原创 Four connectivity trends to rise in 2012

For several years, Broadcom Corp. has been ahead of the curve in bringing to market combo chips that support multiple wireless communications technologies. In February, the company rolled out a combo SoC, BCM4330, which integrates 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and FM radio technologies on a single silicon die. Late last month at the Computex computer show in Taiwan, Broadcom rolled out another combo chip, BCM43142, for PCs, notebooks and netbooks.

"What we think that we do uniquely well is combine all of these wireless technologies on a single chip and, in doing that, control the RF interference issues and cross talk" that are inherent problems with multiple radios in such close proximity, said Michael Hurlston, senior vice president of Broadcom's Home and Wireless Networking business unit, at a recent press briefing in San Francisco.

But one area where Hurlston does not expect to see integration in the near future is with the cellular baseband. Because connectivity technologies like Wi-Fi and Bluetooth evolve at a much more rapid pace than cellular baseband transitions—the multiyear conversion from 3G to 4G, for example—it would not make sense economically for Broadcom or any of its competitors to integrate a baseband with other radios onto a single die, Hurlston said.

"In connectivity, the rate of change is far faster that we are seeing in the baseband," Hurlston said.

(The exception, Hurlston said, is GPS, which Broadcom and other vendors have integrated with a baseband, because GPS is also not s fast evolving technology.)

Stuffing too many radios onto one die can also result in a very large chip, creating yield and thermal issues, according to Hurlston and Richard Barrett, director of product marketing for Broadcom's Wireless Connectivity group.

At the briefing, Hurlston and other Broadcom executives also outlined four wireless communications trends that they expect will be incorporated into a significant number of handsets later in 2011 and next year: near field communications (NFC), indoor location-based services, Bluetooth low energy (BLE) and Wi-Fi direct.

"This year, we will see all of those get adopted and start to ramp up," Hurlston said.

NFC
NFC—a close proximity wireless connectivity technology touted as an elegant solution for everything from pairing devices to sharing information to mobile payment systems—has been steadily gaining momentum for more than a year. The technology has won the backing of key wireless industry players such as Apple Inc., Google Inc. and Nokia Inc. and others.

Last month, AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile agreed to work with Visa and MasterCard on their Isis joint venture, which was established to form a nationwide infrastructure for NFC-enabled mobile payments using mobile handsets in the U.S. According to market research firm IHS iSuppli, that development will result in global shipments of NFC-enabled handsets to rise to nearly 550 million units by 2015, up from a little more than 56 million units last year.

"NFC is going to be the big story for the end of this year going into 2012, because I think mobile banking is something [wireless carriers] want to go and push as an initiative," Hurlston said. Hurlston said he expects that in 2012, 10 to 15 percent of all handsets shipped will be NFC enabled. (IHS estimates that 182 million NFC-enabled handsets will ship next year).

NFC-enabled contactless payment is already in place in many locations, particularly in Europe and Asia. The technology is at the heart of Google's recently announced Google Wallet mobile payment service. And rumors have circulated that Apple will soon facilitate contactless payment via NFC at its Apple stores.

Some have speculated that NFC may be slow to catch on for contactless payments in the U.S. due to security concerns and lack of infrastructure in place. (The technology is also touted as an easier way to pair devices like handsets and headsets and for things like passing information to handsets from "smart posters.")

"As soon as mobile payments take off, as soon as the carriers can find a way to monetize the technology, then the attach rate is really going to take off," said Hurlston.

Last year, Broadcom shelled out $47.5 million to acquire Innovision Research & Technology PLC, a wireless connectivity solutions provider with technology for combining NFC with other wireless technologies. According to Hurlston, it may have been the first time that acquisition-happy Broadcom ever bought a publicly traded company.

Indoor location-based services
It turns out that GPS doesn't work so well indoors, according to Hurlston. So in order to attract the attention of potential customers in, say, an indoor mall, carriers need to use a combination of technologies including WLAN, Wi-Fi, GPS and others to get coupons or advertisements to spin up to their smartphone when they are walking past, for example, Starbucks, he said. (The hybrid approach is often referred to as assisted GPS or a hybrid positioning system).

Nokia reportedly began a trial of indoor location based services at shopping centers in Finland in 2009. Nokia published a paperon its experiences with this technology in 2009.

A number of estimates have been circulated for the size of the overall location based services market. A report published by Juniper Research last year estimates that the market is expected to be worth $12.7 billion by 2014.

Bluetooth low energy (BLE)
BLE is a feature of Bluetooth 4.0 aimed at reducing power consumption. According to the Bluetooth Special Interest Group, devices using BLE are expected to consume a fraction of the power of devices using classic Bluetooth, opening up the potential to use Bluetooth for a host of new applications.

Chip vendors, including Texas Instruments Inc., CSR Inc., Nordic Semiconductor Inc. and Broadcom have been shipping chips that support BLE.

"BLE is happening right now," said Broadcom's Barrett. "All of the hardware that we are shipping today supports BLE. It's a software issue now."

Wi-Fi Direct
Wi-Fi Direct technology enables Wi-Fi devices to connect directly, making it easier to synch devices. According to the Wi-Fi Appliance, Wi-Fi Direct-enabled products can connect to one another without joining a traditional home, office or hotspot network.

Mobile PCs, digital TVs and cellular handsets incorporating Wi-Fi Direct are all shipping now. According to market research firm In-Stat, these devices all share a common trait: they are the respective centers of the PC, consumer electronics and mobile device clusters and they ship in the hundreds of millions of devices annually. According to In-Stat, by 2015 nearly 80 million digital TVS will be Wi-Fi Direct enabled, allowing them to connect directly with other devices, including handsets. At the Broadcom briefing, Broadcom representatives showed demos of playing smartphone games on a large digital TV through Wi-Fi Direct.

According to In-Stat, shipments of all devices that are Wi-Fi Direct enabled will reach 173 million this year. By 2014, every PC, consumer electronics device and mobile handset that ships with Wi-Fi silicon will be Wi-Fi Direct enabled, according to the firm. In Stat expects mobile PCs to adopt Wi-Fi Direct more quickly than any other application.

During the briefing, which occurred prior to the Computex computer show in Taiwan, Broadcom executives accurately predicted that Wi-Fi Direct would be one of the big themes to emerge at Computex. (Their prediction was an informed one—the BCM4312 combo chip that Broadcom rolled out at the show features Wi-Fi Direct connectivity.

"It's very easy now to pair two devices," said Hurlston. "It used to be that you had to go up through an access point, but if you can connect directly it's very easy to use. And you can run applications on top of that to make it super simple."

Broadcom chips also support the Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) interoperability spec, which can sit on top of Wi-Fi Direct. "We view DLNA and Wi-Fi Direct as very, very complimentary technologies," Barrett said.

Dylan McGrath

EE Times