UG460: EFR32 Series 1 Long Range Configuration Reference To help customers achieve the crucial design element of maximum KEY FEATURES effective range, Silicon Labs has developed a Long Range radio profile for the EFR32 Series 1 family of Wireless MCU devices. This Learn about DSSS guide introduces the profile, describes its development, and Learn about the Long Range Profile examines underlying details that enable it to realize extended Learn about the Radio Configurator Create a Range Test application with a range. It also includes an exercise to build a Range Test example long range PHY using Simplicity Studio 5 and to explore the Long Range profile, so that you can quickly begin implementation in your next project. This guide is designed for developers who would like to test long range performance on EFR32 Series 1 devices using Simplicity Studio 5 and Silicon Labs development hard- ware. It provides instructions to get started using the example applications provided with the Gecko SDK Suite (GSDK) v3. silabs.com Building a more connected world. Rev. 0.1 UG460: EFR32 Series 1 Long Range Configuration Reference Introduction 1 Introduction One of the most important performance metrics for an IoT application is maximum usable range. Practically speaking, this refers to the maximum distance at which messages can be received without a loss of information. The achievable range is impacted by many different factors: Hardware influences, including: Antenna physical parameters (size, shape, directivity, gain) Battery physical parameters (size, capacity, load current, and so on) Propagation attributes of the radio signal (carrier frequency, humidity, obstacles, and so on) Transmit power Receiver sensitivity To maximize usable range, when developing the Long Range (LR) profile Silicon Labs targeted the last item above, receiver sensitivity, which is affected by multiple input parameters: Frame length: The amount of data to be transported Data rate: The timeframe available to transport the data Data rate offset tolerance: How much the data rate can change during reception Frequency offset tolerance: How severely the carrier frequency can vary during the reception Selectivity and blocking: Robustness against interferer signals Though many paths can be taken to improve RX sensitivity, Silicon Labs avoided hardware changes and instead focused on radio con- figuration modifications. This reliance on PHY development insulated the Long Range profile from additional external hardware depend- encies, making the LR PHY benefits available to a broader selection of applications. The construction of these PHYs is detailed in the next chapter. Chapter 3 provides instructions on evaluating the Long Range Profile using new Silicon Labs development tools and hardware. Chapter 4 reviews real-world measured performance with the LR PHYs. silabs.com Building a more connected world. Rev. 0.1 1