Atlas Cargo RFID Tag Can Offer Industrial Ruggedness and a 50+ Ft. Read Range

QUAKERTOWN, Pa. --(Business Wire)-- RCD Technology, designer and manufacturer of application specific RFID products, today announced the release of its rugged, high performance, cargo tag – called the Atlas Cargo Tag. This new passive RFID tag boasts a read range of 50+ ft. and is a perfect solution for the growing demand to manage large, mobile assets such as trailers, military vehicles, shipping and cargo containers as well as other equipment that is difficult to track.

“The tag was developed based on feedback and requests from customers who trust RCD to provide reliable, quality products that are tailored to difficult RFID applications,” said Sandra Garby, vice president of product management and co-founder of RCD Technology. “Our customers requested a tag that had a longer read range, was less expensive and more impervious to the inherent environmental stresses than other products on the market. The opportunity to provide solutions for various long range applications reflects RCD’s commitment to raising the bar on quality and performance of passive RFID tags.”

Shipcom Wireless tested RCD’s Atlas Cargo Tag for use in offshore oil rig container tracking applications. While the Atlas tag surpassed expectations in read range and durability, the overall evaluation exposed Shipcom's oil and gas team to a new level of RFID performance.

“The read range ability of the Atlas Cargo Tag consistently demonstrated superior performance with mobile and fixed readers delivering close to 80 feet in read range,” said Sam Falsafi, senior principal of Oil & Gas, Shipcom Wireless. “While the Atlas clearly exceeded our expectations for tracking materials in the most remote areas in the world, such as an offshore oil rig, its performance and reliability, has triggered a whole host of new application ideas in other Energy sectors as well. The Atlas tag has provided a ‘game changing technology’ and opened the door to use UHF passive tags in many applications where read range is required to be greater."

The Atlas withstands harsh environmental conditions and can be mechanically attached or adhered to any surface including metal, wood and other industrial materials. With its robust read range, the Atlas tag could be used as a more cost effective solution in some active applications, where RTL is not necessary.
 
For more information, visit www.rcdtechnology.com

New Single-Chip RFID Data Logger with Sensor Can Reduce Medical and Environmental Safety Concerns

WOLLERAU, Switzerland --(Business Wire)-- IDS Microchip, a fabless semiconductor company focused on all aspects of radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology, today began shipping development kits to early adopters for a first-of-its-kind RFID sensor and data logging chip, the IDS-SL900A. Based on the popular EPC Gen2 standard for supply chain applications, this new single-chip solution enables a vast new array of medical, food, healthcare and environmental-supervision applications that ensure quality and/or freshness. Like its high-frequency (HF) version, the IDS-SL13A introduced last year, it can automatically track, monitor, time-stamp and record temperature, pressure, humidity, light, sound and other information about any goods in supply chain or cold chain transport. However, unlike any other RFID solution, it also can be configured to notify users automatically of an event. This event-driven capability enables various applications in the cold chain, pharmaceutical, and food and health industries, as well as applications in the construction industry, and makes it possible to determine the conditions of materials used, in an economical, non-invasive and practical way. The IDS-SL900A’s sensor reading range of up to five or six meters is at least triple that of other data monitors/loggers. IDS Microchip will demonstrate the new IDS-SL900A at RFID Journal LIVE! 2010 in Orlando, Fla., Apr. 14-16, and at Euro ID 2010 in Cologne, Germany May 4-6, 2010.

Oluf Alminde, director of Sales & Marketing at IDS Microchip, said, “The new SL900A chip and sensor helps prevent the use of expired or faulty goods that could endanger people’s lives. For example, in medical and healthcare applications its automatic alarm can be set to warn users when freshness dates expire for food or pharmaceutical items such as insulin in the fridge, or for goods on store shelves. In terms of environmental safety, the SL900A sensor can be used to detect humidity in concrete instantly and effortlessly – replacing costly bridge closings, traffic reroutes, and jack-hammering, for example, with accurate assessment simply by driving across a bridge roadbed that has the chip embedded in it. The SL900A eliminates hassles and keeps people safer.”

