Digi International has introduced the programmable XBee-PRO ZB, the industry’s first ‘foolproof’ programmable ZigBee module to aid ZigBee application development. Customer applications can be programmed directly on the module, eliminating the need and cost of a separate processor and reducing time-to-market. Because the Digi-provided wireless software is isolated, customers can develop applications with no risk to RF performance and security. As part of iDigi, customers can also use the iDigi platform to easily integrate XBee ZigBee endpoints into their systems.

Digi International has introduced the ConnectPort X2 for Smart Energy gateway. It is a ZigBee Smart Energy certified gateway that easily connects certified ZigBee Smart Energy devices from a Home Area Network (HAN) to an energy service provider via broadband. It is the industry’s first gateway that connects, controls, or gathers data from ZigBee Smart Energy devices equally well before or with Smart Meter deployments. When a Smart Meter is present the gateway can make meter information immediately available to any energy management application. 

Digi International and SolarEdge have announced that they are collaborating in the development of full connectivity solutions for photovoltaic (PV) systems, including data harvesting from revenue-grade power meters, PV inverter mesh networking and future interaction with the Smart Grid.

Digi International’s range of wireless connectivity solutions will enable SolarEdge to improve the retrieval of inverter and panel performance data from PV systems. Currently SolarEdge is using Digi’s XBee-PRO to provide the industry’s first solar inverter with embedded ZigBee connectivity. SolarEdge continuously collects data from each solar panel and transmits it without added communication wires from panels to inverters. This solution - providing wireless network and remote connectivity between solar inverters - allows simple access to high-resolution, performance-monitoring data.

The TrueTouch touchscreen solution, developed by Cypress Semiconductor, is being employed in the new docomo PRIME series N-02B mobile phone from NEC. The N-02B offers a high-resolution, 12-megapixel camera that can be activated in less than one second. The TrueTouch solution enables users to focus the camera using the touchscreen for speed and convenience. The phone also uses the TrueTouch solution to deliver intuitive multitouch capability, allowing gestures such as tap, double-tap, pan, pinch, scroll, rotate and others.

ST-Ericsson and ARM have re-affirmed their ongoing joint development to optimise Android to take advantage of Symmetric Multi Processing (SMP) when executing on the high-performance and power-efficient ST-Ericsson U8500 platform, which uses a dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 MPCore processor. This next-generation platform improves the multitasking capability and peak performance of Android handsets, while maintaining the lowest power consumption profile.

OmniVision Technologies has announced a new ¼-inch, 5-megapixel RAW CMOS image sensor based on its 1.4-micron OmniBSI backside illumination (BSI) technology. The OV5647 is a high-performance mobile imaging solution that offers the performance and size benefits of BSI technology while allowing mobile phone designs to utilise existing baseband or applications processors for image processing functions.

picoChip has unveiled three new products that will allow customers to address the complete range of femtocell requirements via a single design platform. The introduction of two new picoXcell system-on-chip (SoC) devices and an integrated suite of HSPA+ femtocell access point (FAP) software creates the industry’s most complete family of system-level femtocell solutions.

The new PC313 and PC323 chips extend picoChip’s picoXcell family of devices. They are complete single-chip HSPA+ femtocell SoCs for eight or 24 users respectively, and are scalable to accommodate even more users. The PC2200 FAP software provides all of the core components of a 3GPP standards-defined Home NodeB, enabling manufacturers to more easily develop femtocells.

Continuous Computing, picoChip and Cavium Networks have collaborated to produce the world’s first complete Long Term Evolution (LTE) femtocell reference design. Available immediately, this solution helps accelerate time to market for product developers, femtocell access point manufacturers, network equipment vendors and operators.

The reference design is the industry’s first to include the LTE modem (PHY), radio frequency (RF) and packet processors, protocol software, intelligent router functionality and a complete Evolved Packet Core (EPC) simulator.

The Intel Corporation and Nokia are merging their Moblin and Maemo software platforms in what is being seen as a significant development in the convergence of communications and computing.

The decision to merge will create a unified Linux-based platform that will run on multiple hardware platforms across a wide range of computing devices, including pocketable mobile computers, netbooks, tablets, mediaphones, connected TVs and in-vehicle infotainment systems. The new open software platform - called MeeGo – is intended to accelerate industry innovation and time-to-market for new Internet-based applications and services.

STMicroelectronics and ST-Ericsson are working with Adobe to accelerate Adobe Flash Player 10.1 and Adobe AIR on their chipsets with best-in-class multimedia and graphics capabilities that will be used in both smartphones and connected digital-home devices.

Led by Adobe, the Open Screen Project aims to deliver a consistent and widely-adopted runtime environment for both web content and standalone applications across all devices leveraging the Flash Platform. ST-Ericsson´s and STMicroelectronics’ collaboration with Adobe is intended to make it more straightforward for manufacturers to develop portable and consumer products that can support a rich multimedia experience.

Samsung Electronics has developed two new CMOS image sensors - the S5K4E2 and the S5K5CA - for the mobile phone market. Designers and manufacturers of high-end smart phones and slim mobile handsets will be able integrate one of these small form factor imagers into their next generation design.

"Consumers want a more feature rich experience when using their mobile handsets," said Dr. Dojun Rhee, vice president, System LSI marketing, Samsung Electronics. "To meet the diverse needs of the mobile phone market, we've expanded our product line-up to include imagers that support HD video capabilities while fitting into an ever decreasing module space."

Long-wavelength VCSELs (Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Lasers) for the next generation of high-speed communication systems have been developed in the European project MOSEL, a three-year joint research program lead by CEA-Leti.

The research on long-wavelength VCSELs is aimed at finding an efficient and reliable technological answer to the ever-growing demands for bandwidth in telecommunication networks. Moreover, VCSEL technology offers low power consumption (from five to 10 times less than the conventional edge-emitting lasers) and can be manufactured in volume at low cost.

Nujira has announced the formation of an OpenET Alliance to develop and publish open specifications for envelope tracking interfaces for 3G and 4G platforms.

The new OpenET Alliance will cover both terminal and infrastructure applications, and membership is open to any company or organisation with an interest in this technology or its application.  Simon Whittle, Design Centre Manager, Nujira, has been named as the interim Chairman of the Alliance.

CEVA has announced that Sequans Communications, a leading 4G chipmaker, has licensed the CEVA-X1641 DSP core to power its next generation LTE and WiMAX baseband processors. The CEVA-X1641 will provide further flexibility for Sequans’ future generation baseband chips, while maintaining the chips’ industry-leading low power rating.

Movenda, a remote management platform provider, has announced that the latest version of its Mecum remote management system will be integrated with the VNC Mobile Solution from RealVNC, a developer of cross-platform remote control solutions. The new solution will be on display at next week’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

The new capability allows the Mecum system to show the screen of any mobile handset on the customer care agent’s desktop web browser and enables them to interact with and control the device as if it were in their hand, yet it can be in any global location.

Ikanos Communications, a company that develops advanced broadband semiconductor and software products, and picoChip have announced a strategic relationship to advance the integration of smart mobile devices into the home network. Together they will be offering a single box multiservice gateway that will support the integration of smart mobile devices into the home network. These products will enable improved cellular coverage and enhance the delivery of rich media content, such as video to the wireless handset.

CommAgility has unveiled a new module that provides a complete Digital Baseband design including L1 PHY (physical layer) L2 RLC/MAC (Radio Link Control/Media Access Control), S1/X2 interface and security processing for LTE (Long Term Evolution) or WiMAX in the compact single width, full-size Advanced Mezzanine Card (AMC) form factor.

For advanced wireless applications, the new CommAgility AMC-2C87W3 integrates the PHY, RLC/MAC, transport (including all backhaul and air interface security) and antenna connectivity requirements of eNodeB into a compact solution, and provides end-to-end data handling from raw radio IQ data through to backhaul IP packets.

