INCISOR 198 - October 2014

INCISOR
Issue 198
Video enabled
TM
connecting
the internet
of things
October 2014
INCISOR.TV
2014 SHORT-RANGE WIRELESS REVIEW
Incisor’s annual review of developments
across the SRW sector
PLUS
BLUETOOTH DECLARATION FEES:
OPEN LETTER TO BLUETOOTH SIG MEMBERS
UL ASSESSES APPLE PAY – WHAT DO WE KNOW?
2015 INCISOR.TV US WIRELESS ROUNDTABLE PROGRAMME LAUNCHES!
www.incisor.tv
2
www.incisor.tv
plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose
For those Incisor readers who don’t have a grasp of the French language, the phrase above means ‘the more things
change, the more they stay the same’.
I’m using this phrase in two connections. First, because it sums up, for me, the review we have been carrying out of
developments in the short-range wireless industry over the last year. For the most part, there have been no major
developments. Pretty much every technology is looking to address the Internet of Things (IoT) or machine to machine
(M2M) opportunity by presenting low power wireless solutions. While many technologies originally intended for
PAN/WLAN applications are now being crow-barred into this sector, only one really new and completely designed-forpurpose contender has presented itself, and that is Weightless. Originally aimed at white space spectrum, Weightless
has in the last month signalled its intention to also operate in unlicensed spectrum – the ISM band. This should allow
Weightless to enter the market much more quickly, as it can do so based on existing silicon solutions.
But my ‘plus ça change...’ observation also applies to the ongoing un-rest in the Bluetooth community following
changes to the system and charges relating to Bluetooth product declarations. Incisor has been covering this matter
since July, and there is no sign of a resolution to the dispute between SIG members and the SIG staff. On one side
there seems to be a willingness to brazen it out, and on the other side (the members), the problem seems to be that
many are restricted as to what they can do by cautious company regulations and a fear for their own jobs.
This can’t be right, and neither can an outright war. There may be a glint of hope on the horizon, and you can learn a
little more by reading my open letter to Bluetooth SIG members on p12 of this issue.
And finally, I am delighted to say that in this issue we kick-off the marketing for our 2015 US Wireless Roundtable,
which will take place alongside the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January. We would be delighted for
your organisation to be part of this must-attend event, and the sooner we know you are in, the sooner you can be part
of the promotional programme.
Vince Holton
Publisher & editor-in-chief, Incisor / IncisorTV
INCISOR.TV FOCUS THIS MONTH
CONTENTS
2015 SHORT-RANGE
WIRELESS REVIEW
Who is doing what, and your chance to
comment.
INCISOR.TV
One for the automotive industry – reviewing
NextGen’s four stage interoperability test
process.
OPEN LETTER TO
BLUETOOTH COMMUNITY
There is movement to try to ease tension
between the SIG and members
UL ASSESSES APPLE PAY
Looking at Apple Pay in both technical
and organisational context
FOLLOW US
Click here
Click here
2015 INCISOR.TV US
WIRELESS ROUNDTABLE
PROGRAMME LAUNCHES
Our biggest video event of the year, and
how you can be part.
EDITORIAL CONTACTS
INCISOR IS PRODUCED/DISTRIBUTED BY:
Click I.T. Limited
www.incisor.tv
Hampshire Gate, Langley, Rake
Hampshire GU33 7JR, England
Tel: +44 (0)1730 895614
CONTACT DETAILS:
Publisher/Editor-in-chief:
Vince Holton · [email protected]
Telephone: +44 (0)1730 895614
Business Development Director:
Nick Kohn – [email protected]
Other enquiries – [email protected]
Contributing writers:
Rebecca Russell,
Manek Dubash,
Paul Rasmussen,
Mads Oelholm.
Views expressed within are those of the Incisor
editorial and management representatives, and
of the representatives of sponsor companies.
Incisor is distributed on a monthly basis
to companies and individuals with an interest in
short range wireless technology.
Subscribe to Incisor free of charge at:
http://www.incisor.tv/subscribe-incisor.php
Should you wish to stop receiving Incisor,
please send a message titled 'UNSUBSCRIBE' to:
mailto:[email protected]
The Bluetooth word mark and logo are registered
trademarks and are owned by the Bluetooth SIG, Inc.
Incisor and the Incisor brandmark are trademarks
of Click I.T. Ltd. All other logos and trademarks
are the property of the relevant companies.
© Copyright Click I.T. Ltd 2014
Click here
3
www.incisor.tv
news
New Weightless-N IoT
standard launches
The Weightless SIG has announced the
launch of Weightless-N, a new open standard
for the Internet of Things (IoT). The
Weightless SIG's central mission to date has
been to co-ordinate industry players to foster
the development of a new communications
standard (called Weightless) to enable
machine-to-machine communications
operating in TV white space and other
spectrum bands that enable the 95% of the
IoT opportunity denied by the high cost and
power consumption characteristics of
traditional cellular alternatives. This latest
announcement complements the existing
Weightless-W standard through extension
into license-exempt frequency spectrum.
Commenting on the announcement,
Professor William Webb, CEO of the
Weightless SIG said, "Enabling the vision of
50 billion connected devices requires chipset
costs below $2, battery life of 10 years or
more and a range of 5km or more to ensure
ubiquitous coverage from a low cost
network," adding that, "The current
Weightless standard delivers on this promise
using the TV white space spectrum and
provides a feature rich solution, but is
subject to regional licensing limitations.
Weightless-N aligns with Weightless values
and offers geographical ubiquity, right now".
Webb noted that TV white space is not
available everywhere and that there are some
use cases where the full feature set of
Weightless-W, which works in TVWS, is
unnecessary. For this reason the Weightless
SIG took the decision to commence
development of a variant of the current
standard termed Weightless-N. The two
variants of the standard, Weightless-W and
Weightless-N will coexist offering benefits to
developers and users according to their
specific use cases.
Weightless-N will typically be deployed in
unlicensed spectrum in the region 800-
900MHz such as the 868MHz band in Europe
and the 900MHz ISM band in the US. It is
also designed to work in licensed spectrum
around these frequencies. These bands are
narrower than the TV white space channels
and dictate the development of a revised air
interface. This work is apparently underway
and being progressed through the Weightless
SIG working groups and is anticipated to be
completed rapidly. The Weightless SIG is
inviting new members to contribute to the
evolution of this new standard and invites
proposals from non-members in the drafting
of the specification.
The development of the new specification is
predicted to be completed in a 3-6 month
timeframe and the Weightless SIG is inviting
companies that currently have proprietary
solutions in this space to engage and adapt
these to comply with the new standard. This
will enable trials in the first half of 2015 with
deployments forecast for the second half of
the same year.
Start-up expert
becomes new CEO of
EnOcean
EnOcean has appointed Dr. Wald Siskens, an
expert in managing innovative technical startups, as the company’s new Chief Executive
Officer (CEO). The plan is apparently for him
to further develop EnOcean’s business in line
with the company’s long-term growth
strategy for the core markets of building
automation and smart home. He succeeds
Laurent Giai-Miniet who left to pursue other
interests in the high-tech sector.
Before joining EnOcean, Siskens held the
position of CEO at the Munich-based
company BEKON, a provider of dry
anaerobic digestion technology for bio-waste
in Europe. To support global expansion, Wald
installed a highly profitable technology
provider business model, demonstrated with
two projects secured in the USA.
“It’s an exciting time to join EnOcean, the
company that freed wireless sensors and
switches from batteries,” Dr. Siskens
commented. “I’m looking forward to actively
building the company’s future path based on
this inventiveness. Besides the established
building automation market, I see tremendous
growth opportunities for the self-powered
technology in fields where the batteryless
approach brings additional benefit, such as
smart homes and the Internet of Things.”
Today, over 350 companies are members of
the EnOcean Alliance, and there are
apparently now more than 1,200
interoperable products based on the
EnOcean technology.
Home audio segment
goes from strength to
strength
Worldwide home audio shipments are on the
up, according to a new quarterly research
programme from Futuresource Consulting.
The latest Q1 report shows that the market
for home audio - integrated audio systems
(IAS), wireless speakers and soundbars - only
declined 10% in Q1 2014 after the strong
holiday season in Q4 2013.
Rasika Iyer, Market Analyst at Futuresource
Consulting told Incisor, "Wireless connectivity
continues to remain an important feature as
the share of wireless products increased from
74% in Q4 2013 to 79% in Q1 2014. The
share of Bluetooth remains dominant at 82%
of overall wireless audio shipments as
soundbars and IAS models increasingly
feature Bluetooth as a basic functionality in
audio products."
As the home audio market develops,
Futuresource research indicates that
soundbars and wireless speaker prices will
start to drop through to 2018, however IAS
prices will remain relatively flat during the
same time period.
4
www.incisor.tv
news
adidas FIT SMART
wristband tracker syncs
with Bluetooth Smart
Ready smartphones
Nordic Semiconductor tells us that adidas has
specified Nordic's nRF51822 System-on-Chip
(SoC) to provide the Bluetooth Smart wireless
synchronization to the adidas miCoach app
running on any Bluetooth Smart Ready iOS or
Android smartphone in the latest addition to
the adidas miCoach digital fitness ecosystem:
the adidas FIT SMART wristband tracker.
The adidas FIT SMART is a real-time tracker
housed in a soft-touch silicon strap with a 17 x
11 LED matrix display, integrated
accelerometer, and optical heart-rate sensor
(mounted on the reverse of the display) that is
designed to be an 'all-in-one' solution for
runners, fitness enthusiasts, and athletes.
The FIT SMART also features an LED 'light
pipe' on the side of the tracker to give users
real-time intensity guidance (e.g. speed up,
maintain, slow down) of their running pace to
enable them to train at the right intensity for
the best results.
According to Nordic, the ultra low power
operating characteristics of its nRF51822 help
enable the adidas FIT SMART to run for up to
five days on a single charge from its internal
200mAh lithium-ion rechargeable battery
(under typical usage conditions).
Simon Drabble, Senior Director of Product
Creation at adidas Digital Sport told Incisor,
"The adidas Fit Smart brings a new level of
simplicity to runners and fitness enthusiasts.
To get the combination of parameters it can
measure simultaneously would typically require
more than one device which involves more
preparation before use.
"In contrast, the adidas FIT SMART is a single
device wrist-worn tracker that's comfortable,
accurate, and as easy to set-up and use as
putting on a regular wristwatch. And in
combination with the miCoach fitness app
allows users to set goals, track progress
against those goals, and/or follow a miCoach
training plan of their choice designed by a
professional athlete or elite coach."
Global navigation and
sensor hub combo chip
from Broadcom
Broadcom Corporation has announced what it
is claiming is the industry’s first low-power
Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) and
sensor hub combo chip to deliver new alwayson location applications for a full range of
mobile devices.
Broadcom describes the BCM4773 as
minimizing battery drain and adding a new
layer of intelligence to location technology on
mobile devices by integrating the GNSS chip
and sensor hub into a single combo chip. The
chip’s architecture enables information from
Wi-Fi, Bluetooth Smart, GPS and micro
electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) to be
calculated on a single system-on-chip (SoC)
instead of the application processor (AP).
Broadcom states that this design drives more
than 80 percent power savings by offloading
from the AP and lowers cost by reducing
board area by 34 percent.
Mohamed Awad, Broadcom Director, Wireless
Connectivity told Incisor, “Broadcom today
extends its leadership by announcing the
industry’s first combo chip that brings GNSS
and sensor hub technology together to
revolutionize mobile apps in areas such as
health, fitness and lifelogging. We are proud to
make all mobile platforms even smarter by
enabling them to dynamically predict and react
to consumers’ needs.”
