Matter SiWx917 Lighting Example

Matter SiWx917 Lighting Example#

An example showing the use of CHIP on the Silicon Labs SiWx917 WiFi SoC running Zephyr RTOS.

Introduction#

The SiWx917 lighting example provides a baseline demonstration of a Light control device, built using Matter and the Silicon Labs SiWx917 WiFi SoC running Zephyr RTOS. It can be controlled by a Matter controller over a WiFi network.

The SiWx917 device can be commissioned over Bluetooth Low Energy where the device and the Matter controller will exchange security information with the Rendez-vous procedure. WiFi Network credentials are then provided to the SiWx917 device which will then join the WiFi network.

This example implements a software-only lighting device without GPIO control, suitable for testing Matter protocol functionality and WiFi connectivity on the SiWx917 platform.

The lighting example is intended to serve both as a means to explore the workings of Matter as well as a template for creating real products based on the Silicon Labs SiWx917 platform.

Configuring the application#

You can configure various aspects of the application using Zephyr’s menuconfig system. This provides an interactive interface to modify build-time configuration options such as logging levels, networking settings, memory allocation, and Matter-specific features.

west build -b siwx917_rb4338a examples/lighting-app/silabs/zephyr -t menuconfig

This will open an interactive configuration menu where you can browse and modify settings. Changes are automatically saved to the build configuration.

Building#

  • Install the required dependencies for Matter development:

  • Install the Silicon Labs Zephyr SDK and tools:

  • Supported hardware:

    • SiWx917 SoC boards:

      • BRD4338A (SiWx917 Radio Board with 2.4GHz WiFi)

  • Build the example application:

    cd silabs_zephyr
west build -b siwx917_rb4338a connectedhomeip/examples/lighting-app/silabs/zephyr

  • To clean the build:

    west build -t clean

  • For a pristine build (removes all build artifacts):

    rm -rf build

    OR

    west build -p always  -b siwx917_rb4338a connectedhomeip/examples/lighting-app/silabs/zephyr

Flashing the Application#

  • SiWx917 SoC device support is available in the latest Simplicity Commander. The SiWx917 SOC board will support .hex files for flashing.

  • Flash using west:

    west flash

  • Or flash using Simplicity Commander:

    commander flash build/zephyr/zephyr.hex

  • Bootloader and Connectivity Firmware: All SiWx917 boards require connectivity firmware. See Silicon Labs documentation for more info. Pre-built bootloader binaries are available in the Assets section of the Releases page on Wiseconnect.

Running the Complete Example#

Commissioning over BLE#

To run a Matter over WiFi application, you must first commission the device using a Matter controller over BLE, then provide WiFi credentials.

Creating the Matter Network

This procedure uses the chip-tool installed on the Matter Hub. The commissioning procedure does the following:

  • Chip-tool scans BLE and locates the Silicon Labs device that uses the specified discriminator

  • Establishes operational certificates

  • Sends the WiFi SSID and Passkey

  • The Silicon Labs device will join the WiFi network and get an IP address

  • It then starts providing mDNS records on IPv4 and IPv6

  • Future communications (tests) will then happen over WiFi

Testing with chip-tool#

You can provision and control the CHIP device using the python controller, Chip tool standalone, Android or iOS app.

CHIPTool

Here is an example with the chip-tool:

Commission the device over BLE-WiFi:#

./out/linux-x64-chip-tool/chip-tool pairing ble-wifi ${NODE_ID} ${SSID} ${PASSWORD} 20202021 3840

Control the device (turn on/off):#

# Turn on the light
./out/linux-x64-chip-tool/chip-tool onoff on ${NODE_ID} 1

# Turn off the light
./out/linux-x64-chip-tool/chip-tool onoff off ${NODE_ID} 1

# Read the on/off state
./out/linux-x64-chip-tool/chip-tool onoff read on-off ${NODE_ID} 1

Level control (if supported):#

# Set brightness to 50%
./out/linux-x64-chip-tool/chip-tool levelcontrol move-to-level 128 1 0 0 ${NODE_ID} 1

# Read current level
./out/linux-x64-chip-tool/chip-tool levelcontrol read current-level ${NODE_ID} 1

Where:

  • ${NODE_ID} is the node ID assigned to the device

  • 20202021 is the setup PIN code

  • 3840 is the discriminator

  • ${SSID} and ${PASSWORD} are your WiFi network credentials

Building Options#

Debug build / release build#

By default, the application is built in debug mode. To build in release mode:

west build -b siwx917_rb4338a examples/lighting-app/silabs/zephyr -- -DFILE_SUFFIX=release

Disabling logging#

To reduce code size and improve performance, logging can be minimized:

west build -b siwx917_rb4338a examples/lighting-app/silabs/zephyr -- -DCONFIG_LOG_MODE_MINIMAL=y

KVS maximum entry count#

The Key-Value Storage (KVS) maximum entry count can be configured to optimize memory usage. The default configuration is optimized for typical Matter applications.

To modify the KVS configuration, edit the prj.conf file:

CONFIG_NVS_LOOKUP_CACHE_SIZE=1024

OTA Software Update#

The SiWx917 platform supports Over-The-Air (OTA) software updates. To enable OTA:

  1. Build with OTA support:

    west build -b siwx917_rb4338a examples/lighting-app/silabs/zephyr -- -DCONFIG_CHIP_OTA_REQUESTOR=y

  2. The device will advertise OTA capability and can receive firmware updates from a Matter OTA Provider.

  3. Refer to the Matter OTA guide for detailed instructions on setting up an OTA Provider.

Limitations#

This example has the following limitations specific to the SiWx917 platform:

  1. No GPIO Support: This implementation does not include GPIO control for physical LEDs or buttons. All lighting operations are software-only.

  2. WiFi Only: The SiWx917 supports only WiFi connectivity. Thread and Ethernet are not supported on this platform.

  3. Single Radio: The device operates as a WiFi station only. WiFi AP mode is not supported in this configuration.

  4. Memory Constraints: The SiWx917 has limited RAM and flash memory. Complex applications may need memory optimization.

  5. Power Management: Advanced power management features are limited compared to other Silicon Labs platforms.

For production applications requiring GPIO control, consider using the EFR32 platform with the standard Silicon Labs lighting example.

Additional Resources:#