Pulse, a Technitrol Company, has announced a new set of monopole antennas that deliver Zigbee 2.4 gigahertz (GHz) and ISM bands 868 megahertz (MHz), 915 MHz, and 2.4GHz.  These antennas are alternatives to using trace antennas because they occupy very little printed circuit board space while maintaining their key properties regardless of changes to the board. They provide a high-quality radio interface for multi-purpose machine-to-machine (M2M) devices and applications such as data loggers, remote control, tracking, monitoring, Smart Grid, automated meter reading (AMR), tags, remote keyless entry, industrial, metering, security, automation, and point-of-sale (POS).

Cambridge Consultants has announced the launch of DEVA, a new comprehensive development platform for the rapid development of highly differentiated Bluetooth products and mobile accessories. This general-purpose and flexible platform will allow electronics and software engineers to rapidly prototype and test accessory products that deliver new features for users before committing to final product hardware.

DEVA can be used to develop a wide range of Bluetooth products - from mobile phone accessories and headsets, including for Apple’s iPhone, to wireless payment systems, industrial remote control devices, sports activity monitors or telehealth sensors that can be compliant with the Continua Health Alliance’s guidelines.

Open Kernel Labs (OK Labs), a provider of embedded virtualisation software for mobile phones and broadband Internet devices, and Citrix Systems have unveiled the “nirvana phone” reference architecture, using virtualisation to enable both mobile communications and office desktop-type productivity. 

The nirvana phone concept goes beyond traditional smart phones by allowing users to access their corporate virtual desktop and applications from a single device, in any location. With support for docking to full-sized displays, keyboards, mice and other PC-type peripherals, nirvana phones will offer mobile workers a complete “virtual desktop in your pocket,” allowing them to take their desktop anywhere without the need to carry around a full laptop.

Nujira and RF Micro Devices, a leading designer and manufacturer of high-performance radio frequency components and compound semiconductor technologies, have announced that they will be demonstrating a broadband power amplifier (PA) design for 4G base stations at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The design integrates the new RFMD RFG1M family of high performance gallium nitride (GaN) amplifiers with Nujira’s Coolteq.h envelope tracking power modulators.

Movidius has launched the Android version of its new Myriad multimedia processing platform for mobile phones. Based on the technology underlying its premiere product, the MA1110, the Myriad silicon and software platform enables a wide range of differentiating mobile media features including real-time video editing and 3D imaging. In Myriad, device manufacturers can bring to market differentiated products that deliver the best mobile imaging experience for users to capture, edit, view and share their content through mobile social networks.

While RFID is already well known in the retail market, item-level RFID tagging, literally meaning that an RFID tag is applied to each single item, is only just beginning to emerge. All consumer products purchased through large stores are nowadays labelled with barcodes printed on the packaging, which are read by a barcode scanner. This process is quite time-consuming as the items have to be aligned individually to the scanner and scanned one at a time. With RFID, no line of sight between the tag and the scanner is required, multiple labels can be read simultaneously and the problems of damaged barcodes overcome making the process a lot faster. Each RFID tag can contain up to several kB of data which can be added to at any time.

ProSoft Technology has released the new RadioLinx Intelligent Cellular solution, designed to provide wide area and even global wireless connectivity for industrial devices.

Intelligent Cellular Gateways use the existing cellular infrastructure to connect devices across geographically diverse locations. The RadioLinx Intelligent Cellular Gateways can be used to connect devices through the Internet to one or more locations and combine robust industrial cellular technology, industrial protocol templates, and ALEOSTM software for persistent connection management.

