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Nokia's cost-effective, short range, wireless technology now under development allows the connection of small, low power devices such as watches and sport sensors to larger devices such as mobile phones and personal computers. This new technology joins an expanding range of wireless protocols poised to change the way we live, work, and play in coming years.

Around 2001, the Nokia Research Center was looking at options for future personal wireless networking. The company realized that there was room for developing an ultra-low power, wireless technology that could interface cost-effectively with a large variety of existing and future devices, which, until now had not been effectively served by available existing technologies. Towards this end, Nokia decided to create a new open wireless protocol, and now, along with its partners Broadcom Corporation, CSR, Epson, and Nordic Semiconductor, is working to bring it to market.

Wibree will have multiple applications (Credit: Nokia)
While the Wibree protocol is currently under development and should be ready by mid 2007, the availability of the Wibree chip depends upon the semiconductor manufacturers' schedules. Wibree is similar in many respects to the now prevalent Bluetooth standard. Both use the 2.45 GHz band to transfer data and have a 1 Mbps transfer rate (although the newer Bluetooth 2.0 standard already incorporates a 3.0 Mbps transfer rate) and a rage of about 10 meters (m). The two complementary technologies differ in size, price, and most of all power consumption. Wibree would use only a fraction of the power consumed by today's Bluetooth chips, resulting in a much longer battery life and more compact devices. While Bluetooth can be used to transmit audio and media files, Wibree is designed to extend this network by serving applications that transmit only small amounts of data and where size and cost are priorities. Many applications that were not cost-effective using existing Bluetooth technology, such as wirelessly controlled toys, watches, medical and sports sensors, and a range of other applications that have not been conceived yet, might be developed using Wibree technology.

There will be two types of Wibree implementations - one based on the Wibree stand-alone chip, and another based on the Wibree-Bluetooth dual-mode chip - which will serve different purposes and be installed on different devices. Stand-alone Wibree chips would be implemented in small, low cost devices such as wireless mouse and keyboards, sensors, and toys. The Wibree-Bluetooth dual-mode chips would probably be implemented in future mobile phones, allowing users to benefit from both worlds - Bluetooth 2.0 high speed and Wibree's low power and extended ability to communicate with a new generation of smaller wireless devices.

The Wireless Zoo

Apart from the well known Bluetooth format (see more hardware articles here) , which operates at a distance of up to ten m (and the less common Bluetooth Class 1, which can broadcast up to 100 m) and can transmit up to 3.0 Mb/s, there are currently a host of other wireless technologies on the market and even more planned for the next few years. The following is a list of some of the main technologies:

Wi-Fi - Initially conceived in the 1990's, this wireless protocol was developed for wireless local area networks (LANs) and is used to connect computers, mobile phones, VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) phones, game consoles, and even TVs and cameras. The protocol has evolved in recent years and now includes several standards (IEEE 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, as well as the upcoming 802.11n). The transfer rate of Wi-Fi has always been considerable - 802.11b, ratified in 1999, reached a maximum data transfer rate of 11 Mb/s; 802.11g, ratified in 2003, reached a maximum data transfer rate of 54 Mb/s; and the future 802.11n might reach a maximum data transfer rate of 540 Mb/s. The range of Wi-Fi is also considerable and can exceed 100 m in some outdoor conditions. One of the main problems with Wi-Fi is its high power consumption, which is the result of the relatively long range and high data transfer rate of the technology. Wi-Fi is also relatively expensive and has higher latency than some of the other wireless technologies.

WiMax - In 2001, work on IEEE 802.16 began. This new standard was meant to create metropolitan wireless networks to accommodate or replace the Wi-Fi's local networks. The WiMax protocol allows for high speed (up to around 70 Mb/s) and long range (several and in some cases several dozen of kilometers) wireless communication. WiMax could potentially allow cheap, high speed wireless communication everywhere and find uses ranging from VoIP mobile phones to high definition wireless TV broadcasting. Like Wi-Fi, the power consumption of WiMax is considerable, and therefore is not suitable for use in small, low power devices... More articles about this

Wireless USB - Wireless USB or WUSB is a new short-range, high speed wireless extension to the USB standard that combines the speed and security of wired technology with the ease-of-use of wireless technology. WUSB is based on ultra-wideband (UWB) wireless technology, capable of sending up to 480 Mb/s at distances of up to 3 m, and 110 Mb/s at up to 10 m. WUSB is intended to compete directly with Bluetooth and find applications in game controllers, printers, scanners, digital cameras, MP3 players, hard drives, flash drives, and even TVs and other video-capable devices. The WUSB technology has suffered some setbacks due to both technical issues and disputes between some of the major players involved in its development.

RFID chip
Radio Frequency Identification - Modern Radio Frequency Identification technology (also known as RFID) was first demonstrated by researchers from Los Alamos, California in 1973. The most familiar form of RFID is the RFID tag, consisting of passive, semi-passive, and active RFID chips. Passive RFID chips use the minute electrical current induced in their antennas by incoming radio frequency signals to provide them with just enough power to operate and transmit data in response. Semi-active and active RFID tags include a battery, which helps them to stay on, respond more quickly, and transmit their information more effectively; the trade-off is that when the battery drains, it must be replaced. While passive RFID tags have a typical range of a few meters, active RFID tags can reach dozens or even hundreds of meters. These ranges make them perfect for monitoring product tracking, transport payments, wireless sensors, and various other applications. The main advantage of RFID devices is their very low power consumption (a passive RFID device doesn't even require a battery), but they are unable to store large amounts of information and have a very low data transfer rate (usually measured in Kb/s rather then Mb/s). Recently, HP revealed a new type of wireless technology called Memory Spot that consumes very little energy and does not require a battery. This upcoming technology has a 10 Mb/s transfer rate, but is designed to work only at a very close range (around 1 mm), making it suitable only for a number of applications.

ZigBee - ZigBee is the name of an alliance of companies formed around a standard approved in 2003 called 802.15.4. The ZigBee protocol promises to provide a long battery life (months or even years on a single battery charge) and to be a lower-cost alternative to Bluetooth for wireless sensing and control applications. The ZigBee alliance consists of a group of companies that includes Invensys, Honeywell, Mitsubishi Electric, Motorola, and Philips, to name a few. Its name comes from the zig-zag flight path of bees, forming mesh networks between flowers. Members of the ZigBee alliance believe that mesh networking is the key to unattended wireless systems for smart homes as well as wirelessly-controlled sensors for medical uses and industry. ZigBee also displays very low latency (much lower than Bluetooth, for example), which is critical for certain applications such as heart sensors.
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