RF&WirelessBlog

Standards organisations agree on global initiative for M2M

Representatives of major standards development organisations from around the world (including ARIB, ATIS, CCSA, ETSI, TIA, TTA, and TTC) have identified the need for a common cost-efficient, easily and widely available M2M Service Layer, which can be readily embedded within various hardware and software. They also identified the need for a cooperative M2M community standards activity, and have agreed to jointly address the challenge of common standardised solutions. Initial steps to form a global initiative for M2M Standardisation have been taken.

Video phone reference design is Wi-Fi certified

DSP Group has been awarded the Wi-Fi Alliance Wi-Fi Certified seal of approval for its XpandR III multimedia reference design. The certification recognises the reference design's compliance with IEEE radio standards 802.11b/g/n, including WMM (Wi-Fi Multimedia) quality-of-service and WPA2 (Wi-Fi Protected Access 2) security programs.

Wireless audio association to promote interoperability and certification

A new industry association, the Wireless Speaker and Audio (WiSA) association, has been formed to advance the adoption wireless HD surround sound audio in the home theatre environment. The association plans to establish an interoperability specification and certification testing programs for manufacturers of high-performance wireless speakers, DTVs, Blu-ray Disc players, and other consumer electronics devices.

MIPI Alliance forms envelope tracking subgroup

The MIPI Alliance Analog Control Interface Working Group has formed a new subgroup for envelope tracking. This subgroup will focus on developing MIPI Specifications that facilitate wider adoption of this energy saving technology in smartphones and other mobile devices.

New mesh network protocol is self-configuring

Radiocrafts and TinyMesh have developed a new mesh network protocol operating in all sub-1GHz and 2.4GHz license free ISM bands. TinyMesh networks are self-forming and self-healing without external interaction. Due to the mesh network redundancy, TinyMesh offers excellent range and reliability, with no limitations in number of gateways or addressable nodes.

Ofcom progresses TV White Space in UK

Ofcom has progressed plans for the introduction of White Space technology in the UK – the first country in Europe to do so. The technology uses unused areas of the TV spectrum (typically between 470 and 790MHz) to transmit signals that can travel large distances and easily through walls. This makes it suitable for a wide range of new consumer applications that could include rural broadband and Wi-Fi with up to twice the range of today’s technology. White Spaces offer significant capacity to help alleviate pressures on other wireless networks. Ofcom expects that White Space technology could be launched in the UK in 2013.

TI launches 10 new Bluetooth low energy profiles

TI has launched ten Bluetooth low energy technology (Bluetooth v4.0) profiles with associated sample applications to boost market development of Bluetooth low energy-compliant sensor devices.The Bluetooth low energy application software is a part of TI’s BLE-Stack, and is available royalty-free to all using TI’s CC2540 Bluetooth low energy system-on-chip (SoC).

Renesas Mobile and Anritsu deliver first MIMO Test cases approved by 3GPP

Renesas Mobile and Anritsu have developed and validated MIMO test cases which have been accepted by 3GPP (RAN5). Whilst MIMO has been available in the networks and some initial products are available, there have been no official certification requirements in place to ensure interoperability and consistency of the benefits of MIMO technology. With this approval, product acceptance by the mobile industry and operators can be put on a firmer footing, which is essential as we move into wider market deployment of MIMO technology.

The main benefits of MIMO technology are in bringing an improved user experience, from increased throughput, and higher network capacity for the operator.

The Renesas Mobile modem team created many of the 3GPP test cases at Nokia, working closely with Anritsu. Anritsu is the first test system manufacturer that has implemented and validated the data and signalling MIMO test cases.

“Our industry leading collaboration in certification has been a core focus of our approach to product development since our days as part of Nokia Wireless Modem,” said Heikki Tenhunen, Senior Vice President Renesas Mobile. “Our customers see the benefit through faster product approvals and the operators gain assurance on the quality and maturity of the resulting handsets.“

“Collaborating with leading modem teams has meant that we have been able to be the first to introduce cutting edge and complicated test cases,” added Mike Lee, R&D director, Anritsu. “Anritsu’s flexible and fully featured systems allow the industry to prove the compliance of new features such as MIMO and expedite its delivery by chipset manufacturers.”

TRaC offers latest ZigBee SE 1.1 testing with zero delay following standard's formalisation

European test house TRaC has announced that within days of the release of the latest version of the ZigBee wireless data standard for Smart Energy products, it has already concluded a comprehensive product test programme for a leading European manufacturer. TRaC says it is currently the only test house in Europe ready and able to carry out this test programme – and one of only a select few sites world-wide.

TI achieves certification of ZigBee 1.1 profile implementation

TI has achieved ZigBee Certified status for its ZigBee Smart Energy™ 1.1 standard implementation, recently introduced by the ZigBee Alliance. Z-Stack 2.5.0 is now available with support for ZigBee Smart Energy 1.1, geared towards home area networks (HAN). TI's ZigBee Smart Energy 1.1 profile gives developers the confidence and means necessary to interoperate with various implementations. TI’s Z-Stack 2.5.0 with ZigBee Smart Energy 1.1 is available royalty-free to all using TI’s ZigBee-compliant hardware platforms.