power AI operations

The AI/ML accelerator on the SiWx917 offloads data processing to execute AI/ML operations, freeing up the main processor to remain idle to save power or execute other operations. AI/ML delivers 500 Mega Operations Per Second (OPS), making it roughly twice as fast as the main Cortex-M4 processor.

Rich analog and digital peripheral set for real-world applications

Peripherals include 12-bit ADC @ 2.5 Msps, DAC, 3x OpAmps, comparators, I2S, PWM, QEI, and up to 45 GPIOs with flexible pinmux. For connectivity, communication via 3x I2C, 2x UART, SPI, SDIO 2.0, and HSPI is available. All these peripherals help support sensor fusion and motor control with minimal external components.

Regulatory Compliance:

• USA: Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
• Canada: Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED)
• Japan: Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC)
• European Union: Compliance with EN standards, including EN 300 328 v2.2.2, for conformity with the Radio Equipment Directive (RED)
• United Kingdom: UK Conformity Assessment (UKCA)
• Taiwan: National Communications Commission (NCC)

Extremely low power consumption

BG22, BG24, and BG27 are all designed for ultra-low energy operation, with sleep currents in the sub-microampere range. This is critical for meat probes (which need multi-day operation without recharging) and toothbrushes (requiring long battery life between charges).

Chip scale package for size constrained appliance

Wafer Level Chip-Scale Packages (WLCSP) for BG24 and BG27 provide a minimal footprint, perfect for extremely tight mechanical designs like, thin embedded meat thermometers and slim, ergonomic toothbrush handles. CSPs reduce board size, allowing for more efficient layouts and smaller battery accommodation.

Security

Silicon Labs Bluetooth products are known for their highest-level security standards compliance in the IoT marketspace. Secure boot, hardware cryptography accelerators, and support for secure OTA firmware updates help protect sensitive user data, ensure software authenticity, and allow field upgrades—important even for "simple" devices like toothbrushes, as privacy and security standards rise.

Bluetooth Channel Sounding

BG24 with Bluetooth Channel Sounding introduces high-precision proximity sensing to smart appliances, enabling a new generation of context-aware, personalized, and energy-efficient appliances. Using sub-meter accurate ranging, appliances can intelligently detect when a user is nearby. For example, if the user walks too far away while cooking is in progress (e.g., leaves the grill unattended), the thermometer could send proximity-triggered safety alerts or temperature alarms via Bluetooth LE. Channel Sounding also supports secure access control, ensuring that only authorized users within a defined range can interact with sensitive appliance features. Importantly, BG24 delivers this with low power consumption and cost-effective hardware, making it practical to embed into kitchen appliances without impacting battery life or BOM target.

Sensor and peripheral support

BG24 and BG27 have a richer set of peripherals (I2C, ADCs, PWM, etc.) ideal for:

• Interfacing with temperature sensors or pressure sensors in thermometers.
• Running small haptic motors, sensors, and LED indicators in toothbrushes.