Friends, I had written a post on TelecomYou way back on December 30, 2008. Interestingly, nothing really has changed as far as these top 10 telecom trends are concerned.…
I've been thoroughly bored with developments in telecom... and 2009 promises to be boring -- actually, steady, with more of the same!
Don't look around for too much of innovations though!
1. WiMAX vs. LTE -- when will this debate get over and done with?
2. Growth of 3G services in places where it hasn't taken off or started!
3. IPTV -- well, it needs to catch up and grow substantially.
4. More of GPS enabled devices as mobile navigation attempts to grow stronger.
5. Near field communications. A report elsewhere on the web talks also about NFC phones starting to roll out in Taiwan.
6. Further adoption of femtocells... hope the Forum does much, much more in 2009.
7. Embedded Internet devices.
8. Carrier Ethernet should gain steam.
9. More of mobile VAS and mobile Web
10. More of mobile OS wars.
Now, I wonder, what happened to the following, or what's the status! These were supposed to be hot not so long back!
1. OFDM
2. VCSELs
3. TD-SCDMA
4. MIMO
Well, do any of you, my friends, see anything different happen? Would be glad to hear about those!
Showing posts with label NFC. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NFC. Show all posts
Friday, 14 August 2009
Thursday, 30 July 2009
STMicro, Stollmann to deliver complete NFC solution
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND & HAMBURG, GERMANY: STMicroelectronics and Stollmann, a leading supplier of communication protocol software, announced a joint agreement to offer turnkey NFC interface solutions, complete with all the necessary hardware and software components, to leading manufacturers of handsets and mobile consumer devices.
Near Field Communication (NFC), is a fast-growing wireless connectivity technology that can be used with various consumer devices, including mobile phones, enabling fast and secure short-range data-transfer wireless services, such as payment and transport ticketing applications.
ST's NFC chips and Stollmann's NFC software stack are now available for sampling to lead customers, and provide all the API (Application Programming Interface) and implementation technology required to meet NFC standards, including compliance with NFC Forum specifications.
"Stollmann is very well known for its expertise in the development of connectivity software," said Laurent Degauque, Telecom and NFC marketing manager, Digital Secure Access (DSA) Division, STMicroelectronics. "This is an important cooperation that will allow ST's customers to benefit from a complete and ready-to-use NFC solution that complies with all relevant standards."
"This co-operation with STMicroelectronics is a major milestone for Stollmann and its software solutions for NFC," said Christian Luhrs, Managing Director of Stollmann. "The combined strength of ST, with its leadership in contactless chips, and Stollmann, a leading protocol stack supplier, should mean that we see NFC handsets and other mobile devices in the hands of providers and consumers very quickly."
Within the framework of this cooperative effort, Stollmann is adapting its portable NFC software with the Java JSR-257 API to ST's NFC chips, including the extended functions that will be supported by ST.
ST's ST21NFCA chip supports all popular formats for contactless smart cards and RFID tags as well as an extended set of wired interfaces and protocols. These include I2C and SPI interfaces with ETSI HCI and a Single-Wire Protocol (SWP) interface for Secure Elements (SE). This chip supports all NFC modes (Peer-to-peer, Reader/Writer and CardEmulation).
The Stollmann protocol stack facilitates NFC communications with NDEF and RTD formats and supports direct legacy access to contactless smart cards and RFID tags. The NFaCe+ API allows simple access to any type of smart card. It is also possible to adapt the system to existing interfaces such as PCSC. The stack itself has been developed with porting to different platforms in mind.
Stollmann offers a JSR-257 implementation for Java platforms suitable especially for mobile phones and similar devices and supporting extended functions for legacy transfers.
Near Field Communication (NFC), is a fast-growing wireless connectivity technology that can be used with various consumer devices, including mobile phones, enabling fast and secure short-range data-transfer wireless services, such as payment and transport ticketing applications.
ST's NFC chips and Stollmann's NFC software stack are now available for sampling to lead customers, and provide all the API (Application Programming Interface) and implementation technology required to meet NFC standards, including compliance with NFC Forum specifications.
"Stollmann is very well known for its expertise in the development of connectivity software," said Laurent Degauque, Telecom and NFC marketing manager, Digital Secure Access (DSA) Division, STMicroelectronics. "This is an important cooperation that will allow ST's customers to benefit from a complete and ready-to-use NFC solution that complies with all relevant standards."
"This co-operation with STMicroelectronics is a major milestone for Stollmann and its software solutions for NFC," said Christian Luhrs, Managing Director of Stollmann. "The combined strength of ST, with its leadership in contactless chips, and Stollmann, a leading protocol stack supplier, should mean that we see NFC handsets and other mobile devices in the hands of providers and consumers very quickly."
Within the framework of this cooperative effort, Stollmann is adapting its portable NFC software with the Java JSR-257 API to ST's NFC chips, including the extended functions that will be supported by ST.
ST's ST21NFCA chip supports all popular formats for contactless smart cards and RFID tags as well as an extended set of wired interfaces and protocols. These include I2C and SPI interfaces with ETSI HCI and a Single-Wire Protocol (SWP) interface for Secure Elements (SE). This chip supports all NFC modes (Peer-to-peer, Reader/Writer and CardEmulation).
