Engineering europe October 2011 - Wireless Test The European journal for the microwave and wireless design engineer - Microwave Engineering Europe
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
October 2011 european
business press
engineering europe
www.microwave-eetimes.com
Wireless Test
The European journal for
the microwave and wireless design engineer
Boonton’s Peak Power Meters…
The Future of Amplifier Testing.
In the past, your options were using one- or two-tone test If you measure extreme signals with:
signals to measure amplifier linearity. Today, Boonton al-
• High peak to average ratio
lows you to use your signal to characterize your DUT. No
• Ultra-low duty cycle
more extrapolating graphs or guessing likely compres-
• Noise-like communication signals
sion points. Our family of peak power meters offers pow-
erful statistical analysis tools, and is joined by the fastest Boonton delivers the fastest and most
and widest dynamic range sensors in the industry. comprehensive results in the industry.
For more information visit us at boonton.com or call
+1 973-386-9696
Boonton
news 3
“Subconscious mode” for smartphones in brief
could extend battery life by over 50 percent U-blox acquires Fusion
Wireless
A proof-of-concept stage “subconscious mode” but jolts it back to full speed when the phone U‑blox announces the acquisition of
for smartphones and other WiFi-enabled mobile notices information coming in. It’s well known San Diego based Fusion Wireless, a
devices could extend battery life by as much as that you can slow a device’s clock to save energy. provider of CDMA wireless modules
54 percent for users on the busiest networks, The hard part, Shin said, was getting the phone for consumer and M2M applications in
described in a paper titled “E-MiLi: Energy-Mini- to recognize an incoming message while it was North America.
mizing Idle Listening in Wireless Networks.” in this slower mode. Key terms of the transaction
Even when smartphones are in power-sav- When used with power-saving mode, the re- cover technology and modules in the
ing modes and not actively sending or receiving searchers found that E-MiLi is capable of reduc- area of CDMA wireless technology in
messages, they are still on alert for incoming in- ing energy consumption by around 44 percent several form factors; and integration
formation and they’re searching for a clear com- for 92 percent of mobile devices in real-world of the Fusion Wireless business into
munication channel. The researchers have found wireless networks. u-blox’s existing activities to leverage
that this kind of energy-taxing “idle listening” E-MiLi requires new processor-slowing soft- and further strengthen the mutual
is occurring during a large portion of the time ware on smartphones as well as new firmware commercial activities as well as
phones spend in power-saving mode — as much for phones and computers that would be sending capitalize on technological synergies.
as 80 percent on busy networks. Their approach messages. They need the ability to encode the www.u-blox.com
could make smartphones perform this idle lis- message header — the recipient’s address — in www.fusionwirelesscorp.com
tening more efficiently. It’s called E-MiLi, which a new and detectable way. The researchers have
stands for Energy-Minimizing Idle Listening. created such firmware, but in order for E-MiLi
To find out how much time phones spend use to become widespread, WiFi chipset manu- Universal mobile payments
keeping one ear open, University of Michigan facturers would have to adopt these firmware platform goes live
computer science and engineering professor modifications and then companies that make Luup claims to have launched the first
Kang Shin and doctoral student Xinyu Zhang smartphones and computers would have to in- universal mobile payments platform,
conducted an extensive trace-based analysis of corporate the chips into their products. which is the result of the integration
real WiFi networks. They discovered that, de- Shin points out that E-MiLi is compatible of the Temenos T24 core banking
pending on the amount of traffic in the network, with today’s models, so messages sent with fu- application and Microsoft BizTalk
devices in power-saving modes spend 60 to 80 ture devices that use E-MiLi’s encoding would with Luup’s mobile payment services
percent of their time in idle listening. In previ- still be received as usual on smartphones without platform.
ous work, they demonstrated that phones in idle E-MiLi. E-MiLi can also be used with other wire- Luup CEO, Martin Wilson, explained:
listening mode expend roughly the same amount less communication protocols that require idle “Through Luup, banks have the
of power as they do when they’re fully awake. listening, such as ZigBee. opportunity to serve corporate and
E-MiLi works by slowing down the WiFi retail markets using a single universal
card’s clock by up to 1/16 its normal frequency, www.umich.edu mobile payments platform. They can
now offer mobile payment services
in developed and emerging markets
SK Telecom embeds NFC in SIM card anywhere in the world through any
mobile device and on any network.”
The integration of market leading
Mobile phone service provider SK Telecom “wave-and-pay” and other services. NFC can applications with Luup’s platform
(Seoul, South Korea) claims it has developed also be used to download information from pas- enables Luup to provide the most
the first SIM card equipped with a Near Field sive tags, most usually in the form of a URL that advanced mobile payments managed
Communications (NFC) chip which can be ret- can be used as a destination for a smartphone service available. It combines the scale
rofitted to non-NFC handsets thereby enabling browser. It operates on a 13.56-MHz carrier and to deal with large transaction volumes
NFC-based services. allows data exchange between two devices over with the mission critical standards that
The company plans to launch the product in a distance of about 10 centimeters. banks require to meet regulatory and
October 2011 for enterprise customers in Korea. SK Telecom’s NFC-on-USIM is a special security requirements.
This will be followed by roll out in overseas mar- USIM (universal subscriber identity module) Luup’s managed service model
kets including China to accelerate the spread of card embedded with a 13.56-MHz antenna, NFC enables banks to implement the
mobile payment infrastructure. chip and USIM chip. Details of the NFC-on- service easily and at low cost and
NFC is already used with some automated USIM application programming interface (API) to scale-up as customers’ demand
ticket systems and is being included on the moth- to outside developers will follow. for mobile payments increases even
erboards of mobile handsets and smartphones, further.
so-called NFC phones, as a means of enabling www.sktelecom.com www.luup.com
Microwave Engineering Europe ● October 2011● www.microwave-eetimes.com
4 NEWS
in brief Small cell backhaul to shift away from
SFR provides free copper and fiber toward wireless backhaul
femtocell offer to Europe
French mobile operator SFR has While outdoor small cells have received a lot of gies like NLOS OFDM (sub 6 GHz), MMW (60
announced that it is to offer free attention lately, small cell backhaul has yet to to 80 GHz) and also Wi-Fi backhaul solutions are
femtocells to all of its 10+ million 3G see the spotlight. The reason has been twofold likely to find preference due to their flexibility, low
customers. The service is the first – first, there hasn’t been any significant outdoor cost and ability to use point-to-multipoint (PMP)
of its kind in Europe and follows the small cell deployment yet, and second, opera- and point-to-point (PTP) techniques to backhaul
world’s first free model adopted by tors are still in the process of trialing and test- clusters or rows of small cells.
SoftBank Mobile in Japan. ing small cell backhaul technologies, especially “Small cell backhaul space is still in its early
The femtocell works as a standalone the newer contenders. days, with a number of small vendors positioning
device to connect to standard ADSL Due to its unique characteristics, there are their solutions, especially on the wireless back-
routers from any ISP. But for users of numerous considerations that need to be taken haul side,” says Aditya Kaul, practice director,
SFR’s latest multi-function ADSL device, into account for a small cell backhaul solution. mobile networks. “While the majority of small cell
the Neufbox Evolution, the SFR Femto These include product footprint, range, cost, backhaul activity is concentrated in OFDM NLOS
converts into a click-on USB accessory, Ethernet/IP support, and capacity. By 2016, an sub 6 GHz and to some extent in the MMW 60
preserving a one-box solution with no estimated 58% of outdoor small cells will be to 80 GHz space, the cost of these solutions will
extra cables. The French operator is backhauled using wireless techniques. need to come down to allow operators to make a
using Ubiquisys’ femtocell technology. While fiber, copper, and traditional microwave favorable small cell business case.”
www.sfr.com are currently being used to backhaul rooftop micro
base stations, the emergence of wireless technolo- www.abiresearch.com
LTE sales overtake WiMax
Infonetics Research contends that LTE
infrastructure equipment spending Nvida ups ante with five-core mobile chip
was greater than that of WiMax for
the first time in 2Q11. The overall 2G, Nvidia will pack five cores into its next-gen- Companion and main cores share the same L2
3G, 4G infrastructure market showed eration mobile CPUs using a novel technique it cache, and the cache is programmed to return
equipment spending up 25.2 percent describes as Variable Symmetric Multiprocessing data in the same number of nanoseconds for
year-over year (2Q10 to 2Q11) and up (vSMP) to claim a power efficiency edge over both Companion and main cores,” according to
4.5 percent sequentially in 2Q11, the rivals Qualcomm and Texas Instruments. the white paper.
firm said. The cumulative total of nearly The company’s quad-core Kal-El processor Nvidia claims the approach provides power
$250 billion is going to be spent on first shown in February actually has a fifth core. savings in all use modes ranging from 14 to 61
mobile infrastructure during the five The extra core takes over automatically when percent compared to a standard quad core. In a
years 2011 to 2015 workloads permit running the system in a low rare direct comparison with competing chips,
In the 4G segment the global LTE power mode. Nvidia said the five-core chip consumes two to
equipment market was about $600 Nvidia described the vSMP approach in a three times less power than chips from Qual-
million in 2Q11 while the equivalent white paper describing the chip, also known as comm and Texas Instruments.
WiMax market was about $500 million, Tegra 3. The device uses what Nvidia calls a CPU The Nvidia chip consumes 579 mW when
the firm reckons. The two markets Goveror and CPU management logic to analyze performing at about 5,000 Coremarks and run-
together are set to show a compound system workloads and automatically switch be- ning at 480 MHz. By contrast the TI Omap 4
annual growth rate of 46 percent over tween the one low power core, called a Compan- and Qualcomm Snapdragon QC8660 consume
the five years from 2010 to 2015. ion core, or the quad-core complex as needed for 1501 and 1453 mW respectively at roughly the
“Although LTE and 4G continue to maximum efficiency. same performance level attained when running
make the headlines, GSM was definitely Both are based on the ARM Cortex A9. The at about 1 GHz, Nvidia claimed.
the 2Q11 reality, with massive capacity Companion core running up to 500 MHz is made In addition, when running at 1 GHz the
upgrades in China and India. In addition, in a low power process technology; the quad Nvidia chip performed 11,667 on the Coremark
2G and 3G network modernization with core complex running up to a GHz is made in a benchmark and still consumed less power than
multi-standard base transceiver stations general purpose or high performance process. the competing chips at 1261 mW, it said.
(BTS) continues to be strong and will When using the quad-core complex, the Com- Qualcomm announced plans for a quad-core
remain the main theme throughout the panion core is shut down and the device acti- Snapdragon in February, but has not released
second half of 2011,” said Stephane vates one to four of its main cores depending on details of the chip. TI has described its plans for
Teral, principal analyst for mobile the performance needs of the workload. its Omap 5 using dual ARM Cortex A15 cores.
infrastructure at Infonetics Research. The chip can switch between the Companion
www.infonetics.com and main cores in less than 2 milliseconds. “The www.nvidia.com
Microwave Engineering Europe ● October 2011 ● www.microwave-eetimes.com
RFMD . ®
RFSW6131 and RFSW6223
3V and 5V Positive Logic Compatible Symmetric Switches
RFMD’s RFSW6131 and RFSW6223 are symmetric switches
that are ideally suited for high performance applications such
as 3G and LTE wireless infrastructure, wireless backhaul, and
other applications requiring a combination of high linearity, low
insertion loss and good isolation. The RFSW6223 is also suitable
for applications requiring dual antenna diversity. Both switches
are 3V and 5V positive logic compatible.
SPECIFICATIONS
Switch Freq Range Insertion Loss Isolation OP1dB Control Voltage Package Part
Type (MHz) (dB) (dB) (dBm) (V) (mm) Number
SP3T DC to 6000 0.5 27 35.5 3 1.5 x 1.5 DFN RFSW6131
DPDT 10 to 6000 0.65 33 35.5 3 3 x 3 QFN RFSW6223
Order RFMD products online at www.rfmd.com/MEE1011.
FEATURES
RFSW6131
DC to 6000MHz operation
Symmetric SP3T
Low loss: 0.5dB (2GHz)
Isolation: 27dB (2GHz)
High IIP3: 56dBm
P1dB: 35.5dBm at 5V
RFSW6223
10 to 6000MHz operation
Symmetric DPDT
Low loss: 0.65dB (2GHz)
Isolation: 35dB (2GHz)
High IP3: 56dBm
High P1dB: 35.5dBm at 5V
RFMD® is a trademark of RFMD, LLC. All other trade names, trademarks
and registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners. ©2011 RFMD.
6 NEWS
in brief Holographic radar missile scoring passes
Fast transition to 802.11ac proof of concept stage
Following small shipment volumes
in 2012 and a significant increase in Cambridge Consultants has demonstrated its with high-speed signal processing to detect and
shipments in 2013, IEEE 802.11ac holographic radar technology for target scoring track small projectiles in the presence of very
will emerge as the dominant Wi- in live firing trials under a US Department of large radar clutter, such as that experienced on
Fi protocol by 2014, according to Defense (DoD) program. The program is aimed moving land and sea surface targets.
ABI Research. Only a niche subset at improving the projectile scoring capabilities of During recent trials at the NSWC Test Range,
of 802.11ac will be single-band the US Navy and Army on land and sea surface Dahlgren VA, the LSTS system successfully de-
802.11ac, using solely the five GHz ranges, to mitigate the high costs of live fire tected, tracked and located the splash point of
band. Most will be 802.11n/802.11ac training and deliver more accurate data. The inert 5 inch projectiles, and was also able to pin-
dual-band chipsets. system is the first to align holographic radar and point the burst point of a high-explosive round.
