INCISOR THIS MONTH RF Micro Devices announces faster ... NEWS FROM THE BLUETOOTH™ AND SHORT RANGE...

1

TM

NEWS FROM THE BLUETOOTH™ AND SHORT RANGE RF ENVIRONMENT ISSUE 73

IN INCISOR THIS MONTHWelcome to the September 2004 issue of Incisor.

This is a rather different issue of Incisor, as most ofthe magazine is given over to our ‘Wireless inCalifornia’ special focus.

A week-long trip to the West Coast gave us a betterunderstanding of the state of the wireless market –in the USA generally, and in California specifically.We met with many of the companies that are at theleading edge of wireless developments – after all,doesn’t it all happen here?

There’s one surprise in store, though. One US - butnon-Californian - company insisted on having itsviews heard, and you will find these on page 24.Never let it be said that we are not fair!

We will continue this wireless focus programme, andwill next visit Scandinavia. If you wish to be includedin this, contact Vince Holton now.

The balance of this issue consists of news items andfeatures covering developments in Bluetooth – EDRand stereo audio are big at the moment, and802.11n and UWB standards battles commence.

What a good month!

Email: [email protected]: +44 (0)1730 895614

Our normal feature sections are included, and arelisted below:

Features:

Wireless industry news . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2-4

“Bluetooth: genuine QoS for automobile useAnthony Murray, CSR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

‘Can you hear music?’SMART Modular Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

‘Is Enhanced Data Rate Enough For Mobile Phones?’ RF Micro Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

Wireless in California’ special focusProfiles of 10 US wireless companies . . . . . . .9-26

Interactive directory of Bluetooth companies . .29

Wireless industry calendar of events . . . . . . . .30

Feature section edited by Paul RasmussenEmail: [email protected]

News section edited by Manek DubashEmail: [email protected]

RF Micro Devices hasannounced the highly integratedSiW4000 system-on-chip (SoC)Bluetooth solution withEnhanced Data Rate (EDR) forup to three times fasterthroughput than current V1.2devices. With mobile phoneapplications in mind, RFMD hasoptimised the SiW4000 for small size, low powerconsumption and low bill of materials (BOM) cost.

Developed using a 0.13 micron CMOS processtechnology, the SiW4000 consumes up to 30 percentless power than current Bluetooth products. Thisincreases talk time and standby time for today’sfeature-rich mobile phones. The SiW4000 isassembled in a 4.5 x 4.5mm ball grid array (BGA)package, which provides a 40 percent reduction insize compared to current solutions and minimizes thefootprint of the printed circuit board (PCB). Requiringonly eight external components, including sixcapacitors, one inductor and one band pass filter, theSiW4000 lowers the overall BOM cost.

Michael Yin, director of product marketing for thewireless personal area network (WPAN) product line atRF Micro Devices, said, “We are pleased to announceour new single-chip SiW4000 Bluetooth solution withenhanced data rate. The higher data throughputenables more efficient bandwidth utilization, lowerspower consumption and broadens the applications forBluetooth technology. We selected 0.13 micron CMOS

to remain at the forefront of thetechnology-cost-performancetrend. Furthermore, aggressivesystem design and optimisationreduce the overall die size andlower unit costs.”

Frank Morese, vice presidentof RF Micro Devices’ wirelessconnectivity business unit, said,

“The SiW4000 will significantly expand our Bluetoothproduct portfolio by targeting the high volume 2.5Gand 3G handset marketplace, within which RFMD isthe proven leader in power amplifiers. We anticipateour new SiW4000 will leverage the success of ourcurrent-generation, single-chip CMOS Bluetoothproducts, which are helping to drive approximately100 percent Bluetooth revenue growth for RFMD thisquarter.”

The SiW4000 features Enhanced Data Rate (EDR),which delivers two- to three-times faster data transferrates than the current V1.2 specification and isbackward compatible with Bluetooth V1.1 and V1.2devices. The SiW4000 also provides a coexistenceinterface to help reduce interference with 802.11systems. The solution requires fewer externalcomponents for an overall lower BOM cost.

RFMD’s announcement says that an enhanced datarate development platform will be available to selectOEMs in the fourth quarter of calendar year 2004, andsamples of the SiW4000 will be available during thefirst quarter of calendar year 2005.

RF Micro Devicesannounces faster,

smaller, less hungryBluetooth EDR silicon

WIRELESS IN CALIFORNIA SPECIAL ISSUE

www.click.co.uk

Wireless industry news

2

One thing the wireless industry can never beaccused of is ‘OK, we’ll do it your way if youprefer’ –thinking. One of the most heatedstandards debates has been within the UWBworld. Now it is 802.11n’s turn.

Intel-led TGn Sync, a coalition of more than adozen companies, has submitted a proposal for anext-generation WLAN standard to the 802.11 TaskGroup N (TGn). The TGn Sync coalition proposesusing two antennas to deliver data rates of up to243 Mbps which, it claims, could scale to over 600Mbps. The TGn Sync camp includes Agere Systems,Atheros Communications, Cisco Systems, Intel,

Marvell Semiconductor, Nokia, Nortel Networks,Royal Philips Electronics, Samsung Electronics,Sanyo Electric, Sony, and Toshiba. The TGn Syncproposal will be presented at the next IEEE 802.11meeting in Berlin on September 13-17.

The opposing proposal for the 802.11n standardis advanced by the WWiSE consortium, whichincludes Broadcom, Conexant Systems, AirgoNetworks, Bermai, STMicroelectronics, and TexasInstruments. The group has just announced itssubmission of a proposed broadband wirelessstandard achieving up to 540Mbps. Importantly, theWWiSE group has announced that, if their proposal

is accepted, member companies would license anypatents they hold that are necessary to implementthe proposal royalty-free to anyone (although suchlicenses would be revocable if the licensee andWWiSE member got into a court fight later on).

The first draft of the 802.11n specification isscheduled to be completed in mid-2005 with itsfinal ratification expected in late 2006 to early2007.Whether that will happen, or not, is likely to dependon how long the process is delayed by in-fightingbetween the TGn Sync and WWiSE combatants.

802.11n standard battle commences

In an announcement dated 26th of August,Ericsson has disclosed that it will discontinueits design and development of new Bluetoothsolutions for the semiconductor industry.Industry watchers will know that this is a verysignificant piece of news, and Incisor spoke toJohan Åkesson, VP of marketing at EricssonTechnology Licensing (ETL) to discuss theimplications.

More than any one other company, Ericsson isregarded as having invented the Bluetoothstandard, which now is successfully establishedworldwide. The standard has reached a maturestate and Bluetooth products are being producedin large volumes. Along the way, ETL has secureda blue-chip customer base for its Bluetoothsoftware solutions, including many of the world’stop semiconductor companies. However, eventhough large volumes of silicon are beingmanufactured, the business case for ETL tocontinue designing new Bluetooth solutions isapparently not strong enough.

Åkesson commented: “We succeeded in gettingBluetooth into mobile phones, which was one ofEricsson’s major goals, bringing as it does hugevolume sales. The very success of Bluetooth, andits widespread market adoption have drivenprices down, bringing intense competitionamongst software and hardware providers,and tough market conditions. From a strictlyobjective point of view, the business case to

continue as we are today is not solid enough.”Ericsson is not walking away from Bluetooth,

Åkesson was keen to point out. A dedicatedBluetooth unit will be created to support ETL’sexisting high-profile customers. In addition,Bluetooth technology will be offered within thesection of Ericsson’s business known as EricssonMobile Platforms (EMP), which provides platformtechnology to cellphone OEM and ODM customersincluding Sony Ericsson, Sharp, LG, Amoi, TCL,HTC, Lite-On and Bellwave amongst others.Ericsson’s Bluetooth knowledge will be integratedinto EMP, which will offer Bluetooth software as apart of its offering. “Adding this Bluetoothexpertise will undoubtedly strengthen EMP’sposition in the market,” said Åkesson.

ETL currently employs 125 staff. Much of ETL’sexisting resource – human and IP will transfer intoEMP. This, plus the establishment of the supportteam for ETL’s customers is expected to ensurethat no Ericsson staff are laid off. Åkesson wasvery confident about this: “Both EMP and SonyEricsson have big recruitment needs at themoment, and so we are confident that they will findpositions within these Ericsson organisations.”

What is more, Sony Ericsson, which seems tohave been regathering strength in the handsetmarket – grabbing sales from the currentlyslipping Nokia – is committed to continuing to useBluetooth software. A large part of SonyEricsson’s product portfolio is Bluetooth-enabled.

Peter Bodor, public relations manager for SonyEricsson confirmed this: “Bluetooth is a reallyintegral part of Sony Ericsson’s strategy. We havethree key applications areas – imaging,entertainment and connectivity. For the latter,Bluetooth is obviously paramount, but imagingand entertainment apps need connectivity too,and Bluetooth provides that.”

Nor will Ericsson pull back on its leading role inthe Bluetooth Special Interest Group (BSIG). “Ourcommitment to driving Bluetooth forward via theBSIG’s activities will remain at the same highlevel,” said Åkesson.

What will evolve from this series of changeswithin one of the Bluetooth industry’s mostsignificant companies remains to be seen. At thispoint it is probably wisest to regard thisannouncement as a pragmatic and sensiblereaction to changing market conditions.

Breaking news - Ericsson reorganizes itsBluetooth operations

Åkesson confirms Ericsson's ongoing commitment to Bluetooth

Wireless industry news continued

TM

9th -10 th November 2004 • San ta C l a ra Convent ion Centre , San ta C l a ra , USA

Incisor is an official media sponsor of Wireless Connectivity Americas 2004, and will publish two special issues to support this, theUSA’s largest showcase for the Bluetooth, UWB,WiMAX,WLAN, ZigBee,Wireless USB, NFC, DECT,Wireless 1394 and short-rangewireless marketplace.

Incisor special issues for Wireless Connectivity World 2004

As an official publication of Wireless Connectivity Americas 2004, Incisor provides a perfect platform for your company’s advertisingand PR messages, which will not only be seen by all visitors to Wi-Con World, but also the entire global subscriber base. This ensuresbest possible value for your event marketing expenditure.

To receive details of special deals on advertising space in these issues, or to book e-bulletin messages to be distributed before, duringor after the event, contact Vince Holton immediately.