For further information, visit www.ids-microchip.com.

New Standards Based Battery Assisted Passive (BAP) RFID Platform

SANTA CLARA, Calif. --(Business Wire)-- Intelleflex, specialists in Extended Capability RFID, today announced their next generation, standards based Battery Assisted Passive (BAP) XC3 technology platform. The new XC3 technology platform, comprised of RFID chips, tags, reader modules, fixed readers and mobile hand held readers, supports both the existing EPCglobal Class 1 Gen 2 standard and the emerging ISO 18000-6C Class 3 standard, which just received final technical approval.

The new Intelleflex XC3 technology platform provides industry leading BAP RFID performance and capabilities that are normally associated with active RFID solutions, such as: read/write operating ranges up to 100 meters, 60 kbits of on-chip extended memory, security using multi-layer password protection and over-the-air data encryption, and sensor support. These capabilities come at a significantly lower price point than traditional active tags and will enable applications previously not served due to prohibitive tag cost. Intelleflex is upgrading their existing tag and reader family with the new XC3 technology.

“Our customers have been asking for solutions that provide better visibility into, and management of, their cold chain operations,” said Jeff Wells, President and CEO of Franwell, an RFID software integrator and solutions provider. “Existing solutions are either too costly or lack the performance required in RF challenging environments. Intelleflex’s XC3 technology is the first RFID solution to meet our customers’ needs, providing the performance required at the right price. We are looking forward to implementing solutions for our customers based on the Intelleflex XC3 technology.”

“The Intelleflex XC3 technology represents a breakthrough for RFID as it enables cost effective, real time access to tag data even when the tag is buried in a pallet of produce or a sealed package,” said Peter Mehring, President and CEO of Intelleflex. “Delivering extended capabilities, such as reading or writing tags at up to 100 meters or accessing real time sensor data from tags buried in RF challenging product, all at a compelling price point, provides a new tool to significantly increase cold chain visibility and improve logistics management. No longer will transporters and customers have to manually retrieve data collection devices from their shipments or incur product losses due to a lack of supply chain visibility.”

The new Intelleflex platform provides unique benefits and significant ROI for many applications and industries, including: asset tracking, cold chain management, manufacturing WIP control, construction, agriculture, reusable container tracking, vehicle/yard management and many others.

Intelleflex will be demonstrating their new XC3 platform at the upcoming RFID Journal Live Show in Orlando, Florida, April 14th – 16th at Booth 660. As part of a technology demonstration highlighting the platform’s capabilities, Intelleflex will be showing a new XC3 platform tag with integrated temperature sensing and data logging. Also at their booth, Intelleflex will be providing a white paper explaining the new ISO BAP Class 3 standard, and how it can be used to generate significant ROI in specific markets and applications. The new platform components will sample in June, with general availability in the third quarter.

NEC Electronics America Enhances Microcontrollers for Industrial, Consumer Devices

SANTA CLARA, Calif. --(Business Wire)-- NEC Electronics America, Inc. announced it has expanded its robust 8-bit microcontroller (MCU) portfolio with the new All Flash™ 78K0/Kx2-A MCU series, featuring enhanced analog functionality for battery-operated portable devices. The four new MCUs offer robust peripherals combined with NEC Electronics’ proven 78K0 MCU interface and safety features to support applications that require high-precision analog sensing capabilities. Target applications include industrial building automation sensors and monitoring devices, and consumer electronics devices with human interface systems such as game-control handsets.

The new 78K0/Kx2-A series extends the rich analog peripheral set offered in NEC Electronics’ 78K0/Kx2 general-purpose MCUs and includes up to 12 channels of 12-bit analog-to-digital converters (ADCs), and 3-channel operational amplifiers (op-amps) interlocked with 12-bit ADC inputs.

To facilitate easy migration within the 78K0/Kx2 series, the new 78K0/Kx2-A MCUs also share many of the built-in features common to the 78K0 MCU family. The peripheral set includes UART, I2C and CSI/SPI serial interfaces, 8- and 16-bit timers to manage an array of real-time input and output events, clock generators, and a real-time counter with clock and calendar functions to maintain time-of-day clock without CPU intervention. The analog and serial interface integration helps to reduce system costs, while the optimized 8-bit circuit design helps designers achieve low power consumption and high performance levels similar to those associated with NEC Electronics’ other 78K0/Kx2 devices.

NEC Electronics America also provides a comprehensive suite of development tools to support the new 78K0/Kx2-A series. This includes software tools such as the CubeSuite™ integrated development environment, compiler, assembler, software debugger and code generator, as well as hardware tools such as NEC Electronics’ full-function IECube™ in-circuit emulator with real-time trace and MINICUBE2™ on-chip debug emulator and stand-alone flash programmer.

Pricing and Availability

The new 78K0/Kx2-A MCUs will be available in a 30-pin shrink-small outline package (SSOP) and 48-pin low-profile quad flat package (QFP) with flash memory capacities ranging from 16 to 32 kilobytes (KB). Samples are available now and distribution suggested resale pricing begins at $1.65 in volumes of 10,000 units. Mass production of the new devices is slated to begin in July 2010. (Pricing and availability are subject to change without notice.) More information about NEC Electronics America’s MCUs can be found at http://www.am.necel.com/micro/product/index.html.

*CubeSuite, IECube and NEC Electronics America are either registered trademarks or trademarks of NEC Electronics Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. NEC Electronics is a registered trademark or trademark of NEC Corporation. All other marks are property of their respective owners.

Motorola Fleet Management for Two-way Radio Batteries and Chargers

Las Vegas, Nev. – March 2010 – The Enterprise Mobility Solutions business of Motorola, Inc. introduces IMPRES Fleet Management for Motorola’s exclusive IMPRES two-way radio batteries and chargers.  As soon as a battery is inserted into an IMPRES charger, information is collected and shared with administrators to easily determine proper actions, such as proactively removing poorly performing batteries from the fleet or ensuring each user has the appropriate capacity battery based on their needs. Accumulated data is managed through pre-defined or customizable reports that provide key information to ensure users operate their batteries and chargers to maximum efficiency.

“Managing the performance of the two-way radio batteries is an important part of ensuring optimal performance of the entire radio system,” said Nick Candotti, director of Global Accessory and Energy Business, Motorola Enterprise Mobility Solutions.  “When users begin their shifts, it is critical they understand the exact capacity of their radio battery and know to replace poor performing batteries in advance to increase worker productivity and safety.”

IMPRES Fleet Management allows system administrators to quickly run reports that allow them to proactively manage their fleet of IMPRES batteries and chargers.  They are no longer guessing when batteries need to be replaced within their fleet or keeping a significant stock of spare batteries on hand.

“System administrators can save significant time and money by having a system that provides all their key IMPRES battery and charger information in one place,” added Candotti. “In addition to time saved, operational costs are reduced with fewer spare batteries on hand because of increased information about the existing battery fleet.”

"With IMPRES Fleet Management, we were able to quickly run reports and analyze data on IMPRES batteries and chargers we previously managed manually." said Lieutenant Wayne Rothbauer from the Hoffman Estates Fire Department in Illinois. “Having this information at our fingertips allows us to automate our battery management, saves significant time and ensures our firefighters have batteries that operate at maximum efficiency."

IMPRES Fleet Management is most beneficial for mid-to-large sized organizations that have at least 100 IMPRES batteries in their fleet such as public safety agencies, public works, utilities and manufacturing companies.

For more information, visit www.motorola.com, or visit booth 141 at International CTIA Wireless, in the M2M Zone.

Australia's Western Power Awards Multi-Million Dollar Contract to Mincom

BRISBANE, Australia --(Business Wire)-- Mar 08, 2010 Mincom, a leading global provider of software and services for asset-intensive industries, today announced a significant new agreement worth $7 million with Western Power, which serves the electricity needs of nearly one million homes and businesses in Western Australia and maintains an electricity network comprised of nearly 88,000 km of power lines. Through its adoption of Mincom Mobility solutions, Western Power will enable 1,600 operational field employees to access real-time data about the state of every company asset – such as power poles and street lights – remotely from their mobile devices.

“The deployment of Mincom Mobility represents a major step forward for our organisation, helping us shift from disparate inspection systems to a solution that fully integrates inspections with the corporate asset-management system, enabling a more proactive asset-maintenance program,” said Leigh Sprlyan, chief information officer at Western Power. “Detailed information needed to manage company assets – from their location and structural composition, to worker availability and required skills – will help us optimise scheduling decisions and, in doing so, even more cost-effectively manage our workforce and contractors. And advanced features, such as Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping, will further enhance our visibility of both the state of our assets and the work plan, ultimately improving our ability to manage the network.”

For more than 10 years, Western Power has successfully streamlined its asset infrastructure with Mincom Ellipse, the leading solution for Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) for asset-intensive industries. After a substantial re-evaluation of applications supporting the company’s core business processes, Western Power decided to further extend its use of Mincom Ellipse to improve productivity, seamlessly meet regulatory standards, and reduce operating costs.

Under the new contract, Western Power will upgrade to the current release of Mincom’s EAM platform, Mincom Ellipse 6.3. In addition, Western Power has licensed Mincom Mobility, a suite of end-to-end, fully integrated mobile applications for automating field-force operations using mobile devices such as laptops, tablets and PDAs. The company has also licensed Mincom Critical Inventory Optimisation (MCIO), software that helps analyse and adjust stock levels and reordering requirements on an ongoing basis. Western Power will also use Mincom Axis B2B, a hosted solution providing business-to-business integration and Web applications to optimise business processes between trading partners.

“Asset-intensive organizations with mobile workforces often have to operate without technology support in the field,” said Greg Clark, CEO of Mincom. “By augmenting its proven-successful deployment of Mincom Ellipse with Mincom Mobility solutions, Western Power can now efficiently streamline asset management directly where it happens – in the field. We are pleased to continue our long-standing relationship with one of the true leaders in the utilities industry as it further evolves its best-practices application of technology for business benefit.”

Western Power is an electricity-networks corporation responsible for the transmission and distribution of electricity in the southwest region of Western Australia. Consisting of nearly 88,000 km of power lines, its electricity network is one of the largest isolated networks in the world. Every day, the company powers nearly a million homes and businesses and approximately 150,000 streetlights. For more information, visit http://www.westernpower.com.au/.

About Mincom

Mincom Pty Ltd is a global software and services provider with nearly 30 years experience in providing business solutions to asset intensive industries such as mining, utilities, transport, defence and government in more than 40 countries across North America, South America, Australia, South East Asia, Africa, and Europe. Mincom Inc. operates in North America and is a subsidiary of Mincom Pty Ltd. Mincom is owned by Francisco Partners. For more information about Mincom, visit www.mincom.com.

OnAsset Intelligence Acquires Chemical and Bio-Agent Sensor Technology

OnAsset SENTRY Device Integrated with Quantum Fingerprint Sensor Technology from United States Semiconductor Corporation and NxGen Electronics to Secure Cargo from Biological Tampering

IRVING, Texas --(Business Wire)-- Mar 09, 2010 OnAsset Intelligence Inc., a leading provider of machine-to-machine (M2M) wireless asset tracking, sensing, and control solutions, today announces that the company has acquired exclusive marketing and distribution rights to the Quantum Fingerprint Sensor Technology (QF Technology) from United States Semiconductor (US-Semi) and NxGen Electronics for the consumer, commercial, and industrial markets. This technology enables environmental sensing of explosives, chemical and biological agents, biological cargo, and illegal drugs. Combined with OnAsset’s wireless SENTRY™ device used for monitoring and securing freight for intermodal, ocean, and air cargo shipments, customers of OnAsset will be able to monitor cargo location and security as well as whether any dangerous, illegal, or possibly hazardous materials have been placed inside the container with their cargo.