Masabi, the developer of mobile ticket purchase software for mass-market phones, has successfully collaborated with Access IS to produce optimised mobile barcode scanners for use in high volume, mass-transit situations. The new scanners have overcome the issues of speed and reliability previously associated with mobile barcode scanning and now deliver a similar level of experience to that offered by Oyster and Near Field Communications (NFC) systems, on the vast majority of mobile phone handsets with no hardware modifications. Testing has shown that the new scanner can reliably scan, decode, decrypt and validate a mobile e-ticket in an average of just 240 milliseconds.

Broadcom Corporation has announced that the Ford Motor Company is using its BCM4325 Bluetooth + Wi-Fi combination (or 'combo') chip solution, featuring InConcert technology, to provide wireless connectivity in some of Ford's new vehicles.

Broadcom’s 'combo' chip solutions integrate multiple communications technologies onto single die solutions, making it cost effective and technically feasible to add Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and other functions to consumer electronics products.

Mirics has launched FlexiStream which will enable PC users to take their home TV with them anywhere on smart phones, PMPs or netbooks. Running on Windows 7, the FlexiStream home-server is used for reception, viewing, recording, real-time re-formatting and IP- streaming of live TV to any kind of portable or handheld device. Instead of expensive hardware and proprietary set-top box technology, FlexiStream makes use of the widely available Windows 7 PC and Mirics FlexiTV.

Analog Devices has announced the availability of its new ADF4158 PLL synthesizer which will enable flexible and cost effective implementation of FMCW (frequency modulated continuous wave) radar systems. FMCW radar systems are used widely in automotive, aerospace, military, industrial and communications applications to remotely measure the relative distance and speed of external objects. FMCW radar systems can deliver detection and ranging at much lower power levels compared to traditional pulsed radar approaches thereby offering a significant cost advantage. 

ProVision Communications has created the world's first consumer electronics technology capable of securely streaming live HD video content across all the rooms of a home.

The system, called AXAR1500, streams HD video content from a Blu-ray player, PVR or HD set top box to AXAR enabled TVs or Wi-Fi connected PCs and mobile phones throughout the home. And AXAR1500's real time protocols support fast channel hopping and interactive TV guide operation.

OmniVision Technologies has launched a 14.6-megapixel image sensor capable of delivering high-resolution still photography and full 1080p high-definition (HD) video at 60 frames per second (fps). The new OV14810 for digital still/video cameras (DSC/DVC) and OV14825 for mobile applications are among the very first sensors to achieve the highest quality in both video and photography for mainstream consumer electronics.

CSR has announced that, immediately following the Bluetooth SIG’s adoption of the Bluetooth low energy specification, it has qualified its BlueCore7 multifunction wireless Bluetooth solution for Bluetooth low energy products.

Bluetooth low energy wireless technology is expected by independent market analysts to be widely adopted in a range of new applications that can benefit from its ultra low power and low cost wireless connectivity. Possible applications include personal healthcare and well being, sports and fitness, security, smart energy and home entertainment, to name but a few. The Continua Health Alliance has already selected Bluetooth low energy wireless technology for inclusion in the next version of its guidelines. In addition, CSR believes the benefits of Bluetooth low energy technology will also play a role in indoor positioning for boosting location technologies.

The Atmel Corporation is collaborating with H&D Wireless to deliver an IEEE802.11b+g Wi-Fi solution for Atmel's 32-bit AVR microcontrollers. H&D Wireless will provide the SPB104 Wi-Fi extension board which is easily connected to the AVR32 UC3 evaluation kits through the SD card socket. This collaboration has so far resulted in the industry's most power efficient Wi-Fi solution, with an overall power consumption five times lower than any other similar solution on the market.

Pentek is introducing two beamformer PCIe modules to its expansive product line. Each is a high-speed software radio board for processing baseband RF or IF signals and incorporates unique and powerful beamforming functions. Created to accelerate system level design and lower system cost, the boards bring high-performance built-in features and connectivity to PC platforms.