NOVEMBER - Wireless Connectivity Americas preview issueCopy Deadline: 22nd October Date of Publication: 29th October

DECEMBER - Wireless Connectivity Americas review issue Copy deadline: 6th November Date of Publication: 12th November

Email: [email protected]. u k · Tel: +44-1730 895614

Fremont, California-based SMART ModularTechnologies, Inc. (see ‘Wireless in California’profile elsewhere in this issue) has announced itsBluetooth 1.1 compliant RS-232 adapter is nowbeing manufactured in volume production forworldwide distribution. Targeting the industrialand medical markets, SMART’s Bluetooth RS-232adapter replaces traditional serial cables usedwith products such as laptop computers,industrial data collection systems, and medicalmonitoring equipment and now allows wirelessconnection to Bluetooth-enabled devices.

Complete with an onboard antenna, an embeddedBluetooth communications stack (with BluetoothSPP) and an embedded configuration utility, theSMART RS-232 adapter features auto-sensing of

power either from its external power adapter orfrom the host device (via pin 9). Power consumptionis specified at less than 150 mA maximum duringcontinuous operation, with 100 to 120 mA typical.

During sleep mode, power consumption drops tobelow 1 mA. Offering maximum data transfer ratesup to 200 Kb/s, the RS-232 adapter supports Class2 operation (+2 dBm typical transmit power with amaximum range of 30m).

“Enthusiastic market demand has caused SMARTto ramp up to high-volume production of our RS-232 adapter,” said Robert Ragusano, Vice Presidentand General Manager of SMART’s CommunicationProducts Division. “Domestic and internationalvolume shipments are an excellent indicator ofglobal acceptance and upswing of Bluetoothtechnology across a variety of consumer andindustrial products.”

SMART Modular Technologies shipsBluetooth RS-232 Adapter in volume

Wireless industry news continued

4

What is described as the industry's first everexpress RFID Service Bureau, the Monarch Q-ServiceT, has been launched by Paxar UK,which provides bar code and identificationtechnologies for the retail supply chain. Paxaralso supplies Monarch brand products andservices.

The service, which is now fully operational, isaimed at companies that supply global retailers.Many of these are now required to use RFIDshipping and pallet labels. Paxar’s system allows

them to take fast delivery of these labels,programmed with RFID data and printed withbarcode and human readable data. The retailersthen just need to provide Paxar with the data to beencoded, and the human readable and bar codeinformation to print on the RFID label. Paxar takescare of verifying the RFID chip, encoding the data,and printing the label. The finished labels are thenexpress shipped.

Paxar claims that a major benefit stemming fromits latest solution is the ability for suppliers to

meet retailers' current RFID needs without havingto invest in expensive hardware or systems.

Paxar's Vice President of Service Operations,John Powell, stated: "The first customer to use ourQ-Service capabilities was a large packagedelivery company. We ran the order and shipped itmeeting their delivery expectations. The customerwas entirely satisfied with the service and the100% read rate of the labels provided."

Paxar is a member of EPCglobal, the agencymanaging the emerging standards for RFID.

Paxar announces express-shippedRFID service

Connexion by Boeing - a business unit of theBoeing Company and iPass Inc. will deliveriPass enterprise customers secure in-flightWi-Fi Internet connectivity. Through theagreement iPass users will have access to theConnexion by Boeing mobile Internet servicethrough the iPass Global Broadband Roamingnetwork.

This agreement marks Connexion by Boeing'sfirst contracted Wi-Fi enterprise access provider.

Boeing says that Connexion, which it claims isthe only real-time, high-speed connectivity serviceavailable to commercial airline passengers andiPass, which operates the world's largest Wi-Fi

roaming network with over 11,000 active hotspotsin 33 countries, complement each other perfectly.Through the iPass Global Broadband Roaming(GBR) network and the Connexion by Boeingservice, the more than 528,000 distinct monthlyiPass users will be able to connect to theircorporate networks, send and receive emails withattachments, access files and businessapplications and surf the entire Internet while inthe air.

"Wi-Fi, for business travellers, will rival extralegroom as a 'must-have' airline amenity," saidJohn Yunker, an analyst with Byte Level Research."iPass and Connexion by Boeing make a good fit.

Connexion by Boeing provides Wi-Fi in the skywhile iPass provides start-to-finish connectivityfor the business traveler across thousands oflocations."

Connexion by Boeing has agreements with majorair carriers that operate at airports serviced byiPass including Copenhagen Airport, Narita/NewTokyo Airport and Changi Airport. In total, iPassoffers broadband access at 121 airports in 21countries -- including 49 of the world's busiest asmeasured by passenger volume, making theConnexion by Boeing service an important link ina continually growing chain of broadbandconnectivity designed for mobile enterprise users.

iPass Wi-Fi access in the sky

As we have reported in this issue, several USstates are writing new laws mandating the useof cell phone headsets while operating a motorvehicle; however, according to a businesstrading as FreeHeadset.org, these new lawsfail to provide assistance in obtaining aheadset. In response, San Diego-basedFreeHeadset.org has developed a program toprovide wireless phone users with a free cellphone headset. Participants are only required

to pay $3.94 for the cost of shipping andhandling.

FreeHeadset.org founder Matt MacAdamsidentified the need for this program in his localcommunity. Using his experience in the wirelessphone industry, he started FreeHeadset.org in lateDecember, 2003. Incorporated three months later,the company now ships thousands of headsetsper month nationwide. “Using a headset is a veryimportant safety issue that often gets overlooked.

Our goal is to encourage people to use headsetsby making it simple, affordable and convenient toobtain one,” said MacAdams.

The FreeHeadset.org website uses a simple stepby step process to make ordering easy and theirweb servers use 128-bit SSL security certificatesto ensure safe online transactions.

These will be wired headsets, of course, butIncisor salutes this safety initiative regardless.

Website: http://www.FreeHeadset.org

FreeHeadset.org gives away free cellphone headsets

http://www.FreeHeadset.org

5

Kick-started by the soaring demand for hands-free telephony in automobiles, the availability ofnew-generation Bluetooth chipsets is providingthe means to improve headset quality of service(QoS) and power consumption, as well as aplatform to extend the technology's use.

A vehicle cabin can be a harsh environment for RFdevices, and the mandatory adaptive frequencyhopping (AFH) feature of v1.2 Bluetooth chipsetsprovides a welcome addition to defences againstinterference. However, it's the optional v1.2 eSCO(extended SCO), and the new EDR (enhanced datarate) features that give a major boost to thesuitability of Bluetooth for automotive applications.

With rapidly-escalating numbers of wirelessdevices operating in the ISM band, and theinterference that can be generated by automobileelectrics and in-car devices such as Satellite DigitalAudio Radio Service, the retransmission possibilitiesoffered by eSCO adds an important safeguard for

the quality of headset performance.EDR - which offers maximum data transfer rates

of 2.1Mbps compared to the current 721kbps forv1.2 - addresses another drawback of headsets:poor battery life. The industrial design quality ofBluetooth headset products has been quiteremarkable, and small size is a universal feature -typically leaving little space for a good-sizedbattery. With EDR transmission, the radio element ofthe Bluetooth device is active up to three times less.It also gives the eSCO mechanism greater time toretransmit packets and avoid any corruption frominterference (see sidebar).

WIDER USEHowever, mobile phone headsets are just the start

for Bluetooth use in vehicles. Emerging applicationsinclude internet access, wireless additions to theinfotainment system, vehicle personalisation andeven vehicle diagnostics.

Chipsets offering the combination of v1.2 and EDRfeatures such as CSR's BlueCore4 provide a highquality radio platform that can both handle therange of applications targeted by vehicle makers,and combat any potential sources of RF interference- which can be magnified by the reflective nature ofa cabin.

Bluetooth AFH and eSCO features ensure that thelinks have good defences against interference.Vehicle electronic developers should also look forchipsets that support one other Bluetooth feature -Channel Quality Data Driven Rate. CQDDR monitorstransmission errors, and dynamically adjusts thepacket types used to best suit the environment andmaintain the most efficient data rates. CQDDRassures the highest data rate, especially for in-vehicle data communications applications such asdial-up networking.

Anthony Murray is a Bluetooth automotivespecialist with CSR: [email protected]

Bluetooth: genuine QoS forautomobile use

Sponsored contribution

by Anthony Murray, CSR

eSCO explainedWith eSCO, which is an optional feature of

v1.2, each packet has a CRC (CyclicRedundancy Check) so the receiver can checkthat packets are received correctly.Acknowledgement is used, so packets whichare received with errors or lost altogether arenegatively acknowledged. Retransmissionwindows allow opportunities to retransmitunacknowledged packets.

CRC means there will be fewer errors in theaudio, giving better quality, andretransmission means that from the CODEC'sviewpoint there are less dropped packets, sothere will be fewer clicks in the audio. OveralleSCO means the same CODECs will givebetter quality audio.

v1.1 SCO only used single slot packets. eSCOallows the use of 3 slot packets for synchronousvoice or data. This means it is possible to getconnection speeds of 100kbps, compared withthe fixed 64kbps of v1.1. This is possiblebecause with single slot packets, a lot of linkcapacity is lost to gaps between packetswhile the radio changes frequencies.

At each instant the master transmits aneSCO packet (see diagram), the slaveresponds using normal SCO rules (theslave is allowed to respond even if itdoesn’t receive the master’s packet). Thedifferences from SCO are then apparent:there is a retransmission window duringwhich unacknowledged packets can be

resent until acknowledged. The spacing of theeSCO instant is negotiable. With v 1.1 SCOthere was a choice of three different packetspacings, all giving 64kbps. With eSCO bothpacket length and intervals can be negotiatedin both directions.

6

Undoubtedly, listening to phone calls onBluetooth wireless headsets is veryconvenient. But, how about listening to anentire catalog of MP3 files too? The good newsis the latest Bluetooth specification is going tomake it possible to have a full audioexperience over Bluetooth—and the latestBluetooth chips and modules will make iteasier to plug in functionality to these audio-equipped base stations and terminals.

THE NEW SPEC MEASURES UPEffective rather than theoretical throughput is

what matters, and the new Bluetooth specificationis demonstrating effective throughputs of morethan 500 kb/s—with high-quality audio requiringjust under 400 kb/s to sound good.

So, the new specification is making it possible todevelop MP3 and DVD applications with the rightlevel of performance. In addition, the newspecification allows enough throughput across thefull range of the product, making the performancefeel reliable to the consumer.

