background image

EFR32MG13 2400/169 MHz Dual Band
19 dBm Radio Board
BRD4174B Reference Manual

The  BRD4174B  Mighty  Gecko  Radio  Board  enables  developers  to  develop  Zigbee,
Thread,  Bluetooth

®

  Low  Energy  and  proprietary  wireless  applications.  The  board  con-

tains a dual-band Mighty Gecko Wireless System-on-Chip and it is optimized for operat-
ing at 19 dBm output power. For the 2.4 GHz band with the on-board printed antenna
and  UFL  connector,  radiated  and  conducted  testing  is  supported.  For  the  169.4  MHz
band, the on-board SMA connector enables conducted testing and attachment of exter-
nal whip antenna for radiated tests.

The  BRD4174B  Mighty  Gecko  Radio  Board  plugs  into  the  Wireless  Starter  Kit  Main-
board, which is included with the Mighty Gecko Starter Kit and gives access to display,
buttons, and additional features from Expansion Boards. With the supporting Simplicity
Studio  suite  of  tools,  developers  can  take  advantage  of  graphical  wireless  application
development, mesh networking debug and packet trace, and visual energy profiling and
optimization. The board also serves as an RF reference design for applications targeting
2.4 GHz and 169 MHz dual band wireless operation with 19 dBm output power.

RADIO BOARD FEATURES

• Wireless SoC:

EFR32MG13P733F512GM48

• CPU core: ARM Cortex

®

-M4 with FPU

• Flash memory: 512 kB
• RAM: 64 kB

• Operation frequency: 2.4 GHz

+ 169.4 MHz

• Transmit power: 19 dBm
• 2.4 GHz: Integrated PCB antenna, UFL

connector (optional)

• 169.4 MHz: Single SMA connector both

for transmit and receive

• Crystals for LFXO and HFXO: 32.768 kHz

and 38.4 MHz

• 8 Mbit low-power serial flash for over-the-

air updates

This document contains a brief introduction and description of the BRD4174B Radio
Board features, focusing on the RF sections and performance.

silabs.com

 | Building a more connected world.

Rev. 1.00 

Summary of Contents for EFR32MG13

Page 1: ...l features from Expansion Boards With the supporting Simplicity Studio suite of tools developers can take advantage of graphical wireless application development mesh networking debug and packet trace and visual energy profiling and optimization The board also serves as an RF reference design for applications targeting 2 4 GHz and 169 MHz dual band wireless operation with 19 dBm output power RADIO...

Page 2: ...1 Introduction 8 4 2 Schematic of the RF Matching Network 8 4 2 1 Description of the Sub GHz RF Matching 8 4 2 2 Description of the 2 4 GHz RF Matching 8 4 3 RF Section Power Supply 8 4 4 Bill of Materials for the sub GHz Matching 8 4 5 Bill of Materials for the 2 4 GHz Matching 9 4 6 Inverted F Antenna 9 5 Mechanical Details 11 6 EMC Compliance 12 6 1 Introduction 12 6 2 EMC Regulations for 169 4...

Page 3: ...7 2 2 Radiated Measurements in the 2 4 GHz band 18 8 EMC Compliance Recommendations 19 8 1 Recommendations for 169 MHz ETSI EN 300 220 1 compliance 19 8 2 Recommendations for 2 4 GHz ETSI EN 300 328 compliance 19 8 3 Recommendations for 2 4 GHz FCC 15 247 compliance 19 9 Board Revision History 20 10 Errata 21 11 Document Revision History 22 silabs com Building a more connected world Rev 1 00 3 ...

Page 4: ...ed to operate in the European ETSI 169 4 169 475 MHz band with an external whip antenna the 2 4 GHz section is designed to operate at the 2400 2483 5 MHz band with the on board printed antenna The matching networks are optimized for operating at 19 dBm output power To develop and or evaluate the EFR32 Mighty Gecko the BRD4174B Radio Board can be connected to the Wireless Starter Kit Main board to ...

