IEEE Consumer Electronics Magazine - March 2018 - 110

FIGURE 2. The teardown images of an iPhone 7 smartphone. (Photo courtesy of iFixit;
iFixit Teardown, iPhone 7, 2016, ifixit.com)

Radios (Wi-Fi,
Bluetooth, GPS)

Power
Management

Battery

tooth and other wireless connection
technologies. This is an excellent example of a phone as a mobile convergence
device. The phone acts as a local media
and data center for the user. It also provides data access for other devices that
the user has around him or her. Personal
area networks (PANs) can also be creating by incorporating Internet-Protocolbased local wireless networks that allow
communication between various devices on and around an individual. PANs
allow moving some digital storage and
other functions off of a single device
while still allowing for coordination and
synchronization of content between the
connected devices. The use of smartwatches for fitness monitoring is one
example of such distributed functions.
In addition, improving local power
management and power availability combined with a viable storage and communications network will lead to amazing
advances in mobile consumer products,
i.e., mobile phones, in years to come.

SMARTWATCHES,
JEWELRY, AND CLOTHING
Sensors

MCU/Applications
Processor

Storage (eMMC)

User Interface
(e.g., Buttons)

Display

I/O
Micro Bus

FIGURE 3. A smartwatch reference design block diagram. (Image courtesy of Coughlin
Associates.) eMMC: embedded MultiMediaCard; I/O: input/output; MCU: microprocessor
control unit; USB: universal serial bus.

FIGURE 4. The teardown images of an
Apple Watch. (Photo courtesy of iFixit; iFixit
Teardown, Apple Watch, 2015, ifixit.com)
110 IEEE Consumer Electronics Magazine

Adding additional functions to phones
has made these devices more popular. It
also allows subscription services and inapp purchases, which helps retain customers. These developments, combined
with the astounding growth of mobile
phones throughout the world, continue
the expansion of mobile phones as
important elements in personal networking and device convergence.
Most cell phones today use multiple
radios. These include cellular networks
and Wi-Fi for communication and
downloading functions as well as Blue-

March 2018

The technologies that have made devices like the Apple Watch and earlier
Android watches possible are processing
power, memory/storage capacity, and
network connectivity. Today's smartwatches and other wearable consumer
technologies descended from earlier
wearable technology, just as devices in
the late 20th century inspired the smartphones and tablets that provide today's
ubiquitous portable computing power.
Figure 3 shows a smartwatch reference
design block diagram, and Figure 4 provides a teardown of an Apple Watch.
Between 2013 and 2014, some even
smaller personal electronic devices started to appear at the annual Consumer
Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada.
These included smart rings and other
forms of smart jewelry. These devices
are too small to have a large display or a
significant battery, but they were initially
used to interface with smartphones.
Smart rings, like many smartwatches,
now act as fitness trackers; they link people and control things. It will probably
(continued on page 120)

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Consumer Electronics Magazine - March 2018