Another great new feature for audio is FastConnect, which removes the delays in the systemthat would degrade the experience by causingdrop outs or pops in the audio. Now, if a signaldrops, fast connect recovers and protects theperceived quality of the acoustic experience.

Also important is the addition of adaptivefrequency hopping (AFH) in the Bluetooth 1.2 spec,which makes the system less susceptible tointerference and accompanying service disruptions.

A VALUE PROPOSITIONIn the marketplace for MP3 players and automotive

“infotainment” systems, one way to create value isto add wireless headset capability. Adding stereoand 3D stereo functionality into a wireless headsetcreates a value proposition and a product that ismore attractive to consumers, especially the youthand young professional markets.

Additionally, the higher data throughput and

effective range with good data rates of Bluetooth1.2 enables designers to include remote controlfeatures, such as fast forward, play, and pause.From a product development standpoint,designers can now use the new AVRCP and AVprofiles and write applications that enable remotecontrol, giving them an opportunity to differentiatetheir products.

INFOTAINMENT ON THE MOVEFor automotive applications, infotainment

systems have been installed in vehicles for years.Some OEMs and third-party vendors have talkedabout adding Bluetooth capability in the past, butit never had the level of performance versus costthat IrDA systems did. Of course, the realadvantage of Bluetooth over Infrared is that it isnon-line of site. With the new specification,Bluetooth is a good fit for automotive infotainmentsystems, and, without the line of siterequirements, car manufacturers are free to placetransmitters in any number of locations within thevehicle.

In addition, Bluetooth makes it possible to pairthe headsets with the in-vehicle system,effectively creating a closed system. This allowsfor greater control of the environment as well asavoiding access, crosstalk, and interference fromoutside the vehicle. Yet, the dealer or third-party

vendor still has the ability to expand, contract,repair or retrofit the system because Bluetooth hasthe ability to be discoverable or non-discoverable.

TECHNOLOGY IS HEREFrom a technology standpoint, Bluetooth 1.2 is

here. The chips are ready, and modulemanufacturers, such as SMART ModularTechnologies (Fremont, CA), have alreadydeveloped wireless audio modules that supportboth the source (base station) and the terminal(headset) side of the networks.

There are several key technologicalconsiderations when developing products forBluetooth audio. On the source side, your moduleneeds to be able to work with standard basestation interfaces. On the terminal side, carefulconsideration has to be given to battery powerconsumption.

Battery and power issues have been a concernfor Bluetooth throughout its history, and the latestdevices have improved notably in powerconsumption. Plus, the cost of lithium-ionbatteries has decreased, with the end result ofmore storage capability. One common error is toonly consider power issues in the terminal side.The truth is, designers need to think carefullyabout power consumption in the platform, andoptimize it for the particular application.

The terminal design also needs to include anantenna that performs well in the applicationenvironment, offering the data rates required forgood audio to the edges (and preferably beyond)the advertised range of the product. The terminalmust also include driver circuits that work with avariety of different speaker technologies.

The good news is that the technology is here, thespecification is in place, the components areready, product differentiation is possible and, withthe right product design, Bluetooth is poised to hita high note in the audio space.

www.smartmodular.com

Can you hear music? Bluetooth 1.2could initiate a whole host of

audio applications



7

www.ericsson.com/bluetoothBluetooth was our idea. Now let’s focus on yours.

Market-leading Bluetoothsoftware for mobile phones

Depend on theIndependent

supplier

Our strong base of experience,intense focus and unique perspective has allowed us tobecome the premier developerof Bluetooth design solutions.Our complete Bluetooth offercomprises baseband and radiocores, software, profile components, qualification services, and training.

The

Blu

etoo

th w

ord

mar

k an

d lo

gos

are

owne

d b

y B

luet

ooth

SIG

, In

c.,

and

use

d b

y E

ricss

on u

nder

lice

nse.

www.ericsson.com/bluetooth

8

The recently announced Bluetooth®enhanced data rate (EDR) boosts throughputup to three times faster than standardBluetooth 1.2 devices, shortening datatransfer time and lowering average powerper unit data transferred. So does this meanthat silicon vendors can now rest on theirlaurels and feel satisfied that their productsare a perfect match for demandingapplications such as mobile phones? Ofcourse not, there is much more that siliconproviders can do to help customers developsuperior products and bring them to marketin record time.

RF Micro Devices’ new SiW4000™ Bluetoothsystem on chip (SoC) with Bluetooth enhanceddata rate is designed specifically with themobile phone application in mind includingmany unique features that make it easier todevelop, test, and produce mobile phones.Owing to the scaling property of 0.13um CMOSprocess technology, the SiW4000 achievesextraordinary circuit density resulting incompact die area and even lower system powerconsumption.

Making the chip easier to useThe RFMD design team was focused on

minimizing the effort to integrate the SiW4000into mobile phones. Here are some of the uniquefeatures that went into the design of the chip.

No tuning RF front endThe internal 50 Ohm RF matching circuit of the

SiW4000 means there is no tuning requiredduring product development or production. Alow cost RF band pass filter is the only externalcircuit needed between the RF I/O pin and theantenna. The ease of implementation improvestime to market and reduces risk of PCBredesign.

Small foot print and low insertion cost Due to its high integration, the SiW4000

requires only six capacitors, one inductor, andone band pass filter for a standard mobile phoneapplication. Utilizing a standard BGA packagesized at 4.5mm x 4.5mm the entire solution canfit into space-limited mobile phone platforms.

Direct hook up to batteryThe SiW4000 is designed with robust

integrated voltage regulators that tolerate directinput levels found in mobile phone batterieseven during battery charging. The internalpower management circuit prevents unwantedcurrent drain when the device is not used and iscompletely integrated into the system withoutthe need for any external circuit or unnecessaryhost intervention. The care in managing powerconsumption results in achieving long talk timeand standby time in mobile phones.

Flexible high-speed serial host interfaceThe SiW4000 supports both synchronous (SPI)

and asynchronous (UART) serial interfaces withdata rates that match the higher datethroughput of Bluetooth EDR. The interface canbe configured to accommodate variousinterfaces found in most mobile phones. Autodetection of data rate means there is noawkward initialize procedure for the hostinterface.

Reference clock and power management interface

The SiW4000 can directly accept any mobilephone TCXO reference clock signals andautomatically detect the input frequencyavoiding complicated start up procedures. Thedesign also incorporates clock request / granthandshake that’s consistent with mobile phoneclock management circuits.

Superior 802.11 coexistence mechanisms: In mobile phones where an 802.11 system

also exists, the SiW4000 can be enabled with acollaborative interface to avoid interference withthe adjoining 802.11 system even when theantennas are in close proximity to each other.This capability allows simultaneous operation asrequired when a VoIP network call over 802.11is made using a Bluetooth headset.

Low risk developmentTo facilitate system integration and minimize

any risk during software development, a stackFLASH version of SiW4000 is available that is100% software execution timing accurate. Theentire system can be verified and tested usingthis stack FLASH before the ROM memory iscommitted to production.

RF Micro Devices continues to raise the bar forperformance, integration, and ease ofimplementation. SiW4000 extends its family ofBluetooth SoC devices including the SiW3000and SiW3500 that are already in productioninside mobile phones today.

For more information go towww.rfmd.com/bluetooth.asp.

Is Enhanced Data Rate enough formobile phones?


www.rfmd.com/bluetooth.asp

Incisor special focus

9

continued

A BIG STATE IN A BIG COUNTRY

The United States of America - excludingoverseas possessions - covers 3,548,974square miles and has a population of some 293million. Of this, California – or the Golden State -takes up 403,954 square miles and has apopulation of 34 million. These are numbers thatconfirm that the USA is a heck of a big country,and California is a heck of a big part of it. Thestate is home to 12% of the nation’s populace,and represents 12% of the US’ land mass. Doesthis mean that California, as one of 50 states,yet holding 12 per cent of the nation’spopulation, is heavily populated? Hardly - that’sless than 84 people per square mile. Bycontrast, the whole of Incisor’s homeland - theUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and NorthernIreland - is 94,211 square miles in area - with apopulation approaching 60 million. That’s a busy637 people per square mile.

If we Brits had wanted to be less crowded,maybe we shouldn’t have let go? The USAachieved independence of Great Britain in 1783.

That is a while back, but we still get ribbed aboutit! The first President was George Washington -the descendant of an ancient English familywhose arms are believed to have suggested thedesign of the American arms and flag. The US iscurrently presided over by another George – MrBush, albeit that he is currently locked in a re-election battle with Senator Kerry.

THE REPUBLIC OF CALIFORNIA!

While the American flag is known the worldover, its quite likely that few outside the USA willbe familiar with the Californian flag, depicted atthe top of this article. In 1846 there was anuprising, which became known as the Bear FlagRevolt after the hastily designed flag depicting agrizzly bear and a five pointed star over a red barand the words "California Republic." The grizzlybear was a symbol of great strength while thelone star made reference to the lone Star ofTexas. California joined the Union in 1850 afterthe Mexican-American war and StateLegislature adopted the Californian Republic’sbanner as the State Flag in 1911.

THE BIRTH OF SILICON VALLEY

During the 20th century California became acentre of excellence for IT development and isnow renowned for producing some of the mostfamous technology companies in the world.While the area known as Silicon Valley covers arelatively small part of California, its epicentrebeing San Jose in the San Francisco South Bayarea, to most outsiders, California is about techcompanies. California is Silicon Valley, and viceversa. However, other industries such asbiotechnology, aerospace, agriculture and filmalso thrive on the West Coast.

Today, the state of California is overseen byGovernor Arnold Schwarzenegger. In hisinaugural address he stated "California is openfor business". But this is not just to UScompanies. Since 1996, Cal-IT has been apartnering and investment forum bringingtogether the biggest names in the Europeantechnology and investment community and thestrongest emerging technologies fromCalifornia. At a speech to Silicon Valley business

Wireless in CaliforniaIncisor meets with ten American companies

representing the wireless industryWhen we decided to create this special feature dedicated to the wireless industry in California, USA, we knew that – provided enough

companies participated – we would we arranging a lengthy tour of Silicon Valley and the rest of the West Coast state. Had we been trying toarrange 10 meetings around most other countries, and lets face it, California is big enough to be a country, this would have been a dauntingproposition, and not one to guarantee enthusiasm.