The Stollmann protocol stack facilitates NFC communications with NDEF and RTD formats and supports direct legacy access to contactless smart cards and RFID tags. The NFaCe+ API allows simple access to any type of smart card. It is also possible to adapt the system to existing interfaces such as PCSC. The stack itself has been developed with porting to different platforms in mind.
Stollmann offers a JSR-257 implementation for Java platforms suitable especially for mobile phones and similar devices and supporting extended functions for legacy transfers.
Monday, 27 April 2009
INSIDE Contactless @ Cards Asia 2009
AIX-EN-PROVENCE, FRANCE: INSIDE Contactless, a leading provider of advanced, open-standard contactless chip technologies, participated in the upcoming Cards Asia 2009 conference and exhibition. held from April 21st- 24th in Singapore.
They showcaseed the latest technology products comprising their range of NFCs and contactless payments. In addition, they presented on the future of multi-application contactless cards during the conference. INSIDE’s regular participation in Cards Asia 2009 demonstrates the company’s continuing commitment to the Asia Pacific region, and provides the company with the opportunity to continue building relationships with new and existing customers and partners as the market for mobile phone, banking and security applications evolves.
“As contactless payment cards have become well established in Asian bank card markets, the stage is now set for the next wave of converged applications, and new multi-application card products can provide users with greater differentiation and top-of-wallet ‘stickiness’ by allowing for a more personalized and valuable point of acceptance experience, said Goh Say Yeow, Asia president for INSIDE Contactless. “Converged payment, retail loyalty, transit fare collection, access and identification applications provide card users with the ability to precisely tailor the customer experience to meet their marketing objectives.”
INSIDE’s third-generation MicroRead chip, which was launched on February 6, 2008, provides the broadest range of Near Field Communication (NFC) options that enables numerous new contactless applications. Already in use by the major handset makers, the MicroRead suite combines third-generation silicon, a full set of interfaces, NFC software libraries and APIs, a field-proven reference design and robust standards support into a turnkey contactless reader solution.
The MicroPass intelligent payment platform is designed to power open standard contactless and dual-interface bank card payments along with other value-added applications in all global regions. Based upon a RISC architecture and optimized to the demanding requirements of contactless transactions, each of the MicroPass family of products is designed specifically to meet the demands of user organizations in the bank card payments, transit, ID and access control markets.
They showcaseed the latest technology products comprising their range of NFCs and contactless payments. In addition, they presented on the future of multi-application contactless cards during the conference. INSIDE’s regular participation in Cards Asia 2009 demonstrates the company’s continuing commitment to the Asia Pacific region, and provides the company with the opportunity to continue building relationships with new and existing customers and partners as the market for mobile phone, banking and security applications evolves.
“As contactless payment cards have become well established in Asian bank card markets, the stage is now set for the next wave of converged applications, and new multi-application card products can provide users with greater differentiation and top-of-wallet ‘stickiness’ by allowing for a more personalized and valuable point of acceptance experience, said Goh Say Yeow, Asia president for INSIDE Contactless. “Converged payment, retail loyalty, transit fare collection, access and identification applications provide card users with the ability to precisely tailor the customer experience to meet their marketing objectives.”
INSIDE’s third-generation MicroRead chip, which was launched on February 6, 2008, provides the broadest range of Near Field Communication (NFC) options that enables numerous new contactless applications. Already in use by the major handset makers, the MicroRead suite combines third-generation silicon, a full set of interfaces, NFC software libraries and APIs, a field-proven reference design and robust standards support into a turnkey contactless reader solution.
The MicroPass intelligent payment platform is designed to power open standard contactless and dual-interface bank card payments along with other value-added applications in all global regions. Based upon a RISC architecture and optimized to the demanding requirements of contactless transactions, each of the MicroPass family of products is designed specifically to meet the demands of user organizations in the bank card payments, transit, ID and access control markets.
Sunday, 7 December 2008
Altera strategy to partner with Indian design services firms
Turning my attention to the programmable logic market, I took advantage of my recent meeting with Jordan Plofsky, Senior Vice President Market, Altera Corp., during the Altera SOPC conference.
Programmable logic consumption in India has been estimated at between $20-$25 million in 2008, largely driven by strong growth in communications infrastructure and increased spending in the military sector. The Indian programmable logic market is likely to grow at a CAGR of 25 percent over the next three years.
Altera's India strategy
In this context, it will be interesting to note Altera's strategy within the Indian semiconductor industry.
Plofsky says that as multinational companies are transferring more design work to their R&D teams in India, local companies are expanding their range of products, and independent design service companies are capturing a bigger piece of the outsourced design pie, Altera forecasts the increased need for high quality application support.
He says: "Unlike other companies who have design services operations in India, which compete with the local independent design services, our strategy is to partner with the local India design services industry. We are expanding our direct and indirect support channels to provide higher quality services to our customers here."