Page 5: ...B_VREG F7 PA1 VCOM RX_MISO F5 PA5 VCOM_ENABLE F3 PF3 DEBUG TDI F1 PF0 DEBUG TCK_SWCLK P45 NC P43 NC P41 NC P39 NC P37 PD15 DISP_ENABLE SENSOR_ENABLE F11 PF5 UIF_LED1 F13 PF7 UIF_BUTTON1 F15 PC8 DISP_SCLK F17 PD14 DISP_SCS F19 PB13 PTI SYNC F21 PB11 PTI CLK GND VMCU_IN VCOM CTS_SCLK PA2 P0 P201 Lower Row VCOM RTS_ CS PA3 P2 UIF_BUTTON0 PF6 P4 UIF_BUTTON1 PF7 P6 GND VRF_IN P35 PD15 DISP_ENABLE SENSO...

Page 6: ...iver with output power up to 19 dBm For additional information on the EFR32MG13P733F512GM48 refer to the EFR32MG13 data sheet 3 3 2 LF Crystal Oscillator LFXO The BRD4174B Radio Board has a 32 768 kHz crystal mounted For details regarding the crystal configuration refer to Application Note AN0016 1 Oscillator Design Considerations 3 3 3 HF Crystal Oscillator HFXO The BRD4174B Radio Board has a 38 ...

Page 7: ...a series 0 Ohm resistor which is not mounted by default For conducted measure ments through the UFL connector the series component to the antenna should be removed and the 0 Ohm resistor should be mounted see section 4 2 2 Description of the 2 4 GHz RF Matching for further details 3 3 8 Radio Board Connectors Two dual row 0 05 pitch polarized connectors make up the BRD4174B Radio Board interface t...

Page 8: ...formance while in RX mode The matching includes a differential impedance matching circuitry a discrete balanced unbalanced transformer and a filter section The targeted output power is 19 dBm at 169 4 MHz 4 2 2 Description of the 2 4 GHz RF Matching The 2 4 GHz matching connects the 2G4RF_IOP pin to the on board printed Inverted F Antenna The 2G4RF_ION pin is connected to ground For higher output ...

Page 9: ...l of Materials of the 2 4 GHz matching network of the BRD4174B Radio Board is shown in the following table Table 4 2 Bill of Materials for the BRD4174B 2 4GHz RF Matching Network Component Name Value Manufacturer Part Number L1 1 8 nH Murata LQP15MN1N8W02D L2 3 0 nH Murata LQP15MN3N0W02D C1 2 0 pF Murata GRM1555C1H2R0WA01D C2 1 0 pF Murata GRM1555C1H1R0WA01D 4 6 Inverted F Antenna The BRD4174B Rad...

Page 10: ...re 4 2 Impedance and Reflection of the Inverted F Antenna of the BRD4174B Board Measured from the Matching Output BRD4174B Reference Manual RF Section silabs com Building a more connected world Rev 1 00 10 ...

Page 11: ...d Filter 45 mm 30 mm 38 6 mm 4 4 mm 2 4 GHz Path Selection DC DC Supply Filter Caps Serial Flash DC DC Inductor Figure 5 1 BRD4174B Top View 24 mm 27 3 mm 28 6 mm 5 mm Interface Connector Interface Connector 15 mm Board Identification PAVDD Supply Selection Display Enable Selection WSTK Sensor Enable Selection Figure 5 2 BRD4174B Bottom View BRD4174B Reference Manual Mechanical Details silabs com ...

Page 12: ...TSI limits are also applied both for conducted and radiated measurements 6 3 ETSI EN 300 328 Emission Limits for the 2400 2483 5 MHz Band Based on ETSI EN 300 328 the allowed maximum fundamental power for the 2400 2483 5 MHz band is 20 dBm EIRP For the unwan ted emissions in the 1 GHz to 12 75 GHz domain the specific limit is 30 dBm EIRP 6 4 FCC15 247 Emission Limits for the 2400 2483 5 MHz Band F...

Page 13: ...mits can be estimated based on the conducted measurement by assuming the use of an antenna with 0 dB gain at the fundamental and the harmonic frequencies The overall applied limits are shown in the table below Table 6 2 Applied Limits for Spurious Emissions for the 2 4 GHz Band Harmonic Frequency Limit 2nd 4800 4967 MHz 37 6 dBm 3rd 7200 7450 5 MHz 37 6 dBm 4th 9600 9934 MHz 30 dBm 5th 12000 12417...