When our marketing of the special proved successful, and the trip was a sell-out, not for one moment did we feel unhappy at the prospect.Why? Well, not only did this sales success confirm that our industry is coming out of recession, but because California is a beautiful state, fullof exciting companies, staffed by relaxed and hospitable people.

This introduction is intended to provide our non-American readers with background information and reasons why tech companies like tooperate from California, and the company profiles that follow will provide an insight into the wireless industry in Californian, and how itcompares to other territories such as Europe and the Far East.

Incisor special focus continued

10

leaders on February 5th 2004, the Governor said"The high tech industry is absolutely critical toCalifornia's economic recovery".

But just how powerful is California as a tradecentre? Pretty powerful. The state’s $1 trillioneconomy is the 5th largest in the world – slightlysmaller than the UK, slightly larger than France.

California's robust economic expansioncontinues, leading the nation in creating newindustries and jobs. California is the nation's toprecipient of venture capital, receiving more than$1 billion annually. The Golden State is alsohome to the largest percentage of the nation'sresearch laboratories and receives nearly aquarter of Research and Development fundseach year.

WORKING HARD BY OPENING DOORS

California’s long-term future growth dependson how well the state is positioned forinternational market competition, global tradeand investment. California currently leads thenation in foreign investment and exports, andCalifornia's Technology, Trade and CommerceAgency oversees twelve International Trade andInvestment Offices, including one in London.These offices assist with corporate expansions,help countries establish trade ties withCalifornia firms and open new paths for long-term partnerships. Incisor publisher Click I.T. Ltdcan vouch for the helpfulness and enthusiasm ofthe London office of the California Technology,Trade and Commerce Agency.

California promotes itself as offering anincreasingly cost-effective and pro-businessclimate. Working under the banner of

TeamCalifornia, the California Technology, Tradeand Commerce Agency has joined with a state-wide network of economic developmentpractitioners committed to expanding andattracting corporate investment. Current Statepolicies and new initiatives in the areas ofeducation, infrastructure development andworkforce training are tailored to attract newinvestment and encourage job creation.TeamCalifornia seeks to build upon these state-wide benefits by providing access to the State'smany resources.

WHAT’S NOT TO LIKE?

Sure enough, our trip to California was thepleasure we had anticipated. We drove betweenall of our meetings, which ranged from SanDiego up to San Francisco. There were practicalreasons for this, but also we chose to do it thisway rather than fly. A state that includes naturalwonders such as Yosemite, Sequoia, GoldenGate and Kings Canyon National Parks, humancreations such as San Diego Zoo, Disneyland,William Randolph Hearst’s castle at San Simeonand the Monterrey Aquarium, plus theNapa/Sonoma wine county, just begs to beexperienced.

While Incisor cannot share with you all of thepleasures of our tour, we hope that you willenjoy this series of interviews with Californiancompanies, the information provided, and theopinions expressed.

The next in this series will be a Wireless inScandinavia special focus. Contact Incisor forfurther details.

San Jose – at the heart of Silicon Valley


11

A7 Engineering designs smartsolutions for smart devices

A7 Engineering (A7) is a company thatfound its way to market through a group ofengineers deciding to pool their expertise inembedded engineering and education. A7 isprivately held and was incorporated in early2002 with a focus on Windows Embeddedprofessional engineering services andtraining. “From the beginning our philosophyhas been to help our customers to helpthemselves. Out of this basic idea has growna suite of highly interconnected offeringsincluding training to get customer staff up tospeed on new technology, engineeringservices to assist with implementation, andOEM products to simplify the developmentprocess so that new designs can be broughtto market more quickly.” said A7’s CEORandy W. Moore.

Incisor visited the company’s offices in Poway(just North of San Diego), and met with ChiefExecutive Officer Randy W. Moore, ChiefTechnical Officer Bryan Hall (ex-Widcomm) andDirector of Engineering Larry Mittag.

A7 is highly focused on Windows Embedded asevidenced by its engineering services andtraining offerings. Software engineers aretrained from a global customer base with themajority of training focused on Windows CE,including Pocket PC and Smartphone. Microsoft,Intel and Qualcomm number amongst its clients.This training activity provides A7 with uniqueinsight to the thinking and goals of itscustomers, enabling the creation of innovativesolutions to their problems.

Since its inception the business has grownquickly allowing A7 to develop a broad vision forits OEM products. “A7 is a Microsoft WindowsEmbedded Partner and we are deeply involvedin the Windows Mobile world,” said Moore. “Wehave extensive knowledge of Microsoft’s .Netstrategy and it has become a core theme forus.” A7 firmly believes that most long-termadvances will be in the area of web services.“The convergence of three areas – webservices, embedded systems, and

desktop/mobile computing – is unquestionablyone of the most important sectors, and it ishappening now. With our extensive WindowsEmbedded experience, A7 is in a unique positionto take full advantage of the opportunities thatthis technology shift presents” said Moore.

With its core philosophy in mind A7’s OEMproducts are focused on solving real worldproblems for its customers. “While the fullpower of the Microsoft .Net strategy will not berealized until the release of Longhorn (the nextversion of Windows), with EmbeddedBlue wehave already begun to release products centredon connectivity to low cost devices”, said Hall.The first few Bluetooth products released by A7are designed to interface seamlessly with lowcost microcontrollers such as the Microchip PIC,

ZWorld Rabbit, and Parallax Basic Stamp. Hallwent on to say, “The current generation ofEmbeddedBlue designs are just the tip of theiceberg for A7, but they illustrate the basic goalof solving complex problems for our customers.By fully embedding the Bluetooth stack into ourmodules and providing detailed connectivitysamples for PCs, PDAs, and cell phones, ourcustomers are able to get their designs up andrunning in hours rather than weeks or months.”

When asked about the initial choice ofBluetooth technology to solve these connectivityissues, Moore said “The U.S. has been laggingbehind the rest of the world in adoptingBluetooth, but from our early-market experiencewe knew that Bluetooth would be big. We wereservicing customers outside of the U.S. thatwere working with Bluetooth and could see clearsolutions to their problems.” He went on to say,“Bluetooth provides plenty of scope for A7 toadd value for clients due to its complexity. Otherstandards, such as ZigBee and RFID are by theirnature simpler, with less scope for us. We aremore interested in the prospects for WirelessUSB, 802.11, and - later - UWB. As co-existencebetween wireless technologies becomes morecommonplace, we have plenty of scope to workon interoperability.”

Because it offers OEM solutions that can beintegrated with minimal engineering costs, A7often deals with customers shipping products inthe hundreds or low thousands of units. Thesetypes of products operate on a very differenteconomic scale than high volume Bluetoothdevices and therefore present uniquechallenges. One problem singled out by Moore isthe expense of certification. “The costs are thesame for a small company designing a lowvolume product as for a major manufacturercreating a cell phone. We have customers thatwill develop niche products with a totaldevelopment budget of less than $200,000. Atcurrent levels Bluetooth certification will use up10 – 15% of that pretty easily and can drivecustomers to proprietary RF solutions even

Randy Moore, CEO A7 Engineering

A7 offers a line of EmbeddedBlue modules

continued

A7 Profile:


12

though Bluetooth technically is a better choice.”As is often the case, A7’s physical location was

determined as much by the roots of its foundersas any other factor. That said, the company feelsthat California still has plenty to offer ITcompanies, and singles out its own, Southern-Californian base as being at the heart of awireless centre of excellence. Moorecommented, “With companies such asBroadcom, Qualcomm, and Silicon Waveoperating out of San Diego, there is a very

valuable pool of wireless engineering excellencein this area.” That said, Moore feels thattraditional factors relating to location arechanging. “The electronic age means that 90%or more of our business is done online. Thosecustomers that don’t come to us from partnerrecommendations have normally found us onthe web.”

A7 was founded by a team of talented peopleworking towards a common goal and thatphilosophy has stuck with the business. This

was confirmed by Moore, who concluded ‘WhenI look at A7 I believe that Neil Simon wasdescribing our team with his definition of talent- "Talent is the gift plus the passion - a desire tosucceed so intense that no force on earth canstop it."’

For further information:www.a7eng.com

Cetecom Inc. sets testing standardsOn a gloriously sunny California afternoon,

Incisor visited CETECOM’s Milpitas, Californiafacility. Since 1993, CETECOM has beenproviding testing and certification serviceswith presences in 11 countries. The UScompany – CETECOM Inc. – was created in1998, and we talked with operations managerand Bluetooth Qualification Body (BQB) LarsEriksson and wireless certification engineerBenjamin Ko.

Eriksson, formerly working with type approvalsfor Ericsson in Sweden, has been with CETECOMInc. since the outset, and has seen the companygrow from two people to today’s forty. AlthoughCETECOM Inc. was established at the peak of theSilicon Valley tech boom, the company hasshrugged off the recession that hit the industry,and proudly states that it has never had to lay offan employee – on the contrary, it is continuallyrecruiting!

CETECOM Inc. is a Bluetooth Qualification TestFacility (BQTF) and has two BQBs. Bluetoothservices offered include BQTF testing, productlisting and consultancy, test systems for RF,protocols, profiles and Blue Unit, regulatory testing,antenna pattern testing and international typeapproval.

While Bluetooth activity is a significant part ofCETECOM Inc.’s business, the company also offerscomprehensive services for other technologies,including GSM/GPRS, EDGE, W-CDMA, and thedifferent flavors of IEEE 802.11 (WLAN). For thevarious technologies, CETECOM Inc. conductstechnology compliance / qualification, EMC(regulatory, SAR, over-the-air antenna) testing and

international type approvals.While all of this activity – and CETECOM Inc.’s

impressive growth – suggest that life is good fortest houses, this shouldn’t be regarded as abusiness where an easy buck can be made. “Thefirst challenge is to find good people,” saidEriksson. “This is never easy whatever thebusiness, but in the testingindustry skills and experience arein especially short supply. Considerthat as a BQB, I have to be familiarwith all aspects of Bluetoothspecification that runs to severalthousand pages. Beyond staff,there is a huge capital investmentin equipment – approximately$10M for this facility’s businesslines. You then need to besufficiently well-financed to rideout the unprofitable period whilethe company establishes itself –updates and maintenance of ourvarious test equipment alone runsat $1-2M per year.” Eriksson went

on to say that although competition had increasedwith the establishment of a number test houses byAsian companies, these players found thatproviding consistent and reliable testing standardsis tough. Bad advice provided to clients by testhouses can result in unwelcome increases in theirproject costs.