While 802.11ad products target scoring technologies. In a multiple shot burst, the system separately
will make an early debut, with a Using its holographic radar technology, Cam- tracked four shells fired at three second inter-
Qualcomm Atheros and Wilocity bridge Consultants developed the Land and Sur- vals. Observers were able to see the results in
partnership leading the way, 802.11ad face Target Scorer (LSTS) system. Installed on near real-time on a laptop PC.
will not reach the 50 percent mark high-speed land or sea-surface target vehicles,
until 2016. It will be used in dual- and the system uses receiver array panels combined www.cambridgeconsultants.com
tri-band chipsets. Because of their
lower cost, 802.11n and 802.11ac
chipsets with 1X1 will remain
dominant until 2015, when they will
Wireless solution scheduled for airlines and
be surpassed by both 2X2 and 3X3
chipsets. 2X2 chipsets for mobile
airport authorities
devices that can fall back to 1X1.
www.abiresearch.com Kontron has announced its partnership with The system enables airlines to wirelessly load
Thales to design and manufacture the Enhanced and offload content and data while an aircraft
Terminal Wireless LAN Unit (eTWLU) for the is on the ground. In order to ensure maximum
Aeroflex endows €1 company’s GateSync system. The Thales Gate- connectivity throughput and reliability to off-
million lab at Lancaster Sync system is a high-performance wireless aircraft networks the Kontron eTWLU is inte-
University ground connectivity solution for airports and grated with multiple radios — two 802.16-2006
Aeroflex Limited and Lancaster airlines. The eTWLU, a critical element of the WiMAX radios supporting 10 MHz channels
University have announced the systems onboard networking, is a small sealed operating from 5.725 to 5.875 GHz, a single
inauguration of the Aeroflex Wireless ARINC-763 compliant wireless transceiver that 802.11a/g Wi-Fi radio, and a GPRS/EDGE/
Broadband Laboratory in the supports multiple high speed wireless protocols HSPA-capable GSM radio.
University’s School of Computing allowing the GateSync system to be deployed at
and Communications at InfoLab21, airports throughout the world. www.kontron.com, www.thalesgroup.com
Lancaster’s world-class centre of
excellence for research in information
and communication technologies.
The new laboratory is equipped
Low power RF technology enables
with just over €1 million worth of
test equipment donated by Aeroflex, a intelligent hand hygiene system
leading US technology company with a
large R&D and manufacturing facility in Low-power wireless chip technology from NXP the JenNet wireless network protocol stack op-
Stevenage, UK. The Aeroflex laboratory Semiconductors is being used in the HyGreen timized for low-power, low-data rate, cost-sen-
will enable Lancaster University to play Hand Hygiene and Recording System, designed sitive applications, and plans to start using the
a leading role in the development of the by HyGreen, to capture and transmit data on JN5148 microcontroller later in 2011. Based
next generation of wireless broadband hand washing by healthcare workers, helping on the IEEE 802.15.4 specification, JenNet en-
networks and user equipment, such to improve hospital hygiene. The innovative ables a robust, self-healing network that helps
as smartphones, tablet PCs and future solution actively reminds busy healthcare work- HyGreen track all hand-washing events, as well
mobile devices. Aeroflex already ers to wash their hands, and records all hand- as which patient bed each healthcare worker
has a longstanding relationship with washing events and patient-staff interactions has visited.
Lancaster University. in the hospital environment. HyGreen is using
www.aeroflex.com the NXP JN5139 wireless microcontroller and www.hygreeninc.com
Microwave Engineering Europe ● October 2011 ● www.microwave-eetimes.com
contents 7
3 News
10 Comment
12 Low power 2.4 GHz SoCs help wireless muscle stimulator to
offer consumers pro athlete technology
14 100-Gigabit Ethernet CMOS PHY targets next generation line
cards
This month’s cover depicts the wireless world 16 Qualcomm looks to smartphones to drive growth
we live in. As wireless technologies evolve,
test is getting more and more complex due to 18 Wireless Test: 802.11ac Wireless LAN: what’s new and the
increased complexity and data rates driven by
ever more ambitious standards. Smartphones
impact on design and tests
are set to drive data requirements much higher. Close attention to design for manufacturing will help minimize
cost of test and ensure that access points and clients meet con-
EDITOR In Chief
JEAN-PIERRE JOOSTING
sumers’ price and performance expectations.
Tel. +44-7800 548-133
email: jean-pierre.joosting@eetimes.be
23 Wireless Test: Signal/spectrum analyzer features minimum phase
Editorial Advisory Board
Tom Brazil, University College Dublin, Ireland noise and 160 MHz bandwidth
Marco Lisi, Telespazio, Italy
Holger Meinel, DaimlerChrysler Aerospace AG,
Germany
Marco Guglielmi, ESTEC, The Netherlands
24 Cadence expands verification IP portfolio to target emerging
Chris Snowden, Filtronic Compound Semiconductor/
University of Leeds, UK.
mobile standards
advertising Production
Lydia Gijsegom 25 Security on the wireless mobile highway
Tel +32 (0) 2 740 00 50
email: lydia.gijsegom@eetimes.be The automotive industry has made a priority of developing
CIRCULATION & FINANCE wireless technologies.
LUC DESIMPEL
Tel +32 (0) 2 740 0055
email: luc.desimpel@eetimes.be
26 Avoiding coexistence problems and simplifying designs with
art manager
Jean-Paul Speliers integrated RF modules
Tel +32 (0)2 740 0052
email: jean-paul.speliers@eetimes.be
ACCOUNTING 29 How femtocells will solve data capacity
RICARDO PINTO FERREIRA
Tel +32 (0)2 740 0051
email: financial@eetimes.be 32 Overcoming the challenges of wireless audio distribution
publisher Wireless technologies are being almost universally adopted for
andre rousselot
Tel +32 (0)2 740 0053 these sound feeds.
email: andre.rousselot@eetimes.be
European Business Press SA
144 Avenue Eugène Plasky 34 Wireless power transmission for consumer electronics and
1030 Brussels - Belgium
Tel: +32 (0)2 740 00 50
electric vehicles
Fax: +32 (0)2 740 00 59 Over the next decade, the most vibrant Wireless Power Trans-
www.microwave-eetimes.com
VAT Registration: BE 461.357.437 mission (WPT) markets will be the contactless charging of
RPM: Brussels
Company Number: 0461357437 portable and mobile equipment, in particular consumer elec-
© 2011 E.B.P. SA
tronics and electric vehicles.
• All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be
reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording
or any information storage or retrieval system without the 36 Products
express prior written consent of the publisher.
• The contents of Microwave Engineering Europe are subject to
reproduction in information storage and retrieval systems.
• Microwave Engineering Europe is published ten times a year. 42 Calendar
Apply for a free copy of the journal online at
www.microwave-eetimes.com/subscribe
• Subscriptions: Microwave Engineering Europe is available
on subscription to others at 150 Euro. Refunds on cancelled
subscriptions will only be provided at the Publisher’s
discretion, unless specifically guaranteed within the terms of
the subscription offer.