“Maintaining cargo security as shipping containers move between countries is critically important to the world economy,” said Adam Crossno, President and CEO of OnAsset, “during this time when security concerns are at an all-time high, deploying a sensor that determines whether the container space has been in contact with an illegal or dangerous substance provides a new, unprecedented level of awareness.”

The QF technology is a ground-breaking sensor technology that in lab trials has already been proven to be more consistent and effective than specially trained narcotics detection dogs. This sensor is the only sensor available that can sample the environment in milliseconds on a parts-per-trillion basis and that can perform this unique capability at a distance of up to 10 meters. For the world cargo business, this is a major break-through, making it possible to validate the load integrity throughout the entire container with one sensor.

“The combination of OnAsset’s wireless SENTRY product line with the QF technology is very exciting for the asset security industry,” says Richard Ausbrook, President of NxGen Electronics. “Not only will companies know if inappropriate items or contraband are being shipped with their cargo, they will know in real-time when and where they were inserted.”

The integration of QF with SENTRY is underway now with field trials for customers targeted during Q3 of 2010. OnAsset with US-Semi and NxGen will be commercializing the technology for use with all OnAsset hardware products including the award-winning SENTRY FlightSafe™ for air freight and its SENTRY ContainerSafe™ line for refrigerated and non-refrigerated containers.

“We’re excited that technology developed for government and military applications will now be used in the commercial marketplace, and we’re very pleased that the sensor capabilities we’ve created will contribute to the global security focus,” says David Salva, President of US-Semi. “Not only do we facilitate the need for supply chain information and security, we contribute to the velocity and efficiencies of this critical global segment."

On-Ramp Wireless and NURI Telecom Team to Provide Connectivity for the Next-Generation Smart Grid

Solution Will Target Elusive Hard-to-Reach Meters, Resulting in 100 Percent Connectivity, Saving Energy and Costs

SAN DIEGO --(Business Wire)-- Mar 09, 2010

On-Ramp Wireless today announced that it has joined forces with NURI Telecom, a leading global provider of utility IT and end-to-end Smart Grid infrastructure solutions, to develop a cost-efficient single technology wireless network metering solution. The solution will enable connectivity for hard-to-reach meters, which can represent up to 10 percent of a single Smart Grid meter deployment, to help Smart Grid suppliers ensure 100 percent connectivity.

Presently, there is no cost effective method for connecting to hard-to-reach meters. More problematically, the issue becomes apparent only after live deployment. On-Ramp’s Ultra-Link Processing™ (ULP) system alleviates these costs for providers, and ultimately consumers, as it is the first system to demodulate signals below the noise floor while effectively maintaining high network capacity. Overall, the ULP system provides a significant network coverage and capacity advantage compared with competing free-spectrum systems.

“The hard-to-reach meter is one of the biggest challenges for providers in achieving a complete communication system within the Smart Grid,” said Mr. Choong Seon Hwang, vice president of engineering for NURI Telecom. “On-Ramp’s ULP technology has clearly demonstrated wireless connectivity in some of the most challenging environments. It has connected successfully in underground locations, many floors above the target and several kilometers away, which is simply impossible with any other single technology available today.”

NURI Telecom has pursued the Smart Grid comprehensively in hopes of powering its future growth and ultimately increasing energy efficiency. Its smart metering solution, AiMiR™, provides simultaneous automatic meter readings of electricity, water, gas and other measurements, to help consumers manage their resource consumption.

“NURI Telecom has demonstrated a sophisticated understanding of the extensive connectivity needs for the Smart Grid and for smart metering,” said Jeff Gray, senior vice president of sales and marketing for On-Ramp Wireless. “Furthermore, we have been exceptionally impressed with the advanced system and environment solutions NURI Telecom offers, particularly in regards to its network management system solutions, which promote an extremely cost efficient, consumer-friendly business model.”