We discussed this issue, and Eriksson concededthat while basic Bluetooth test costs were thesame irrelevant of the size of the company, largercompanies tend to carry out more extensivetesting over and above the minimal Bluetoothqualification requirements. Bigger companies tendto do more interoperability testing in order toensure the best possible customer experience; asmaller company is apparently more likely to takethe risk because of more limited resources.

As for challenges faced by companies testing to

GSM test system is typical of impressive equipment at Cetecom facility

continued

CETECOM Profile:

www.a7eng.com


13

the Bluetooth specification, Eriksson explained thatthat the spec itself leaves room for interpretation,and upper layer and upper/lower layercommunications create problems. Stackdevelopers don’t necessarily understand how thelow layers work, and so have to makeassumptions. Beyond this, Bluetooth is a wirelessstandard that specifies how particular userscenarios are handled – unlike 802.11 or GPRS,which define only the medium over which thegeneral voice/data is transmitted. This createsproblems for manufacturers wishing to incorporateBluetooth. Take the photo-printing scenario – if youwant to enable photo printing, there are 5 or 6profile options. Which do you choose?

These factors increase complexity, and thereforecosts, for the customer and test house alike.

For a California test house wanting to operate aprofitable business, there is one more factor,directly related to the Silicon Valley location. “Atone time there were several big chip companies

and many software developers – look at how manycompanies were producing RF chips and protocolstacks – operating close to us here in the Valley.Now, as a result of the recession plus consolidationwithin the Bluetooth industry, many have gone,”said Eriksson. “Our customer base is increasinglymade up of product/application developers andintegrators.” Eriksson went on to cite HP, Apple andLogitech – all of whom are nearby in the Valley –as typical of the new generation of CETECOM Inc.customer.

On a wider scale, Eriksson feels that the USwireless market is much more diverse than inEurope, where voice traffic is king, and data hasbeen slower to take off (despite the fact thatBluetooth has seen wider acceptance in Europe). Inthe US, the data market is huge. It was notuncommon for the American business user to havecarried two cellphones, two pagers, a PDA and alaptop. While this is now converging onto fewerdevices (with the growth in smartphones), the

amount of data traffic remains high. WLAN hasbeen more widely accepted, partly due to the lackof GPRS service in the US, which is judged toprovide insufficient bandwidth anyhow. In a marketthat is very driven by the cellular carriers, Voiceover Internet Protocol (VoIP) offers excellentpotential. Carriers are building multiple datanetworks using different technologies – Wi-Fi,GPRS, and potentially WiMAX in the future – thatensures they can keep their subscribers’ businessno matter their preferences. All of this will, ofcourse, generate ever more testing requirements,and will boost the importance of such testing andcertification.

This visit to Milpitas left no doubt in our mindsthat CETECOM Inc. is well positioned to service theneeds of wireless product companies, large andsmall, both US-domestic and global.

http://[email protected]

Philips delivers semiconductor-basedsolutions and communicationsapplications for the connected

consumerAs far as semiconductor companies go,

they don’t come much bigger than Philips.This Dutch company is represented in mostcountries, and wherever there is aconcentration of technological development.Inevitably then, Philips operates inCalifornia, and Incisor visited the Philipssemiconductor facility in San Jose.

We met with Paul Marino, Vice President andGeneral Manager, Business Line Connectivity.

“Philips has been represented in Silicon Valley since the ‘70s,” Marino explained.“First footfall came with the acquisition in 1974 of a semiconductor company calledSignetics, which was an interface and processor specialist. The Signetics name wasused through until 1992 when the switch

was made to the Philips identity.”Appropriately for its Silicon Valley location, the

San Jose facility houses Philips SemiconductorsDivision emerging technologies business units –what Marino described as “all the bubbling,sizzling new technologies” and is home to 700staff.

“Our focus is connectivity, wired as well aswireless,” said Marino. “In the wired space thatmeans USB – including USB On the Go (USBOTG), 1394 and now PCI Express, which, with its2.5Gbps data rate, we see as the newconnectivity standard in the computing space.Where wireless is concerned, we covereverything, from the lowest power, shortest-range technologies up to high power, longrange. This enables our vision of the connected

continued

Paul Marino, VP and General Manager, Business Line

Connectivity, Philips Semiconductor

Philips Semiconductors Division profile:

www.cetecomusa.com


14

consumer, with access to data and servicesanytime, anywhere – at work, at home, and onthe way between.”

Marino continued, “In the home we see twospaces. First there is our user’s home office,where he will have wired and wirelessconnectivity. Secondly there are his homeentertainment systems, which are becomingconnected – whether this means devicesinterconnected amongst themselves, orconnected to the Internet.”

Technologies connected with identificationservices – RFID and NFC – are managed inEurope, and the San Jose facility handlesBluetooth, Wireless LAN and Ultra Wideband(UWB).

Philips is one of the longest-standing playersin Bluetooth silicon, claiming approximately25% market share. Its BGB201 & BGB202Bluetooth version 1.1 compliant chipsets werefollowed by the BGB203 and BGB204 for version1.2 of the spec.

In the area of wireless networking, Philipsholds the chair of the IEEE 802.11 board andwith its current BGW-100/BGW-200 802.11bproducts, and SA5251/5250 and SA2451/2450802.11a/g family, has products in every sectorof WLAN. Latest developments in this areainclude a full system in package (SIP) WLANimplementation for cellphones, and 802.11n forvery high speed wireless networking.

UWB is acknowledged as the futuretechnology of choice for wireless multi-media,and here too Philips has established a strongpresence. While championing UWB generally, itis also one of the founders of the Multi-bandOFDM Alliance (MBOA). The MBOA currentlyleads in a two-horse technology race againstMotorola’s Freescale (which champions directsequence).

Let’s not forget that Philips is a diversecompany. “A key point in positioning us in thewireless space is the advantage we gainthrough Philips’ presence in the consumerelectronics as well as semiconductor sector,”said Marino. “We have an unique insight as aresult of the feedback we get from the users ofPhilips consumer products.”

This factor provides an undoubted advantagewhen it comes to deciding in which newtechnologies to invest development. Of those onthe horizon at the moment, Marino sees lowpower, very small form factor 802.11 technologyfor integration in cellphones - to enable Voiceover IP (VoIP) - as one of the most significant.

“Not long ago it was said that WLAN wouldn’t orcouldn’t be put into cellphones as powerconsumption was too high, there wasn’t enoughroom inside the phone, and finally, you are mostlikely to have to sit alongside and interoperatewith Bluetooth.” At this point Marino revealedPhilips’ solution to this challenge - the minisculeBGW200 SiP - with something of a flourish!

This low-power 802.11b device will be seen ina cellphone quite soon, according to Marino,who believes that WLAN and Bluetooth inSmartphones are ringing the death-knell forPDAs. “VoIP will be the driving application forWLAN in cellphones,” said Marino. “Penetrationwill be much higher than first thought. Thissolution will not only reduce telephone callcosts, but will also help ease cellular networkcongestion problems – as long as the carriersare up to speed.”

And when will we be able to buy Wi-Fi-enabledcellphones? This year, probably, according toMarino, and by 2005 at the latest. Motorola andNokia have launched first, but others will besoon to follow

We rounded off our conversation by askingMarino what he saw as being the next ‘bigthings’ in the wireless world? “In the Bluetooth

space I think that Enhanced Data Rate (EDR) willbe important as it realistically allows thetechnology to be used for large media transfers.I think that UWB will become the next generationof WPAN, while 802.11n will become THE wideand high-speed backbone into the home. UWB islikely to be real during 2005, followed byWireless USB in 2006. 802.11n will be evenlater. There is not duplication here – likeBluetooth and 802.11b, UWB and 802.11n servedifferent functions” he answered.

And where will the key developments takeplace? In Silicon Valley? “Maybe, yes, maybeno,” said Marino. “What is for sure is thatCalifornia and the USA lead in some areas. Ibelieve that these include standards creationand implementation. Plus, on a very simple,human level there are so many technologycompanies based here that business networkingopportunities are exceptionally good. Companieshere just have such good contacts that getting ajob done can take much less time than in Europeor elsewhere.”

Good reasons, then, for Philips to retain itsstrong foothold in San Jose, and remain at theheart of Silicon Valley and Californian innovation.

www.semiconductors.philips.com

Philips continues to pack more wireless

technology into less and less space

www.semiconductors.philips.com


15

Most of us could answer thequestion – who was the firstman on the moon? How about,though, - which was the firstheadset on the moon? No oneat Incisor knew, until, that is,we visited Plantronics at itsheadquarters in the pretty,coastal-Californian town ofSanta Cruz.Yes, it is true. When Neil Armstronguttered those immortal “One smallstep …” words in 1969, he heard Houston’s response over a Plantronics headset. This andmore was explained to us by Beth Johnson, Plantronics’ SeniorDirector of Product Marketing,and Michael Tighe, Director ofCorporate Communications.Plantronics is the world’s largestmanufacturer of headsets - in 2003, it shipped14 million headsets for mobile, residential,computer, contact centre and office users, up40 percent from 2002. What’s more, thefinancial numbers suggest that this is a goodtime to be in the headset business. In July,Plantronics announced record financial resultsfor its first quarter of fiscal year 2005.Impressive numbers, but how did Plantronicsget to this leading position? Johnson explained.“We have been in the headset business since1961. Originally it was lightweight headsets forpilots, and we won the headset supply contractfor AT&T operators. We then went on to supplyheadsets to the military and to air trafficcontrollers, plus the 911 emergency responseservices.” Over the ensuing years Plantronicshas built-up an impressive portfolio of OEMpartners. For example, Plantronics supplies theheadset for use with Microsoft’s Xbox, shipping1 million units to date.

The sector that Incisor is most interested in –wireless headsets – represents a growingpercentage of Plantronics’ business, and it’s asignificant market segment that is driven bymore than simply the ‘must-have-the latest’customer. A new national survey released byPlantronics shows that 75 percent ofrespondents wish their friends and familywould use a hands-free device such as aheadset while driving and talking on a mobilephone.Plantronics has been looking at the wirelessheadset business for some years. “As far backas 10 years ago we were looking at the bestway to provide everyone’s ideal - the wirelessheadset,” said Johnson. “In those early daysheadset manufacturers even looked at infra-red as a possible solution!” Plantronicslaunched its first Bluetooth headset in 2002.