Additionally, Broadcom claims to be bringing
more intelligence to context awareness by
integrating GNSS and providing a direct
connection to the Wi-Fi combo chip. This
allows a mobile device to know where a user is
and what the user is doing to further
personalize the experience. For example, a
BCM4773-based smartphone can use
information from Wi-Fi, Bluetooth Smart, GPS
and MEMS to recognize when a runner is
outdoors versus inside on a treadmill and
dynamically manage these technologies to
save battery life and optimize the user
experience, all without involving the main AP.
Proliferation of wireless
technologies stokes
demand for RF test
equipment
Researchers at Frost & Sullivan (F&S) believe
that telecom operators’ increased adoption of
wireless technology for mission-critical
applications has revved up the global market
for dynamic electronic general purpose (GP)
test equipment. As the link between cloud
networks and devices (mobile phones, tablets,
notebooks) results in more complex devices
under test (DUT), F&S predicts that the need
for radio frequency test equipment will only
intensify.
The company finds that the market earned
revenues of $3.45 billion in 2013 and estimates
this to reach $4.64 billion in 2018. The study
covers the product segments of oscilloscopes,
signal generators, spectrum/signal analysers,
network analysers, power meters, logic
analysers, electronic counters and multimeters.
Frost & Sullivan Measurement &
Instrumentation Research Analyst Prathima
Bommakanti told Incisor, “Faster connectivity
through the deployment of 5G will also escalate
the demand for higher frequency bands. This,
in turn, will drive the demand for GP test
equipment in the microwave range.”
In product categories such as multimeters,
which have demonstrated minimal
technological progress, F&S believes that
purchases are based on price and availability
rather than functionalities/features, and that
this affects the overall growth of the market.
SUPPORTING
SUCCESSFUL
PRODUCT
LAUNCHES
Wireless Market Access from a name you trust
As wireless technologies and regulations evolve, so does UL. In addition to product safety
certification, we also provide industry leading wireless testing, covering cellular, microwave,
Bluetooth® and radio technologies.
UL is widely known for our technical expertise, attention to detail and market access
solutions. From GCF and PTCRB approvals for cellular devices to Bluetooth qualification,
in country approvals and SAR testing, UL has the accreditations, range of testing services
and knowledge to help you achieve global market access and success whatever your
wireless device.
To get started with UL, go to ul.com/hightech
or email to [email protected]
UL and the UL Logo are trademarks of UL LLC © 2014
6
www.incisor.tv
news
Estimote Sticker
beacons create new
'nearables' tech
category
Nordic Semiconductor tells us that beacon
specialist, Estimote has specified Nordic's
nRF51822 SoCs to provide the Bluetooth
Smart wireless connectivity in its newly
launched Estimote Stickers that Estimote says
herald the arrival of a brand new 'nearables'
beacon product category.
Estimote Stickers are small (approximately
3mm thin), low cost (sub-$10) ready-made
beacons with built-in accelerometers and
temperature sensors designed to be stuck on
everyday nearby objects that Estimote calls
'nearables'. Estimote Stickers can then be
used to provide microlocation and contextual
data about nearables to any Bluetooth Smart
Ready device. This allows developers via
Estimote's accompanying SDK (Software
Development Kit) to build new types of
context-aware apps and help drive growth in
the wider 'Internet of Things' trend.
"Imagine walking down a busy city street,"
explained Steve Cheney, Estimote CoFounder and Senior VP of Business. "As you
walk your eyes and brain cognitively process
the equivalent of terabytes of information
about the world around to you to give you
context and to help you navigate [e.g. there's
a slow moving cyclist about three meters
away travelling towards me; there's a lady
walking ahead of me wearing a pink sweater,
skinny jeans and suede shoes; there's a deli
on my left where I might get my lunch; at the
next road junction I am approaching the
pedestrian crossing sign currently says 'Don't
Walk', etc.]."
Cheney continues: "But if you were to close
your eyes, you can only walk a few steps
before your brain loses its context and
effectively forces you to stop because you no
longer feel confident you know enough about
where you are or where you are going.
"That's the world your smartphone currently
lives in everyday. It's a powerful computer but
it's mostly 'blind' to the world, people, and
objects around it and our mission is to give
smartphones the ability to recognize their
immediate surroundings and so enable a
whole class of apps that can be built on top of
the physical world."
Estimote did all the design work in-house in
partnership with Nordic Semiconductor to
achieve the required sticker-sized level of
integration required without sacrificing
operational reliability or battery life (one year
under typical usage conditions).
"In terms of the inner workings of the Sticker
Beacons," explains Co-Founder and CTO
Lukasz Kostka, "it was super important for
Nordic's nRF51822 SoC to have a 32-bit ARM
Cortex M0 microprocessor and 256 kB of
Flash memory on-board to enable both us and
our customers to run pretty much any
application they require from the Nordic SoC.”
... and nRF51822 beacon
implementations continue
Nordic Semiconductor has also announced
that Polish startup, Kontakt.io, has specified
the nRF51822 to provide the Bluetooth Smart
wireless connectivity in Kontakt.io's Cloud
Beacon pre-integrated beacon hardware
platform.
Kontakt.io says its Cloud Beacon platform will
eventually include a wearable rubber wristband
option (that will also incorporate Nordic wireless
technology) for tracking people such as children
in schools or while out on a school day trip,
healthcare patients, and workers in manufacturing facilities for health and safety purposes.
In operation, Kontakt.io works with its
customers to custom-build the beacon
hardware infrastructure required for their
particular application (right down to the beacon
casing design, color, and logo branding).
Kontakt.io says these beacons are then
delivered as ready-to-go devices that are as
easy to configure as sending an email from a
web browser.
CSR dual mode
Bluetooth platforms
designed as turnkey
solutions
CSR has launched a series of dual mode
Bluetooth 4.1 compliant platforms, aimed
at developers looking to create low latency
and ultra low-power wireless gaming
controllers.
Anthony Murray, Senior Vice President,
Business Group at CSR told Incisor, “With
the CSRB534x series we are delivering a
powerful, flexible and feature rich platform
that can be used with multiple operating
systems. The CSRB534x software
development kit will enable MFi licensees
developing accessories to bring products to
market ahead of the competition with the
CSR MFi v4.0 SDK add-on. The CSRB534x
series integrates much of the game
controller system, enabling cost effective
designs and fast time to market for
developers.”
The first of the new series of gaming
system-on-chips, the CSRB5341 and
CSRB5342, are Bluetooth Smart v4.1
qualified. The new CSR platforms apparently
make use of a highly efficient baseband,
ensuring that system level power
consumption is minimized, giving optimized
performance.
By offering dual mode Bluetooth capability,
integrating the microcontroller, battery
charging capability and much of the
analogue and power management, CSR
claims that there is a significant bill of
materials (BOM) savings over traditional
wireless gaming controller system designs.
In order to help developers bring new
products to market quickly, the new
CSRB534x series launches with a dedicated
software development kit (SDK) and
development board that supports SPP and
GATT and enables flexible data transfer
including HID over GATT.
7
www.incisor.tv
news
Smart wearables
market to generate
hardware revenues,
driven by watches and
glasses
New findings from hi-tech analysts at
Juniper Research has revealed that the
global retail revenue from smart wearable
devices will treble by 2016, before reaching
$53.2 billion by 2019. The market will be
driven by an increase in sales of premium
smart watches and smart glasses over the
next five years.
The report – Smart Wearable Devices:
Fitness, Glasses, Watches, Multimedia,
Clothing, Jewellery, Healthcare & Enterprise
2014-2019 – asserts that the recent entry of
key industry players within the wearables
sector has helped fuel an explosion of new
devices in this increasingly crowded market.
However, it argues that vendors still need to
get over the ‘technology first’ attitude and
think in terms of consumer benefits for an
increased product adoption.
The research observed that consumers are
still unsure about the use case for many
wearable devices, including watches and
glasses. In particular, consumers are
hesitant to adopt wearable companion
devices with functionality that is very similar
to that of smartphones.
Many of the recent developments, and much
of the hardware, in the sector have come
from start-ups and smaller companies. Key
players have begun focusing on platform
promotions, such as Google’s Android Wear,
Samsung’s SAMI data architecture or Intel’s
Edison design platform. This enables them
to respond easily to new device
developments, rather than developing the
devices themselves.
Meanwhile, Juniper anticipates that many of
the more advanced technologies for
wearables will be developed first for the
enterprise and healthcare segments, which
have clearer use cases. These segments will
drive wearable technology forward, before
being adapted for the consumer sector.
TI shows haptic +
Bluetooth kit
Texas Instruments (TI) has introduced a
wireless haptic development kit, providing
system designers with a way to prototype
eccentric rotating mass (ERM) motor and
linear resonant actuator (LRA) haptic effects.
Using Bluetooth low energy (BLE) and a free
iOS app, the Haptic Bluetooth Kit enables
designers to create haptic sequences and
LED patterns for tactile feedback,
notifications and alerts from a pre-licensed
library of more than a hundred distinct
haptic effects, eliminating wires and the
need to design haptic waveforms.
System designers can use the Haptic
Bluetooth Kit to select and test haptic
effects from the Immersion-licensed library
for virtually any touch-enabled application,
from wearables and portable medical
equipment to human machine interface
(HMI) panels and augmented reality. It
features the DRV2605 haptic driver for
ERM/LRA and a SimpleLink Bluetooth low
energy CC2541 wireless microcontroller. The
kit also includes an LRA and alkaline battery
support, which enables designers to mount
the board to any surface for quick
prototyping and integration. The iOS app
allows designers to control on-board LEDs
for attention-grabbing lighting effects.
A TI Designs reference design enables
designers to add haptic technology to
space-constrained, low-power wireless
systems, such as touch remote controls,
smart watches and portable insulin pumps.
TI told Incisor that the Haptic Feedback with
Bluetooth Low Energy and iOS App
Reference Design (TIDA-00266) includes
schematic design and layout files, test
results, sample code and complete user
documentation, as well as a CAD file for a
wrist-worn form factor.
Rohde & Schwarz
announces
manufacturing test
license agreement with
Broadcom
Rohde & Schwarz has entered into a
Manufacturing Test License (MTL) agreement
with Broadcom. Through the MTL agreement,
Rohde & Schwarz can provide certified
verification test solutions to Broadcom WLAN
and Bluetooth customers.
The Broadcom Manufacturing Test License
agreement is a license and validation
program that gives test equipment vendors
access to Broadcom WLAN and Bluetooth
software tools and Broadcom technical
support resources. The program is designed
to provide Broadcom OEM customers with
validated test systems that reduce time-tomarket and improve manufacturing efficiency
and product quality.
The R&S CMW500 wideband radio
communication tester from Rohde & Schwarz
plays a key role in these systems. The multistandard platform offers testing capabilities
for consumer electronics equipment based on
common wireless communications standards
including LTE, WCDMA, GSM, CDMA2000
and TD-SCDMA, and is capable of testing
WLAN and Bluetooth wireless connectivity
standards and positioning standards such as
GPS. The R&S CMWrun sequencer software
controls the platform with turnkey test cases.
R&S told Incisor that users can also adapt
the flexible solution to their own needs and
test environments.
As a result of the MTL agreement, Broadcom
customers gain access to the global Rohde &
Schwarz service and support network.
GS2000
•
•
•
•
World's First Wi-Fi/
ZigBee/ 6LoWPAN SOC
IEEE standards based: 802.11b/g/n and 802.15.4
Low Power for years of battery life
Integrated stack: HTTP (s), TCP/UDP, IPv4/ IPv6 and more
Multimode: Client, AP, Wi-Fi direct, concurrent mode
GainSpan is enabling the "Internet of
Things" with Wi-Fi chips, modules and
software. And its latest low power
GS2000 Wi-Fi/ZigBee chip makes
possible a whole new class of battery
or line-powered connected devices.
