Silicon Laboratories BRD4305E User manual

MGM13S12 Module Radio Board
BRD4305E Reference Manual
The BRD4305E Mighty Gecko Radio Board contains a Mighty Gecko MGM13S12 mod-
ule which integrates Silicon Labs' EFR32MG13 Mighty Gecko SoC into a small form fac-
tor System-in-Package (SiP) module. The fully certified module contains all components
(a high-performance transceiver, an energy efficient 32-bit MCU, HF crystal, RF pas-
sives, and antenna) required for a system-level implementation of Zigbee, Thread, Blue-
tooth® Low Energy, and proprietary wireless networks operating in the 2.4 GHz band
with 18 dBm output power.
RADIO BOARD FEATURES
• Wireless Module: MGM13S12F512GA
•CPU core: ARM Cortex®-M4 with FPU
• Flash memory: 512 kB
• RAM: 64 kB
• Operation frequency: 2.4 GHz
• Transmit power: 18 dBm
• Integrated chip antenna, RF matching
network, HF crystal, and decoupling
• Option for UFL connector
• Crystal for LFXO: 32.768 kHz
• 8 Mbit low-power serial flash for over-the-
air updates
The BRD4305E 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.
This document contains a brief introduction and description of the BRD4305E Radio
Board features, focusing on the RF performance.
silabs.com | Building a more connected world. Rev. 1.0

Table of Contents
1. Introduction ................................3
2. Radio Board Connector ...........................4
2.1 Introduction...............................4
2.2 Radio Board Connector Pin Associations.....................4
3. Radio Board Block Summary .........................5
3.1 Introduction...............................5
3.2 Radio Board Block Diagram .........................5
3.3 Radio Board Block Description ........................5
3.3.1 Wireless SiP ............................5
3.3.2 LF Crystal Oscillator (LFXO) .......................5
3.3.3 UFL Connector ...........................5
3.3.4 Radio Board Connectors ........................6
3.3.5 Serial Flash ............................6
3.3.6 Serial EEPROM ...........................6
4. Mechanical Details .............................7
5. EMC Compliance ..............................8
5.1 Introduction...............................8
5.2 EMC Regulations for 2.4 GHz ........................8
5.2.1 ETSI EN 300-328 Emission Limits for the 2400-2483.5 MHz Band ..........8
5.2.2 FCC15.247 Emission Limits for the 2400-2483.5 MHz Band ............8
5.2.3 Applied Emission Limits for the 2.4 GHz Band .................8
6. RF Performance ..............................9
6.1 Conducted Power Measurements .......................9
6.1.1 Conducted Measurements in the 2.4 GHz Band ................9
6.2 Radiated Power Measurements ........................10
6.2.1 Radiated Measurements in the 2.4 GHz Band .................10
7. EMC Compliance Recommendations ......................11
7.1 Recommendations for 2.4 GHz ETSI EN 300-328 Compliance .............11
7.2 Recommendations for 2.4 GHz FCC 15.247 Compliance ...............11
8. Board Revision History .......................... 12
9. Errata ................................. 13
10. Document Revision History ........................ 14
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1. Introduction
The BRD4305E Radio Boards provide a development platform (together with the Wireless Starter Kit Mainboard) for the Silicon Labs
Mighty Gecko MGM13S12 modules.
By carrying the MGM13S12 module, the BRD4305E Radio Board is designed to operate in the 2400-2483.5 MHz with the maximum of
18 dBm output power.
To develop and/or evaluate the MGM13S12 module, the BRD4305E Radio Board can be connected to the Wireless Starter Kit Main-
board to get access to display, buttons, and additional features from expansion boards (EXP boards).
BRD4305E Reference Manual
Introduction
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2. Radio Board Connector
2.1 Introduction
The board-to-board connector scheme allows access to all MGM13S12 GPIO pins as well as the RESETn signal. For more information
on the functions of the available pins, see the MGM13S12 data sheet.