According to Johnson, this wasa milestone. “In our opinionBluetooth is the standard ofchoice for mobile headsets,although the earliest exampleswere not ideal.”Short battery life and trickypairing may have been factorsin the slow take-up ofBluetooth headsets, butJohnson feels there was moreto it – in the U.S. especially.“Europeans took to Bluetoothmore quickly than Americans.Apart from any other factor, thiswas due to US operators notlending their support. Only nowis Verizon – our largest carrier– making available its firstBluetooth-enabled handset.”Awareness of Bluetooth and

Bluetooth headsets is growing in the U.S., andthis is now being pushed along by legislationagainst the use of cellphones in cars. U.S.States are following many European countries.New York was the first in 2001, New Jersey andWashington D.C. have announced, and otherswill soon.America’s slowness to adopt wireless headsetshas brought some benefits to the consumer, asJohnson explained. “Customers now havemore choice of manufacturers than in the earlydays, more models to choose from, and theprice/performance ratio is much better.”Interestingly, people aren’t necessarily goingfor the lowest-cost option. “We supply after-market wired headsets and have a very goodpresence with the major retailers,” saidJohnson. “Yet we are finding that consumersare choosing the more expensive Bluetoothoption.”Plantronics intends to increase wireless

Plantronics – enhancing personalcommunications with headsets

for everyone

Beth Johnson at Plantronics’ Santa Cruz headquarters

continued

Plantronics profile:


16

headset take-up in the office, too, especially ascarrier-level usage models and fiscal benefitsspeed the move to VoIP. Johnson concedes that

in this application Bluetooth isn’t necessarilythe solution. “Wireless headsets in the officehave typically been DECT-based. This is likely

to continue due to DECT’s superior range and –for now at least – superior audio quality. Thisdoes mean bigger headsets though.”And will Californian companies drive all of thisdevelopment? Possibly, but not automatically,says Johnson. “There is no question thatSilicon Valley is a centre of technicaldevelopment, and California has driven the U.S.lead in WLAN, but this isn’t true for the wirelessmarket. Europe is further ahead. For emergingUS wireless companies there is a hugeopportunity, but there are hubs of wirelessexpertise in Austin, Raleigh/Durham andBoston, as well as California.”Wherever the developments happen, andwherever the sales are made, Plantronics’sheer size means that it will be in a position torespond. With a European HQ in England,manufacturing in the US and in Mexico, adistribution hub in Holland and 16 officesaround the world, Plantronics is a globalheadset provider. Nor is it wary of taking on FarEastern competition. Plantronics launched inJapan this summer, is looking at the Koreanand Chinese markets, and is already wellestablished in Australia.Which just goes to show that when spacetourism takes off (sorry!), and you follow NeilArmstrong and set foot on the moon, theelectronics shop in the Moon Mall is likely tostock Plantronics Bluetooth headsets.www.plantronics.com

“Plantronics sees style as well as price / performance as an important element for Bluetooth headset design

Not everything about California’s future isbright. According to the UK daily newspaperThe Guardian, global warming will bringchange to California. The newspaper quotesan American scientists report in theProceedings of the National Academy ofSciences.

A team of 19 researchers from a variety ofinstitutions looked at two scenarios predicted bythe Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change- one, in which governments do something, andanother, in which governments carry on as usual- and used two climate models to peer into thefuture.

Even at the most hopeful, heatwaves in Los

Angeles quadruple, and deaths from extremeheat multiply two or threefold. Alpine and sub-alpine forests are reduced by 50 to 75% andsnow on the mountains declines by 30-70%. Butif governments do nothing, then forests shrinkby up to 90%, and so does the snow pack on theSierra Nevadas. This, along with quite modestdeclines in winter rainfall, could create a seriousproblem for California's water rights system.

"This could impact on 85% of California'spopulation who are agricultural and urban usersin the Central Valley, San Francisco Bay Area andthe South Coast, about half of whose water issupplied by rivers of the Central Valley," theywarn. Paradoxically, earlier runoff from the snow

pack may also increase the winter flooding risk.Lets hope that there are people out there in a

position to do something about this, and thatthey are thinking and planning a strategy tominimise the impact of global warming.

Global warning potentially threatensCalifornian idyll

www.plantronics.com


17

38 reasons why it is good to runyour business from California

EMPLOYMENTCalifornia's dynamic high-technology sectors dominate the U.S. Industry.High-technology employment approaches 1 million. California rankshighest in employment for nearly all high-technology sectors.Employment by sector:

1. Software services: 169,113 2. Communications services: 150,9273. Computers, office equipment manufacturing: 98,5234. Electronic components, accessories manufacturing: 78,371 5. Semiconductors manufacturing: 71,6306. Defence electronics manufacturing: 52,6387. Communications equipment manufacturing: 40,105

INTERNATIONAL TRADE:California positions itself as the US hub for international business, andclaims that the world looks to California for the cutting edge and thereliable, leading in:

8. High-technology exports: 67.5 billion (30% of all U.S.high-technology exports)

9. Total California exports: $106.8 billion - consistently the largest U.S. Exporting state.

10. Direct Foreign Investment: $115.6 billion 11. Gross state product: $1.35 trillion 12. Per capita income: $29,910 13. Taxable sales: $394.7 billion

JUST A NICE PLACE TO BE!California claims to support the creativity of imaginative entrepreneurs witha superior educational system and job training that produces an unrivalled,highly trained labour force.

14. 250 colleges and universities with 2.2 million students 15. More than 150,000 graduates each year 16. 553 members of the National Academy of Sciences 17. 45 Nobel laureates 18. Unemployment rate: 5.4% 19. Flexible job training grants

FUNDING / R&D EXPENDITURE:U.S. Venture capital investment and R&D expenditures are highest inCalifornia.

20. Venture capital attraction: $3.2 billion, or 45%, of all U.S. Venture capital

21. $2.1 billion, or 67%, of California venture capital is invested in high technology.

22. University science research expenditures: $3.3 billion or 13% of all U.S.

23. Industrial and academic research: $43.9 billion 24. Research and development tax credit available to business: 24% 25. Initial public offerings: 40% of all U.S.

FAVOURED LOCATION:California is a popular place for business headquarters.

26. 69 of the 500 fastest-growing private companies in the United States (INC.)

27. 24 of 100 U.S. fastest-growing electronics companies (Electronics Industry)

28. 121 of American's 817 largest public companies (Forbes 500s) 29. 40 of the 200 best small companies in America (Forbes)

ATTRACTIVE TO INCOMING COMPANIES:30. The Golden State wants your business.

CALIFORNIA OFFERS IMPRESSIVE TAX CREDITS AND FAVOURABLE TAX TREATMENT:

31. Manufacturers' Investment tax credit: 6% 32. Sales tax exemption for "New-to-California" business: 5% 33. Net operating loss carryover: 100% of operating loss for up to 8 years

CALIFORNIA DREAMIN' IS REALITY EVERY DAY.Pleasurable pastimes of all kinds are an integral part of California life.

34. Young, enthusiastic population with a median age of 32 35. Replete with 210 orchestras, 1,200 theatre companies, 10 operas,

600 dance troupes and 520 museums 36. Home to 1,050 golf courses, 42 ski resorts and 20 professional

sport teams 37. Natural and scenic beauty in 28 national parks, 260 state parks,

1,000 coastline miles, 129 wilderness areas 38. Tourism that tops $75 billion annually


18

RF Micro Devices (RFMD), which recentlycompleted its acquisition of San Diego-basedBluetooth silicon trailblazer Silicon Wave, wasfor many years best known as an RF ICcompany providing products primarily forcellular phones. Incisor talked with FrankMorese, Vice President of RFMD’s WirelessConnectivity group at RFMD’s design centre inSan Jose – the heart of Silicon Valley.

In 1991, William J. Pratt, Powell T. Seymour andJerry D. Neal founded RF Micro Devices (RFMD) inGreensboro, North Carolina. As an early stagecompany, targeting the rapidly growing cellularhandset business was challenging, but RFMDmust have been doing something right - thecompany has flourished, and in June 2004 hit amajor milestone when it shipped its one billionthpower amplifier becoming a leading provider ofproprietary radio frequency integrated circuits(RFICs) for wireless communications applications.

But life is not about power amps alone, andrecognising this, RFMD has been expanding itsactivities into the wireless sector. Morese – aveteran of the industry with 25 years experience -was hired from Intel as part of this strategy,having worked for Intel for 2 years following itsacquisition of a wireless multimedia/homenetworking start-up that he had founded.

Morese explained the rationale behind RFMD’sbusiness expansion. “The cellular industry hastaken off in a way that no one expected.Consumers all over the world are deserting theirlandlines, using a cellphone as theircommunication device of choice wherever theyhappen to be. We are looking at an end of lifesituation for landline telephones. What is more,data traffic is increasing rapidly, making furtherbandwidth demands. As a result, cellularnetworks are reaching capacity.”

But how can RFMD capitalise on this situation?Morese continued, “The cellular carriers havebeen caught by surprise at the traffic levels, andcan’t catch up – and service quality willeventually suffer. There is no simple fix, and thisis driving the need for other pipes – voice over IP(VoIP), for example. This is driving the

development of convergent devices – thosecapable of managing a number of differentwireless technologies – CDMA, W-CDMA, WLAN,Bluetooth for example. The technologies areavailable and the price/performance ratio is nowright. What is needed are companies that can knitthese technologies together.”

Silicon providers may be very skilled in one areaof wireless technology, but this is a much morecomplex task. Recognising this, RFMD created theWireless Connectivity Group that Morese nowheads. “We needed to become a systemssolutions company, not just a component

supplier,” said Morese. “The expectation onsilicon companies is now enormous. Multi-standard co-existence is a major challenge, andthe device manufacturers now expect the siliconcompanies to do all of the certifications andapprovals.”

Morese’s team will monitor and respond to othertrends, such as the increasing use of applicationprocessors in handsets, the aggressive adoptionof Bluetooth by European PC manufacturers, andPCI-Express, with its higher bus structures/datarates. RFMD believes it will be the first tointroduce a PCI-Express chipset.