Page 14: ...F_ON SUBGRF_OP was 3 3 V provided by the mainboard VBIAS through the discrete balun for details see the schematic of the BRD4174B The transceiver was operated in continuous carrier transmission mode The output power of the radio was set to 19 dBm The typical output spectrum is shown in the following figure Figure 7 1 Typical Output Spectrum of the BRD4174B As shown in the figure the fundamental is...

Page 15: ...perated in continuous carrier transmission mode The output power of the radio was set to 19 dBm The typical output spectrum is shown in the following figure Figure 7 2 Typical Output Spectrum of the BRD4174B As shown in the figure the fundamental is slightly lower than 19 dBm and all of the unwanted emissions are under the 37 6 dBm ap plied limit Note The conducted measurement is performed by conn...

Page 16: ...anes are illustrated in the figure below Figure 7 3 Illustration of Reference Planes with a Radio Board Plugged into the Wireless Starter Kit Mainboard Note The radiated measurement results presented in this document were recorded in an unlicensed antenna chamber Also the radi ated power levels may change depending on the actual application PCB size used antenna and so on Therefore the absolute le...

Page 17: ...sured Radiated Powers in EIRP dBm Frequency EIRP dBm Orientation Margin dB Limit in EIRP dBm Fund 5 7 YZ H 23 4 29 1 2nd 49 3 XY H 15 4 33 9 3rd 63 9 YZ H 12 1 51 8 4th 55 6 XZ V 3 8 51 8 5th 65 4 YZ H 13 6 51 8 6th 57 6 YZ V 29 7 27 9 7th 56 4 YZ H 28 5 27 9 8th 51 4 XZ V 23 5 27 9 9th 66 6 YZ V 38 7 27 9 10th 66 9 YZ V 39 27 9 Signal level is below the Spectrum Analyzer noise floor As shown in t...

Page 18: ...h and without mounted shielding can The results are shown in the tables below Table 7 2 Maximums of the Measured Radiated Powers in EIRP dBm Frequency EIRP dBm Orientation Margin dB Limit in EIRP dBm Fund 20 7 XZ H 9 3 30 2nd 48 2 XZ V 10 6 37 6 3rd 50 10 37 6 4th 50 10 30 5th 50 10 37 6 Signal level is below the Spectrum Analyzer noise floor Table 7 3 Maximums of the Measured Radiated Powers in E...

Page 19: ... of the BRD4174B Mighty Gecko Radio Board with 19 dBm output power exceeds the 20 dBm limit of the ETSI EN 300 328 regulation due to the high antenna gain so reduction of the fundamental power is required by approximately 1 dB in order to comply The harmonic emissions are under the 30 dBm limit with a large margin Mounting a shielding can is required due to the sub GHz compliance but it is not req...

Page 20: ...e The silkscreen marking on the board e g PCBxxxx A00 denotes the revision of the PCB The revision of the actual Radio Board is laser printed in the Board Info field on the PCB Also it can be read from the on board EEPROM BRD4174B Reference Manual Board Revision History silabs com Building a more connected world Rev 1 00 20 ...

Page 21: ...10 Errata There are no known errata at present BRD4174B Reference Manual Errata silabs com Building a more connected world Rev 1 00 21 ...

Page 22: ...11 Document Revision History Revision 1 00 June 2018 Initial document revision BRD4174B Reference Manual Document Revision History silabs com Building a more connected world Rev 1 00 22 ...

Page 23: ... or express copyright licenses granted hereunder to design or fabricate any integrated circuits The products are not designed or authorized to be used within any Life Support System without the specific written consent of Silicon Labs A Life Support System is any product or system intended to support or sustain life and or health which if it fails can be reasonably expected to result in significan...

Page 24: ...Mouser Electronics Authorized Distributor Click to View Pricing Inventory Delivery Lifecycle Information Silicon Laboratories SLWRB4174B ...

Reviews: