Simplicity Studio V5

Silicon Labs Tools Overview

Silicon Labs provides several tools for EFR32 development. See the full list.

Tool	Description
Simplicity Studio	Full IDE with GUI for project creation, configuration, and flashing
slc	Command-line tool to create and configure projects
Commander	Flash, debug, and secure devices via GUI or CLI
Network Analyzer	Capture and analyze wireless network traffic

Simplicity Studio V5 is Silicon Labs' official IDE for developing and flashing firmware onto EFR32MG1B chips. It is an alternative to the CLI-based approach used in this project (see 24-NCP-UART-HW, 25-RCP-UART-HW, etc.) which uses slc.

Note: The EFR32MG1B is a Series 1 chip. Simplicity Studio V5 is the latest Silabs IDE supporting Series 1. The newer Simplicity Studio V6 only supports Series 2 chips.

Download

Download from the official Silicon Labs website:

https://www.silabs.com/software-and-tools/simplicity-studio/simplicity-studio-version-5

A free Silicon Labs account may be required later to download SDKs.

Notes

• Debugger (J-Link, etc.): Required to flash firmware via SWD. See 22-Backup-Flash-Restore for hardware setup.
• Administrator Privileges: On some Linux systems, you may need to run Simplicity Studio as root.

  sudo ./studio.sh
  

• udev Rules for Debugger Access: If your debugger is not recognized, create a udev rule:

  echo 'SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTR{idVendor}=="1366", MODE="0666"' | sudo tee /etc/udev/rules.d/99-segger.rules
  sudo udevadm control --reload-rules
  

• Java Dependencies: If Simplicity Studio fails to start, ensure you have Java installed:

  sudo apt install default-jre
  

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Example 1: Building the Bootloader (UART XMODEM)

Step 1: Load the Gecko bootloader-uart-xmodem demo file

The Gecko bootloader-uart-xmodem firmware is available by default as an example application for the EFR32MG1B232F256GM48 chip.

1. In the Launcher tab, add the EFR32MG1B232F256GM48 part to the My Products list, then click Start.

2. In the Example Projects and Demos tab, search for bootloader, choose the Bootloader - NCP UART XMODEM project and enter CREATE
   

   

3. Accept default options and click Finish. Wait until the C/C++ indexation is complete.

Step 2: Pin Assignment

1. In the Configuration Tools panel, open the Pin Tool.

2. Assign PA0, PA1, PB13 respectively to USART0_TX, USART0_RX and DBG_SWV as shown below:

1. Exit the Pin Tab and save.

Step 3: Fix Pre-compilation Warning

We want to get rid of the SL_BTL_BUTTON warning:

1. Go back to the Project Main Panel and open the Software Components tab.

2. Set the filter to Installed.

3. Search for GPIO.

1. Uninstall the GPIO activation component

At this stage, the initial pre-compilation warning should have disappeared.

Step 4: Build the firmware

Right-click on the project name (bootloader-uart-xmodem) in the left-panel and click on Build Project. The compilation should run without any errors. The generated files are located in the GNU ARM v12.2.1/ directory ready to be flashed with commander.

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Example 2: Building NCP-UART-HW

Step 1: Create an NCP-UART-HW Demo File

The NCP-UART-HW firmware is not available by default as an example application for the EFR32MG1B232F256GM48 chip. Therefore, we need to load it from another chip.

1. In the Launcher tab, add the EFR32MG12P432F1024GL125 part to the My Products list, then click Start.

1. In the Example Projects and Demos tab, search for NCP-UART-HW and choose the Zigbee – NCP ncp-uart-hw project. Enter CREATE

1. Accept default options and click Finish. Wait until the C/C++ indexation is complete.

2. In the Overview panel, go to Target and Tools settings and at the bottom, click Change Target/SDK/Generators. Change the Part reference to EFR32MG1B232F256GM48 and save.

Step 2: Pin Assignment

1. In the Configuration Tools panel, open the Pin Tool.

2. Assign PA0, PA1, PA4, and PA5 respectively to USART0_TX, USART0_RX, USART0_RTS and USART0_CTS as shown below:

1. Exit the Pin Tab and save.

Step 3: Fix Pre-compilation Warnings

We want to get rid of the following pre-compilation warnings:

1. Go back to the Project Main Panel and open the Software Components tab.

2. Set the filter to Installed.

3. Search for vcom.

1. Open the component editor for IO Stream USART and assign USART0 to SL_IOSTREAM_USART_VCOM.

1. Search for PTI.

1. Open the component editor for RAIL Utility, PTI and assign PB12 to DOUT.

At this stage, the initial pre-compilation warnings should have disappeared.

Step 4: Optimize for EFR32MG1B 256K Memory

If you try to compile the firmware at this stage, you will receive an error stating that the output exceeds the available memory.

To fit within the 256K memory of the EFR32MG1B, remove unnecessary debug or non-critical functions:

1. Open the Software Components tab.
2. Search for and uninstall the following components:
3. Debug Print
4. Debug Extended
5. Zigbee Light Link
6. IO Stream VUART

Ensure that the *.c indexation is completed before uninstalling the next component.

Step 5: Delay the EFR32MG1B Boot Process

The boot process must be delayed to allow the RTL8196E bootloader to complete its initialization.

1. In the Software Components tab, search for Microsecond Delay.

2. Install the Microsecond Delay function.

1. Edit the main.c file and add:

#include "sl_udelay.h"

1. At the beginning of int main(void), insert:

// Add 1sec delay before any reset operation to accommodate RTL8196E boot
sl_udelay_wait(1000000);     // 1s delay

The main.c file should now look like:

Step 6: Define post-build command to create gbl file

The ncp-uart-hw.gbl file is not created by default. Right-click on the project name and go to Properties → C/C++ Build → Settings → Build Steps and enter:

commander gbl create ncp-uart-hw.gbl --app ncp-uart-hw.s37

Step 7: Build the firmware

Right-click on the project name (ncp-uart-hw) in the left-panel and click on Build Project. The compilation should run without any errors. The generated file ncp-uart-hw.gbl is located in the build directory ready to be flashed.

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