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Electronic Shelf Label (ESL)
Application Overview
Electronic Shelf Label

Electronic Shelf Labels (ESLs) have been available in the market for many years and have evolved into high-quality, multifunctional IoT platforms that simultaneously offer numerous advantages in customer interface and back-end operations through price and product information displays. There is an enormous potential market with billions of labels that could be utilized across various environments, including retail, warehousing, and healthcare sectors.

Realtek's ESL Solution offers competitive hardware costs and provides diverse demo applications based on IEEE 802.15.4, 2.4G Proprietary, and BLE technologies. This ensures compatibility with existing ESL products and offers significant advantages in  seamless integration and ESL system construction.

Over the past few years, awareness of the benefits of ESL adoption has rapidly expanded. Major ESL suppliers have reported record unit and revenue growth, large-scale deployments across multiple industries, the emergence of new market entrants, and increased penetration in regions that have traditionally been hesitant to adopt these solutions.

In response to retailers' demands for digitizing retail operations, the recent introduction of the Bluetooth® electronic price label (ESL) standard is likely to further accelerate market growth. This development aligns with the retail industry's push towards more efficient and dynamic pricing systems, potentially opening up new opportunities and applications in the ESL market.

System Structures

Typical ESL involves the following main components:

1. Display: Usually uses E-ink technology due to its low power consumption and readability in various lighting conditions.

2. Wireless MCU: Controls display. Updating price and goods information.

3. Battery: Typically utilizes coin batteries that can support operations for several years.

4. Data encryption: Ensures the security of price information.

ESL technology is continually evolving, with new display technologies, more efficient wireless communication methods, and smarter management systems being developed and applied to improve efficiency and customer experience in retail environments. 

Application Structure

Application Scenarios

An intelligent communication system that integrates access points with a host software platform to efficiently connect and manage ESL electronic tags via unicast, multicast, and bidirectional communication.
Application Scenario
ESL Smart Bidirectional Communication Platform

The ESL system provides a comprehensive and easy-to-integrate SDK that supports various mainstream communication technologies between gateways and electronic tags, balancing performance and low power consumption.

Advantages of Solution

Application Advantages
Support for Multiple RF Technologies with A Low Power Aolution

The Realtek platform offers ultra-low power consumption, extending the lifespan of ESLs. It supports BLE, IEEE 802.15.4, and 2.4 GHz proprietary RF technologies.

Application Advantages
Rich Peripheral Interfaces Accommodate Various Design Requirements

The rich peripheral interfaces of the Realtek platform not only accommodate various design requirements but also allow devices to adapt to a variety of usage scenarios, with features such as the default-enabled low-power DLPS mode.

Application Advantages
A Comprehensive and Resource-rich SDK

1. Full SDK to support various communication technologies for the gateway and tags.

2. Balanced system capabilities and an ultra-low-power consumption platform.

3. Predefined command set for the host controller to communicate with the gateway.

4. The Realtek SDK includes comprehensive sample code to help customers quickly get started with Realtek’s RF solutions.

Application Advantages
An ever-evolving and innovative hardware platform that offers limitless possibilities for the latest technology applications.

Realtek's platform continues to advance by integrating Channel Sounding technology in its upcoming releases to enhance ESL indoor positioning capabilities, thereby broadening its range of applications. Meanwhile, it persistently offers competitively priced solutions to meet customer demands.

Application Advantages
Complete Product Family

Realtek offers a wide range of IC families and diverse packaging options, providing the flexibility to meet the requirements of various applications and enabling customers to integrate them into multiple product designs.

Start Implementing My ESL Application

1
Product Requirement Definition

Implementing multiple RF communication interfaces and developing low-power ESL electronic tags.

Select hardware platforms and package types that support the required RF communication protocols for the project, such as 2.4G Proprietary, IEEE 802.15.4, Bluetooth BLE, and PAwR. At the same time, evaluate the number of external peripheral devices that need to be connected and choose IC packages with sufficient I/O pins to accommodate them. Additionally, select the most suitable hardware development platform based on the computational performance, SRAM resources, and power consumption requirements of the application scenario, ensuring optimal system performance and resource allocation

2
Hardware Platform Selection

Choose the most suitable platform using the Hardware Selection Table provided by RealMCU, and evaluate performance through the Realtek development board.

Hardware reference links: RTL8752H HDK  RTL8762E HDK

3
Software Feature Development

Quickly integrate and test required features using the rich communication functions and hardware interface examples provided by the Realtek SDK.

SDK reference links: RTL8752H SDK RTL8762E SDK

4
Integration Testing and Mass Production

Realtek offers comprehensive RF validation and mass production tools to help quickly bring products to mass production.

Related Chips

Choose the SoC that suits your design requirements
RTL8762ESL RTL8752HJL
MCU CM0+ 40MHz CM0+ 40MHz
Flash 512KB/1MB 512KB/1MB
SRAM 104KB 120KB
Protocol BLE5.2 2.4G Proprietary BLE5.4 2.4G Proprietary IEEE 802.15.4
Tx Power 7.5dBm 7.5dBm
Max RF Phy 2M bit 2M bit
Security SHA-256 AES-128/256 TRNG SHA-256 AES-128/256 TRNG
GPIO (max) 26 26
I2C 2 2
UART 2 3
DLPS ~3.9uA ~1.3uA
Package (mm) QFN40, 5×5 QFN40, 5×5
Contact Us
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