Paid subscription queries tel: +32 2 740 00 50
• Printed by Corelio
Microwave Engineering Europe ● October 2011 ● www.microwave-eetimes.com
Explore the
EM simulation universe
Y Get equipped with leading edge The extensive range of tools integrated
EM technology. CST’s tools enable you in CST STUDIO SUITE enables numerous
to characterize, design and optimize applications to be analyzed without leaving
electromagnetic devices all before going the familiar CST design environment. This
into the lab or measurement chamber. This complete technology approach enables
can help save substantial costs especially for unprecedented simulation reliability and
new or cutting edge products, and also reduce additional security through cross verification.
design risk and improve overall performance
and profitability. Y Learn more about CST STUDIO SUITE.
Simulation of cancer treatment Register for the CST Leading Technology
by RF thermoablation. Involved in biomedical applications? You webinars at www.cst.com/webinars.
can read about how CST technology was
used to simulate biomedical devices at
www.cst.com/biomed. If you’re more
interested in filters, couplers, planar and
multilayer structures, we’ve a wide variety
of worked application examples live on our
website at www.cst.com/apps.
CHANGING THE STANDARDS
CST – COMPUTER SIMULATION TECHNOLOGY | www.cst.com | info@cst.com
Comment 9
engineering europe
SALES OFFICES In-Flight Wi-Fi coming to a
plane near you
EUROPE
Austria
Victoria & Norbert Hufmann
Tel +49 911 93 97 64 42 - sales@hufmann.info
Belgium
Nadia Liefsoens
According to In-Stat, over the past year there has been significant
Tel: +32-11-224 397 - nadia@fivemedia.be growth in both the usage rates of in-flight broadband and number
France, Spain & Portugal of planes deployed. Additionally, In-Stat contend that what has
André Rousselot been a US-centric market has started to see an expansion of
Tel:+32 2 740 0053 - sales@eetimes.be
borders with deployments in Europe growing over the past year
Germany PLZ 0-3, 60-65, 8-9
Victoria & Norbert Hufmann
and new activity in the Middle East. New In-Stat (www.in-stat.
Tel: +49 911 93 97 64 42 - sales@hufmann.info com) research, forecasts that in-flight Wi-Fi revenues will surpass
Germany PLZ 4-5 the $1.5 billion mark in 2015.
Armin Wezel
Tel: +49 9568 897 097 - armin@eurokom-media.de As smartphones become an indispensable tool for many, whether
Germany PLZ 66-69, 7
Ralf Stegmann
for business, social networking or gaming, users are expecting
Tel: +49 7131 9234-0 - r.stegmann@x-media.net a connection virtually everywhere. This is especially true when
Israel travelling, and planes, trains, busses and personal vehicles are
Amir Ben-Artzi
Tel: +972 73 7367966 - amir@amircm.com getting connected.
Italy
Ferruccio Silvera What is interesting about WiFi on planes, is that we are still
Tel: +39-02-284 6716 - info@silvera.it
told to switch off our devices while flying, at least the radio part of
Scandinavia the phone. This is apparently for safety reasons, though I suspect
Jeff Draycott
Mobile: +46-(0)702 067636 - jeff.draycott@comhem.se at such a high altitude most phones are not be near enough to
Switzerland
connect to any cells. Hopefully, the airlines are still making sure
Monika Ailinger flying is safe, and not attracted too much to the forecast revenues
Tel: +41-41-850 4424 - m.ailinger@marcomedia.ch
that in-flight WiFi might generate.
UK & Ireland & The Netherlands
Tim Anstee “While airlines initially viewed in-flight broadband as a
Tel: +44-1732-366555 - sales@starmediaservices.co.uk
competitive differentiator, it is now simply viewed in the US
USA market as a competitive requirement,” says Amy Cravens, Senior
US East Coast Analyst at In-Stat. “The future of in-flight Wi-Fi will be less about
Karen Smith-Kernc
Tel: +1 717 397 7100 - KarenKCS@aol.con
convincing airlines of the merit and more about leveraging the
network to provide a broader breadth of services. As in the hotspot
US Central & West Coast
Alan Kernc market, Wi-Fi access is likely to become a commodity in the in-
Tel: +1 717 397 7100 - AlanKCS@aol.com flight market, with the revenue opportunity resting on the services
ASIA and features, not the connection.”
Japan After all, travellers have a lot of time to kill on flights and the
Masaya Ishida
Tel: +81-3-6824-9386 - MIshida@mx.itmedia.co.jp possibility of downloading a film to a tablet for personal use is
Hong Kong
quite tempting. There is a lot of opportunity for manufacturers and
Asian Sources Publications Ltd. service providers.
Tel: +852 2831 2775 - bennie@globalsources.com
South Korea
For, example, Kontron recently announced a partnership with
J. W. Suh Thales to design and manufacture the Enhanced Terminal Wireless
Tel: +82-2-7200-121 - hauintl@chol.co
LAN Unit (eTWLU) for the company’s GateSync system. The
Taiwan
Lotus Business
Thales GateSync system is a high-performance wireless ground
Tel: +886-4-23235023 - medianet@ms13.hinet.net connectivity solution for airports and airlines.
EUROPEAN BUSINESS PRESS SA
André Rousselot Jean-Pierre Joosting
Sales director
Tel +32 (0)2 740 0053 Editor
email: andre.rousselot@eetimes.be
joosting@mac.com
Mobile:- +44-7800-548133
european
business press
Microwave Engineering Europe ● October 2011 ● www.microwave-eetimes.com
10 NEWS
in brief Compression across base station fiber optic
Motion algorithms lift links can save industry up to 25 billion USD
MEMS-based remotes
Armed with a new deal to integrate its Samplify Systems was granted a patent by the For distributed base stations, using central-
MEMS sensor algorithms into Texas United States Patent and Trademark Office (U.S. ized baseband processors and metropolitan-area
Instruments’s ZigBee-based radio Patent #8,005,152) on August 23, 2011 that fiber to connect to radio units, the operating
frequency for consumer electronics covers the use of compression across fiber optic costs associated with 10 Gbps wavelength ser-
(RF4CE) hardware platform— links, including those using the CPRI (Common vices are many thousands of dollars per month.