Connecting things with Wi-Fi isn't just
a tagline, it's our vision for the future!
www.gainspan.com
9
www.incisor.tv
news
Apple expected to face
tough competition in
mobile payments
The Apple iPhone 6 hit the shelves in Europe
amid much fanfare and media attention. As
Apple’s share of the smartphone market faces
stiff competition from the likes of Android and
Samsung, the company has decided to enter
the final frontier of eCommerce, which is
mobile commerce, with Apple Pay. This move
to enter an already crowded mobile payments
market, has met with scepticism from some
industry observers.
The eCommerce landscape in mobile
payments is expected to be worth more than
£721 billion by 2017. The sector is already
saturated by a variety of different players
including banks, retailers, and technology
companies all offering their own solutions,
leaving companies and merchants with a
bewildering array of options.
Dan Wagner, CEO and founder of Powa
Technologies told Incisor, “Consumers are
finding themselves increasingly swamped by
mobile payment apps. They don’t want
thousands of different apps that can each be
used in a couple of different places - they
want one universal app they know they can
use anywhere. Just as wallets are stuffed with
store cards, users are being asked to fill their
smartphones with individual payment apps
they will rarely use.”
“Retailers are likewise faced with the difficult
decision of which mobile payment service to
choose, with no assurance that the system
will go the distance and be worth the
investment. Without a clear and universal
choice, how can they be sure they have
picked a VHS and not a Betamax?”
Wagner concluded, “Consumers will be
seduced by the ease and convenience of
using one app across all platforms and the
winner will be the app that secures universal
adoption right across the retail landscape.”
Unsurprisingly, then, Powa Technologies has
a solution. The company’s PowaTag app
apparently offers a union of different
technologies fused into one application consumers need to only download one app
and the service requires no infrastructure
costs on the part of retailers, and allows for
seamless adoption into current retailer
infrastructure.
PowaTag uses a variety of triggers, with sales
finalised using pre-entered payment and
address information. By using a variety of
technologies, including QR codes, java script,
iBeacons, near field communication (NFC)
and embedded audio tags, Wagner believes
that PowaTag has the potential to be a
ubiquitous app serving as a common
standard for both retailers and consumers.
CaddieON improves
your golf game
STMicroelectronics tells us that the world’s
golfers can enjoy their sport even more using
the new CaddieON electronic golf-play
analyzer, which uses STM’s sensing, control,
and wireless communication chips.
Launched by tech startup CaddieON Inc., this
personal electronic caddie help golfers automatically track and analyze their game. It
comprises a smart-sensor wrist device, RFID
tags for identifying each club, the smartphone
app, and a player portal in cloud service.
The wrist device reads each club’s tag and
automatically records the round stroke by
stroke, and sends data to the app via
Bluetooth. ST technologies used in the
CaddieON wrist device electronics include the
RFID reader IC for identifying tagged clubs, a
tiny single-chip accelerometer for accurate
stroke detection, and an ultra-low-power
microcontroller for system control. Tuomo
Lalli, founder and CEO of CaddieON told
Incisor, “ST’s proven technologies, easy-touse development tools, and competitive
pricing helped us overcome tough budgetary
and time-to-market constraints, and achieve
a successful result. CaddieON will greatly
enhance enjoyment of the game for golfing
devotees worldwide. I should know, because
I am one.”
“CaddieON is cutting-edge in so many ways,
not only in technological terms but also in its
use of crowd funding and incentives for
customers to help map large numbers of
popular golf courses around the world,” said
Iain Currie, Vice President North Europe
Sales, STMicroelectronics.
TI delivers hightemperature Bluetooth
Smart microcontroller
for industrial and
lighting applications
Texas Instruments (TI) has announced the
SimpleLink Bluetooth low energy CC2540T, a
low power wireless microcontroller (MCU)
that offers an extended temperature range of
-40C to 125C and USB connectivity for
industrial applications. The CC2540T is a
complete solution for development with TI’s
BLE-Stack software and sample applications
including over-the-air download support for
in-field updates.
TI told Incisor that the SimpleLink Bluetooth
low energy CC2540T’s features and benefits
include xExtended temperature range,
allowing for lighting designs with high
junction temperature (and any other designs
requiring to work at conditions above 85C),
and a 97dB link budget delivering link
reliability for long-range applications without
an external front end.
The SimpleLink Bluetooth low energy
CC2540T wireless MCU is part of TI’s free
sample program and is apparently available
now.
10
www.incisor.tv
INCISOR.TV
EVENTS
2015 Incisor.tv US roundtable
programme opens
The fourth annual Incisor.TV USA Roundtable will take place alongside the
consumer electroinics show in las vegas on wednesday the 7th January 2015.
We are inviting all key players in the wireless and technology sectors to
participate in this must-attend industry event, which focuses on innovation and
communication in the Internet of Things.
Since the first Roundtable event in 2012, the programme has rapidly
accelerated its global reach. Just look at the statistics below to see how online
viewings of the roundtable have been growing with each successive event.
INCISOR.TV
INCISOR.TV
Time since published: 2 years, 8 months
Views: 6,773
INCISOR.TV
Time since published: 8 months
Views: 12,869
PLUS: Preview movie - views 8,666
Time since published: 1 year, 8 months
Views: 7,653
INCISOR.TV
Time since published: 2 months
Views: 5,599
11
www.incisor.tv
INCISOR.TV
EVENTS
2015 Incisor.tv
USA Roundtable
A focus on innovation and communication in the Internet of Things & M2M
he Incisor.TV video Roundtable
has now become a well
established and key event in the
technology industry calendar.
Conceived originally as a standalone
Incisor.TV event that brought together
the most important wireless industry
organizations, put them into an open
forum, and required them to debate
important issues affecting this ultracompetitive industry, the Roundtable
has grown and developed.
T
As you can see from the Roundtable
viewing figures that we have published on
the previous page, the Roundtable’s
popularity as a global window on
developments from leading tech
companies is growing extremely quickly.
In just two months, our latest European
Roundtable movies have achieved 83%
of the cumulative viewings of our first
Roundtable, which took place nearly
three years ago. Impressive, eh? And
these numbers just keep growing.
Our focus for the 2014 US Roundtable
was ‘The role of wireless in machine to
machine communication and the Internet
of things’. This year, in response to
approaches from a broad view of
potential participants, we are expanding
the focus of the Roundtable event. We
retain our core interest in wireless
technology, and open the doors to other
players who are innovating in the IoT
sector.
Be a participant, AND make your
own movie
We continue to add value for all
participants, too. As part of the
Roundtable package, we film individual
interviews with each participating
organisation. The resulting movies will be
published in Incisor, streamed from
Incisor.TV and promoted via our social
networks. This combination ensures that
Incisor.TV movies are viewed by thousands
of developers, CTOs, CEOs, engineers and
tech-industry watchers across the globe and in perpetuity. This is a powerful benefit
of the Incisor.TV Roundtable event.
Interested?
We will be reaching out to all of our target
organizations, but places will be limited,
and so if you would like your company to
be included, then contact
Vince Holton for further
information.
Email: [email protected]
Vince Holton
Incisor.tv
12
www.incisor.tv
Open letter to bluetooth
sig members
For the past four months Incisor has been reporting on the disquiet inside the Bluetooth Special Interest Group over
changes to the way that the SIG manages product declarations and the fees that it collects as a result, and the way
that these changes were implemented. This debate centres around what is known as the Declaration Process
Document (DPD).
Readers who are unfamiliar with this story can catch up by reading Incisor’s features in the June, July and September
issues.
Over the course of these four months, several things have become apparent:• There are members who were, from the beginning and remaining so today, very unhappy. These include members who
have been instrumental to the development of both Bluetooth technology and the SIG itself. These are not just disgruntled
individuals, these are global companies with a very large invested stake in Bluetooth.
• It is apparent that a vast swathe of Bluetooth members has a very low level of understanding of what changes have been
made, and what their responsibilities are. As a result, we understand that SIG member companies are failing to apply the
new requirements and to instruct their customers correctly.
• It has been made clear to us that members who have approached the SIG with their concerns have not been responded
to in a way that they have felt was satisfactory. Indeed, these members have expressed a concern that the SIG staff and
the Board of Directors have become detached from SIG members.
• There is a major problem for many individual SIG members and the companies that they represent in that it is
unacceptable for them to confront the SIG publicly because of potential commercial or legal issues that could result, and
because their individual employment would be under threat. As a result, many members are having to stay silent, and the
changes that have been made by the SIG, which are seen by those members to have been introduced without
consultation or discussion, are being allowed to become established.
Some pressure has been applied by the more vocal members. This has resulted in a certain amount of modification of
communication by the SIG on some elements – notably IP protection. However, one of the key grievances – cascading
payments – remains unchanged.
The question has been how the views of the unhappy members could be aired and their questions formally presented to the
SIG for response, while at the same time protecting the individuals and the companies that they represent? There is an
emerging concept that it would be useful for there to be a member body to achieve these goals. Apparently, there are many
precedents for this type of resource inside industry SIGs, Alliances and Forums.
In my role as an un-paid, unofficial representative of the Bluetooth community, who happens to have a conduit to large
numbers of Bluetooth SIG members, I would like to invite any SIG member that is a) confused by the changes that have
been made b) worried c) unable to pursue their concerns through public channels, to contact me. I will consolidate these
responses, and if an entity should be formed to present a co-ordinated message to the SIG, I will bring those members and
the group’s managers together.
I would like to make it crystal clear that no member’s views will be published in Incisor or anywhere else, nor will the contact
that they have made be shared with anyone without their explicit approval.
I also want to state clearly that this invitation in based purely on a desire to restore calm inside the Bluetooth SIG. From the
beginning of this debate, I have invited the SIG staff and BoD representatives to present their case and their views, and to
respond to any points made by Bluetooth SIG members in Incisor’s pages. That door remains wide open. Should the
Bluetooth SIG staff wish to make statements on this subject in Incisor, I am equally ready to donate space for them to do so.
My contact details are widely known, but for the record, my email address is [email protected].
Yours, knowing this letter will make me popular with some and not with others,
Vince Holton
Publisher/Editor-in-chief, Incisor.
INCISOR.TV
13
2014 short-range wireless review
2014
SHORT-RANGE
WIRELESS
REVIEW
ur annual review of the shortrange wireless (SRW) market
has taken various forms over
the last few years. This year we have
opened the door to the SRW
community and allowed them to
provide their own summary of where
things are at – the state of their own
individual nations.
O
Inevitably, everyone will tell us that everything is
sunny in their own territory, and they will lay out
how their technology is taking over the world.
That’s fine. But a lot of people know where the
skeletons are hidden! If, after reading these pieces
from the various contributors, you would like to
share your own comments with us, send them to
Vince Holton – [email protected]. If we get enough
comments, and enough that people are prepared to
go on record with, we will create a follow-up piece.
There. You have been invited to make an Incisor
feature!
And the following are the submissions we
have received, listed, in order to avoid
accusations of favouritism (!) in
alphabetical order.
➔
14
2014 short-range wireless review
Contributor:
Suke Jawanda, CMO,
Bluetooth SIG
Bluetooth® technology is fast becoming
the wireless technology of choice to
enable the Internet of Things. It’s being
adopted at an astounding rate, across a
host of industries. Research firm IHS
Technology estimates that Bluetooth
device shipments reached 2.4 billion units
in 2013. Fast forward to 2018 and IHS
predicts shipments will nearly double to
4.8 billion units. Several important factors
are driving this growth.
The release of Bluetooth Smart in 2010
unleashed a new wave of wireless
innovation, providing developers an ultralow power wireless solution coupled with a
flexible application development
environment. Bluetooth Smart is the magic
behind the wireless boom we are
experiencing. It’s quietly spawned multibillion dollar sectors like beacons and
wearables—taking them from niche to
mainstream in remarkably short time. And
it’s continuing to fuel creativity in the
automotive, industrial and m-health
sectors too.