On-Ramp and NURI Telecom will be showcasing integration of the ULP technology with a NURI Smart Meter solution at DistribuTECH from March 23-25 in Tampa, Florida.

ABI's Bonte, CeBIT Destination ITS Navigation Guru, Sees Telematics Going New Directions

Dominique Bonte, Research Director – Telematics & Navigation for ABI Research, delivered the keynote address for CeBIT 2010's ITS Conference. When we spoke with him last week, he indicated that growth opportunities in Telematics and M2M are not likely to come from Personal Navigation Devices and after-market automotive navigation systems. He said the growth opportunities in 201o seem to be coming from healthcare, home automation and smart grid.

Navigation certainly remains relevant, but the module makers that enable intelligent, connected devices, Bonte said, report that this year has kicked off with considerably more attention to new form factors, including tablet PCs, e-readers, and digital cameras, which are all trending toward multimodal functions, including GPS-navigation sensors. Therefore the chipset manufacturers are introducing more combo chipsets this year, starting with GSMA's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona last month, and this week at CeBIT in Hannover. These new chipsets may include combos such GSM, Wi-Fi, GPS, and Bluetooth capabliities.

Nevertheless, the GPS is not necessarily going to be included in all location-aware devices. The iPad, Bonte noted, uses Wi-Fi to establish location awareness based on triangulation with base stations and wireless modem IP addressing. GPS does not work well indoors, he noted, and the social applications that iPad users seek may not require pinpoint accuracy. You would only need to know that your friend is in the neighborhood, he said, not that they are 20 feet away.

Stay tuned for more insights from Bonte next week, including his expectations for the evolution of automotive telematics, challenges in global spectrum allocation, and the future of satellite-based positioning systems.

Wireless Innovation Forum Approves Two New Reports

WASHINGTON --(Business Wire)-- Mar 05, 2010 The Wireless Innovation Forum (SDR Forum version 2.0), a non-profit organization dedicated to driving the future of radio communications and systems worldwide, announced today the approval of two reports prepared by its members. The reports, “Commercial Baseband Technology Overview: The Current State of Technology Development and Future Directions” and “Use Cases for Cognitive Applications in Public Safety Communications Systems Volume 2: Chemical Plant Explosion Scenario,” were prepared by the group’s Commercial Baseband Processing Technologies Work Group (CBPT-WG) and Public Safety Special Interest Group (PS-SIG), respectively.

The report produced by the members of the CBPT-WG addresses both programming environments and hardware platforms for Software Defined Radio (SDR). SDR technology has developed rapidly in recent years. Semiconductor process improvements following Moore’s Law have made low power, low cost devices available that are suitable for commercial deployments. With such advancement, designs have been introduced for a range of both infrastructure and handset user equipment that use SDR techniques. As technologies continue to converge, this report finds that SDR designs offer elegant and reusable methods of implementing worldwide communications coverage. The report is a snapshot of commercial state-of-the-art SDR implementations ranging from programming environments, programmable processors, and FPGA technologies.

Dr. John Glossner, CTO of Sandbridge Technologies, Forum board member and co-author of the report, said “I’m very pleased to have had such broad participation on this, our first work product. The document should serve as a reference that in the commercial handset domain SDR is moving from early adopters to everyday usage – further confirming the technical and economic benefits of SDR designs.”

The document provides representative examples of platforms available and programming techniques. In the first section, Etherstack presents their programming methodology for SDR development. Next, three processor-based SDRs and their programming environments are presented. In section two, IMEC discusses the ADRES processor. In section three, Sandbridge discusses the SB3500 MPSoC. In section four, St-Ericsson (formerly NXP) discusses the EVP processor. In the final section Xilinx discusses FPGA-based SDRs. The report is available here.

