Silicon Labs Streamlines iOS Accessory Designs with Comprehensive 32-Bit Development Kit

Silicon Labs (NASDAQ: SLAB), a leader in high-performance, analog-intensive mixed-signal ICs, today introduced a new 32-bit hardware and firmware development kit designed to accelerate the design of Made for iPod/iPhone/iPad (MFi) accessories and help product manufacturers get to market quickly. Leveraging Silicon Labs’ ARM® Cortex®-M3-based SiM3U microcontroller (MCU), the MFI-SIM3U1XX-DK development kit supports the all-digital Lightning connector and protocol stack. The new development kit targets a wide range of accessories for iOS devices including entertainment accessories, device-powered dongles, game controllers and docking stations.

Today’s iOS accessory manufacturers are quickly migrating their 30-pin connector-based products to the Lightning connector standard, which provides an advanced all-digital connector and re-designed protocol stack. Silicon Labs designed the MFI-SIM3U1XX-DK kit as a turnkey solution to help developers simplify their Lightning-based accessory development projects and speed time to market while meeting the MFi program requirements with ease.

Silicon Labs’ 32-bit development kit provides an exceptionally cost-effective and comprehensive solution for accessory developers. The kit includes everything engineers need to begin developing Lightning-based accessories right away, including a hardware development board, firmware libraries and an example iOS App, which supports Appcessory-style communication between the iOS device and development board. By simplifying the development process, the new 32-bit kit enables MFi licensees to focus on what matters most – the accessory application itself.

The MFI-SIM3U1XX-DK kit enables developers to reduce the cost, complexity and power consumption of accessories designed for iOS devices. The SiM3U MCU features fully-specified analog peripherals, an integrated capacitive touch sense controller, an internal 5 V regulator and crystal-less USB support, which eliminates the need for discrete crystal oscillators and reduces bill of materials (BOM) cost, component count and board space. Device-powered accessory applications benefit from the SiM3U MCU’s best-in-class power efficiency. The SiM3U MCU offers ultra-low power consumption with full analog operation down to 1.8 V, achieving a 33 percent lower active current than in-class competitors and a 5-100x lower sleep current, while a low-current USB idle mode ensures the viability of device-powered accessories.

“Today’s iOS accessory developers want a simple, efficient ‘out-of-the-box’ experience from their hardware and firmware development kits,” said Geir Førre, senior vice president and general manager of Silicon Labs’ microcontroller and wireless products. “We designed our new 32-bit development kit to accelerate the iOS accessory development process, support the advanced Lightning connector, and reduce system cost and energy consumption.”

Pricing and Availability

The MFI-SIM3U1XX-DK development kit is available today to MFi licensees for $149 (USD). MFi licensees can order the kit through the Apple MFi Procurement Portal. For additional information about the development kit, please visit www.silabs.com/mcu.

Silicon Labs

Silicon Labs is an industry leader in the innovation of high-performance, analog-intensive, mixed-signal ICs. Developed by a world-class engineering team with unsurpassed expertise in mixed-signal design, Silicon Labs’ diverse portfolio of patented semiconductor solutions offers customers significant advantages in performance, size and power consumption. For more information about Silicon Labs, please visit www.silabs.com.

Cautionary Language

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