The Pentek Models 7753 and 7853 differ in the number of channels and PCIe lanes; eight channels and x16 wide PCIe interface in the former, four channels and x8 wide PCIe interface in the latter. Each module houses up to four or eight 200 MHz, 16-bit A/Ds, each equipped with its own wideband digital down converter (DDC).

Atmel Corporation has announced a new family of AVR wireless microcontroller (MCU) devices targeting wireless applications such as ZigBee and IPv6/6LoWPAN. The ATmega128RFA1 is IEEE 802.15.4 compliant and combines Atmel's picoPower AVR MCU and a 2.4 GHz RF transceiver.

Atmel's picoPower technology offers ultra-low power consumption to ultimately enable longer battery life for wireless ZigBee applications, including smart energy, building automation, telecom and health care. ATmega128RFA1 is supported by Atmel's QTouch Library, making it easy to combine capacitive touch functionality with RF in a single chip.

Cambridge Consultants has launched DUEL (Dual-domain Uplink Equaliser for LTE), a new technology that significantly improves LTE uplink performance when compared to MMSE, the “text-book” receiver design.  DUEL, designed as an algorithmic and DSP extension to LTE base station receiver designs, requires no changes to handsets.

LTE technology (Long Term Evolution) is the first step to 4G networks and represents the future direction for cellular network evolution. The LTE uplink (SC-FDMA, arguably where LTE is most novel) supports the transfer of information from users’ terminals to the network. 

The NEC Corporation has announced the deployment of its femtocell solution by SFR, the French telecommunications carrier, which becomes the first operator to launch s femtocell service throughout France.

NEC is providing SFR with an end to end femtocell solution which includes compact indoor femto access points to be installed in the customer premises, the femtocell gateway which aggregates and connects several access points to the core network and the management systems for the access point and the gateway. The installation of the femtocell access point in customer premises simply involves plugging in the femto access point to the broadband router and to the power supply.

Show Translations has launched AirScript, the world’s first closed caption system for theatre productions.  Designed and developed by Cambridge Consultants, AirScript delivers subtitles from each show via personal handsets in real time, in a wide selection of languages simultaneously, allowing both non-native speaking audience members and those with hearing impairments to enjoy the production.

The first ever technology to utilise Bluetooth capability in mobile phones to create a dual alarm system to prevent the loss or theft of valuable items – from laptops to handbags and even children - has won the Technology Strategy Board’s Special Award for High Growth Potential Business at this year’s ICT Excellence Awards.

‘Stay Close At All Times’ (SCAAT) by West Midlands-based Mi-Zone Ltd monitors the proximity of a valuable object or person to a mobile phone via a small active Bluetooth tag, which contains a rechargeable battery. The tag is mapped to a mobile phone by locating the device via Bluetooth and then typing a code into the phone, which identifies and names the tag.

Radio spectrum in any military or security-sensitive environment is a scarce resource - and getting scarcer.  The rise of 'network enabled warfare' is driving an increased need for radio bandwidth, with live video links and shared usage of dense intelligence material needing significantly more spectrum than older systems.  At the same time, the use of remote-controlled unmanned vehicles (aerial and otherwise) is becoming more widespread and 'mission critical'. 

And yet the spectrum available to the modern war fighter in locations such as Afghanistan is also in many cases shared with civilian communication infrastructure (cellular phone networks and broadcasting systems) which must not be unreasonably interfered with if the 'hearts and minds' of the civilian population are to be kept on-side.  And finally (of course) the same spectrum is shared with hostile forces who may be using it for their own ends or who would wish to deny use of it to friendly forces.

2001 Electronic Components has developed a comprehensive Development kit that provides all of the tools necessary to help customers quickly and efficiently develop products utilising satellite enabled products.

The Digi M10 Jump Start Kit includes a satellite modem and a 90-day trial of the ORBCOMM satellite service.

ACAL Technology has launched a new single-chip module which combines short-range RF with an embedded SIM for GSM or GPRS communication. Designed for low-cost machine-to-machine (M2M) applications, such as smart metering, wireless sensing, telemetry or access control and security, SIMCom’s SIM 802 module can connect to an unlimited number of slave nodes and features programmable transmit power to maximise battery life.

