Silicon Labs releases BG29 BLE SoC for on-body and in-body applications

Silicon Labs has released the BG29, a next-generation Bluetooth Low Energy system-on-chip designed for low power wireless applications, especially in wearable health and medical devices, asset tracking, and other battery-powered sensors. With its high-performance Bluetooth LE connectivity, the BG29 SoC supports multiple simultaneous connections for connected health and IoT use cases.

In traditional wireless medical devices, miniaturization has been challenging due to power and memory limitations. The BG29 SoC addresses these issues with availability in QFN (Quad Flat No-Lead) and WLCSP (Wafer-Level Chip Scale Package) form factors, making it ideal for ultra-small devices. Despite its small size, it includes substantial RAM and flash memory enabling secure data processing.

For power efficiency, the Silicon Labs BLE SoC includes a DCDC boost to support a wide voltage range. The DCDC boost converter reduces device size by eliminating the need for additional power management components. The SoC also features a Coulomb counter for accurate battery monitoring and better power management.

Specifications of Silicon Labs BG29 SoC

• Wireless SoC: Low-power and high-performance 32-bit ARM Cortex-M33 clocked up to 76.8 MHz
  • Memory: Up to 256 kB RAM
  • Flash storage: Up to 1 MB flash program memory
  • Protocol support: Bluetooth Low Energy
• MCU peripherals:
  • 16-bit ADC, up to 26 GPIOs
  • 8x channel DMA controller
  • 12x channel peripheral reflex system
  • 3x 16-bit and 2x 32-bit timer/counters with 3 compare/capture/PWM channels
  • 32-bit real-time counter
  • 24-bit low energy timer
  • 1x watchdog timer
  • 2x UART/SPI/SmartCard/IrDA/I2S
  • 2x EUSART
  • 2x I2C interface with SMBus support
  • Digital microphone interface
• Modulation: 2 (G)FSK with fully configurable shaping, OQPSK DSSS and (G)MSK
• Operating range:
  • Devices with Buck DC-DC
    • Power supply: 1.8 V to 3.8 V supply range
    • Operating temperature: -40°C to 125°C
  • Devices with Boost DC-DC
    • Power supply: 1.2 V to 1.7 V supply range
    • Operating temperature: -20 °C to 55 °C
•  Dimensions
  • QFN40 package: 5x5x0.85 mm
  • WLCSP45 package: 2.6×2.8×0.5 mm

Silicon Labs implements its Secure Vault High, designed to meet PSA Level 3 security certification for data protection of sensitive applications. It ensures secure data storage, encryption, and authentication. The company claims that the SoC is designed to protect medical and personal health data against cyber threats.

The BG29 is optimized for best-in-class wireless performance for on-body and in-body applications. The human body absorbs and reflects radio signals, creating degradation issues. These small medical devices are also required to comply with regulatory limits for radio emissions. The Silicon Labs SoC has a radio sensitivity of -99.2 dBm, ensuring reliable Bluetooth communication even in challenging in-body and on-body use cases.

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