What is the DA16200?
The DA16200 is a highly integrated ultra-low power Wi-Fi system on a chip (SoC). It contains an 802.11b/g/n radio (PHY), a baseband processor, a media access controller (MAC), on-chip memory, and a host networking application processor, all on a single silicon die. The SoC is built for the Internet of Things (IoT) and is ideal for Wi-Fi-based battery-powered applications. The DA16200 includes an internal MCU (Arm Cortex-M4F) that completely offloads the host MCU along with a powerful crypto engine for a fast and secure WLAN and Internet connections with 256-bit encryption.
It runs the entire Wi-Fi system, security, and networking protocol stack. It supports industry-leading security protocols, including the latest generation hardware encryption engine and authentication standards for protection against potential threats. The DA16200 features an integrated power amplifier (PA) and a low-noise amplifier (LNA), providing the user industry-leading output power and receiver sensitivity.
VirtualZero Technology
The DA16200's patented VirtualZero technology enables lower power consumption enabling a continuously connected Wi-Fi network to achieve at least a year's battery life. By leveraging VirtualZero technology and the Arm® Cortex®-M4 processor, Dialog's Wi-Fi SoC empowers customers to build disruptive, power-efficient IoT products. The SoC utilizes a patented proprietary Dynamic Power Management (DPM) algorithm that uses the various features of standard Wi-Fi to optimize sleep and wake-up times. It offers the lowest power solution for extended battery life and simultaneously maintains a continuous Wi-Fi connection to ensure that end-users can continually control their devices. Advanced algorithms allow staying asleep until the exact moment required to wake up to transmit or receive. Low power algorithms shut down every unused microelement of the chip, facilitating a near-zero power consumption when not actively sending or receiving data. It uses multiple standard Wi-Fi features to optimize sleep and wake-up times.
Three Sleep Modes to Reduce Power Consumption
This platform offers three different sleep modes to be used depending on the requirements of IoT device manufacturers. Sleep 1 operates at the lowest power with a 0.2uA current, Sleep 2 allows the device to retain its real-time clock functionality while only consuming 1.8uA, Sleep 3 enables always-connected Wi-Fi mode. Sleep 3 also ensures a wake-up time of less than 2ms in case of an incoming Wi-Fi packet. This mode consumes less than 50uA average current. The EEMBC IoTMark
-Wi-Fi is a benchmark that oversees the energy efficiency of Wi-Fi devices having several months of battery life and typical IoT messaging demands. It uses a comprehensive assessment of the entire platform in a real-world scenario. Dialog's score of 815 is equivalent to about 815 days of battery life for an IoT sensor running on two AA batteries.
Security Best Practices
DA16200 Secures PSA Certified Level 1 for Wi-Fi SoCs. It employs a methodological approach to develop security best practices. The framework aims to resolve the growing fragmentation of IoT requirements and ensure that security is no longer a barrier to product development. The PSA Certified framework consists of four steps: analyze, architect, implement and certify. The framework ensures that the certified products undergo a thorough vetting process to satisfy the stringent security needs of the fast-changing IoT market. The SoC is also built with WPA3 and TLS for authentication and encryption at Wi-Fi and higher stack layers, further strengthening its security and reducing the risk of security breaches. Advanced security features of the SoC includes secure boot, secure debugging, and secure asset storage.