Qualcomm Incorporated, a developer of advanced wireless technologies, products and services, has announced that it is sampling the industry’s first chipsets for dual-carrier HSPA+ and multi-mode 3G/LTE.  The Mobile Data Modem (MDM) MDM8220 solution is the first chipset to support Dual-carrier High-Speed Packet Access Plus (DC-HSPA+); and the MDM9200 and the MDM9600 chipsets are the first multi-mode 3G/Long Term Evolution (LTE) solutions. 

Diodes Incorporated has introduced a new pair of N-channel MOSFETs that will offer designers of Voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) communications equipment a more rugged solution that will significantly reduce circuit complexity and cost.

Cambridge Consultants has announced it has developed InCognito, what it describes as ‘a novel, low-cost ‘spectral sensing’ cognitive radio technology platform’ that will allow any radio product to transmit without interference over the so called ‘whitespace’ frequencies recently vacated by the US digital TV switchover. 

These desirable TV band frequencies can easily penetrate walls and can potentially extend the range of Home Area Networks (HANs) enabling a range of new applications, such as reliable high-definition video streaming from a single access point to every room in a house. 

The EnOcean Alliance is publishing the first global, open specification for energy harvesting wireless sensors which ensures interoperability between products of different manufacturers: EnOcean equipment profiles (EEPs). The specification, devised jointly by the members of the EnOcean Alliance, is public and accessible for anyone.

Solid State Supplies Ltd, a UK distributor of specialist electronic components to the industrial, automotive and military markets, have unveiled the W4000 series of GPS active antennas from Pulse. 

A new EU funded project SARTRE (Safe Road Trains for the Environment) is being launched to develop and test technology for vehicles that can drive themselves in long road trains on motorways. This technology has the potential to improve traffic flow and journey times, offer greater comfort to drivers, reduce accidents, and improve fuel consumption and hence lower CO2 emissions.

Toumaz Technology Limited, a pioneer in ultra-low power wireless infrastructure for body monitoring solutions, has begun clinical trials of its Sensium “digital plaster” wireless body monitor.  The trial of the ultra-low power, ultra-small size body monitoring system is being conducted by a specialist clinical research team at Imperial College London. 

According to a new report from In-Stat Nokia, the leading market share vendor for dual-mode Wi-Fi handsets, has seen its market lead slip significantly over the past year.

Lattice Semiconductor and Affarii Technologies Limited, a solutions provider for networking and telecommunications applications,  have developed a complete 3G/4G-based Remote Radio Head (RRH) solution for wireless infrastructure customers. 

picoChip has launched the PC8219E, the world’s first Class 3 femtocell reference design that brings femtocell technology to campuses, rural areas or ‘metrozone’ hot-spots.

Pulse has announced the W4000 series of GPS active antennas. These ultra-thin, oval-shaped antennas offer high performance and versatility in installation. The antenna can be positioned on the dashboard or window without concerns about orientation. 

Global IT solutions company MindTree as launched a Bluetooth health device solution on the Android platform. The solution is designed to provide seamless interoperability among personal healthcare devices, thereby empowering individuals to connect with their healthcare administrators real-time.

Designed for use in the standard ISM/SRD band of 433MHz, Shortlink's SL4300-B1 transceiver module offers customers a quick and easy way to integrate powerful wireless functionality at low cost.

Toumaz Technology Limited has announced the availability of the Sensium Life Pebble – a non-intrusive, body-worn wireless vital signs monitor that delivers real-time, high-quality data for healthcare applications. 

ST-Ericsson’s U8500 platform will be first to integrate Mali-400 graphics processing unit providing access to a leading-edge environment for graphics developers.

Once, broadcasting seemed a fairly mature technology. The television and radio companies knew what they were doing and it was just a matter of tweaking the equipment every now and then. Today, nothing could be further from the truth as the engineers wrestle with a whole new plethora of advanced concepts.