Key to this growth is the native Bluetooth
support baked into all major mobile
operating systems, including Android, iOS
and Windows Phone. With this support
developers know that they can use
Bluetooth to connect their device to the
billions of smartphones, tablets, and PCs
consumers already own. This device
interoperability has spawned innovation
from companies large and small. In fact,
78% of wireless projects on Kickstarter
and Indiegogo, including the three most
successful projects of all time, use
Bluetooth.
Beyond mobile, full-featured operating
systems like Android L and Apple iOS are
making their way into “always on”
gateways like TVs, set-top and media
streaming boxes. With native Bluetooth
support, these gateways will be an
important part of turning the smart home
from vision to reality. Unlike others,
Bluetooth Smart can connect multiple
home devices both simply and
inexpensively. Long stuck as the “next big
thing”, Bluetooth Smart is poised to take
the smart home mainstream as more and
more companies choose to develop with it.
With large-scale device interoperability
well established, the next industry
challenge will be creating data
interoperability: providing consumers an
integrated dashboard that spans many
different connected devices. We’re just
starting to see the building blocks of data
interoperability put into place. Apple
HealthKit and HomeKit, and Google Fit are
the first information consolidation
platforms emerging that can take data
from Bluetooth Smart devices and provide
the user with a holistic view of the status
of their health, fitness or home
environment and connecting them to cloud
applications via cellular or Wi-Fi.
Together, Bluetooth Smart, Wi-Fi and
cellular are making the IoT a reality with
each filling an important role. Bluetooth
Smart has been particularly important,
taking new IoT implementations
mainstream seemingly overnight. The fast
rise of wearables in consumer electronics
and Bluetooth Smart beacons in retail are
just two examples. The trend will continue.
Bluetooth 4.1 laid the foundations for IPv6
connectivity to Bluetooth devices. And
Bluetooth Smart mesh-networking is
already being implemented by companies
such as CSR and Zuli. Both developments
will be important enablers for the IoT and
the smart home and beyond.
In all, companies looking to connect their
product or service to potential customers
numbered in the billions need a
mainstream wireless standard. Bluetooth
Smart is that standard - the common
language connecting these billions of
devices and applications.
Contributor:
Ruth Wilson, Chair,
Marketing Working
Group, DECT Forum
The DECT industry is today alive and
kicking hard towards new initiatives.
Working alongside its partner
organizations, such as Cablelabs, ETSI and
HGI, the DECT Forum has galvanized the
resurgence of DECT technology towards
new applications, opening up new markets
and different technology flavours such as
CAT-iq, DECT 6.0, J-DECT and ULE.
Building on its significant worldwide
spectrum coverage, the opening of new
geographical markets has seen the
introduction in recent years of DECT 6.0 in
the US and J-DECT in Japan, and the
DECT Forum continues to look towards
China and India as two further potential
geographies for spectrum allocation.
DECT continues to be a stalwart of the
Enterprise industry and has seen extended
use in business, hospitals, hotels, prisons
and the oil industry with specialist
telecommunications equipment covering
large installations with roaming and
handover capabilities inherent to its
operations. Devices such as rugged
handsets, headsets and paging provide a
key service to the function of such
industrial applications. Other innovations
have seen the use of DECT technology in
gaming applications and conference audio
systems for example.
The migration of the switched networks
towards IP networks promoted the
innovation and introduction of CAT-iq,
which enables support for key features
such as HD Voice, Multi-line, Multi-call, infield software upgradability, and a whole
raft of other useful features which regenerated the cordless industry and
introduced DECT to the home gateway
market. Adopted by the key service
providers and now established as the key
voice technology for gateway integration
with a large installed base, this provided
the perfect platform for the latest initiative
towards markets such as Home
Automation, Security and Climate Control.
We look forward to seeing ULE as the key
player in the IOT.
Building on the properties of the mature and
secure DECT technology, combined with
exceptional range, low cost of ownership,
ease of use and interference free operation,
the DECT Forum, in conjunction with ETSI,
has initiated the update of the underlying
DECT standards to provide a low power
variant which meets the needs of these new
market applications. Such was the
importance for the industry that a sister
organization, the ULE Alliance, was created
to focus on this technology variant.
The strength of DECT, underpinned by the
initiative from the DECT Forum, leaves the
expectation that we shall continue to see
healthy extensions to DECT, and look
forward to the next initiatives for continued
growth of the technology.
Contributor:
Graham Martin,
Chairman of the
EnOcean Alliance
“Wireless technology is the inevitable
solution to solve the challenges of our
modern lives”
➔
15
2014 short-range wireless review
“Many countries around the world are now
turning to renewable energy sources.
China, for example, is expected to take
the lead in green energy in 2014. Another
significant development in this context
emerged this year in particular: building
automation is seen as a mandatory part of
energy-efficiency goals. This is reflected,
for example, in The President’s Climate
Action Plan in the US, the Energy Savings
Opportunity Scheme (ESOS) in the UK or
the Energy Efficiency Directive EnEV 2014
in Germany.
As a result, building owners, facility
managers, system planners and installers
have to intensively deal with technologies
and standards in this field to find the best
solution for their individual building needs.
For building automation, wireless solutions
tend to be considered more and more as
the state-of-the-art approach to cover the
flexibility and to improve carbon footprint
at significantly reduced time and costs,
compared to wired systems. The main
challenge is to integrate all building
disciplines into an intelligent control
system – an essential condition to take full
advantage of the opportunities for
increasing comfort, security and energy
efficiency.
Interoperability is key to this. Therefore, in
2014, the EnOcean Alliance continued in
further developing the cross-vendor
approach of the EnOcean energy
harvesting wireless standard, for example
with a specification of a unified process
for remote commissioning of EnOcean
networks. This offers a comfortable and
practical way to expand or change
installations and eases the networking of
different building aspects into one,
intelligent overall system.
Due to the foundation of the EnOcean
standard of interoperable and
standardised communication, the selfpowered wireless technology has become
established in other fields of application
such as in smart homes and LED lighting
control. In 2014, this development
proceeded at a fast pace, together with
new partners of the EnOcean Alliance to
drive open interfaces and specifications
and thus combining different standards.
This open network approach paves the
way toward "artificial intelligence" in
building automation. Integrating the
different technologies more closely means
that a system can also access sensor data
more directly, regardless of the situation,
as well as run calculations on this basis
and control actuators intelligently. The
data can be stored and processed locally
or in a cloud-based infrastructure, so that
once it has been collected the data can be
used for different applications.
Finally, this year was a significant period
for the sustainable energy harvesting
wireless technology to unfold its benefits
for other frequencies. It has conquered the
consumer market with the first-ever
kinetic-powered control of a consumer
LED lighting system. At 928 MHz, the
batteryless wireless standard has been
expanded for the Japanese market. Here,
the demand for energy harvesting wireless
solutions is very high in order to meet
several requirements of the economic and
social development in Japan, including
energy efficiency measures in buildings
and industry, assistance systems for an
aging society, more safety and comfort in
homes or monitoring of precious
resources.
The review of the developments in the
EnOcean eco-system in 2014 gives us a
good indication on what to expect in the
following years: the energy harvesting
wireless standard, offering flexible and
maintenance-free collection and
transmission of all types of data, will be
established as an inevitable wireless
technology that help us perform the larger
tasks of our modern lives.”
Contributor:
Andor Miles-Board,
Marketing and
Business Development
Manager, NextGen
Technology
Perspectives on low energy wireless
and automotive development
As the number of connected devices we all
use daily steadily increases, and with the
advent of wearable technology, Bluetooth
Smart is an everyday part of our daily lives
and is changing the automotive space.
The automotive world has the capacity to
integrate Bluetooth Smart technology in
areas such as keyless entry and tyre
pressure sensing to the integration of
smart connected devices with the vehicle
systems. Bluetooth Smart is enabling
applications beyond Bluetooth hands free
and music streaming. Bluetooth Smart
connected smartphone apps for the car
bring a new age in consumer telematics
that help the car owner track, analyse and
control the vehicle and its infotainment
systems.
With this increase in functionality
interoperability challenges also rise. The
increasing number of connected devices
and connectivity methods, coupled with
connected apps and cloud services all
lead to a multiplication in the use case
scenarios that can impact interoperability
and user experience.
For the car buyer, telematics and
infotainment features have joined styling,
functional and performance considerations
as key in the purchase decision. The
automotive world is focussed on safety,
reliability and long term user satisfaction,
while the consumer electronics world is
driven by innovation above all else. Now
with the advent of the ‘appification’ of the
car, Android Auto and Apple Car Play
provide further integration of the car and
Internet connected consumer electronics.
The increasing relevance of Bluetooth and
low power wireless profiles in a world of
ubiquitous in car connectivity represents a
convergence of the rapid life cycles of
mobile and consumer electronics and the
longer life cycles and performance
expectations of the car.
The long term interoperability of the car
with these rapidly changing consumer
technologies and complex functionality will
require new strategies to support the user
experience and ensure customer
satisfaction. NextGen are working at the
cutting edge of this user experience curve
to model the complex use cases that can
arise, helping to inform and assist the
development of the next generation in car
platforms.
Contributor:
Geir Langeland,
Director of Sales &
Marketing, Nordic
Semiconductor
Since its inception as part of Bluetooth
v4.0, Bluetooth Smart (formerly known as
Bluetooth low energy) has made its way
into millions of products. And sales
continue to climb. At Nordic
Semiconductor, for example, we expect
our sales of Bluetooth Smart chips to triple
this year compared with 2013. But no
matter how successful, technology evolves
and Bluetooth v4.0 has already been
superseded by v4.1.
Consumers would benefit greatly if ultra
low power (ULP) wireless
products––whether heart rate monitors,
toys, humidity monitors or any of
thousands of wireless accessories
➔
16
2014 short-range wireless review
powered by Bluetooth Smart––could
update their software to immediately take
advantage of enhancements.
Connection Handover User Experience
Recommendations, which offers a helpful
guide for any developer seeking to give
consumers seamless access to Bluetooth
and Wi-Fi services using simple, secure,
one-touch setup of NFC.
Updating a product’s software via a
wireless link is nothing special; we’re all
familiar with upgrading apps on our
smartphones via the cellular network, or
downloading security patches for our
portable computers’ operating systems via
Wi-Fi. Often, we don’t even know these
upgrades are happening; for example,
some set-top boxes (STB) automatically
update their software while owners sleep.
Contributor:
Paula Hunter,
NFC Forum Executive
Director
However, until now, such updates were
beyond the capability of ULP wireless
technology. That’s about to change due to a
newly-introduced generation of Bluetooth
Smart chips that are able to easily and
rapidly upgrade software stacks or application code via their own wireless links.
It is a time of accelerating progress
across the NFC ecosystem in general,
and at the NFC Forum, in particular.
Taken together, these changes suggest
that the market for NFC is becoming both
broader and more developed, all of which
is good news and well-timed.
A key requirement is a transceiver with a
plenty of flash memory allowing the new
software to be fully downloaded and
verified before the previous version is
overwritten. (Some commercial ULP
wireless chips are supplied with one-timeprogrammable (OTP) or read-only-memory
(ROM) that can’t be easily erased and
rewritten making wireless updates
impractical.)
Upgrades are also made much easier if the
Bluetooth Smart stack and the application
program are cleanly separated. That way,
either can be upgraded without the risk of
corrupting the other code. (Again, many
wireless chips on the market interweave
the stack and the application code making
it impossible to update the device without
overwriting the entire software – which is
both time-consuming and risky.)
Nordic’s nRF51 Series SoCs equipped
with the company’s latest S110 SoftDevice
(a self-contained stack and its associated
management framework) include an Over
the Air Device Firmware Upgrade (OTADFU) feature that supports rapid wireless
software updates. Fast updates save
power (extending battery life) and limit the
risk of a user attempting to use the
product before the revision is complete.