RemoTI—Hillcrest Laboratories, Public Radio Interface) and OBSAI (Open Base In fact, Bell Labs estimates that in 2010, wireless
hopes to penetrate further into the fast Station Architecture Initiative) protocols, within operators spent over $200B on capital and oper-
growing markets for MEMS-based wireless base stations. ating costs for their existing networks. As opera-
motion-control interfaces for Smart TV, “With the deployment of 4G LTE beginning tors roll out 4G, these costs will only escalate.
streaming video, motion-based gaming early this year, we have seen wireless opera- The company’s Prism IQ compression tech-
and 3-D gesture control. tors and equipment vendors become much more nology has continually been optimized specifi-
Last year, Hillcrest Labs sensitive to the rising deployment costs for both cally for critically sampled I/Q baseband data
announced the integration of its macro-cell and distributed base stations,” says to support increased bandwidth demands by
MEMS sensor algorithms—the Tom Sparkman, CEO of Samplify. “Wireless op- wireless networks. Given this legacy, the mobile
Freespace MotionEngine—with erators will benefit from our Prism IQ™ com- industry can be assured that Prism IQ delivers
Broadcom’s digital-TV on-a-chip and pression technology from multiple equipment the highest performing compression technology
Bluetooth on-a-chip, as well as major vendors which we believe can save as much as available for wireless infrastructure applications,
design-wins with the LG’s Smart TVs, $25B in the deployment of 4G LTE.” achieving up to 4:1 compression on 4G LTE sig-
SMK’s Smart TV remotes, and most With 4G LTE, the capacity of fiber optic con- nals while maintaining signal quality in terms of
recently for the second-generation nections using CPRI and OBSAI between remote error vector magnitude prescribed by 3GPP.
of the popular Roku set-top box for radio heads and baseband units increases from Prism IQ is available from Samplify to wire-
Internet protocol television (IPTV). The 614 Mbps to 10 Gbps. To support this faster less equipment companies as intellectual prop-
company also licensed its intellectual speed, more expensive optical transceivers and erty for FPGAs and ASICs.
property to Playstation-maker, Sony, field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) are re-
and “amicably resolved” a dispute quired at each end of the fiber link. www.samplify.com
with Wii-maker Nintendo regarding its
motion-processing algorithms.
http://hillcrestlabs.com
Gennum and Altera demonstrate 4 x 25 Gb/s
1.5M LTE base stations ICs for 100 Gb/s networks
ship by 2015
Carriers will deploy as many as 1.5 Bolstering the ecosystem for next-generation 4 data streams for next-generation 100 Gb/s plug-
million LTE base stations by 2015 x 25 Gb/s based optical transceivers, Gennum gable fiber-optic modules, line cards and direct-
with Ericsson the leading supplier and and Altera have demonstrated interoperability attach copper cables using the 25G-QSFP+ and
Alcatel-Lucent and Huawei battling of Gennum’s 25 to 28 Gb/s PHY with Altera’s CFP2 form factors. They provide exceptional jit-
for second place, according to a new 28 Gb/s enabled Stratix® V GT FPGA at the ter performance with low power consumption.
report from In-Stat. European Conference and Exhibition on Optical By resetting the jitter budgets within the mod-
“Ericsson and Alcatel-Lucent have Communication (ECOC). The demonstration ule in both the transmit and receive directions,
become the early LTE leaders as a featured Gennum’s GN2425 and GN2426 mod- Gennum’s CDRs enable robust operation for
result of modernization contracts with ule clock and data recovery (CDR) integrated new systems such as 100GBASE-LR4 optical
Verizon and AT&T,” said In-Stat analyst circuits communicating with an Altera linecard/ modules. In the transmit direction they drive
Chris Kissel. host-based Stratix® V GT FPGA operating at 25 EML, DML or MZM drivers with very low jit-
The report projects the top five to 28 Gb/s over an OIF CEI-28G-VSR compliant ter, allowing clean, wide-open transmit eyes. In
vendors in global LTE routers and electrical link. The link had greater than 10 dB of the receive direction they remove jitter from the
gateways in 2012 will be Alcatel- loss at the Nyquist data rate and comprised host recovered optical signals, promoting error-free
Lucent, Cisco, Ericsson, Huawei, and board traces, module board traces and a Molex reception by a downstream receiver on the host
Nokia Siemens Networks. From 2011 zQSFP+ interconnect system. The link exceeded board. The GN2425 and GN2426 CDRs include
to 2015, revenues for LTE radio access CEI-28G-VSR IA requirements and operated at the equalization capability demanded of the new
networks (RANs) will grow 41 percent a bit-error-rate (BER) of less than 1E-15. CEI-28G-VSR IA, providing a robust VSR link.
on a compound basis, it said. The GN2425 and GN2426, now in pre-pro-
www.instat.com duction, are designed to support 25 to 28 Gb/s www.gennum.com, www.altera.com.
Microwave Engineering Europe ● October 2011 ● www.microwave-eetimes.comMicrocontrollers
Add Wired and Wireless Connectivity to Your Design
Microchip Offers Easy-to-use, Upgradable Product Solutions
Controllers
Digital Signal
Analog
Memory
RF & Wireless
Microchip offers support for a variety of wired and wireless communication
protocols, including peripheral devices and solutions that are integrated with a
GET STARTED IN 3 EASY STEPS
PIC® Microcontroller (MCU) or dsPIC® Digital Signal Controller (DSC). 1. Purchase a development kit
Microchip’s Solutions include: 2. Download Free software stacks
USB WiFi® 3. Order samples and start designing!
8-, 16- and 32-bit USB MCUs for basic, low-cost Innovative wireless chips and modules allowing
applications to complex and highly integrated a wide range of devices to connect to the www.microchip.com/connectivity
systems along with free license software Internet. Embedded IEEE Std 802.11 Wi-Fi
libraries including source code. transceiver modules and free TCP/IP stacks.
Ethernet ZigBee®
PIC MCUs with integrated 10/100 Ethernet Certified ZigBee Compliant Platform (ZCP) for
MAC, standalone Ethernet controllers and the ZigBee PRO, ZigBee RF4CE and ZigBee 2006
EUI-48™/EUI-64™ enabled MAC address chips. protocol stacks. Microchip’s solutions consist of
transceiver products, PIC18, PIC24, and PIC32
CAN
MCU and dsPIC DSC families, and certified
8-, 16- and 32-bit MCUs and 16-bit DSCs with
firmware protocol stacks.
integrated CAN, stand-alone CAN controllers,
CAN I/O expanders and CAN transceivers. Low Pin Count USB Development Kit (DV164126)
MiWiTM
MiWi and MiWi P2P are free proprietary
LIN
protocol stacks developed by Microchip for
LIN Bus Master Nodes as well as LIN Bus Slave
short-range wireless networking applications
Nodes for 8-bit PIC MCUs and 16-bit dsPIC DSCs.
based on the IEEE 802.15.4™ WPAN specification.
