Silicon Labs has introduced the BG2B, the latest addition to its Series 2 portfolio of BLE wireless SoCs, targeting a new class of battery-powered IoT devices that need to be smaller, more secure, and longer lasting. The company positions BG2B as delivering one of the strongest combinations of power efficiency, security, and on-chip integration in the Bluetooth LE market.
At the heart of BG2B is Silicon Labs’ lowest-power Bluetooth architecture, built on a dual-output DC-DC power design and multi-core processing to drive down consumption in active, receive, and sleep modes.
Silicon Labs says the BG2B achieves 14%-15% lower MCU active current, reduced Bluetooth receive current, and just 1.1 µA EM2 sleep current with RAM retention when compared with its previous lowest-power Bluetooth LE SoC, extending battery life for “sleepy” devices such as wireless sensors, asset tags, smart locks, remotes, wearables, and electronic shelf labels.
The device is also tailored for increasingly sophisticated Bluetooth LE use cases, where developers are asked to add secure ranging, location awareness, stronger security, and richer peripheral support without sacrificing battery life or compact form factors.
For location-aware products, BG2B supports advanced Bluetooth Channel Sounding features including Mode 3, Normalized Attack Detector Metric (NADM), and Inline Phase Correction Term (Inline PCT), and is designed to align with Apple and Google Bluetooth Channel Sounding specifications to enable interoperable devices across major mobile ecosystems.
To support these ranging applications, Silicon Labs integrate BG2B with a broader Channel Sounding development stack, including a royalty-free ranging library, software, tools, and engineering support, while the SoC itself further reduces energy per ranging event via shorter step timings and lower active and receive current. Beyond wireless, BG2B folds in a wide mix of peripherals aimed at simplifying system design, cutting BOM cost, and shrinking PCB footprints.
On the connectivity side, the SoC integrates CAN-FD alongside Bluetooth LE, allowing designers to implement wireless diagnostics and monitoring for commercial vehicles, fleet operations, industrial equipment, and maintenance systems without a separate Bluetooth bridge.
Integrated LED boost and four-channel LED sink hardware remove the need for external LED driver ICs, making BG2B a fit for electronic shelf labels, smart retail devices, and other battery-powered products that rely on RGBW LED status indicators.
Additional on-chip functionality includes dual 12-bit ADCs for simultaneous analog sampling and a Variable Resistive Load (VRL) block to improve battery health estimation accuracy, combined with expanded memory and a broad range of communication interfaces to support more capable IoT designs with fewer external components.
Security is a central theme in BG2B, where Silicon Labs has integrated its Secure Vault™ High technology to protect device identity, firmware, cryptographic keys, and other sensitive data on the SoC. BG2B is built with compliance targets such as PSA Level 3 in mind, helping manufacturers prepare for tightening regulations including the European Union’s Cyber Resilience Act.
To close the loop at manufacturing, BG2B works with Silicon Labs’ Custom Part Manufacturing Service (CPMS), enabling secure provisioning of unique device identities, certificates, and cryptographic credentials during production. Together, the ultra-low-power architecture, integrated peripherals, advanced Channel Sounding, and hardened security aim to position BG2B as a forward-looking platform for next-generation Bluetooth LE IoT devices.
Target applications span secure ranging, asset tracking, ESLs, smart home devices, industrial monitoring, and vehicle diagnostics, with an eye toward future Bluetooth LE feature sets.
Leadership Comment
“Bluetooth LE is moving beyond basic connectivity into secure ranging, proximity awareness, and location-aware experiences, while customers still need the low power, small form factor, and cost efficiency that made Bluetooth the foundation of battery-powered IoT,” said Daniel Cooley, SVP and CTO, Silicon Labs. “BG2B brings these requirements together in a single platform, combining our lowest-power Bluetooth LE architecture to date with advanced Channel Sounding, Secure Vault™ High security, and integrated peripherals that help customers build more capable, connected products with fewer external components.”
Availability
BG2B SoCs are currently available through an early customer engagement program. Initial production hardware, including modules, are planned for 2027.
For more information about BG2B, read the post on the Silicon Labs blog.
