Two new RF SoCs from Nordic Semiconductor are claiming up to 50% power reduction versus the company’s previous generation of products. They also deliver up to 9.5dB improvement in link budget and over 10x more processing power, according to Nordic. The nRF51822, a multi-protocol Bluetooth low energy or 2.4GHz proprietary RF SoC, and the nRF51422, the world's first ANT/ANT+ SoC, share a 32-bit ARM Cortex-M0 architecture and a new multi-protocol radio.
Lantiq and Qualcomm Atheros are collaborating on a broadband home gateway reference design. The joint design integrates the Qualcomm Atheros QCA9880 3x3 802.11ac solution and the Lantiq XWAY ARX300 or VRX288 universal gateway chipsets.
The complete software and hardware reference design features the newest evolution of 802.11 Wi-Fi and proven DSL broadband gateway functionality. With full test and validation of the design by Lantiq and Qualcomm Atheros, the platform achieves maximum wired and wireless throughput for triple-play broadband services. The reference design is ready for the first wave of Wi-Fi certification of 802.11ac products, targeted by the industry for the first quarter of 2013.
The OpenET Alliance has released a new High Dynamic Range system simulation model for handset Envelope Tracking applications. The ET System Simulation model, jointly developed by OpenET members Nujira and the University of Firenze, makes it easier for designers to identify sources of noise and distortion and to make the necessary design tradeoffs.
Freescale is targeting the mobile infrastructure market with its first RF power amplifier product built using gallium nitride (GaN) technology. The AFG25HW355S is a 350W, high-performance-in-package (HiP), 2:1 asymmetric device operating at 2.3-2.7GHz. Features include 56 dBm peak power, 50% efficiency and 16 dB gain.
Avnet Embedded has added Intel wireless modules to its portfolio of embedded available to European designers. The company is now offering Intel Centrino Embedded Wireless half mini-card PCIe modules supplied ready for systems such as laptops, embedded PCs and the broad range of machine to machine devices.
PMC has announced a radio transceiver chipset for macro basestation designs which it says is the industry’s lowest power. The new UniTRX chipset replaces up to 14 discrete devices, and reduces both board space and power by more than 50% for equivalent multi-standard basestation radio designs, according to PMC. It addresses multi-standard macro basestation performance requirements and simplifies the design of dense MIMO (multiple input, multiple output) radio units, such as active antenna systems.
The US international trade commission is investigating whether certain patents held by Peregrine Semiconductor have been infringed. The investigation will look at products from RF Micro Devices (RFMD) to see whether Peregrine patents relating to silicon on insulator RF ICs and switch technology are infringed. The investigation also includes Motorola Mobility and HTC, whose products use the alleged infringing RFICs.
Atmel has become one of the first companies to achieve ZigBee Certified product status using ZigBee Light Link Certification. Atmel’s reference design for ZigBee Light Link has achieved ‘golden unit’ status. The design is based on the ATmega128RFA1 wireless MCU. ZigBee Light Link is a new industry standard for consumer lighting and control products that will give consumers the ability to wirelessly control their LED fixtures, light bulbs, timers, remotes and switches within their homes.
Nordic Semiconductor’s nRF24AP2-8CH ANT chip has been selected for Japanese consumer electronics manufacturer Pioneer's Potter-Navi SGX-CN700 cycle navigation system. The Potter-Navi, essentially a sat nav for cyclists, uses a 2.4-in colour LCD display. The unit displays navigation information as well as the location of local amenities and points of interest along the route.
Livingston is providing ATS-Group with the hardware and software for a more streamlined approach to testing the performance of mobile networks, known as drive testing. ATS-Group has been contracted by a mobile operator to execute drive tests across the whole of London, for analysis of base stations now being deployed to combat the growing issue of wireless congestion.
Normally this type of testing has to be executed via equipment that is housed in vans. However, ATS-Group has developed a solution where the complete system can be carried on a motorbike. This has three major advantages over the conventional, cumbersome methodology. Firstly, it is more agile, as motorbikes have proved to be considerably better than vans at coping with the urban environment – easily negotiating their way through the traffic that clogs the arterioles of the city. Secondly, it has a far lower ecological impact, as less fuel is consumed to carry out the tests. Finally, the running costs involved will be markedly less.