2.2 Radio Board Connector Pin Associations
The figure below shows the mapping between the connector and the MGM13S12 pins and their function on the Wireless Starter Kit
Mainboard.
GND
F9 / PA3 / VCOM.#RTS_#CS
3v3
UIF_BUTTON1 / PF7 / P36
P200
Upper Row
NC / P38
NC / P40
NC / P42
NC / P44
DEBUG.TMS_SWDIO / PF1 / F0
DISP_ENABLE / PD15 / F14
UIF_BUTTON0 / PF6 / F12
UIF_LED0 / PF4 / F10
VCOM.#CTS_SCLK / PA2 / F8
DEBUG.RESET / RADIO_#RESET / F4
DEBUG.TDO_SWO / PF2 / F2
DISP_SI / PC6 / F16
VCOM.TX_MOSI / PA0 / F6
PTI.DATA / PB12 / F20
DISP_EXTCOMIN / PD13 / F18
USB_VBUS
5V
Board ID SCL
GND
Board ID SDA
USB_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 / PD9 / 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
PD10 / P4
PD11 / P6
GND VRF_IN
P35 / PD15 / DISP_ENABLE
P7 / PC9
P5 / PC8 / DISP_SCLK
P3 / PC7
P1 / PC6 / DISP_SI
P33 / PD14 / DISP_SCS
P31 / PD13 / DISP_EXTCOMIN
P29 / NC
P27 / 1V8*
P25 / NC
P23 / NC
P21 / NC
P19 / NC
P17 / NC
P15 / NC
P13 / PC11
P11 / PA1 / VCOM.RX_MISO
P9 / PA0 / VCOM.TX_MOSI
UIF_BUTTON0 / PF6 / P34
UIF_LED1 / PF5 / P32
UIF_LED0 / PF4 / P30
DEBUG.TDO_SWO / PF2 / P28
DEBUG.TMS_SWDIO / PF1 / P26
DEBUG.TCK_SWCLK / PF0 / P24
PTI.SYNC / PB13 / P22
PTI.DATA / PB12 / P20
PTI.CLK / PB11 / P18
VCOM_ENABLE / PA5 / P16
PA4 / P14
PC10 / P12
DEBUG.TDI / PF3 / P10
PD12 / P8
* Connection is available by mounting the corresponding 0 Ohm resistor.
(See the schematic of the Radio Board for details.)
Figure 2.1. BRD4305E Radio Board Connector Pin Mapping
BRD4305E Reference Manual
Radio Board Connector
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3. Radio Board Block Summary
3.1 Introduction
This section gives a short introduction to the blocks of the BRD4305E Radio Board.
3.2 Radio Board Block Diagram
The block diagram of the BRD4305E Radio Board is shown in the figure below.
2.4 GHz RF
UFL
Connector
Radio
Board
Connectors
8 Mbit
MX25R
Serial Flash
I2C
24AA0024
Serial EEPROM
Path
Selection
GPIO
UART
Debug
Packet Trace
AEM
I2C
SPI
SPI
2.4 GHz RF
EFR32
EFR32
SiP Module
Chip
Antenna
RF In/Out
2.4 GHz RF
LF
Crystal
32.768k
Figure 3.1. BRD4305E Block Diagram
3.3 Radio Board Block Description
3.3.1 Wireless SiP
The BRD4305E Mighty Gecko Radio Board incorporates an MGM13S12F512GA Mighty Gecko MGM13S12 module featuring 32-bit
Cortex®-M4 with FPU core, 512 kB of flash memory, 64 kB of RAM and a 2.4 GHz band transceiver with output power up to 18 dBm.
For additional information on the MGM13S12F512GA, refer to the MGM13S data sheet.
3.3.2 LF Crystal Oscillator (LFXO)
The BRD4305E 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 UFL Connector
To be able to perform conducted measurements, Silicon Labs added a UFL connector to the Radio Board. The connector allows an
external 50 Ohm cable or antenna to be connected during design verification or testing.
