Getting Started with RAIL - Overview#

To get started, download the Simplicity Studio® 6 (SSv6) development environment as described in the Simplicity Studio 6 User's Guide.

This will also prompt you to download the Simplicity SDK (SiSDK). The Radio Configurator tool and the RAIL library are installed as part of the SDK package. The SiSDK is your primary tool for developing in the Silicon Labs IoT Software ecosystem. All Silicon Labs stacks are written in-house to provide a seamless experience from silicon to tools, allowing you to unlock powerful features with ease, including:

  • Abstraction of complex requirements like multiprotocol and pre-certification

  • Industry-leading ability to support a large number of nodes

  • Ultra-low power consumption

  • Strong network reliability

Silicon Labs also helps future-proof your devices with over-the-air software and security updates, helping to minimize maintenance cost and improve your end user product experience.

After you download Simplicity Studio and the SiSDK, see the Proprietary Flex Quick-Start Guide for detailed instructions on using the RAIL examples and configuration tools.

Information about the distinguishing features of different EFR32 families that are most relevant to porting proprietary wireless applications between them is provided in EFR32 Migration Guide for Proprietary Applications. This is also helpful when selecting an initial target platform for proprietary wireless solutions.

Note: To get started with the SiSDK, install Simplicity Studio 6, which will set up your development environment and walk you through the SDK selection. Alternatively, you can manually download the SiSDK from the GitHub Simplicity_sdk site.

Development Tools#

As well as Simplicity Studio, Silicon Labs provides the following development tools.

Network Analyzer: SSv6's Network Analyzer enables debugging of complex wireless systems. This tool captures a trace of wireless network activity that can be examined in detail live or at a later time. See Network Analyzer section for more information.

Wireshark: Is this of interest to RAIL? Wireshark is the recommended network protocol analyzer for use with for example, Wi-SUN. Download instructions are provided for Windows/Mac users or Linux users. Simplicity Studio® 6 supports live interaction between the application running on a Silicon Labs device and Wireshark.

Energy Profiler: SSv6's Energy Profiler enables you to visualize the energy consumption of individual devices, multiple devices on one target system, or a network of interacting wireless devices to analyze and improve the power performance of these systems. Real-time information on current consumption is correlated with the program counter providing advanced energy software monitoring capabilities. It also provides a basic level of integration with the Network Analyzer network analysis tool. See Simplicity Energy Profiler for more information.

Simplicity Commander: Simplicity Commander is a single, all-purpose tool to be used in a production environment. It is invoked using a simple Command Line Interface (CLI) that is also scriptable. Simplicity Commander enables customers to complete essential tasks such as configuring and building applications and bootloaders and flashing images to their devices. Simplicity Commander is available through SSv6 or can be downloaded through system-specific installers. The Simplicity Commander User's Guide provides more information.

Silicon Labs Configurator (SLC): SLC offers command-line access to application configuration and generation functions. Simplicity Silicon Labs Configurator (SLC) provides instructions on downloading and using the SLC-CLI tool.