The physical layer connection is supported by
CAN and LIN tranceivers.
www.microchip.com/connectivity
The Microchip name and logo, the Microchip logo, dsPIC and PIC are registered trademarks of Microchip Technology Incorporated in the U.S.A. and other countries. MiWi and PICDEM are trademarks of Microchip Technology Incorporated
in the U.S.A. and other countries. All other trademarks mentioned herein are property of their respective companies. © 2010, Microchip Technology Incorporated, All Rights Reserved. ME256BEng/07.1112 wireless health
Low power 2.4 GHz SoCs help wireless muscle
stimulator to offer consumers pro athlete technology
By Nordic Semiconductor
T
he world’s first wireless muscle electro- Electro muscle stimulation
stimulator, which is used by HTC- has long been used by elite
Highroad, the professional cycling team professional athletes both
of top 2011 Tour de France sprinter and new during training (to stress
world road race champion, Mark Cavendish, key target muscles) and
now employs Nordic nRF24LE1 proprietary between training sessions
2.4 GHz System-on-Chips (SoCs) from ultra low and competitive events (to
power RF specialist Nordic Semiconductor ASA. accelerate recovery cycles
The Compex Wireless stimulator, which and treat common intensive
targets professional athletes and serious training ailments such as
consumer sports and fitness enthusiasts lower back pain).
such as marathon runners and keen cyclists,
employs mechanical biofeedback (‘mi-SCAN’)
technology to automatically and safely adjust
the stimulation settings to the specificities of
each muscle. The stimulator can be used safely
and effectively to enhance training regimes and
accelerate post training/racing muscle recovery
via one of 50 downloadable wireless programs
targeting both professional athletes and
consumer sports and fitness enthusiasts “When we began development of this project active 2.4 GHz sources such as Wi-Fi and
The Compex Wireless is the world’s first we weren’t RF specialists so we decided to recruit Bluetooth wireless technology. We achieved
electro-stimulator to the offer the convenience an experienced RF engineer and discuss what all of this while meeting all relevant product
of wireless to maximize application freedom we were trying to do with a number of local specifications, compliances and regulations
and comfort without the risk of users getting independent wireless design and development thanks to the dedication of our development
tangled up in trailing cables. It also gives non- labs,” says Nicolas Fontaine, R&D Team Manager team, and support from both Nordic and it’s
professional users the ability to access the and Senior Firmware Engineer at Compex local European distributor Rutronik.”
benefits of muscle stimulation on a regular Médical in Switzerland (a division of DJO Global) The nRF24LE1’s radio is a fully featured
basis, by making it possible for them to set that developed the Compex Wireless. “They all nRF24L01+ 2.4 GHz transceiver core including
training objectives and download relevant recommended Nordic Semiconductor because of Nordic’s proven Enhanced ShockBurst™
muscle stimulation programs and ready-to-use the technical capability of its solutions, quality hardware link layer. It delivers true ULP
schedules from a dedicated website. of service and support, competitive pricing, and operation with peak currents low enough to run
In operation, a Nordic nRF24LE1 2.4 GHz operational reliability.” on coin cell batteries.
SoC with on-board microcontroller running a Fontaine continues: “But making this It integrates an enhanced 8051 mixed
Compex-developed wireless networking protocol product wireless was still a big challenge. For signal MCU core featuring fewer clock cycles
is located in each of up to four compact wireless user comfort all stimulators have to be precisely per instruction than legacy 8051 devices.
circular stimulators (5.5 cm diameter, 1.8 cm synchronized within milliseconds of each other Most instructions need just one or two clock
thick, 50 g weight). These communicate with at all times and the whole wireless network cycles leading to an average performance
another nRF24LE1 located within a wireless demanded very low latency so that should the improvement of 8X using the MIPS benchmark.
controller featuring a 6.1 cm color LCD screen system need to stop (e.g., due to a low battery This high performance combined with
and simple user interface used to set up and level in one of the stimulators or by instruction 16‑kbytes of on-chip flash and 1-kbytes of
control the Compex Wireless. Each stimulator from the user), it stopped immediately and SRAM ensures the processing platform is
can operate for an entire day between recharges simultaneously rather than disorderly over a powerful enough to run both the RF protocol
from a built-in 450 mAH lithium-ion polymer few seconds. Finally, the product had to work stack and application layer with ease.
rechargeable battery under highly demanding reliably even in challenging RF environments
(two training programs at high power and three shared with other Compex Wireless users in www.compex.info
recovery programs) usage conditions. close proximity (e.g., during races) and other www.nordicsemi.com
Microwave Engineering Europe ● October 2011 ● www.microwave-eetimes.comTactical Advantage.
When Reliability Counts.
0LVVLRQFULWLFDODSSOLFDWLRQVKDYHUHOLHGRQ5RJHUV·PLFURZDYHPDWHULDOV
IRU\HDUV7KHVXSHULRUHOHFWULFDODQGPHFKDQLFDOFKDUDFWHULVWLFVRI5RJHUV·
PLOLWDU\JUDGHODPLQDWHVSURYLGHWKHVWDEOHFRQVLVWHQWSHUIRUPDQFHRYHU
WLPHDQGWHPSHUDWXUHWKDW·VVRFULWLFDOIRU
DHURVSDFHDQGGHIHQVHDSSOLFDWLRQV
7KHURFNVROLGSHUIRUPDQFHRI5RJHUV·PLFURZDYH
PDWHULDOVGHOLYHUWKHKLJKSHUIRUPDQFHDQGKLJK
UHOLDELOLW\GHPDQGHGE\WKHPRVWPLVVLRQFULWLFDO
DSSOLFDWLRQV&DQ\RXDIIRUGWRXVHDQ\WKLQJOHVV"
7ROHDUQPRUHDERXW5RJHUV·DHURVSDFHDQGGHIHQVH
PLFURZDYHPDWHULDOVROXWLRQVYLVLWXVDW
www.rogerscorp.com/military
Features Benefits
5HGXFHGSODQDU /RZHUPDQXIDFWXULQJFRVWV
UHVLVWRUYDULDWLRQ GXHWRGHFUHDVHGWXQLQJ
®
RT/duroid /RZWKHUPDOFRHIÀFLHQW 6WDEOHHOHFWULFDOSHUIRUPDQFH
6202PR RIGLHOHFWULFFRQVWDQW YHUVXVWHPSHUDWXUH
/RZFRHIÀFLHQWRI +LJKUHOLDELOLW\LQFRPSOH[
WKHUPDOH[SDQVLRQ PXOWLOD\HUGHVLJQV
'LHOHFWULFFRQVWDQW /RZHVWGLHOHFWULFFRQVWDQW
RI PLFURZDYH3&%PDWHULDO
®
RT/duroid /RZ]D[LVFRHIÀFLHQWRI 3ODWHGWKURXJK
5880LZ WKHUPDOH[SDQVLRQ KROHFDSDEOH
/LJKWZHLJKW $GYDQWDJHIRU
DLUERUQHDSSOLFDWLRQV
+LJKHVWWKHUPDOFRQGXFWLYLW\ ([FHOOHQWSRZHUKDQGOLQJ
:PN IRU'NSULQWHG FDSDELOLW\
FLUFXLWERDUGODPLQDWHV
®
RT/duroid /RZORVV ([FHOOHQWKLJKIUHTXHQF\
6035HTC SHUIRUPDQFH
/RZSURÀOHWKHUPDOO\VWDEOH /RZHULQVHUWLRQORVVDQG
FRSSHURSWLRQV SHUIRUPDQFHUHOLDELOLW\LQKLJK
WHPSHUDWXUHDSSOLFDWLRQV
7KHZRUOGUXQVEHWWHUZLWK5RJHUV
3KRWRVXVHGE\SHUPLVVLRQIURP1RUWKURS*UXPPDQ&RUSRUDWLRQ $GYDQFHG&LUFXLW0DWHULDOV
86$$=WHO (8523(%(/*,80WHO ZZZURJHUVFRUSFRPPLOLWDU\14 100 Gigabit Ethernet
100-Gigabit Ethernet CMOS PHY targets next
generation line cards
By Paul Buckley
T
he next generation 100 GbE line cards chipset solution and that allows us to de-
targeted for data center and enterprise risk the design — our customers will find
networks face several design challenges it very attractive because of the use of a
when they look to retain a lower carbon footprint CDR chip solution inside a module that
while they upgrade to 100 GbE networks. talks to a chip that we guarantee works
Inphi Corporation has unveiled what the over that channel. That’s the big attraction
company claims is industry’s first, lowest power from a design risk or design development
100 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) CMOS PHY standpoint on the system side. The other
solutions that support the IEEE 802.3ba standard advantage is that we are the first vendor in
and target next generation high density 100G line the market place to have a CMOS solution
cards. The company’s 100 GbE CMOS chipsets for 100 GbE PHY and 100 GbE CDR.”
