Silicon Labs Coexistence Development Kit#
NOTE: This section replaces UG350: Silicon Labs Coexistence Development Kit (SLWSTK-COEXBP). Further updates to this user guide will be provided here.
Silicon Labs Coexistence Development Kit (SLWSTK-COEXBP) is designed to demonstrate multiple radio coexistence features available as part of the SDK. These features enable radios in a single product (that is, Gateway, Hub, and so on) running on different protocols to arbitrate network traffic to avoid interference.
This guide pertains to revision 3.0 of the SLWSTK-COEXBP kit. SLWSTK-COEXBP also requires the EFR32MG Wireless Starter Kit (SLWSTK6000B), which contains the following devices:
3 x Wireless starter kit (WSTK) mainboard (BRD4001A)
3 x EFR32MG12 2.4 GHz 19 dBm radio board (BRD4161A)
3 x EFR32MG12 2.4 GHz 10 dBm radio board (BRD4162A)
A logic analyzer is optional but highly recommended to enable signal analysis and debugging. In our setup, we use a Saleae logic analyzer.
A Silicon Labs protocol stack is required to enable and run coexistence features. Any of the following stack versions can be used:
Silicon Labs EmberZNet PRO (Zigbee) stack (v. 6.9.0 and up - note that configuration tools change in v. 7.0)
Silicon Labs Bluetooth SDK (v. 3.1.0 and up)
Silicon Labs OpenThread (OpenThread) SDK (v. 1.1.0.0 and up)
Software required to run and view logic analyzer waveforms
The software images required to create a Zigbee, Bluetooth, or OpenThread network with coexistence features enabled must be built through sample applications in the respective stack, with added modifications discussed in this document.
The PTA Controller software required to emulate the Wi-Fi device behavior and exercise the coexistence features is available as a custom application. Instructions on how to download the application from GitHub are provided.
The following additional documents from Silicon Labs are useful resources for understanding protocol networks and coexistence, and will also be referred to in this user's guide:
QSG106: Zigbee EmberZNet PRO Quick-Start Guide for SDK 6.x and Lower
QSG180: Zigbee EmberZNet PRO Quick-Start Guide for SDK 7.0 and Higher
QSG170: Silicon Labs OpenThread Quick-Start Guide
Hardware Setup#
To set up the recommended coexistence test configuration, the PTA Controller and coexistence device both are plugged into headers on the Coexistence Backplane Board. The Coexistence Backplane Board has routes between those headers that enable connections between the two boards. The Coexistence Backplane Board also has routes from the headers to external test points. This allows probing the signals for debugging and evaluation purposes. The end-node device is not plugged into the Coexistence Backplane Board. The recommended configuration for using the Silicon Labs Coexistence Development Kit is shown in the following figure.
This configuration is shown in the following figures.