Most of this came on the back of the mass transition from analogue to digital broadcasting, a process that is still going on and is having a greater impact not just for the consumer but also in the production studios. High definition has become a buzzword for quality both in terms of broadcast television and in digital media with the transition to Bluray DVDs. And the internet too has become a battleground as broadcasters fight to take advantage of high-speed broadband pipes into most homes.

Cambridge Consultants has unveiled VenaHub, a data collection and aggregation system that promises to simplify personal health management in a connected health environment.

Fairchild Semiconductor has developed a new USB accessory switch for designers of mobile phones, PDAs and MP3 players.

CSR has introduced the SiRFstarIV GSD4e GPS location processor, the newest member of the recently launched SiRFstarIV architecture.

As consumers demand greater visibility into their energy consumption in order to keep energy costs down, Talon Communications has selected Texas Instruments Incorporated’s low-power RF technology as the preferred solution for the Talon edot In-Home-Display (IHD), the latest in a family of Home Area Network (HAN) devices servicing the Smart Energy Initiative.

Digi International has introduced the ConnectPort X5 family of compact, ruggedised telematics devices with optional satellite functionality.  The product family is the industry’s first family of telematics devices to incorporate cellular, satellite, global positioning system (GPS), Wi-Fi and vehicle area network (VAN) wireless technology in one device. 

Aricent has announced a Long Term Evolution (LTE) Evolved Packet Core (EPC) development collaboration with Cavium Networks, a provider of semiconductor products that enable intelligent processing for networking, wireless, storage and video applications.

picoChip has launched the industry's first fully-featured LTE development system for small cells, helping OEMs bring to market the next generation of highly cost-effective LTE basestations. Combining the company's field-proven OFDMA technology and its market leadership in femtocells, the PC9608/9 accelerates time to market of small form factor LTE products ("Home eNode B") that have been optimized for metropolitan, enterprise and residential applications.

LSI Corporation and Aricent have announced an expansion of their strategic collaboration to accelerate the deployment of wireless and wireline networking infrastructure and enterprise networking systems to the global marketplace.

Avago Technologies has announced the addition of two miniature 0.25-Watt analog variable gain amplifiers to its broad portfolio of amplifier products for use in cellular infrastructure applications. Housed in a compact 5mm by 5mm by 1.1mm, 10-lead module package, Avago's ALM-80110/80210 variable gain amplifiers feature a common footprint for easy integration into most base station designs. Additionally, these amplifiers offer high linearity and dynamic range performance and support all major cellular bands in North America, Europe and Asia.

Macro-scale energy harvesting from renewable sources i.e. the sun, wind and water is well established. Indeed, wind turbines, hydroelectric generators and solar panels are now starting to form a small, yet expanding, part of the world's power generation in this time of global warming and energy supply volatility.

Although, the concept of micro-scale energy harvesting has been recognised for sometime, it has only recently started to become a reality. This has been driven by the quest for ultra-low power (ULP) technologies that minimise power consumption, and the need for novel ways of power generation. Micro-scale energy harvesting provides several advantages.

Embedded wireless is simply the combination of an embedded process or system with a wireless interface for communicating. More specifically, these are the burgeoning systems enabling new forms of industrial, commercial and home building automation. Power consumption, or rather the lack of it, is a significant, and in most cases, the driving requirement of all these low-data rate applications. The measure of an embedded wireless application's power consumption, however, is not the simple sum of its parts as you might think. The focus when designing must be on the wireless system's power consumption, and how well a given wireless solution minimises this costly resource. The often overlooked, but equally important, system attribute that drives down a wireless system's power consumption is reliability. Reliability, in this sense, is the measure of a system's ability to communicate data from point A to point B in a single attempt. So how are reliability and power consumption in embedded wireless applications related, and how do you  optimise reliability and power efficiency?