Over-the-air upgrades are of benefit to
product developers because new features
can be added to existing products and
bug fixes can be implemented even when
products are in the hands of consumers.
But perhaps more importantly, consumers
will be encouraged to take even greater
advantage of wireless accessories if they
know that their devices will stay up to date
because the products can receive periodic
software upgrades that bring genuine new
capabilities. This is a far more compelling
solution than having to throw away the
hardware and buy a new product to take
advantage of enhancements.
Specifications and certification
clear the path for market
development
NFC Forum specifications have reached
a new level of maturity with the
announcement of revisions to nine key
specifications that deliver greater
interoperability, faster read and write
performance, mediated handover, and
lower power consumption. Equally
significant, the revised specifications
were packaged as an integrated and
streamlined set designed to be used
together to deliver improved efficiency.
Specifications form the basis for
certification, and in September, we
announced Analog Certification testing.
This is an important milestone, because
the NFC Forum analog certification offers
the world’s first detailed evaluation of the
RF performance of an NFC device. Along
with Logical Link Control Protocol (LLCP)
and Simple NDEF Exchange Protocol
(SNEP) testing, our Certification Program
now offers comprehensive testing for all
of the NFC communication layers.
Alliances bring complementary
technologies closer together
The NFC Forum and Bluetooth SIG have
again collaborated by jointly updating and
publishing the Bluetooth Secure Simple
Pairing Using NFC Application Document,
which provides developers with examples
of how to implement Bluetooth Secure
Simple Pairing (SSP) using NFC on the
latest generation of Bluetooth devices. It's a
vivid reminder that NFC and Bluetooth are
complementary wireless technologies that
can work in concert in a variety of use
cases.
That point was further driven home by
our recent publication of a white paper,
Market developments create new
opportunities for consumer
adoption
Beyond the realm of the NFC Forum,
other developments in the NFC
ecosystem are having their own impact
on the growth of NFC.
A good example is Host Card Emulation
(HCE), which a number of services
providers are now implementing. We see
HCE as an exciting development for the
NFC market because it provides an
additional way to perform NFC
transactions. HCE, which is supported
by NFC Forum specifications, opens new
doors for service providers to bring their
innovations to market.
With Apple’s recent announcement that it
has built NFC into its new iPhone 6
devices, all of the world's leading
smartphone manufacturers now support
NFC. This can only give businesses
greater confidence about pursuing NFCrelated initiatives, while enabling millions
of consumers to experience NFC's onetouch interaction.
Trends are encouraging new
initiatives
What do all of these recent happenings
mean for the future of the NFC Forum?
We believe now is the time to intensify
our efforts to shepherd new NFC
application development and
deployment, through both the activities of
our SIGs and our new “Tap Into NFC”
Developer Program. We're supporting
developers with events, networking
opportunities, and a dedicated website
comprising developer kits and technical
specs, news and product spotlights.
It is likely that many of these new and
diverse NFC products will be related to
the Internet of Things. Whether it's "the
connected car," "the smarter home," or
wireless health and wellness products,
NFC will play an important role by
providing the essential link connecting
the physical and virtual worlds, trigger
action at the user's command,
automating tasks throughout people's
lives, and bringing intelligence to physical
objects, such as signage and point-ofsale displays.
Based on the progress we've seen lately,
that day is coming sooner than many
of us might have expected.
➔
17
2014 short-range wireless review
manufacturers out there who have not yet
brought their products up to date, and
the deadline is the 1 Jan 2015.
Contributor:
Joe Lomako, Product
Manager – M2M,
Consumer Technology
Division, UL VS LTD
Since the last rendition of this wireless
industry review we have seen the
emergence of a few new technologies or
protocols to add to the ever growing
family. Some may not exactly be ‘new’,
but may actually have just resurfaced
with renewed vigour because the market
now has a demand for the solution they
provide, or because the technology has
been marketed in a way to create this
demand. The reason I say family is
because I believe that that is what it is. In
my experience, I have seen all of these
technologies come through our labs, and
they all have something individual to offer
but are very much related (they are just
radios after all).
Of course, the more technologies there
are extolling their own independent
virtues, inevitably there will be more
competition. With increased competition
comes innovation, and so we see great
new ideas and new products emerging
on the market. Applications have never
been so diverse, and include automotive,
smart home, telematics, wearable, health
and fitness, medical, radiolocation and
even pet monitoring!
Having more products and applications is
fantastic, particularly for the geek (of
which I proudly consider myself one!).
However it does have a (slight) down side,
particularly in the unlicensed band world,
and that is a growing appetite for a place
in the spectrum. Take the 2.4GHz band, for
example. This band is getting quite busy.
So, for these technologies to co-exist, they
have to be intelligent and adaptable in
order to be able to effectively operate and
to be of use to the customer. And that is
inevitably what the endgame for the
development of these technologies is,
isn’t it?
The standards that apply are also
evolving with the technologies. I have
recently reported on the update (for
Europe) to EN 300 328, namely version
1.8.1 which now has a test case to verify
the adaptivity of these products as well
as a few other applicable new test cases.
Unfortunately, there are still some
Summarising the whole picture, the shortrange wireless market is growing, with
analysts predicting massive growth in the
short range IC market such as Bluetooth®,
ZigBee and WLAN. Of course, companies
such as ours are always ready and willing
to assist in maintaining and assisting
successful growth.
Contributor:
Avi Barel,
Director of Business
Development,
ULE Alliance
In 2014, the ULE Alliance is making a
major leap forward towards establishing
the ULE technology as a key player in the
IOT marketplace. ULE technology is
operating in a dedicated radio frequency
range, enabling secure and interference
free connectivity and delivering longest
communication range. The combination
of superior performance, coupled with
ultra-low power consumption - makes
ULE the most suitable technology for
Home Automation, Home Security,
Climate control and more applications.
Usually standardization activities take
several years from the start until release
of certified products. Thanks to the
maturity of the DECT technology, the
foundation of the ULE technology, the
ULE Alliance and its members were able
to develop a standardization framework
in less than two years since the founding
of the Alliance.
The definition of the ULE Application
layer (HAN FUN – Home Area Network
FUNctional Protocol) was completed in
October 2013, it includes the definition of
over 20 device profiles (sensors,
actuators and more). Additional device
profiles are in the process of being
defined. For 2014 the Alliance selected
the development of the certification
program as the key focus activity. The
development of the program is in the final
stage of preparation. ULE Alliance
teamed up with AT4 wireless S.A. of
Spain in this development, and AT4 was
selected as the first certification partner.
The ULE certification will be based on
interoperability tests against the test-bed
(similar to WiFi); the golden devices for
the test-bed, developed by members of
the Alliance, have already been selected.
Commercial products, with ULE
certification and logo, can be expected in
the market in early 2015.
ULE Alliance members joined forces to
develop the common implementation of the
HAN FUN application layer software. The
development was funded by the Alliance.
The software will be available to the Alliance
members and the broader developer
community as open source software.
Having a common implementation is
intended to reduce the interoperability
issues to a minimum and simplify the
certification process, which translates into
the savings for the alliance members.
Currently three chipset manufacturers are
making ULE chips; with this number
expected to grow.
The ULE Technology in enjoying high
visibility and interest in the market. New
members are quickly joining the Alliance,
the current membership tally stands on 55
members; the list includes industry giants,
such as Deutsche Telecom, Panasonic,
Huawei, Cisco, Arcadyan, VTech, Gigaset
and others.
After completing the current phase of
standard and certification program
solidification, the ULE Alliance will set up
in 2015 the second phase of certification
for products based on 6LawPAN, with IP
protocol running in the ULE nodes.
Contributor: Greg Ennis,
VP Technology,
Wi-Fi Alliance
2014 has been another exciting year for
Wi-Fi Alliance® and the industries we
support. Our organization’s 15th
anniversary celebrations were
accompanied by some exciting
certification program launches and
continued innovation as we look to a
broadening array of market sectors and
opportunities for Wi-Fi®.
In April this year, the Wi-Fi Alliance
updated one of its most popular product
certification programs to include Near Field
Communication (NFC) “tap-to-connect.”
Wi-Fi CERTIFIED Wi-Fi Protected Setup™
now offers consumers a simplified
option to set up Wi-Fi connections,
➔
18
2014 short-range wireless review
even on devices without a user interface.
Users can now connect devices certified
for this capability by simply tapping them
together, activating a security-protected
Wi-Fi connection. With Wi-Fi connecting
an expanding range of smart home and
Internet of Things devices, this usability
enhancement will be most welcome.
We also expanded our broadly-adopted
Wi-Fi Direct® certification program,
adding a set of services built on a platform
of new usability mechanisms. The added
optional features in the certification
enhance the usefulness of the popular
peer-to-peer technology, as devices
certified to support the new services can
now “discover, connect and do” in a single
step, and immediately implement
interoperable services for several common
tasks.
Later this month, you’ll see an exciting
announcement about our Wi-Fi CERTIFIED
Passpoint™ program, which delivers inpocket connection, user authentication
and security in Wi-Fi hotspots. Equipment
certified in this program is foundational to
numerous Wi-Fi roaming arrangements
emerging worldwide, and we are very
excited about the momentum we’re seeing
in the service provider arena.
Looking beyond 2014, our roadmap
features a number of key elements that
industry stakeholders will want to watch:
• The Wi-Fi that consumers and
enterprises have come to rely on every
day keeps getting better. Wi-Fi Alliance
members are bringing new power saving
mechanisms to Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™
products, improving the mobility
experience, and much more. An update
to Wi-Fi CERTIFIED ac, the most
advanced Wi-Fi available, will validate
interoperability of several performanceenhancing features in 2016.
• New frequency bands will deliver just
the right kind of connection. WiGig
CERTIFIED™ will deliver interoperable
products supporting multiple-gigabit
data rates for room-range connectivity
in 60 GHz in 2016. The Wi-Fi Alliance
has also initiated early work to define
certification programs based on
802.11ah and 802.11af, for operation
below 1 GHz to support longer-range,
very-low-power connectivity.
With more than 20,000 products (and
counting!) now Wi-Fi CERTIFIED, and
more than 20 distinct technology
development projects currently underway
in our organization, the Wi-Fi Alliance is
not resting on its laurels. We are looking
ahead to 15 more years of innovation,
collaboration, and delivering the best user
experience. We hope you will all continue
your involvement in and contributions to
our organization.
Snippets
Contributor:
Ryan Maley, Director of
Strategic Marketing,
ZigBee Alliance
The ZigBee Alliance, a non-profit
association of organizations creating open,
global standards that define the Internet of
Things for use in consumer, commercial
and industrial applications, has had a very
successful and busy year.
• Alliance standards continue to appear in
more and more products available to
consumers around the world. Recent
announcements by GE, Logitech,
OSRAM, Philips, Wink and others
demonstrate the growing dominance of
ZigBee in the smart home and
connected lighting markets.
• In August, the Alliance announced that
there are now over 1,000 ZigBee
Certified products available from
members. This exciting landmark is a
result of ZigBee’s prominence in the
Internet of Things industry, with a variety
of markets benefiting from the high
consumer demand for smart devices.
• In September, the Alliance announced
ZigBee Remote Control 2.0, an update
to the industry-leading standard for
smart home remote control technology.
The standard continues to use the
faster, more reliable radio frequency
technology that allows operation from
greater distances than infrared. This new
standard includes a “Find My Remote”
feature, complete control of the set-top
box or TV set, and control of set-top
box connected smart home devices to
the palm of your hand.
• The Alliance continues important work
for the utilities industry including a
ZigBee Smart Energy update to address
requirements for the Great Britain smart
metering initiative and a Neighborhood
Area Network standard to help utilities
standardize smart grid outside the home.