are looking to deliver three times less power and a point solution and put it out into the field and
twice the levels of integration compared to what CMOS advantages expect it to work. That is a ‘Hail Mary’ approach.
is already on the market. Using CMOS solution offers a lot of advantages That might have worked at 1 GbE and may have
Inphi’s IN112510 100 GbE CMOS Gearbox over existing SiGe solutions. Current solutions on even worked at 10 GbE but was never going to
(GB) and IN012525 100 GbE CMOS Clock Data the market are based on SiGe process technology, work at 100 GbE. So you need to pre-empt all of
Recovery (CDR) chipsets have been developed which is typically high power and is not as area that ahead of time and take the chip models.”
to accelerate time-to-market for higher aggregate optimal. In addition, SiGe does not offer as high a “We took all the parameter models of our
bandwidth systems while containing costs of next level of integration as CMOS. customers’ channels and data connector models
generation 100 GbE line cards targeted for data The key advantage CMOS offers is much from our connector vendor and went to optics
center and enterprise networks. lower power. It is almost three times less than vendors and got their optics models. We recreated
Based on Inphi’s iPHY architecture announced what is available on the market today. Current the whole link from our chip to the receiving chip
in March 2011 the cost-effective, energy-efficient SiGe solutions are about 8 W but the Inphi with all the elements in between and then put it
100 GbE links are aiming to become essential solution comes in at about 2.5 W. through a detailed signal integrity simulation tool.
tools for data center and service provider Existing SiGe solutions have typically We created this tool floor that took about a year
networks, which are struggling to satisfy the been two-chip solutions. They typically have and half for our design team to build. The tool
global economy’s relentless hunger for more a transmit chip and a receive chip. Inphi have allows us to take all of the different parameters
bandwidth. With service providers and data integrated the transmit and receive chips into a and plug it into the model and then extrapolate
centers demanding technology with low power single chip making it like a true transceiver and how our chip would perform in our customers’
consumption, Inphi’s latest iPHY CMOS PHY that obviously saves area specially for enterprise environment. We have various knobs we can turn
solutions will enable them to easily upgrade to and data center applications where area is a in that tool floor.”
100 GbE networks while retaining a lower carbon scarce resource. “The tool is a statistical simulator as opposed
footprint. By integrating multiple channels along to an actual simulator so it will statistically
with transmit and receive functions on a single Signal integrity simulate all the different corners and extrapolate
IC, Inphi claims the company is able to double According to Sheth, “Signal integrity is always how the chip would perform in a customers’
the levels of integration available from existing a huge challenge when you transition from one environment without having to physically to do
100 GbE PHY and CDR offerings. key step of the Ethernet to another and this is each and every simulation.”
The iPHY IN112510 is a single-chip, low- the other part of the equation. The design would “That saves you a lot of time and gets you a lot
power PHY for 10:4 gearbox applications for not be a successful without us having done a of data and although it is not the real thing it still
100 GbE and OTU4 high-density 100 Gbps line lot of design work that had already be done on gives you a great deal of confidence in terms of
cards with 25-28 Gbps electrical interfaces. The the signal integrity side. Over the last two years how well the chip is going to perform. That is the
iPHY IN012525 is a low-power CDR for 100 GbE before we even got started with the design we basis of how we designed our transmitters, our
and OTU4 next generation 100G modules, which had a team of core signal integrity experts who driver circuits and our receiver circuits. A lot of
will typically reside inside a CFP-2 module. were working with our customers and partners to this work was done before we started putting the
Siddharth Sheth, Vice President of Marketing create a link simulation set-up.” design together.”
for Inphi’s high-speed connectivity products “When you move to data rates of 100 GbE
comments, “We essentially own the link with this you realise that you are not just going to build www.inphi.com
Microwave Engineering Europe ● October 2011 ● www.microwave-eetimes.comBuilding on our high Q, high-frequency
expertise, we now offer performance
enhancing Thin Film Devices, including
Planar and Multi-Layer Filter Structures
and Resonators. These components offer
advantages of small size, low weight,
superior temperature-stable properties
and can be designed to customer-specific
requirements.
Filters / Diplexers
We offer fast turnaround on Build-to-
Print Services from prototype design to
high volume production utilizing Thin Film
Technology with standard materials or DLI’s
High K Ceramics to shrink component size.
DLI makes capacitors for high-frequency
applications demanding near perfect, low
loss devices. Our components use specially
developed, proprietary materials tuned to
provide optimized high Q, low ESR responses.
We are the world’s largest supplier of Single-
Build-to-Performance Layer Capacitors, offering the broadest
range of material and device options. Our
Multilayer Capacitors include Broadband
Blocks, temperature-stability and extremely
low ESR chips.
We have a talented RF engineering team
dedicated to designing, developing and
testing custom ceramic components. Please
contact us with your requirements.