Wireless LAN (WLAN) also figures large on theRFMD roadmap. “We were an early leader in the802.11b space,” says Morese. “While the initialWLAN market was dominated by retail sales, thefuture is having WLAN embedded in platforms.The market moved when WLAN was firstembedded in PC’s, and other market sectors areemerging, not the least of which is WiFi inhandsets. We’ve been watching these trends andmaking the required changes to our plans andproduct definitions.” While at one time it wasforecast that WLAN would never make it ontocellular handsets – power consumption and costs

Frank Morese heads Wireless Connectivity Group for RFMD

RF Micro Devices – makingsemiconductor history!

continued

RF Micro Devices profile:


19

were too high – RFMD says that these have beenaddressed.

But it doesn’t end there. RFMD also recognisesthat another wireless standard – RFID – is likelyto find its way into handsets. Morese explained.“In fact it will be a combination of WLAN, RFID andBluetooth. RFID and/or Bluetooth will be used forWLAN authentification, and by default the short-range and low power will provide the necessarysecurity. This will be very important in e-commerce applications.” So much so that RFMDpredicts that RFID will be found in 80% ofhandsets within 5 years.

While stereo audio over Bluetooth is anotherstrong growth area, the other killer app (andtechnology to provide it) is GPS, which, accordingto Morese, comes with a ready-made businessmodel. “Navigation will be really big. We foresee

GPS chipsets coming down to $4-5, andcombining GPS and Bluetooth on a single chip willbe enormously popular. This is no more than 18months away.”

So – many changes for RFMD. The move intothe solutions market has required hugeinvestment, commitment and not a little courage– the acquisition of Silicon Wave was just part ofthis. Morese says that this comes naturally toRFMD. “One of the main reasons that it is good forus to be here in Silicon Valley is the concentrationof skill sets we can draw upon. But I think it ismore than just that. Californians are hardworkers, have high-levels of entrepreneurialspirit, and are willing to take risks. For RFMD’sfounders these qualities were vital at thebeginning, and our recent moves demonstratethat this spirit is still with us today. What’s more,

for a company like ours that does a lot of businesswith Asian companies, this is a great location.Major companies like TSMC and UMC are justacross the street.”

Morese summarised by saying that the USwireless market was more fragmented thanEurope, which benefits from a more standardsdevelopment system for cellular systems. For thetime being Europe is ahead with Bluetooth take-up due to the advanced cellular systems, but thePC-centric US is the WLAN champion.

With expertise in the handset component andmultiple wireless technology sectors, and nowowning Silicon Wave - one of the foremostBluetooth silicon companies - RF Micro Devicesseems very well positioned to be a leadingsystems solutions provider.

www.rfmd.com

continued

With 1,000 employees, a hugemanufacturing and administrativefacility in Fremont, California,satellite offices in the US, Europeand Asia and additionalmanufacturing facilities in PuertoRico, the Dominican Republic,Brazil, India, Penang and Malaysia,SMART Modular Technologies is anindustry giant, and yet enjoys amuch lower profile than many of the considerably smallercompanies that it works with.

A large part of the reason for this isthat SMART is principally a supplierto the OEM market. The invisibilitythat this brings is familiar territory tocompanies like SMART. VP andGeneral Manager of SMART’s CommunicationProducts Division (CPD) Robert Ragusanotalked Incisor through the company’s history.

The company was founded by A. J. Shah andMakesh Patel in 1988. Their vision was to startcreating memory modules – DRAM on sticks!Other memory companies were at the time

reluctant to do this, so when SMART did, andoffered them to the silicon vendors, it was ableto take a dominant market position. Many ofthe global memory manufacturers partneredwith SMART to produce products for the

major OEMs in the computing,telecommunications and networkingmarkets. SMART succeeded inbecoming the number 1 supplier ofOEM memory and today many of theoriginal tier-one PC companiescontinue to be major customers.

This success enabled the founders tolook at diversification linked withexpansion. Apex Data came toSMART’s attention and was acquiredin 1995 . Apex was a communicationsproducts company, producing PCMCIAmodems and custom form-factormodem products for notebookmanufacturers including IBM andToshiba. To SMART, Apex representedan opportunity to acquire a company

that had an interesting and different productportfolio and an established distributionchannel.

A successful OEM business for commssolutions developed, initially in wirelineproducts, where over 30 million units havebeen sold. During the past 4 years, SMART

SMART Modular Technogies’ HQ in Fremont, California

SMART Modular Technologies –engineering partnerhips

SMART Modular Technologies profile:

www.rfmd.com


20

began a transformation from a wirelineproduct company to one primarily involved inwireless communications. Now known as CPD(Communication Products Division), theorganization has been involved in all aspects ofshort-range and wide-area wirelessdevelopment. Working with the major siliconmanufacturers, SMART has gone on to developan OEM and finished products line ofBluetooth, Wi-Fi and pioneering comboproducts, including USB, mini PCI, RS232 andUSB printer adapters. SMART’s Bluetoothmodule business has been particularlysuccessful, with 1.5 million units shipped todate to a single customer in the PC space.

SMART’s success led to the company goingpublic in 1996 and also brought it to theattention of other technology companies. In1999 SMART was acquired by the SolectronGroup for $2.2 billion in stock. After a period offive years the company has been bought backfrom Solectron by a group of investors madeup of Texas Pacific Group, Francisco Partnersand Shah Management, which reunited SMARTwith the original founder A.J. Shah.

The vision of the company today is to stay atthe forefront of the memory market, whilelooking for growth in communicationsproducts. But simply trying to compete as thelowest cost supplier is not the way forward.Ragusano explained, “We are looking beyondpure product development and towards value-

added propositions. These solutions will bedeveloped in-house, and there is also potentialfor us to grow through acquisition.” SMARTintends to maintain its station as principally anOEM supplier. “Our main strength is in OEM,and diverting a lot of time and money to allowus to engage the established players in thebrand name market would be counter-productive.” said Ragusano.

In the USA the company will continue tomarket its CPD and memory products andservices through a network of manufacturerrepresentatives, while its key OEM accountsare managed in-house. Though its finishedproducts goals are modest, SMART is in theprocess of establishing a distribution channelin both Europe and the US. In Europe its saleshave been handled direct, and by a number ofregionally focused distributors. The Asianmarket is as yet largely untapped, and in orderto address this, SMART has recently appointeda Director of Asian Sales. All of SMART’s salesoperations are overseen by worldwide VP ofSales Wayne Eisenberg.

With revenues in the region of $750 million,SMART is a substantial player in the SiliconValley community, and is well positioned tocomment on trends and the state of themarket. As Ragusano observed, “Things havechanged here since 2000. For a period of timemoney was available on-tap to anyone with anidea. Now, even truly innovative andcommercially exciting propositions have to bejustified.” He is also balanced in his view ofwhere the main potential lies for SMART. “Fromthe consumer’s standpoint there is still a holein the understanding of the various wirelesstechnologies. SMART believes that there is atechnology for every application, and viceversa, which forces us to remain relativelytechnology agnostic. Whether it is Bluetooth,Wi-Fi, ZigBee, UWB, RFID or whatever, it isSMART’s challenge to identify the applicationswith the most potential, match them to theright technology, and to deliver value addedsolutions to our customers.”

With a strong portfolio of memory andcommunications products, considerabletechnological know-how and the backing ofmajor investors, SMART Modular Technologieslooks set to remain a leading – if low-profile -Silicon Valley company for many years tocome.

www.smartmodular.comRobert Ragusano, VP and General Manager, Communications

Products Division, SMART Modular Technologies



21

Enterprise output solutions from TROYAs part of the California special, Incisor

interviewed Harold Yin, Executive Vice Presidentand General Manager of Santa Ana-based TROYGroup Inc. TROY Group Inc. ("TROY") offers a fullrange of products to its customers in two primaryproduct lines: Secure Payment Systems andWireless and Connectivity Solutions.

TROY’s Wireless and Connectivity Solutions dividesits activities into two main areas, wired networkprinting connectivity and short-range wirelessconnectivity solutions.

TROY’s wired network printing connectivityproducts are based on wired networking technologiesand protocols such as Ethernet and TCP/IP, to connectintelligent devices to Local Area Networks (LANs) andthe Internet. These typically include parallel, serial,PCI, and USB interfaces with printers, and a multitudeof network physical interfaces such as Ethernet,Token Ring, and fibre.

Over the last few years, TROY has been activedeveloping wireless connectivity technologies, with acontinued focus on printer connectivity. “TROY hasinvested a substantial amount of resources in thedevelopment of products based on Bluetooth and802.11 standards,” said Yin. TROY’s current 802.11bproducts include wireless print servers, Ethernet

802.11b bridges and OEM Modules. Current Bluetoothproducts include the WindConnect II Printer Adapterthat enables wireless printing from most printers, anda fully qualified Bluetooth software stack forembedded applications.

TROY sells its wireless and connectivity solutionsthrough OEM partners, value-added resellers, anddistributors. Yin commented: “TROY’s products areused by major enterprise and business corporationsas well as government institutions around the world.We also partner with many of the world’s leadingprinter manufacturers. For example, TROY andHewlett Packard recently partnered to co-develop thelatest Bluetooth printing technologies.”

And TROY’s view on the advantages or otherwise ofa California base? Yin believes the issue is different,commenting: “There are probably more Bluetoothdevelopers in California, but others are thriving intechnology corridors across the United States, such

as in Austin, Chicago, Seattle, Portland, Boston andNew York. The divide today is more that between theurban/metropolitan and rural parts of the USA, wherethe pace of technology adoption differs.” On thesubject of general wireless take-up, Yin’s view wasfrom the perspective of a printing solution company.“We are seeing the emerging take-up of wirelessprinting, both in vertical markets – hospitality,healthcare, public safety, warehousing - andhorizontal, where photo-printing is creating interest atthe consumer level. In the enterprise space, 802.11xWiFi solutions are beginning to be more widelyaccepted, though take-up is being held back bysecurity concerns. Wireless printing is again animportant application in addition to Internet /information access..”

Yin concluded this interview by predicting fasterspeeds and more bandwidth. “802.11n will get fasterthan current 802.11a/g solutions, and EDR will helpadd bandwidth to support Bluetooth printing andaudio applications. Outside of that, WiMAX and UWBhold much promise, although both are very nascent.”All of which bodes well for TROY, of course, as itworks towards making wireless printing moreubiquitous.

www.troygroup.com

TROY WindConnect II enables wireless printing from most printers

The European market offers a $1 trillion potential to companies operating in the IT and telecomms sector. VP-Europe(VP-E) offers a full portfolio of head-office services for global corporations either not yet ready for or wishing to avoidthe expense and long-term commitments associated with the establishment of a European headquarters.