The Alliance is pleased to see more and
more companies express interest in playing
a role in IoT as they recognize the growing
demand for innovative, smart products and
services. Every day, more ZigBee products
are deployed in homes, businesses, and
utilities all over the globe. This has
prompted a renewed interest in ZigBee the only open, global wireless standard
designed to address the unique needs of
device-to-device communication.
The Internet of Things will drive
wireless connected devices to
40.9 Billion in 2020
According to an updated market
forecast from ABI Research, the
installed base of active wireless
connected devices will exceed 16
billion in 2014, about 20% more than
in 2013. The number of devices will
more than double from the current
level, with 40.9 billion forecasted for
2020.
Analyst Aapo Markkanen commented,
“The driving force behind the surge in
connections is that usual buzzword
suspect, the Internet of Things (IoT). If
we look at this year’s installed base,
smartphones, PCs, and other ‘hub’
devices represent still 44% of the
active total, but by end-2020 their
share is set to drop to 32%. In other
words, 75% of the growth between
today and the end of the decade will
come from non-hub devices: sensor
nodes and accessories.”
CSR and Lenovo deliver
Bluetooth® Smart television
remote control
CSR has partnered with Lenovo to
make its new S9 and S52 Smart TVs,
which the two companies claim are
the world’s first TVs with fully featured
Bluetooth Smart remote controls. The
remotes, which are currently available
in China, are not only low power but
also have increased responsiveness,
and make controlling TV content a
much more user-friendly experience.
The end-to-end solution allows users
to more easily navigate content,
browse the web and play games on
their Lenovo Smart TVs.
19
www.incisor.tv
Stripped-down iOS and
Android-compatible beacon
platform supports $15 per
month subscription model
anadian startup, Reteneo, is using
Nordic Semiconductor's nRF51822
SoCs to provide the Bluetooth
Smart connectivity to smartphones in a
stripped-down iOS and Androidcompatible 'Puck' beacon platform that
Reteneo says supports a monthly
subscription model as low as $15 per
month and is delivered ready-to-use
beyond a simple set-up and programming
procedure.
C
The Reteneo Puck beacon platform also
allows multiple retailers and merchants to
offer beacon-based services to consumers via
a single 'Reteneo Life' app instead of having
to download and set-up a separate app for
each retailer or merchant of interest. And all
Pucks are remotely maintained by Reteneo as
part of the subscription service and replaced
as and when required (e.g. when their
batteries are about to expire).
Cesar Rego, CEO of Reteneo told Incisor, "We
can foresee a day where every retailer or
merchant has beacons, but we cannot foresee
a day where consumers are willing to have
hundreds of different beacon-compatible
apps on their smartphones. It's never going to
happen given that people are already
complaining that they have too many apps on
their smartphones as it is."
Rego continued: "That's why we've taken a
different approach and designed our beacon
platform to work with a single app that is
relevant to all retailers and merchants within a
particular locality."
In operation the Reteneo Pucks continuously
advertise their presence to any passing iOS or
Android Bluetooth Smart Ready smartphone
within a range of up to 100m (300-ft). Once
the Reteneo Life app is running on the device,
it reads this advertised 'feed' and contacts a
cloud database and asks if there are any
current offers or promotions attached. If the
answer is 'yes' the app then checks with end
user's stated in-app preferences to see if the
offer is something the end-user has expressed
an interest in. If it is, the user will be
immediately alerted of the offer via the app.
The Reteneo Pucks themselves are the size of
regular hockey pucks and feature just the
Reteneo Pucks continuously advertise their presence to any passing iOS or Android Bluetooth Smart Ready
smartphone within a range of up to 100m.
Nordic nRF51822 SoC, antenna, and two
watch batteries. The ultra low power
operating characteristics of the nRF51822 will
allow the puck to run for an average of two
years in continuous operation. Reteneo says
another major benefit of the Nordic nRF51822
SoC is its ability to do firmware updates overthe-air, a platform feature that Reteneo plans
to include in the future.
Rego’s colleague, Reteneo's President JeanChristophe Titus added, "In contrast to many
beacons on the market today that carry in our
view a lot of unnecessary technological
overhead, we partnered with Nordic to strip
as much complexity as possible out of our
Pucks to maximize battery life and minimize
cost and complexity. The only 'advanced'
feature we did include was a Puck
identification and battery level monitoring
running on the nRF51822's embedded ARM
Cortex M0 MCU that anonymously supplies
this data to our cloud servers as part of the
beacon polling process to see if an offer
exists."
Titus continued, "This process is invisible to
the customer and consumer and is only used
by us in order to notify customers when and
where to replace installed Pucks, that we
simply post to them as part of their Reteneo
Puck subscription service. And unlike other
more sophisticated beacon technologies, we
do not share consumer information, collect
personal information, or track the user's
location via geo-tagging."
Reteneo also claims that its subscription
service is what differentiates the company
within an extremely active industry right now.
"In the beacon market today you typically
order your beacons and get an SDK [software
development kit] from which you build your
app which requires costly engineering
expertise and development," continues Rego.
"The other option is to come to a company
like us, pay $15 a month for each beacon, and
walk away at anytime if it doesn't work out for
you. In addition, our opt-in approach allows us
to create custom feeds should someone want
a private or restricted beacon platform."
"The beacon market is in a very early stage of
its evolution and developing at a rapid pace,"
commented Geir Langeland, Nordic
Semiconductor's Director of Sales & Marketing.
"How the finer details will pan out remains to
be seen, and this is attracting an enormous
amount of innovation which is extremely
exciting. And I am particularly proud that Nordic
Semiconductor's wireless technology is
consistently being selected to be at the heart of
various leading-edge beacon solutions."
Reteneo says its Puck beacon platform is
currently being Beta tested at various
locations in and around the company's
home town of Toronto.
20
www.incisor.tv
UL assesses
Apple Pay - what
do we know?
September 9, Apple
announced Apple Pay as its
mobile payment solution. UL’s
Transaction Security division has been
looking at Apple Pay in both technical
and organizational context, and has
been trying to work out how much is
clear about the solutions, as well as
what questions still remain to be
answered.
On
Apple Pay is based on NFC technology for
proximity payments and an embedded
Secure Element in the iPhone and Apple
Watch. Apple Pay uses industry-standard
EMV contactless protocols over NFC (and
MSD – Magnetic Stripe Data - contactless
for backward compatibility for the US
market). This makes it compatible with a
wide range of contactless payment
terminals in deployment today.
Apple Pay is compliant to the EMVCo
tokenization framework and works with a
tokenized PAN (Device Account Number)
and Cryptogram (transaction specific
dynamic security code). Apple only uses
the token services from payment schemes
(currently only Visa Token Service,
MasterCard Digital Enablement Services
and American Express Tokenization
Service).
SECURITY
The iPhone 6 and Apple Watch use an
embedded Secure Element to store
information for payment. On the iPhone the
Secure Element contains the fingerprint
information for TouchID authentication. It is
unclear if the Secure Enclave used in the
iPhone 5S, is also available in the iPhone
6. UL assumes that the fingerprint data is
stored in the Secure Element on the
iPhone 6. Apple does not store card holder
information and account numbers (PAN) on
the iPhone. Instead of actual debit and
credit card information, a unique Device
Account Number (tokenized PAN) for each
card is assigned, encrypted and stored in
the Secure Element. These Device Account
Numbers are only stored in the Secure
Element of the iPhone and the token
service. Not on Apple servers.
When making a purchase, the Device
Account Number alongside a transaction-
specific dynamic security code is used to
securely process the payment. So the
actual credit or debit card numbers are
never shared with merchants or
transmitted with payment. The focus of
Apple is on the security aspects of
payment.
Apple is putting the focus on privacy.
Because the iPhone (and Apple Watch)
does not contain actual debit and credit
card information, the merchant only
receives a tokenized PAN. As part of the
transaction, the Secure Element receives
payment confirmation. This information is
used to store recent purchases in
Passbook. There are no indications that
the Device Account Number (tokenized
PAN) is used to generate a dynamic PAN
for each transaction.
AND UL CONCLUDES...
Apple Pay looks promising for mobile
payments. Apple is positioning itself as a
trusted partner. The focus is on security
and privacy. Apple facilitates mobile and
remote payments but is not interested in
the data gathering and processing that
other companies see as a benefit from
mobile payments. The choice of NFC by
Apple makes it clear that NFC is the
standard communication technology
between handset and payment terminal.
Apple Pay must still prove itself, and a lot
of details about how Apple Pay works are
still unknown. As an independent expert,
UL's Transaction Security division will keep
investigating new payment solutions such
as Apple Pay to make sure that the
payment solution fits the demands of our
customers.
Snippets
iPhone 6 Plus: $100 Costlier to
Buy—Just $15.50 More
Expensive to Make
For consumers opting to buy Apple
Inc.’s iPhone 6 Plus rather than the
iPhone 6, the additional 0.8 inches of
screen size will cost $100 extra.
However, for Apple, the iPhone 6 Plus
costs only about $16 more to
produce, delivering to the company
an even heftier margin than normal for
its wildly popular smartphone line.
The bill of materials (BOM) of the
iPhone 6 equipped with 16 gigabytes
(GByte) of NAND flash memory
amounts to $196.10, according to a
preliminary estimate by the Teardown
Mobile Handsets Intelligence Service
at IHS Technology. The cost of
production rises to $200.10 when the
$4.00 manufacturing expense is
added.
The BOM of the iPhone 6 Plus
amounts to $211.10, and rises to
$215.60 with the additional $4.50
manufacturing cost added. This is
only $15.50 higher than the total for
the iPhone 6.
Headphone market booming
The global headphones market
expanded by nearly 10% in volume
last year to reach 286 million units
shipped, triggering 16% growth in
retail value and revenues of $8.4
billion, according to a new market
report from Futuresource Consulting.
In-ear headphones dominate global
shipments, accounting for 61% of
volumes, and with the average retail
price on the rise due to incorporation
of new features such as microphones
for mobile use and water proofing for
sports use. Almost every major
vendor has introduced a pair of
sports headphones onto the market,
offering innovative designs, inclusion
of microphones and/or Bluetooth and
other features. The sports
headphones segment accounted for
4% of global shipments, and
Futuresource forecasts show this will
grow to 8% by 2018.
21
www.incisor.tv
low energy wireless news
ZigBee Remote
Control 2.0: updated
standard for RF-Based
remote controls
Broadcom enables
Netatmo smartphonecontrolled home
thermostat
The ZigBee Alliance has announced the
ratification of the ZigBee Remote Control
2.0 standard.
Netatmo, a company developing consumer
electronics for a connected lifestyle, has
selected the Broadcom Wireless Internet
Connectivity for Embedded Devices
(WICED) Wi-Fi technology to enable its
smartphone-controlled thermostat by
French designer Philippe Starck. .
ZigBee Remote Control is a standard for
smart home remote control technology and
ZigBee Remote Control 2.0 continues to
use the faster, more reliable radio
frequency technology that allows operation
from greater distances than infrared. This
new standard includes a “Find My Remote”
feature, the ability to connect to other
devices in the smart home, as well as
complete control of the set-top box or TV
set.
The new ZigBee Remote Control 2.0
standard provides consumers with the
capability to directly control all devices in a
home with one remote control. All parts of
a ZigBee smart home network including
lights, heating, air conditioning, security
and home monitoring can be operated with
the same remote control. It also enables
telecom companies and cable operators to
integrate their smart home offerings with
set-top boxes.
Tobin Richardson, President and CEO of
the ZigBee Alliance told Incisor, “ZigBee
Remote Control offers significant
enhancements to life in the smart home.
Continuing to lead and define the Internet
of Things, the Alliance and our members
have completed work on ZigBee Remote
Control 2.0 in order to deliver all the
benefits of the smart home right to the
palm of your hand.”
The standard is now available for product
development and can be downloaded for
free from the Alliance website.