Come visit DLI at the
European Microwave Week
2011 Oct 11th - 13th
Manchester Central UK
Booth 235
Filters up to 67 GHz
Surface Mount Filter Solutions
available up to 20GHz Advancing the Possibilities
in Ceramic Components
MLC & SLC Capacitors
TM TM
Certified System
Certified System
BSC FILTERS L DOW-KEY MICROWAVE L NOVACAP L SYFER TECHNOLOGY
DIELECTRIC LABORATORIES L K&L MICROWAVE L POLE/ZERO L VOLTRONICS www.dilabs.com ISO 9001:2000
& AS9100B
ISO 1400116 smartphone trends
Qualcomm looks to smartphones to drive growth
By Jean-Pierre Joosting
M
obile computing, in many instances, platform. Not only can
is taking over from PCs and in some wireless healthcare
cases laptops. This trend is been improve communications
driven by the smartphone revolution, still in between doctors and
its infancy and to a lesser extent the emerging patients, but it can
tablet platform. Smartphones today have been significantly reduce costs
responsible for stressing the capacity and QoS in healthcare systems,
of many mobile network operators around the and can also provide a
world. It is not about to get any easier, Strategy very cost-effective way
Analytics estimate that operators will experience of monitoring patients
data growth of roughly ten fold by 2015. with specific ailments
This success can be attributed to the or the elderly, that
smartphone’s capability to combine graphics once required specialist
and computing in a small portable form equipment — now
factor. However, to achieve this, smartphones all that is needed is a
rely on highly integrated processors, such as smartphone, sensors
Qualcomm’s SnapDragon SoC to efficiently and an app. Examples
combine a multitude of technology components, include wireless glucose
including CPU, GPU, LAN, WAN, DSP, GPS, meters, blood pressure
connectivity, software, power management, RF, monitoring, wireless ECG, temperature Gaming
and multimedia. The Snapdragon MSM8x60 measurements, and elder care systems. Smartphones have the potential to double
family of mobile processors for multitasking To illustrate this idea, Qualcomm up as handheld gaming platforms, especially
tablets and smartphones, offers two Incorporated, through its Wireless Reach™ as the industry brings 3D displays, gesture
asynchronous processor cores; an integrated initiative, and Life Care Networks, along with control and augmented reality to the market.
Adreno 220 GPU with twice the processing the Community Health Association of China, Earlier this year Qualcomm introduced
power of its predecessor; and support for up to has recently launched the Wireless Heart the Snapdragon™ Game Pack, which is an
a 16 megapixel camera. Health project for the prevention and care of optimization program initially featuring more
At a recent Qualcomm event, in Istanbul, Dr cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) in underserved than 100 mobile games that represent the first
Paul Jacobs, Chairman and CEO of Qualcomm communities in China. installment of a growing collection of the latest
remarked that mobile can change the world and Using China Telecom’s 3G EV-DO wireless console-quality and casual games optimized
cited some examples such as healthcare, citizen network, this project aims to explore a new and enhanced for Snapdragon-based mobile
news reporting, education, and e-government. health care solution to enhance the CVD devices. This milestone conveys the depth of
Emphasizing the importance of mobile today, diagnosis and prevention capabilities of support and collaboration among Qualcomm
Dr Paul Jacobs added that mobile is the largest community health clinics in China. and top gaming publishers and developers that
technology sector, generating revenue of around The 3G system includes smartphones with are using the advanced graphics capability of
1.3 trillion USD, representing 2 percent of built-in electrocardiogram (ECG) sensors; the embedded Adreno™ GPUs in Snapdragon
global GDP. web-based, electronic medical record software; mobile processors to bring a better gaming
The smartphone revolution is in its and 3G wireless workstations located within experience to mobile users. Future phases
infancy, and as handsets get cheaper, market the clinics. Each workstation includes a of the Snapdragon Game Pack will be able
penetration will increase. One goal, the computer terminal with Internet access, to take full advantage of next-generation
industry is looking at is to produce an entry providing health care workers with instant Snapdragon mobile processors that will
level smartphone for $100. Further trends access to electronic patient records, including feature quad-core Adreno GPUs and will be
include augmented reality, gaming, mobile ECG data. The project also includes training optimized for larger display devices, such as
healthcare, 3D mobile, and faster mobile sessions for all participating community health tablets. According to Qualcomm, more than
processors, rising from dual-core 1.5 GHz center clinicians. 60 percent of smartphone users regularly play
today to quad-core, 2.5 GHz around 2014. “3G wireless technologies offer new games on their mobile devices.
channels for improving access to health care,
Healthcare particularly within underserved communities,” Augmented reality
Mobile healthcare is potentially one of the said Shawn A. Covell, vice president for Augmented Reality (AR) is the concept
biggest markets available to the smartphone Qualcomm Government Affairs. of superimposing virtual content (such as
Microwave Engineering Europe ● October 2011 ● www.microwave-eetimes.comsmartphone trends 17
graphics) on top of a view of the real world as development tool. A web application is smartphone using gesture control — the user
seen through a camera. Typical applications also included for creating and managing might rotate the building or site to see it from
range from gaming and interactive media/ image resources that can be used with either all angles, or go through a door or passage to
marketing to instructional how-to/aid. Juniper development environment. see what is inside. In gaming, gesture control
Research estimates that revenue from AR will Performance is achieved through combined with AR promises new ways users
rise from a negligible amount today to over Qualcomm’s innovations in advanced computer can interact with the game interface.
700 million USD by 2014. vision algorithms and close integration of To ensure a lead in gesture control,
To this end, Qualcomm offer an hardware and software. The effect of this Qualcomm recently acquired certain assets
augmented reality (AR) platform for Android performance is a higher fidelity user experience from GestureTek, a developer of gesture
smartphones, via their online developer in which graphics content appears more real recognition technology. GestureTek has more
network. Developers can now build, market against the real world background. than 25 years of experience implementing
and commercially distribute applications based gesture-based technologies in mobile devices,
on the Qualcomm AR platform. The platform’s Gesture control entertainment facilities, healthcare systems,
rich feature set enables developers to build AR offers a users a different way of visualizing retail locations, and public and private venues.
high-performance, interactive 3D experiences the real world on the smartphone or tablet The acquisition gives Qualcomm ownership of
on real world images, such as those used in screen. Combined with gesture control, new certain intellectual property assets related to
print media (books, magazines, brochures, and innovative interfaces for the relatively gesture recognition, as well as key engineering
tickets, signs) and on product packaging. small screen of a smartphone will enable resources. Gesture recognition technology
The platform supports multiple users to interact more intuitively with the will be integrated into Qualcomm’s current
development environments. The Qualcomm device. For example, a shelf of DVDs, might and next-generation Snapdragon™ processors,
AR Android SDK supports native Android be represented on a phone as a sliding view giving OEMs the capability to produce
development with the Android tool chain, of box covers. The user would use a hand smartphones, tablets and home entertainment
including the Android SDK and NDK. The movement to scroll through the titles, or devices with user interfaces based on natural
Qualcomm AR Unity Extension supports touch the screen to play the DVD. An historic human gestures.
rapid development with the Unity 3 game building or site might be viewed first on the
Get a New Picture of PCB Prototyping
and Production on Demand
Productronica:
15 – 18 November 2011,
Hall B2, Booth 105
High speed laser structuring: LPKF ProtoLaser S
Enjoy a clean process with all types of PCB materials.
Minimal line/space width of 50/25 µm on ceramics.
www.protolaser.com
ww.protolaser.com
LPKF Laser & Electronics AG Phone +49 (0) 5131-7095-0 info@lpkf.com www.lpkf.com
Microwave Engineering Europe ● October 2011 ● www.microwave-eetimes.comYou can also read
