The File - Oct 1, 2008 - (Page 1)

India’s fortnightly focus on electronics design October 1-15, 2008 Quest for the WPAN holy grail By Raghunath Govindachari CTO, R&D Services MindTree Ltd Wireless personal area networks (WPANs) have hooked the user with the convenience of cable-less connectivity. The era of true cable replacement convenience is marked by the maturity of short-range, lowpower RF, which is a long way from the initial IR-based era. Bluetooth, Zigbee and UWB are the popular standard-based WPAN technologies. The WPAN landscape is convoluted with NFC, RFID and Wi-Fi serving special needs. There are also many proprietary variants and challengers such as Z-wave and Wireless HD. So, where is WPAN headed and why? Each WPAN standard such as Bluetooth, Zigbee or UWB has its origin in one genuine core application or usage scenario. Bluetooth addresses cable replacement around cellular phones, Govindachari: A common radio platform helps developers focus on the applications without being dragged into technology dependencies. UWB is potentially such a RF platform. and specifically addresses audio and security. Zigbee brings low power and a secure RF link for low-data-rate sensory control applications. WiMedia UWB is driven by replacing USB cables from the notebooks and desktops and their peripherals. However, these core applications have an overbearing influence on the intricacies of the underlying technology. Zigbee lacks the protocol mechanisms needed for audio transport, which Bluetooth does well. But Bluetooth lacks the scalability of network topology that Zigbee has and hence will be limited in its ability to penetrate applications that Zigbee addresses well. UWB, while offering 480Mbps data rate at acceptable power but at not so acceptable distances, is falling short of compression-less HD video transfer rates. Already, there are attempts towards 66GHz RF for HD video streaming. Numerous enhancements are being proposed and developed for these technologies to address other applications. For example, Bluetooth is trying to address higher-bandwidth applications such as printing, fast synchronisation and file/image/video transfers on the one hand and bat ter y-p owered wearable devices on the other hand. Continued adoption While wireless protocol developers are furiously busy extending existing standards, end-user product developers are not going to wait for the dust to settle on the WPAN wars. They continued on page UWB video streaming in laryngoscopes By Hans-Joachim Gelke Institute of Embedded Systems (InES) Zurich University of Applied Sciences Inside Trends 5 PCIe expands interconnect potential for next-gen systems A laryngoscope, consisting of a handle and spatula, is an instrument used to view the larynx of a patient. Physicians use it when removing obstacles in the larynx, or when inserting breathing tubes. To examine the larynx, it must be ergonomically shaped and easy to operate. The method of inserting the instrument into the mouth—with the physician lifting the lower jaw and gently pushing it upwards—is complicated due to the danger of breaking the patient’s incisors. The instrument also cannot be used on about 20 per cent of patients who show an unexpectedly difficult airway. A solution to these problems provides a miniature camera built into the tip of the spatula, which improves the sight of the laryngoscope. In systems cur- rently on the market, the camera is connected to a monitor via a cable. This cable hinders work in the operation room or in an emergency car. A wireless connection between laryngoscope and camera makes the handling more convenient. For reasons of picture quality and avoidance of distortions, it has been decided that the transmission should be digital. For the comfort of the physician, movements of the object should appear on the screen with little delay, which implies that the video signal may not pass through compression circuits or continued on page 11 In Focus 9 12 Fine-tuning RF platform shrinks design time Mobile WiMAX enables IP convergence Sponsors 4 2 6 8 10 National Semiconductor Tech Insights Cadence Texas Instruments DigiKey www.eetindia.com http://www.eetindia.co.in/SEARCH/SUMMARY/technical-articles/WPAN.HTM?ClickFromNewsletter_081001 http://www.eetindia.co.in/SEARCH/SUMMARY/technical-articles/Bluetooth.HTM?ClickFromNewsletter_081001 http://www.eetindia.co.in/SEARCH/SUMMARY/technical-articles/Zigbee.HTM?ClickFromNewsletter_081001 http://www.eetindia.com/STATIC/REDIRECT/Newsletter_081001_GS01.htm http://www.eetindia.com/STATIC/REDIRECT/Newsletter_081001_EETI02.htm

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The File - Oct 1, 2008

EETimes India - October 8, 2008
National Semiconductor
Tech Insights
Trends
Cadence
Texas Instruments
Fine-tuning RF Platform Shrinks Design Time
DigiKey
Mobile WiMAX Enables IP Convergence

The File - Oct 1, 2008