Silicon Labs Announces MG26 SoC with Matter and Thread

Silicon Labs has just unveiled its MG26 family of wireless SoCs. These System-on-Chip devices are designed for IoT and smart home applications and support Matter over Wi-Fi and Matter over Thread.

The MG26 is also Silicon Labs’ most significant contribution to the smart home to date.

Making Smart Homes Matter with the MG26

Silicon Labs has recently enthused about Matter, and even contributed to a Connectivity Standards Alliance video encouraging other manufacturers to get involved.

Looking at the MG26, it’s not difficult to see why. The SoC doesn’t just boast Matter over Wi-Fi and Matter over Thread, Bluetooth, and Zigbee, its proprietary protocols are also supported. Meanwhile, with maximum flash storage and RAM (3200/512kb) twice as much as the previous MG24 range, the MG26 SoC is more suited to edge applications and machine learning models.

"With MG26, we're not just setting a new standard in multiprotocol wireless performance for battery-based, low-power smart home applications—we're redefining what's possible for the future of IoT connectivity with Matter," said Jacob Alamat, Senior Vice President for the Home and Life business unit at Silicon Labs. "This device empowers developers to create smarter, safer, and more powerful solutions in an increasingly connected world."

Interconnectivity Matters

The MG26’s multiprotocol support means that any device built around it can bring the smart home experience to the next level. Supporting Matter over Wi-Fi and Thread is one key aspect of this; there is also support for Zigbee, and Bluetooth where required for enrolling devices. Integrating a wide range of connected kit into a unified ecosystem makes the smart home experience more unified.

Significantly, the SoC can handle Zigbee and Matter over Thread concurrently, which could prove to be a huge advantage to users.

Also included in the MG26 is an increased GPIO capacity, again bigger than the interfaces provided on previous SoCs. Factor in the increasing importance of learning models for smart home applications and the presence of embedded hardware acceleration for AI/ML, and the MG26 could prove to be the most important smart home hardware component of its generation.

Despite all of this, the MG26 is also energy efficient, and relies on the Matter-compliant Silicon Labs Secure Vault and ARM TrustZone, systems for security.

How Might the MG26 Impact Your Smart Home?

Imagine a smart home where your lighting, locks, sensors, and switches all work seamlessly together, regardless of the brand. The MG26 SoC has been conceived and designed to make this a reality – it’s almost a next generation smart home device.

Austrian smart lock manufacturer Nuki has already chosen the MG26 for its upcoming smart lock, designed to work on European doors and US deadbolts. This is a decision that underscores the importance of reliable connectivity, energy efficiency, and security in smart home devices.

“Silicon Labs' Matter-ready SoCs enable us to bring super compact, battery-driven devices with parallel support for several communication protocols to the market," said Jürgen Pansy, co-founder and Chief Innovation Officer of Nuki. "Our latest innovation, the award-winning Smart Lock, supports Matter via Thread using Silicon Labs hardware that saves energy and space in the lock's design to allow for additional connectivity integrations like Bluetooth LE and Wi-Fi."

We’ll look out for this new Nuki smart lock when it enters the U.S. market in 2025.