Note: By default, the output of the matching network is connected to the printed inverted-F antenna by a series component. It can be
connected to the UFL connector as well through 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 for further details).
BRD4305E Reference Manual
Radio Board Block Summary
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3.3.4 Radio Board Connectors
Two dual-row, 0.05” pitch polarized connectors make up the BRD4305E Radio Board interface to the Wireless Starter Kit Mainboard.
For more information on the pin mapping between the MGM13S12F512GA and the Radio Board Connector, refer to section 2.2 Radio
Board Connector Pin Associations.
3.3.5 Serial Flash
The BRD4305E Radio Board is equipped with an 8 Mbit Macronix MX25R SPI flash that is connected directly to the MGM13S12 to
support over-the-air (OTA) updates. For additional information on the pin mapping see the BRD4305E schematic.
3.3.6 Serial EEPROM
The BRD4305E Radio Board is equipped with a serial I2C EEPROM for board identification and to store additional board related infor-
mation.
BRD4305E Reference Manual
Radio Board Block Summary
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4. Mechanical Details
The BRD4305E Radio Board is illustrated in the figures below.
20 mm
UFL
Connector
33 mm
RF Output
Selection
OTA
Flash
xGM13S
37.5 mm
LF
XTAL
40 mm
Figure 4.1. BRD4305E Top View
24 mm
27.3 mm
28.6 mm
5 mm
Interface
Connector
Interface
Connector
Board
Identification
20 mm
Figure 4.2. BRD4305E Bottom View
BRD4305E Reference Manual
Mechanical Details
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5. EMC Compliance
5.1 Introduction
Compliance of the fundamental and harmonic levels of the BRD4305E Radio Board is tested against the following standards:
• 2.4 GHz:
• ETSI EN 300-328
• FCC 15.247
5.2 EMC Regulations for 2.4 GHz
5.2.1 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.
5.2.2 FCC15.247 Emission Limits for the 2400-2483.5 MHz Band
FCC 15.247 allows conducted output power up to 1 Watt (30 dBm) in the 2400-2483.5 MHz band. For spurious emissions the limit is
-20 dBc based on either conducted or radiated measurement, if the emission is not in a restricted band. The restricted bands are speci-
fied in FCC 15.205. In these bands the spurious emission levels must meet the levels set out in FCC 15.209. In the range from
960 MHz to the frequency of the 5th harmonic, it is defined as 0.5 mV/m at 3 m distance which equals to -41.2 dBm in EIRP.
Additionally, for spurious frequencies above 1 GHz, FCC 15.35 allows duty-cycle relaxation to the regulatory limits. For the EmberZNet
PRO the relaxation is 3.6 dB. Therefore, the -41.2 dBm limit can be modified to -37.6 dBm.
If operating in the 2400-2483.5 MHz band, the 2nd, 3rd, and 5th harmonics can fall into restricted bands. As a result, for those harmon-
ics the -37.6 dBm limit should be applied. For the 4th harmonic the -20 dBc limit should be applied.
5.2.3 Applied Emission Limits for the 2.4 GHz Band
The above ETSI limits are applied both for conducted and radiated measurements.
The FCC restricted band limits are radiated limits only. In addition, Silicon Labs applies the same restrictions to the conducted spec-
trum. By doing so, compliance with the radiated limits 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 5.1. 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 12000~12417.5 MHz -37.6 dBm
BRD4305E Reference Manual
EMC Compliance
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6. RF Performance
6.1 Conducted Power Measurements
During measurements, the BRD4305E Radio Board was attached to a Wireless Starter Kit Mainboard which was supplied by USB. The
voltage supply for the Radio Board was 3.3 V.
