Articles Tagged with ''connectivity''

After many years of waiting, 60 GHz technology looks set to emerge from a niche technology to a mass market solution. The main enabler has been the linking of the WiGig Alliance with the Wi-Fi Alliance and the forthcoming ratification of the 802.11ad standard which will encourage more Wi-Fi IC vendors to add 11ad to future tri-band solutions (i.e., 11n / 11ac / 11ad).

Analog Devices Inc. introduced an FPGA mezzanine card (FMC) that incorporates JEDEC JESD204B SerDes (serializer/de-serializer) technology to allow digital and analog designers to simplify high-speed data converter-to-FPGA connectivity.

Texas Instruments Inc. (TI), leading the industry with the most complete wireless connectivity portfolio for embedded applications, announced that the CC2538 is the industry’s first ZigBee® wireless network processor to offer the three most popular ZigBee standards for one end-device (ZigBee Smart Energy™, ZigBee Home Automation™ and ZigBee Light Link™). Now a single end-equipment can support these three standards, offering a seamless user experience with fast switching between each standard making it seem like concurrent operation.

Colt Technology Services in partnership with NEC, announced that it is conducting the first ever live trials of small cells using Femto-as-a-Service (FaaS) with a leading, large-scale European mobile operator, using a multi-operator small cell (Femto) gateway. The FaaS offer from Colt breaks down the investment barrier for mobile operators to start their own Small Cell service as it eliminates the need for mobile operators to have a dedicated Femto Gateway in the operator core.

As wireless connectivity attach rates increase in many markets and OEMs continue to push for cost savings, IC vendors such as Broadcom, Qualcomm, TI, Marvell, MediaTek and others, have created integrated wireless connectivity solutions to gain market share. These solutions known as Wireless Connectivity Combo ICs have already seen rapid adoption in smartphones and are now seeing strong usage growth in many other end applications including laptops, flat panel TVs, and automotive infotainment systems.

The market for mobile handset IC, including platform and connectivity ICs, surpassed $32 billion in 2011 and is forecast to grow a further 11 percent in 2012 to reach $35.7 billion. Growth is being led largely by the smartphone segment, with ultra-low end handsets also growing strongly. “Qualcomm stands out as the market leader with 26 percent overall share in 2011,” stated Peter Cooney practice director, of semiconductors,  “its continuing focus on the handset market and in particular its efforts to increase platform integration look set to further strengthen Qualcomm’s hold on the market in the near term.”

The number of Wi-Fi enabled devices shipped in 2012 is expected to surpass 1.5 billion. Growth is occurring across many markets including mobile handsets, laptops, media tablets, printers, TVs, and automotive. “Since 2009 over 9 billion Wi-Fi enabled devices have been shipped,” commented Peter Cooney, wireless connectivity practice director, “whilst growth was driven by networking in the early years the smartphone soon became the major market.

The total Bluetooth IC market (including stand alone and combo ICs) is expected to reach $4.3 billion in 2012 — an increase of 21% on 2011. Revenues are forecast to grow at a compound growth rate of over 20% to reach almost $12 billion by 2017.

Emerson Network Power Connectivity Solutions, a business of Emerson and a global leader in maximizing availability, capacity and efficiency of critical infrastructure, announces the launch of their new Chinese language website on emersonconnectivity.com.

Texas Instruments Inc. (TI) introduced its end-to-end Miracast system, comprised of source and display (sink) solutions that enable consumers to stream media, games, photos and other digital content from mobile devices to larger screens. Based on TI's OMAP™ platform, DaVinci™ video processors and WiLink™ connectivity family, the Miracast solutions deliver best-in-class video quality and market leading low latency over a secure Wi-Fi connection.