Think More Thunk

Opportunity for UWB and Bluetooth in Consumer Electronics

Today market uncertainty is in the forefront of public thought and concern. The possibility that the world will sink into a global depression is the most pessimistic of scenarios, but daily more probable. The effect of the uncertainty on the mentality of the consumer and thus on consumer electronics markets for wireless technologies becomes a very important factor for OEMs to consider as consumer spending is likely to decline in near term throughout most of the world.

Conversely, a decline in consumer spending is likely to strengthen the prospects of WiMAX, especially in developing nations and markets, as companies focus their efforts in areas that have a stronger likelihood of providing a return on investment.

Consumer electronics products being released with new features, such as UWB-based certified wireless USB, must provide a clear solution to a need in order to be successful in near term markets. It is unclear if removing cables from USB-based hard drives, printers, digital cameras, and laptop docking stations will be sufficient to drive consumer demand, yet the possibility remains of putting the market uptake of UWB in consumer markets in jeopardy.

At the same time it is likely that market uncertainty will continue to affect credit markets for the near term and create a ripple effect of caution on the part of industrial and commercial markets as they put off borrowing to install new wireless-based systems that advance the automation of infrastructure and back-end processing. This will likely delay the market uptake of wireless sensor networks for perhaps a longer term than consumer market delay in wireless uptake.

Overall, this is the time for companies to invest in research and development of the next emerging wireless technology in preparation for the inevitable recovery of markets. It is not a good time to release consumer products based on emerging wireless protocols that do not satisfy a clear need. In current market conditions it is not consumer delighters (additional features) that will mean successful strategy, but meeting consumer requirements at the lowest cost instead.

This new report focuses on the prospects for emerging wireless technologies in consumer markets. It analyzes the activities and developments of companies and alliances in light of current market conditions.

To read more about this report, click here

Don't Bet Against Ethernet

This is something that a technically savvy friend advised me during a somewhat freeform discussion of wireless technologies a few years back. For a technology first described in 1977, Ethernet has proved a successful and long-lived technology supporting a broad range of applications with a broad range of performance capabilities.
 
An Israel based startup Valens Semiconductor recently announced a technology called HDBaseT described as "an innovative PHY that defines a new digital connectivity positioned to be the next HDMI" that is claimed to deliver HDMI 1.3b level performance over standard CAT5e cables at distances up to 100 meters.
 
Why is this interesting? And more importantly, what is an analyst firm specializing on wireless technologies doing writing about this?
 
There exist an ever expanding number of approaches utilizing wireless technologies to distribute high quality audio and video content. All of these approaches enjoy varying degrees of technical maturity, and for particular use cases, varying degrees of applicability. WTRS covers many of these technologies as part of our report portfolio:
 
WTRS Wireless Connectivity Technology Trends Report (published July 2008)
WTRS UWB Emerging Technology Report (published September 2008)
WTRS Wireless Technology Trends Report (published August 2008)
 
One of the incumbent solutions that must be displaced for these wireless approaches to be successful is traditional cabled infrastructure. This includes HDMI compliant cables, switches and signal boosters. HDBaseT provides another option for wired point to point connectivity that has applicability across a wide range of applications particularly those identified by MOCA, HomePlug and IEEE 802.11n, but while those technologies fail to support uncompressed video HDBaseT can support uncompressed Full-HD resolutions of up to 1080P, 60Hz, 48 bps. HDBaseT also has the ability to support video throughput equal to the HDMI 10.2Gbps, it can send it over a single 100m Cat5e cable.
 
HDBaseT also expands on the number of available services by making provision for the simultaneous delivery of uncompressed high definition video (HDMI 1.3b equivalent)  Audio, Standard 100BaseT Ethernet, Power over Ethernet and support for converged controls (RS232, IR, USB low speed).
 
The basic underlying technology is described in US Patent application US2008/0187028, "Method and apparatus for communicating different types of data over a same network" as "A method of transmitting a data stream over a communication channel, the method comprising: providing symbol sets having different numbers of symbols; modulating data in the data stream that warrant different degrees of protection against noise onto symbols from symbol sets having different numbers of symbols, wherein which symbol set given data in the stream is modulated onto is independent of symbol sets onto which other data in the data stream is modulated onto; and transmitting the symbols."
 
It is important to remember that this is a wired point to point technology. The addition of the capability to switch signals will expand the architecture into areas similar to those familiar with networked media applications. In the near term we expect that this will see the most success in application areas without requirements to support mobility.

A Perspective on the Growth of Broadband Access and WiMAX Development

President Bush said we'll all be connected by 2007, Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi said Democrats will ensure that will happen within 5 years. Certainly broadband coverage is growing rapidly, but the role of Government seems irrelevant to that "surge." Many technologies, explained and defined in this report, contribute. How they do so, and how quickly we get to "universal" broadband will be driven by usefulness, technological improvement, and (not least) market savvy companies.