6.1.1 Conducted Measurements in the 2.4 GHz Band
The BRD4305E Radio Board was connected directly to a Spectrum Analyzer through its UFL connector (the was removed and a 0 Ohm
resistor was soldered to the position). The supply for the module (VDD) was 3.3 V provided by the mainboard; for details, see the sche-
matic of the BRD4305E. The transceiver was operated in continuous carrier transmission mode. The output power of the radio was set
to 18 dBm.
The typical output spectrum is shown in the following figure.
Figure 6.1. Typical Output Spectrum of the BRD4305E
As shown in the figure, the fundamental is just a bit under 18 dBm and all of the unwanted emissions are under the -37.6 dBm applied
limit.
Note: The conducted measurement is performed by connecting the on-board UFL connector to a Spectrum Analyzer through an SMA
Conversion Adapter (P/N: HRMJ-U.FLP(40)). This connection itself introduces approximately 0.3 dB insertion loss.
BRD4305E Reference Manual
RF Performance
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6.2 Radiated Power Measurements
During measurements, the BRD4305E Radio Board was attached to a Wireless Starter Kit Mainboard which was supplied by USB. The
voltage supply for the Radio Board was 3.3 V. The radiated power was measured in an antenna chamber by rotating the board 360 de-
grees with horizontal and vertical reference antenna polarizations in the XY, XZ, and YZ cuts. The measurement planes are illustrated
in the figure below.
Figure 6.2. 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 levels
and margins of the final application are recommended to be verified in a licensed EMC testhouse.
6.2.1 Radiated Measurements in the 2.4 GHz Band
The supply for the module (VDD) was 3.3 V provided by the mainboard; for details, see the BRD4305E schematic. The transceiver was
operated in continuous carrier transmission mode. The output power of the radio was set to 18 dBm based on the conducted measure-
ment.
The fundamental was set to the frequency where the maximum antenna gain was measured. The results are shown in the table below.
Note: The frequency in which the antenna gain has its maximum value can vary between modules due to the technological spreading
of the passive RF components and the antenna.
Table 6.1. Maximums of the Measured Radiated Powers in EIRP [dBm]
Frequency EIRP [dBm] Orientation Margin [dB] Limit in EIRP [dBm]
Fund (2425 MHz) 17 XY/H 13 30
2nd -38.3 XZ/H 0.7 -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.
As shown in the table, the level of the fundamental is 17 dBm. The strongest harmonic is the double-frequency one and it is compliant
with the -37.6 dBm applied limit with 0.7 dB margin.
BRD4305E Reference Manual
RF Performance
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7. EMC Compliance Recommendations
7.1 Recommendations for 2.4 GHz ETSI EN 300-328 Compliance
As shown in the previous section, the power of the fundamental frequency of the BRD4305E Mighty Gecko Radio Board with 18 dBm
output is compliant with the 20 dBm limit of the ETSI EN 300-328 regulation in both the conducted and radiated measurements. The
harmonic emissions are under the -30 dBm limit with large margin.
7.2 Recommendations for 2.4 GHz FCC 15.247 Compliance
As shown in the previous section, the power of the fundamental frequency of the BRD4305E Mighty Gecko Radio Board with 18 dBm
output is compliant with the 30 dBm limit of the FCC 15.247 regulation. The harmonic emissions are under the -37.6 dBm applied limit.
BRD4305E Reference Manual
EMC Compliance Recommendations
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8. Board Revision History
Table 8.1. BRD4305E Radio Board Revisions
Radio Board Revision Description
A02 Updated module PCB footprint and antenna clearance dimensions.
A01 Updated module revision and footprint. Pin 1V8 to WSTK pad conn. option.
A00 Initial revision.
Note: 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.
BRD4305E Reference Manual
Board Revision History
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9. Errata
There are no known errata at present.
BRD4305E Reference Manual
Errata
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10. Document Revision History
Revision 1.00
July, 2018
• Initial document revision.
BRD4305E Reference Manual
Document Revision History
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