Represents the ownership interest percentage of common stock deemed to be beneficially owned by the beneficial owners.

No definition available.

Name:	slab_BeneficialOwnershipPercentageInAcquiredEntity
Namespace Prefix:	slab_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Represents the payment for contingent consideration arrangements recognized in connection with a business acquisition.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	slab_BusinessAcquisitionContingentConsiderationAmountPaid
Namespace Prefix:	slab_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Lease revenue recognized for the period from operating leases, including minimum lease revenue, contingent revenue, percentage revenue and sublease revenue from related parties.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	slab_LeaseRevenueRelatedParties
Namespace Prefix:	slab_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Represents the amount of investment in the acquired entity by related party prior to the acquisition.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	slab_RelatedPartyTransactionsInvestmentInAcquiredEntityByRelatedParty
Namespace Prefix:	slab_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

For contingent consideration arrangements recognized in connection with a business combination, this element represents an estimate of the high-end of the potential range (undiscounted) of the consideration which may be paid.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_BusinessCombinationContingentConsiderationArrangementsRangeOfOutcomesValueHigh
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount of liability recognized arising from contingent consideration in a business combination.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 805
-SubTopic 30
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (c)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=35744584&loc=d3e6927-128479

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 805
-SubTopic 30
-Section 35
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6911338&loc=d3e6819-128478

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 805
-SubTopic 30
-Section 25
-Paragraph 6
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6911189&loc=d3e6408-128476

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_BusinessCombinationContingentConsiderationLiability
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

The cash outflow associated with the acquisition of business during the period. The cash portion only of the acquisition price.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Glossary Investing Activities
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6516133

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 230
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 13
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=66902209&loc=d3e3213-108585

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_PaymentsToAcquireBusinessesGross
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_RelatedPartyTransactionLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionAxis=slab_EnergyMicroMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_RelatedPartyTransactionsByRelatedPartyAxis=us-gaap_PresidentMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_RelatedPartyTransactionAxis=slab_SpredfastMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_RelatedPartyTransactionsByRelatedPartyAxis=us-gaap_ExecutiveVicePresidentMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_RelatedPartyTransactionsByRelatedPartyAxis=us-gaap_DirectorMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

Related Party Transactions (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands			3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended
	Oct. 17, 2013	Jul. 01, 2013	Apr. 04, 2015	Oct. 01, 2016	Oct. 03, 2015	Mar. 11, 2016
Related Party Transaction
Payment of the fiscal 2014 earn-out				$ 9,500	$ 4,464
Energy Micro
Related Party Transaction
Cash and stock consideration			$ 20,000
Payment of the fiscal 2014 earn-out			6,300
Contingent consideration						$ 26,700
Total settlement amount						16,000
Mr. Bock \| Spredfast
Related Party Transaction
Lease payments				$ 2,400	$ 1,800
Mr. Forre \| Energy Micro
Related Party Transaction
Beneficial ownership percentage		30.00%
Cash and stock consideration		$ 35,000	6,100
Payment of the fiscal 2014 earn-out			1,900
Contingent consideration						4,800
Mr. Bogen \| Energy Micro
Related Party Transaction
Beneficial ownership percentage	2.00%
Cash and stock consideration	$ 900		400
Payment of the fiscal 2014 earn-out			$ 100
Contingent consideration						$ 300
Investment in acquired entity by related party prior to the acquisition		$ 800