 

Broadband access in the typical US household is on a steady growth trend. Fueled both by consumer demand for entertainment and communication as well as governmental regulatory and economic incentives, companies at all levels of the broadband services and infrastructure value chain are developing new technologies and enabling new services that will continue to push the US broadband market forward over the next 4-6 years.

 

The development of wired broadband network infrastructures in fact enable the deployment of wireless technologies. As an example, the development of fiber optic infrastructure offers a market driver for the introduction of WiMAX in developed countries.

 

There is substantial competition to WiMAX. Traditional, or wired, broadband technologies offer direct competition to fixed WiMAX and are being fueled by governmental encouragement on a global scale. The deployment of IPv6 on a global scale will mark a new era for humanity, at least those connected to technology. In order for various countries to participate in the increased security afforded as a byproduct of IPv6, the internet infrastructure technologies must be in place. These are marketed as broadband services to the consumer and the development of triple- and quadruple-play offerings which combine television broadcast, interactive content delivery, internet services, and voice communications capabilities. In this respect wired technologies such as optical fiber are in fact in competition with mobile WiMAX, in spite of the drastic difference in features each technology enables.

Comprehensive Wireless Market Evolution

All signs point towards integration of as many wireless protocols as possible into one chipset and thus one device. This is driven in part by semiconductor companies responding to the constant commoditization of chips and elimination of margins by attempting to add as much value as possible into a single RF component and thus stave off the inevitable margin erosion. The massive and single-minded effort to integrate all available RF protocols into the same component is also encouraged by regulatory bodies such as the FCC, who envision an opportunity to charge spectrum licenses not just once, but perhaps multiple times. The US military is also stimulating the effort, in large part as a self-serving means to purchase off-the-shelf parts for its 'Connected Battlefield'.

The primary growth areas for wireless components over the next 5 years are Wireless Broadband and Wireless Sensor Networks. In the Wireless Broadband segment, key emerging protocols to evaluate include LTE, IEEE 802.11n, and IEEE 802.16e (colloquialized as 'mobile WiMax'). RFID, ZigBee, and IEEE 802.15.4 are the standard protocols likely to dominate the Wireless Sensor segment over the next 10 years. In fact, potential cross-over between RFID and ZigBee, as well as possible inclusion of the IEEE 802.15.4a low data rate with location specification into a coming evolution of ZigBee, create a tangled yet very powerful scenario for wireless sensor standards.

 

For more information about wireless market evolution see our report which analyzes the primary wireless technologies and protocols in place today as well as those emerging through the standardization process.

Will ZigBee Applications run over TCP/IP?

Arch Rock Corporation submitted a draft specification to the IETF, describing an approach to implement "... a UDP/IP adaptation of the IEEE 802.15.4-based ZigBee Application Protocol that enables IP hosts to communicate using the application profiles and data models described by that protocol, over a wide range of links.  This modified version of the ZigBee Application Protocol is named CAP (Compact Application Protocol), and it is intended to provide a complete stack of application profiles, data exchange, binding operations, security protocols, and discovery to IP-networked hosts and embedded devices. The protocol's domain of applicability includes IEEE 802.15.4-based 6LoWPAN devices, but also those on conventional wired and wireless links and emerging powerline communication networks."
 
CAP is intended to extend the scope of the ZigBee Application Profiles beyond IEEE 802.15.4 and ZigBee networks to encompass all IP based protocols. The CAP defines a methodology for devices to run CAP services on an UDP port, and exchange ZigBee application profile messages with any other IP device or server.
 
 
Why is it important to provide ZigBee application services on IP networks?
 
ZigBee Application Profiles are well designed for operation on devices with reduced or limited resources.
 
ZigBee Application Profiles assume the existence of an underlying ZigBee network only.
 
With the addition of real-world requirements such as support for mobility, longer range, or integration into an existing IP-based network, a ZigBee-only network may not prove optimal.
 
Presently this type of interoperability with other networks is accomplished by the use of gateway devices and application compatibility bridging (i.e. BacNet to ZigBee) which can be avoided with the CAP translation to an IP network.
 
 
What are the business implications?
 
By adopting IP as the common transport protocol, CAP simplifies the deployment of large-scale sensor networks and application by reducing or eliminating the number of protocol translation nodes. This in turn enables a wider audience to take advantage of the accumulated knowledge used in the definition of the ZigBee Application Profiles. This approach also frees the ZigBee Alliance to focus on the high-value applications for wireless sensor networks such as Energy management and Industrial control.
 
While customers may not care how many layers you use, layers help you provide what the customer needs.
 
For more information about the draft specification, see http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-tolle-cap-00.txt
 
For more information about the business and market implications, please contact WTRS.

Infineon closes R&D center

Infineon, one of the original significant semiconductor OEMs to get into ultra wideband development has decided to close up their UWB activity. It may be that this is the beginning of a trend.

Link: Globes [online] - Infineon closes R&D center.