Altera is also supporting the development of the education sector in India, which is modernizing to turn out well trained engineers to satisfy the appetite of the industry. "We also run industrial workshops and seminars, like the recent SOPC World in Bangalore and New Delhi, to educate the design community on the direction of semiconductor technology," adds Plofsky.
Altera has also set up Altera Joint Laboratories in leading universities across India to provide a better platform for undergraduates to grasp basics of programmability.
Role in solar?
With investments in solar/PV happening, is there a role for Altera and other FPGA companies? This is a question that I invariably ask everyone in the semiconductor industry!
According to Plofsky, one of the promising applications is smart metering. It is the practice of getting the users and the infrastructure to be power aware and then using different usage patterns to lower energy usage and energy costs by applying smart algorithms.
Addressing low-power design
Power consumption has always been a big concern for designers in all markets and Altera has a number of different solutions.
In the CPLD area, Altera announced its zero power MAX IIZ devices in late 2007. Offering the highest density and I/O count in packages as small as 5x5mm, compared to macrocell-based CPLDs, MAX IIZ devices allow designers to meet changing functional requirements and lower power while saving board space.
Consuming 75 percent less power than competing FPGAs, the Altera Cyclone III devices are the industry's first and only 65-nm low-cost FPGA family, and offer digital system designers an unprecedented combination of density, power and cost.
To address the low-power demands of high density customers, the Stratix III and Stratix IV family members feature Altera's patented Programmable Power Technology. This power-saving technology optimizes logic, DSP and memory blocks to maximize performance where needed while delivering the lowest power elsewhere in the design. And in addition these designs can be converted to HardCopy ASIC devices that can reduce power consumption by 50-70 percent.
As for new products in the LTE, TD-SCDMA and NFC spaces, Plofsky says that with the new 40-nm devices, Altera is uniquely positioned to deliver solutions that provide the density, performance and power for these emerging applications. The combination of DSP blocks, memory and transceivers was optimized for these communication applications.
Roadmap beyond
Altera just announced its 40nm devices in May and it is said to be on target to deliver those devices by the end of 2008.
Adds Plofsky: "We have already started development work on smaller process geometries with test chips in fab now, but it is too early to go into any family detail at this time."
Programmable logic consumption in India has been estimated at between $20-$25 million in 2008, largely driven by strong growth in communications infrastructure and increased spending in the military sector. The Indian programmable logic market is likely to grow at a CAGR of 25 percent over the next three years.
Altera's India strategy
In this context, it will be interesting to note Altera's strategy within the Indian semiconductor industry.
Plofsky says that as multinational companies are transferring more design work to their R&D teams in India, local companies are expanding their range of products, and independent design service companies are capturing a bigger piece of the outsourced design pie, Altera forecasts the increased need for high quality application support.
He says: "Unlike other companies who have design services operations in India, which compete with the local independent design services, our strategy is to partner with the local India design services industry. We are expanding our direct and indirect support channels to provide higher quality services to our customers here."
Altera is also supporting the development of the education sector in India, which is modernizing to turn out well trained engineers to satisfy the appetite of the industry. "We also run industrial workshops and seminars, like the recent SOPC World in Bangalore and New Delhi, to educate the design community on the direction of semiconductor technology," adds Plofsky.
Altera has also set up Altera Joint Laboratories in leading universities across India to provide a better platform for undergraduates to grasp basics of programmability.
Role in solar?
With investments in solar/PV happening, is there a role for Altera and other FPGA companies? This is a question that I invariably ask everyone in the semiconductor industry!
According to Plofsky, one of the promising applications is smart metering. It is the practice of getting the users and the infrastructure to be power aware and then using different usage patterns to lower energy usage and energy costs by applying smart algorithms.
Addressing low-power design
Power consumption has always been a big concern for designers in all markets and Altera has a number of different solutions.
In the CPLD area, Altera announced its zero power MAX IIZ devices in late 2007. Offering the highest density and I/O count in packages as small as 5x5mm, compared to macrocell-based CPLDs, MAX IIZ devices allow designers to meet changing functional requirements and lower power while saving board space.
Consuming 75 percent less power than competing FPGAs, the Altera Cyclone III devices are the industry's first and only 65-nm low-cost FPGA family, and offer digital system designers an unprecedented combination of density, power and cost.
To address the low-power demands of high density customers, the Stratix III and Stratix IV family members feature Altera's patented Programmable Power Technology. This power-saving technology optimizes logic, DSP and memory blocks to maximize performance where needed while delivering the lowest power elsewhere in the design. And in addition these designs can be converted to HardCopy ASIC devices that can reduce power consumption by 50-70 percent.
As for new products in the LTE, TD-SCDMA and NFC spaces, Plofsky says that with the new 40-nm devices, Altera is uniquely positioned to deliver solutions that provide the density, performance and power for these emerging applications. The combination of DSP blocks, memory and transceivers was optimized for these communication applications.
Roadmap beyond
Altera just announced its 40nm devices in May and it is said to be on target to deliver those devices by the end of 2008.
Adds Plofsky: "We have already started development work on smaller process geometries with test chips in fab now, but it is too early to go into any family detail at this time."
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