The Netatmo Thermostat syncs with a free
smartphone app, downloadable via the App
Store or Google Play, providing users with
anytime, anywhere control of home
temperatures. By evaluating user habits,
including sleep patterns, the Netatmo
Thermostat adapts to the user's lifestyle
and adjusts automatically to provide
optimal temperatures throughout the day
and night.
Brian Bedrosian, Broadcom Senior Director,
Wireless Connectivity told Incisor, "Wireless
connectivity is bringing cloud-enabled
home monitoring to a wide array of
household appliances, greatly enhancing
their utility, functionality and extensibility.
Consumer Electronic makers such as
Netatmo rely on the performance and
connected features of our WICED platform
as a competitive differentiator."
The Netatmo thermostat, which is available
now, is described as widely compatible,
can be used with fuel, gas and wood
systems, and can replace most wired and
wireless thermostats. According to
Netatmo, users can self-install the
thermostat in less than ten minutes.
GreenPeak ZigBee
chip for remote
controls
GreenPeak Technologies has launched the
GP565 Smart Home radio chip for remote
controls, that supports voice control,
motion sensing and the new ZRC 2.0
protocol.
The new protocol enables a single remote
control to control all the home’s connected
devices – including turning on lights,
opening curtains, managing appliances
and environment, etc. Other new ZRC 2.0
features include the ‘Find My Remote’
feature, which enables a remote control to
start beeping and/or flashing when it is
lost and making it much easier to find. It
can be activated by a physical Find My
Remote button on the home’s
entertainment system or Smart Home
devices.
The ‘IR-RF Download’ feature provides
complete control of legacy audio and
video equipment, either through RF4CE or
infrared, with a hybrid remote control,
without requiring the user to select the
correct IR settings for the TV. ZRC 2.0 is
fully backward compatible with existing
ZRC 1.x implementations.
The GreenPeak GP565 is available in two
versions with 120k or 248k Flash (and 8k
or 16k RAM) memory. The 40-pin footprint
can support a keyboard scanner interface
or other IO interfaces required for remote
control implementations.
22
www.incisor.tv
low energy wireless news
TEST &
CERTIFICATION
CORNER
CHANGES AFOOT
FOR RADIO AND
EMC!
By Joe Lomako
M2M Product manager, UL
[email protected]
Nordic Semiconductor
and CONNECTEDEVICE
join forces on ULP
wearable mPayment
solutions
that is durable, waterproof with a very
long battery life. There are so many
scenarios where this approach to
payment makes better sense — giving
money to your children, swimming at the
beach, skiing in the mountains, or simply
a short city trip."
Nordic Semiconductor and wearables
pioneer CONNECTEDEVICE are to
cooperate on the development of mobile
payment solutions for wearable devices.
The two companies will work together to
integrate Nordic's Bluetooth Smart
technology into CONNECTEDEVICE's
mPayment-enabled wearable product
range.
NFC Forum adds
analog testing to
certification program
Thomas Søderholm, Business
Development Manager for Personal Area
Networks (PAN) at Nordic Semiconductor
told Incisor, "The ease and efficiency of
Bluetooth Smart wireless connectivity
between iOS and Android smartphones is
fuelling the adoption of wearable
technology and its many exciting
applications."
Mobile transactions are expected to soar
in the coming years, with Gartner
predicting the total value of mobile
payments will top US$720 billion a year by
2017, a 200% increase in just four years.
The market for wearable technology will
grow in parallel with mobile payments, by
some estimates reaching as many as 250
million units by 2017.
Henri-Nicolas Olivier, CEO of
CONNECTEDEVICE, commented,
"Consumer acceptance of mobile
payments will require convenient and
reliable solutions. The low power
consumption of Bluetooth Smart
technology is a critical advantage, allowing
us to create mPayment-enabled wearables
that do not require regular recharging.
Wearables can be the simplest and most
secure way to pay. Instead of a wallet with
cash and credit cards, imagine a wearable
The NFC Forum has added analog testing
to its Certification Program. The NFC
Forum claims that its analog certification
will be the world’s first detailed evaluation
of the Radio Frequency (RF) performance
of an NFC device, and that it will assure
that the certified device fulfils the RF
requirements and is compliant with the
NFC Analog Technical Specification.
Consistent RF performance is essential to
smooth and swift NFC interactions,
fulfilling NFC’s promise of a seamless
experience for the consumer. The testing
milestone comes at an opportune time:
according to IHS Technology, global
shipments of NFC-enabled mobile
phones will surge four-fold from 2013 to
2018, reaching 1.2 billion units and
penetrating 63% of the global mobile
phone market. Transparency Market
Research reports that the NFC market is
expected to reach 20 billion USD by
2019.
The NFC Forum also announced the
availability of Logical Link Control
Protocol (LLCP) and Simple NDEF
Exchange Protocol (SNEP) certification
testing, increasing testing coverage for
the communications protocol layers.
LLCP is the communication protocol
used in NFC's peer-to-peer mode, and
SNEP is a protocol for exchanging NFC
Forum defined record structures on top
of LLCP.
There has been a lot of
discussion recently about the
new EMC and Radio Equipment directives
which have recently been published and due
to be transposed into local law by 2016.
These “new” or updated directives are a
result of the New Legislative Framework (NLF)
which has an objective of aligning the
administrative requirements of selected
Directives.
The technical requirements are not really very
different but there are some changes to
scope and responsibilities. For example the
Radio Equipment Directive (RE-D) now
includes Radiodetection equipment and
Broadcast receivers (now no longer in the
EMC Directive). The RE-D also encourages
the use of a common charger particularly for
mobile phones and a registration scheme for
products which have “low level” of
compliance. There are several other changes
as well which are beyond this blog. So if you
are a manufacturer of radio and/or electronic
equipment then you really do need to
consider how these changes might affect you.
But, of course, help is at hand with UL. For
any questions on the new directive contact
[email protected]
UL is also attending and visiting a number of
events so if you want to find out more about
these legislative changes pop along and see
us and we would be happy to assist
• EMCUK 7th and 8th October 2014,
Newbury, UK
• Electronica, 11th to 14th November 2014,
Munich, DE
• Wireless Congress, 12-13th November
2014, Munich, DE
We look forward to seeing you. Oh, and don’t
forget the M2M Compliance video
Click on the
movie screen
to watch
Compliance
video
INCISOR.TV
23
www.incisor.tv
Wireless plays role in falling
PND shipments
ccording to a new research report
from the analyst firm Berg Insight,
global shipments of Personal
Navigation Devices (PNDs) declined from
28 million units in 2012 to 22 million units
in 2013. There are signs that the decline is
slowing and some emerging markets still
experience growth. However, on the
whole, the PND market is set for a
continued downturn on a global basis.
Berg Insight forecasts that PND shipments
will decline to only 10 million units
worldwide in 2019. A number of
developments are affecting the PND
market. Retailers have reduced shelf
space and marketing for PNDs in favour of
other consumer electronics products.
A
Competition from other navigation solutions,
especially navigation apps, is also
intensifying. Over time, PNDs will also face
further competition from in-dash navigation
systems as more car brands launch low cost
systems. Moreover, the installed base of
PNDs is already high and replacement cycles
are likely to be prolonged since PNDs have
matured considerably and many devices are
now sold with lifetime map updates, giving
users less reason to replace
their existing devices as
frequently.
The user experience for
handset-based navigation
apps is now improving
through better integration in
the car. Some vendors have
released NFC-enabled car
mounts enabling the owner
to configure the handset to
turn on the GPS and launch
a navigation app when the
phone is placed in the
mount. A majority of car
manufacturers have also
started to offer smartphone
integration solutions that connect the
vehicle’s infotainment system with the user’s
smartphone via Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, USB or
HDMI. It is then possible to display and
control smartphone apps using the
touchscreen and controls in the car.
Higher smartphone adoption along with
broader availability of low cost and free
navigation apps are important factors for the
continued increase in usage of mobile
navigation services worldwide. “The number
of mobile subscribers worldwide using a
turn-by-turn navigation app on their handset
at least once per month grew from 150
million in 2012 to 180 million in 2013”, André
Malm, Senior Analyst, Berg Insight told
Incisor. He adds that in most markets,
smartphones from major vendors now
come bundled with free navigation apps.
IN NEXT MONTH’S INCISOR:
WIRELESS IN SPORTS & FITNESS
There will be opportunities to contribute editorial and advertising
for this feature.
If you would like to participate or would like further information
regarding the partnership opportunities with Incisor, please contact
Vince Holton: [email protected] or [email protected]
INCISOR.TV
24
www.incisor.tv
Smartphone connectivity
presents both opportunities
and challenges for automotive
processor chip suppliers
he use of smartphones in motor
vehicles—already a near-ubiquitous
phenomenon—is the most disruptive
trend in the automotive infotainment business
today, presenting both challenges and
opportunities for automakers and their processor
semiconductor suppliers, according to a new
report from IHS Technology.
T
The most promising prospect for automotive
processors in the years ahead will be in the
telematics portal head unit, which can connect with
a smartphone for mobile broadband connectivity.
Revenue for automotive infotainment processor
chips for telematics portal head units will grow to
$508 million in 2018, up from slightly less than
$128 million in 2013, as shown in the attached
figure. And while this particular application
accounted for only 8 percent of total global
automotive infotainment processor market revenue
in 2013, its share will surge to 30 percent in 2018.
In comparison, the automotive processor segment
with the highest revenue last year, head units for
navigation, will shrink dramatically by 2018.
Revenue will plunge to $51.0 million in 2018, down
from $367.8 million in 2013, as navigation becomes
a standard feature provided not only by multimedia
and telematics portals but also by smartphones.
“Smartphone use in vehicles has led to two
divergent approaches to head-unit designs, one
replacing smartphone and the other one embracing
them,” said Tom Hackenberg, senior analyst for
microcontrollers and microprocessors at IHS. “For
the most part, automakers are heeding the call to
accommodate mobile devices. This explains the
dramatic rise in revenue for telematics portal head
units, which address the complexities of the humanmachine interface as well as the increasing
consumer demand for ubiquitous connectivity.”
To keep up with such consumer preferences,
automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEM)
are providing systems that are more extensively
integrated. Not only will infotainment systems come
with features such as networked displays, controls
built into the steering wheel and large touch
screens, cars will also be able to capitalize on
users’ smartphones to connect with the various
integrated systems of the vehicle, in order to offer a
richer and more up-to-date experience.
The great growth in new features from automotive
OEMs is expected to take market share away from
aftermarket vendors, which will be hard-pressed to
exceed the rich user experience delivered from preinstalled and highly integrated infotainment
systems.
HITTING THE RIGHT MIX
Some crucial challenges will face vehicle OEMs
when developing media-rich cars. A feature-laden
infotainment solution adapted from a consumer
electronics design has a potential risk, however
insignificant, of introducing previously unknown
flaws or clashing with critical systems electronically.
This can create a liability issue in vehicle design.
Also, excess or inappropriate infotainment can be
construed as driver distraction—another liability for
the OEM. On the other hand, such concerns must be
weighed against the potential for an inadequate user
experience if car makers offer unsophisticated
smartphone connectivity options, which could tarnish
brands and make them seem irrelevant. Striking the
correct balance—between a safe driving experience
on the one hand, and the evolving demands of the
connected consumer on the other—is creating a
narrow but contentious design challenge for nextgeneration vehicle infotainment, Hackenberg noted.
The demand for a user experience commensurate
with smartphones and tablets has additional
implications for automotive infotainment, Hackenberg
added. The disparity between the rapid development
cycle of multimedia processors and the carefully
tested development cycle of automotive OEMs means
that the infotainment system designer must be
creative in enabling flexible product-line solutions to
accommodate a rapidly changing supply chain.
Another hurdle for automotive OEMs is to match
consumer expectations of their infotainment
experience. In this case, vehicle owners may want
their connectivity interaction with the car’s
infotainment system to look and feel the same as
when they deal with their portable devices.