The report produced by the PS-SIG outlines a hypothetical scenario of a major explosion at a chemical plant in a mid-sized metropolitan area. The scenario was developed with input from public safety practitioners, communications system engineers, and radio developers. It provides the basis (events, activities, and timelines) required to analyze the impact of cognitive-based radio and network functions on first responder communications and mission effectiveness. Based on the analysis, the group concludes that the utilization of cognitive radio functions can dramatically increase the ability of Incident Commanders to meet their mission objectives.

“By using a realistic scenario incorporating public safety practitioner input, the analysis in this report is grounded in real public safety needs,” said Fred Frantz, of L-3 Communications and chair of the PS-SIG. “The public safety community can see the benefit of this emerging technology and begin to think in terms of the eventual impact to their operations.”

The report provides eight examples (defined as use cases) of how cognitive radio or network technology could be utilized, and explains in detail the technical, regulatory, and operational procedure developments required to make these capabilities available for public safety use. It also showcases the potential for improving first responders' communications capabilities through the application of cognitive functionality. The report can be found here.

“These two reports are representative of the high quality work products under development by the Forum’s members,” says Lee Pucker, CEO of the Wireless Innovation Forum. “Reports, recommendations and specification produced by our members have had and will continue to have a significant impact on the advanced wireless community as a whole.”

For more information about Forum activities and membership benefits, please visit our web page: www.WirelessInnovation.org.

About the Wireless Innovation Forum

Established in 1996, The Wireless Innovation Forum (SDR Forum Version 2.0) is a non-profit mutual benefit corporation dedicated to driving technology innovation in commercial, civil, and defense communications worldwide. Members bring a broad base of experience in Software Defined Radio (SDR), Cognitive Radio (CR) and Dynamic Spectrum Access (DSA) technologies in diverse markets and at all levels of the wireless value chain to address emerging wireless communications requirements. To learn more about The Wireless Innovation Forum, its meetings and membership benefits, visit www.WirelessInnovation.org.

Bluetooth, NFC, UWB, 802.15.4 and Wi-Fi ICs Expected to Exceed Two Billion Units in 2010

Global shipments of short range wireless ICs (Bluetooth, NFC, UWB, 802.15.4, Wi-Fi) are expected to surpass two billion units this year, increasing approximately 20% compared to 2009. Shipments are forecast to total five billion in 2014, according to new market data from ABI Research.

“Bluetooth ICs made up a significant part of the total short range wireless ICs shipments,” says industry analyst Celia Bo. “Bluetooth took more than 55%, following by Wi-Fi at around 35%; the rest of the shipments were made up of NFC, UWB and 802.15.4 ICs.” 

Mobile handsets maintain the highest adoption rate for Bluetooth ICs. In addition to data transmission between mobile handset and Bluetooth headset, the application of Bluetooth technology is gradually moving into computers and consumer electronics products such as laptops, UMDs, and the wireless remote pole of game consoles. 

Low power consumption and short range transmission are two key technical features of Bluetooth technology. Furthermore, in December 2009 the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) announced the adoption of Bluetooth low energy (BLE) which opens an absolutely new market for products and devices needing low cost and low power wireless connectivity. Likely vertical markets include healthcare, security, and home entertainment.

Chip manufacturing technology migration is driving down chip cost too, and as Bluetooth chip ASPs continue to decline, new business opportunities will be created.

Combination chips, integrating two or more short range wireless technologies to deliver further cost reduction and chip size decreases, are paving the way for another trend in short range wireless IC market development. The three major integration solutions — Bluetooth+FM radio, Bluetooth+Wi-Fi+FM, and Bluetooth+FM+GPS — are forecast to account for more than 30% of all Bluetooth combination chip shipments in 2010. The combination chip using BLE is expected to make up 50% of total Bluetooth combo IC shipments in 2014.

ABI Research’s “Short Range Wireless ICs Market Forecast Data” provides market and technical analysis of Bluetooth, NFC, UWB, 802.15.4, Wi-Fi and combination wireless connectivity ICs.  The forecast information is broken down by application, including computers, communication devices and consumer electronic products. 

For more information, visit ABI Research.