The problem is especially acute because mobile
handsets come and go at a rapid pace, with new
models and updates developing and introduced
during a period of one year or less. Automotive
makers, meanwhile, need to maintain a consistently
high standard of quality, and it could take years to
implement the new developments in connectivity,
such as those related to interfacing with mobile
devices like smartphones.
For the premium vehicle market, which is more likely
to embrace multimedia and Internet connectivity
features by replacing the need for a smartphone, this
connotes designing a more modular and costly
approach that can evolve at the pace of mobile
technologies. For the more mainstream market
embracing the smartphone for processing
applications, this will mean a constant struggle
with mobile device compatibility.
AUTOMOTIVE
CONNECTIVITY
NOW
NextGen are helping customers to manage
the interoperability experience beyond
Bluetooth, Cellular, Wi-Fi and USB connectivity
to include mobile app integration and cloud
technologies. With the integration of these
technologies users will experience more complex
use cases and car manufacturers will need to
develop validation strategies to mitigate conflicts
in these use cases.
The decision of GM to focus on Apples CarPlay
& Android Auto ahead of its own in car apps
recognises that Apple and Google’s ecosystems
can provide better support for general consumer
apps. However NextGen strongly feels that there
is great potential for proprietary automotive
centric apps unique to the requirements of the
OEMS that still provide rich functionality and
special features related to the brand or a
particular vehicle related feature.
The in car apps space will be populated by two
classes of application: generic services and apps,
running on consumer ecosystems, and more
specialised applications which leverage features
enabled by the OEM proprietary interfaces such as
remote locking, diagnostics, economy and service
status and both classes of app will coexist, as will
the consumer cloud based platforms and
proprietary platforms they run upon.
NextGen hold a huge library of all key mobile
devices on sale in all major worldwide markets
and profile these devices for compatibility with all
connectivity technologies and support for the
various app ecosystems and connectivity scenarios.
While it’s easy to assume that Apple and Google
integration might lead to ubiquity of smartphone
powered apps in the dashboard, NextGen feel the
future is likely to be more complex. While
consumer app integration may be headline
features, consumers will continue to expect the
infotainment systems to provide a solid integrated
feature set, to be augmented, not replaced by
consumer cloud based services.
In addition to the device libraries and
connectivity portfolios NextGen has developed an
extensive range of test cases, linked to user
scenarios to check the behaviour and the
interoperability performance of consumer and
OEM specific applications across devices.
NextGen are engaged in modelling these
complex use scenarios to predict, test and
map the interoperability performance of the in
car systems as the connected car and
infotainment platforms evolve. You can register
online for free access to further
information and resources at
www. nextgen - technology . com,
or for further information email:
[email protected]
25
www.incisor.tv
high speed wireless news
Wi-Fi Alliance enhances
Wi-Fi CERTIFIED Wi-Fi
Direct
The Wi-Fi Alliance has added to its Wi-Fi
Direct certification program a set of services
built on a platform of new usability
mechanisms. The added optional features
support new services that can now “discover,
connect and do” in a single step, and
immediately implement interoperable services
for several common tasks.
Underlying the enhancements is a new
application service platform designed to make
it easier for the industry to develop new
applications to operate over Wi-Fi Direct
connections by providing a common approach
to service discovery and onboarding. Products
supporting the Wi-Fi Direct Toolkit will offer a
developer interface to the platform for use
when building applications to run on Wi-Fi
Direct connections. Rather than relying on the
user to configure a connection before using an
application, an application itself will be able to
initiate a Wi-Fi Direct connection between
devices from various brands.
Four services are now certified in the program:
• Wi-Fi Direct Send - One or more devices
can now send and receive content with
minimal user interaction
• Wi-Fi Direct Print - With a single command,
print documents directly from a smartphone,
tablet or PC
• Wi-Fi Direct for DLNA - Devices supporting
DLNA interoperability guidelines discover
each other before connecting to stream
content
• Miracast - devices can implement the
updated device and service discovery
mechanisms of Wi-Fi Direct to enable
screen mirroring and display in one step
ABI Research estimates that two billion Wi-Fi
Direct devices have been shipped to date, and
that 81 percent of all Wi-Fi devices will be
Wi-Fi Direct-enabled by 2018. The Alliance
tells us that Wi-Fi Direct has been widely
adopted, with more than 6,000 certifications
completed since the initial program launch in
October 2010.
Broadcom powers
handheld wireless X-ray
security scanner
American Science and Engineering (AS&E) has
selected the Broadcom Wireless Internet
Connectivity for Embedded Devices (WICED)
Wi-Fi technology as the connectivity
component for the handheld Z Backscatter
imaging system.
The MINI Z handheld X-ray detection system
is a portable, single-sided imaging system that
can be used to scan objects in hard-to-reach
areas such as unattended bags, backpacks,
or packages in a subway or bus with no set
up required. It uses AS&E's Z Backscatter
technology, an X-ray imaging technology that
detects and highlights the organic materials
that transmission X-ray systems can miss,
such as plastic guns, ceramic knives,
explosives, and drugs. The device provides a
real-time image of its target on a tablet screen
using Z Backscatter technology and
Broadcom's WICED Wi-Fi module for a
wireless connection to the scanner. The MINI
Z is the first portable screen implementation
based on the WICED platform.
Joe Reiss, AS&E Vice President of Product
Management told Incisor, "The MINI Z system
represents an entirely new class of product for
the detection industry, an effective, lightweight
scanner that — for the first time — enables
security, customs, and public safety officials to
quickly determine if threats or contraband are
present in hard-to-reach environments, such
as the interior of cars, aircraft and watercraft.
Broadcom's WICED technology provided the
complete development platform we required
to get to market quickly with this groundbreaking, innovative new product."
802.11ac Wi-Fi CPE
shipments to capture
18% of total access
points
The worldwide Wi-Fi customer premises
equipment (CPE) market is expected to
grow 11% in 2014. According to ABI
Research’s Market Data, Wi-Fi Customer
Premise Equipment, total shipments of Wi-Fi
access points, routers, and residential
gateways are set to surpass 176 million
units by the end of 2014. “Growth is
expected in all regions, driven by increased
broadband penetration and more connected
devices in homes,” commented Jake
Saunders, VP and practice director.
Since its WLAN market inception in 2013,
shipments of the 802.11ac standard have
accelerated. In the consumer Wi-Fi
equipment market, D-Link and NETGEAR
lead 802.11ac access point shipments. “The
combined shipments of the two companies
represented more than 20% of worldwide
802.11ac shipments in 1Q 2014. ABI
Research expects that nearly 32 million
802.11ac access points will be shipped in
2014,” added Khin Sandi Lynn, industry
analyst.
ABI noted that shipments of Wi-Fi devices
with older generation standards such as
802.11a/b/g have dropped significantly over
the past few years as they were replaced by
802.11n products. The enterprise Wi-Fi
market has also experienced increased
deployments of 802.11ac devices. Cisco
and Aruba Networks sold the largest
numbers of 802.11ac access points in the
enterprise Wi-Fi market; a combined total of
0.1 million 802.11ac access points in 1Q
2014. The enterprise class Wi-Fi equipment
market is expected to grow to generate
revenues of $US8.1 billion by the end of
2019.
26
www.incisor.tv
high speed wireless news
Wi-Fi Alliance
statement regarding
connected vehicle
Request for
Applications
Incisor hears from the Wi-Fi Alliance that the
United States Department of Transportation
has issued a Request for Applications (RFA)
for the next stage of its connected vehicle
certification program. This initiative promises
to advance the United States towards widescale implementation of both vehicle-tovehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure
capabilities aimed at improving traffic safety
and efficiency.
The Alliance believes that the success of the
connected vehicle certification program will
hinge on delivering interoperable products
and solutions that governments, industry, and
consumers can depend on. As the industry
organization responsible for certification of
products implementing the IEEE 802.11
standard, the Alliance says that it is
positioned to play a key role as the U.S.
connected vehicle program matures into the
certification and deployment phases.
The standards for connected vehicles cover a
range of protocol layers and functionality. IEEE
802.11 and 1609 reside at the lowest levels –
the foundation levels for the full set of
functions – and the Alliance suggests that the
experience it has built up developing
interoperability programs for 802.11-based
and higher layer products can be used to
advantage within the connected vehicle
certification programs.
Broadcom claims 5G
combo chip doubles
Wi-Fi performance
Broadcom has announced what it is calling a
5G Wi-Fi (802.11ac) 2x2 Multiple Input
Multiple Output (MIMO) combo chip for mobile
devices, claiming that the BCM4358 delivers
unparalleled throughput, Bluetooth coexistence performance and indoor location
accuracy. Broadcom says that the chip will
VIDEO SHOWCASE
You know we’re sold on the idea of using
embedded video here at Incisor.TV. This
means we scan the Internet for examples
of video being used to promote wireless
technology.
From time to time we will showcase them
here at Incisor.
This month we are featuring the movie
‘The Connected Hospital’ from Laird.
Click on the screen here to watch Laird’s
movie.
INCISOR.TV
enable OEMs to design high-end smartphones
and tablets with twice the Wi-Fi performance
Today's content-centric consumer spends an
average of 4-5 hours a day on Wi-Fi. With 650
Mbps Wi-Fi data throughput and 50 percent
better coexistence performance with Bluetooth,
Broadcom predicts that consumers will be able
to download content two times faster, stream
videos with less buffering and connect to
multiple Wi-Fi and Bluetooth devices
concurrently (e.g. listen to music while playing a
game) without interference issues. In addition,
improved location accuracy down to one meter
will allow new and better indoor location-based
services to become viable.
David Recker, Broadcom Senior Director,
Wireless Connectivity told Incisor, "The
combination of 5G WiFi and 2x2 MIMO unlocks
the full potential of today's smartphones and
tablets. These technologies are becoming de
facto requirements for connectivity in high-end
mobile devices. With the BCM4358 we are
addressing critical multi-radio interference
challenges while setting a new bar for
performance that reflects Broadcom's
continued commitment to be first to deliver the
most powerful solutions in the market."
27
www.incisor.tv
events
DATE
EVENT
LOCATION
NOTES
LINK
Oct 4 - 6
2014
Wi-Fi Alliance
Member Meeting
Berlin, Germany
-
http://www.wi-fi.org/news-events/events
Oct 7 - 8
2014
Wearable Technology: San Francisco,
Adoption and
California, USA
Monetization Summit
-
http://www.wearabletechinnovations.com/
Oct 8
2014
Wearable Tech.
Conference 2014
ASIA
Taipei, Taiwan
-
http://www.wearable-technologies.com/
events/wtconference-2014-asia
January 7
2015
Incisor.TV Wireless
Roundtable USA
Las Vegas,
Nevada, USA
4th annual staging of this
key industry debate
Enquiries – [email protected]/
[email protected]
January 6 - 9
2015
2015 Consumer
Electronics Show
Las Vegas,
Nevada, USA
-
http://www.cesweb.org/EventsAwards/Events/2015-CES-Unveiled
Subscribe free of charge to
Incisor, and access other products and
services from Click I.T. Ltd at
www.incisor.tv
INCISOR
TM
connecting
the internet
of things
FOLLOW US
Click here
Click here
Click here
PRODUCED/ DISTRIBUTED BY:
Click I.T. Ltd
Hampshire Gate
Langley, Rake,
Hampshire GU33 7JR, England
Telephone: +44 (0)1730 895614
Incisor provides commercial and
promotional opportunities in the
short range wireless sector.
Contact: Vince Holton
Email: [email protected]
Nick Kohn
Email: [email protected]
Tel: +44 (0)1730 895614
Incisor is a trademark of
Click I.T. Limited.
©Copyright Click I.T. Ltd. 1998 - 2014
www.incisor.tv