With over 30 years combined senior management experience within the European tech distribution and OEMspace, VP-E is a market access enabler with a significant and established contact base within the unique Europeandistribution and OEM networks.

The full service portfolio is scalable to suit any organisation and is detailed below:

• sales • marketing • public relations • customer service • technical services • finance and administration

• venture capital fund raising • merger and acquisition strategy

As far as your customers are concerned we are you, with a European flavour.

For more information, contact:Tel: +44 (0) 1252 810430 • Email: [email protected]

Bringing Europe to your company

TROY Group profile:

VP EuropeVIRTUAL PRESENCE EUROPE

www.troygroup.com


22

Xemics - enabling very low-powerwireless connectivity

Think Switzerland and several images cometo mind – mountains, ski resorts, the fountainin Lake Geneva, and expensive watches. Plus,of course, the white cross on a redbackground that is the Swiss national flag,and the reversed version - the emblem of theRed Cross, the movement of internationalvolunteer relief societies started over 135years ago, by a Swiss businessman, HenryDunant.

And the link with this story and Incisor’s profileof Californian companies? That would be XEMICS,a company based out of Neuchâtel in Switzerland,and also operating from Redwood City inCalifornia.

Historically, the company has specialised in verylow-power CMOS devices for the medical world –especially hearing aid manufacturers – and theSwiss watch industry. And we do mean lowvoltage. To quote Rémy Pache, VP Marketing atXEMICS: “We were working with 1 volt devices forapplications that require 7-10 year battery life,when the rest of the industry was still at 5 volt.”

The medical and watch industries have providedthe backbone of the company’s business sincefoundation in 1997. Today the company describesitself as a fabless semiconductor companydeveloping and delivering standard andcustomized integrated circuits.

Pache explained that a clear milestone inXEMICS’ history was the move into wirelessconnectivity in 2000, developing RF devices forthe ISM band, including Bluetooth. “Wirelesssolutions now represent two-thirds of thecompany’s revenues. We still do business in thehearing aid and watch sectors, but it is static.Recent years have seen 20-25% annual growthfor XEMICS, but that has all come from ourwireless connectivity solutions.”

Pache suggested that XEMICS’ productsconnect human beings and the physical world tothe networks - Internet, phone, and others: “Theydeliver sounds/voice, pressure, temperature,acceleration, time, position, speed, or other typesof sensor data through a short-range wirelesslink, and in the other direction they deliver

data/commands to the sensors and actuator.”Much of XEMICS work is in embedded solutions,

where it provides wireless connectivity solutionsfor autonomous battery operated and/or powersensitive terminal equipment.

XEMICS’ client-base is spread far and wide. In2000 the Californian office was opened to serviceUS OEM customers, and today handles sales,marketing and customer support. A network ofmanufacturer’s representatives and a nationwideagreement with Future Electronics enableXEMICS to cover this very large territory.

XEMICS’ choice of California was partly drivenby technology, as Pache explained: “We wereaware that wireless development was going on incertain areas – Chicago was the location for NorthCentral region, for example – but most washappening in California, so that is where it mademost sense to be.”

The Californian facility was also planned toprovide a foothold for dealings with Far Easternclients. This has become increasingly important,as XEMICS’ business now extends across much ofthe Far East, including China, Taiwan, Singapore,Korea and Malaysia.

So important, in fact, that if the clocks wereturned back, things might have been donedifferently, according to Pache: “For us, growthwith Asian clients is so substantial that if we were

now choosing to establish an office in either Asiaor the USA, with a view to servicing both, wewould probably chose Asia.” This doesn’t meanthat XEMICS has any intention of pulling out ofCalifornia: “We have an important group ofcustomers in the USA, and continuing goodbusiness. What we are doing is also developing apresence in Asia.”

Pache highlighted another factor affectingwireless companies: “Previously most design-level work was being done in North America andEurope, and manufacturing was best done in Asia.That is now changing. We are seeing that Asia ishome to much of the key design work that ishappening. A lot of design today is in sub-assemblies rather than in components, and thisties in very well with the manufacturing strengthof Asian companies.”

But life is never simple, and Pache cautionsother companies: “It is relatively simple for anEuropean company to set up in North America –or vice versa – as we are culturally similar andspeak the same language. Doing the same in Asiais much more challenging. There are the obviouslanguage issues, but culturally we are verydifferent.” Pache suggested that the only way tooperate was with the right network of localpartners.

Substantiating his view that Asia would becomeever more important, Pache estimated that 45-50% of wireless development was happeningtoday in Asia, with the remaining balance evenlysplit between Europe and North America.

But what else does the future hold for XEMICS?More wireless, according to Pache: “Bluetoothand ISM RF are key to XEMICS, but we arewatching other technologies.” Not Wi-Fi/WLANthough: “We have no interest in 802.11,” saidPache, continuing: “We are a company withexpertise in low-power devices. This means thatZigBee, for example, could offer a lot ofpossibilities for XEMICS, and a little further downthe line, UWB maybe too. ZigBee overlaps nicelywith much of the work we are doing today, but itsvital that ZigBee devices come in at the rightprice-point.”

continued

XEMICS profile:


23

continued

Incisor asked Pache whetherthere was potential for Bluetooth tocompete for some of the businessidentified by ZigBee protagonists,in the much-discussed BluetoothLite version? “I don’t think so,” saidPache. “I’m not convinced thatBluetooth Lite can ever be assimple as ZigBee, and willtherefore be a more expensivetechnology providing similar levelsof service.”

This interview with XEMICS provided some newperspectives on wireless developments, andhighlighted that the global power-base oftechnology development could be moving awayfrom California – and Europe for that matter.

The next few years will show us to what degreethis will happen. What is sure is that one dynamiccompany that originated in a small, Europeancountry known for its neutrality and compassionfor humanity will have as least a good a grip asanyone.

www.xemics.comBluetooth solutions to remain more

complex then ZigBee

The creation of the Bluetoothsilicon market spawned manypotential chip providers –established players such as Intel,Philips Semiconductors and Lucent,plus smaller and generally fab-lesscompanies. There was no sure wayof knowing who would survive.Small companies such as Brightcomare no more, but who would havepredicted Intel’s back-peddling, andapparent lack of presence in theBluetooth market today?

Through this consolidation period, oneof the new companies has flourished. Thatcompany is Zeevo, and the Incisor tour included ameeting with President and CEO Jalil Shaikh, andsenior product marketing manager Cliff Cheng atthe company’s 25,000sq. ft. headquarters inSanta Clara.

Zeevo was founded in1999 by several peoplefrom VLSI/Phlips. Shaikh,veteran of 19 years inSilicon Valley, joinedZeevo 18 months ago asVP of Engineering andOperations from SiliconImage, where heoversaw the company’sgrowth from zero to $80million in six years. .

Zeevo focused from day one on the Bluetoothsemiconductor market. The company’s vision wasthat wireless and seamless connectivity would bepervasive. Zeevo has not only survived, but hasachieved considerable success, and is now ableto name such luminaries as Intel, Toshiba,Logitech, T-Mobile, FedEx, Motorola and HPamongst its key design-in customers.

For the handset market, Zeevo’s move to put allof the software on the Bluetooth device ratherthan in the phone frees the handset up to be usedas the customer interface. Zeevo singles out theflexible software development architectureenvironment provided on its silicon as a majordifferentiator. While other vendors use integratedARM microcontrollers, Zeevo positions Bluetoothas a peripheral, leaving more of the ARM

processor space available to customerapplications. Zeevo can also claim tohave been the first silicon vendor to havecertified and released to production acomplete Bluetooth 1.2 solution inDecember 2003 with its AFH/WLANinteroperable ZV4002 and ZV4301products.

However, rather than staying simply abread and butter Bluetooth siliconsupplier, Zeevo decided 18 months agothat the digital audio market was goingto be very big, and invested heavily inthis area. As a result, Zeevo believes it is

at least six months ahead of its competitors.Shaikh outlined the main trends that drove this

move. “Digital audio is becoming the standard formusic storage, distribution and transport. Whilethe iPOD phenomenon is probably the mostvisible manifestation of this, it goes much further.Consumers are now enjoying digital music notonly on iPODs and MP3 players, but also on PDAs,portable DVD players, TVs, PCs,cellphone/Smartphones and in their cars.”

It would be easy to underestimate thechallenges of providing CD quality audio overBluetooth. Shaikh confirms this, “It is not only thematter of providing CD quality sound. We musthandle information from - and the needs of - anumber of different devices. Consider thescenario. A user is listening to music that is beingsent from his iPOD to his wireless stereo headset

Zeevo pushes boundaries with‘Sound Design for Bluetooth’

Jalil Shaikh, President &

CEO, Zeevo

Zeevo profile:

www.xemics.com


24

over Bluetooth. A call comes in to his Bluetooth-enabled cellphone. He will want his music to bemuted, and to receive the call on his headset.When the call is completed, he will want to hangup and to continue listening to his music at thesame point in the track that he left off.”

Shaikh defined the key technical requirement asthe smooth switchover between voice and music,via scatternet support. The very fact that multiplesources are in play means complication due tomaster/slave relationships differing, from deviceto device, vendor to vendor.

Beyond this, there are other considerations. TrueCD quality sound must be achieved. This hasrequired major effort, including optimising systembuffering and timing. Zeevo’s own testing, plusindependent opinions from hi-fi gurus hasconfirmed that it is providing MP3 standard audio.Then there is battery life. The industry standardfor MP3 players is 8 hours, and providing 9 hoursmeans that Zeevo has this covered too. Finally,

with integration of WLAN in handsets, there mustbe no interference. Shaikh said that AFH was notsufficient on its own, and further optimisation ofthe AFH algorithms with Wi-Fi vendors wasrequired.

Tech issues aside, it will ultimately be theconsumer that decides. US consumers areparticularly intolerant of a poor out of boxexperience, but that won’t matter if the price isnot right. Current pricing for a mono Bluetoothheadset is around $79. Wired stereo headsetsrange from $39.95 to $200. Shaikh commented,“The Bill of Materials (BOM) for ZSound is $24.Add in another $6 for plastics, a speaker and abattery and you have a total BOM of $30. Usingstandard industry multipliers, this gives a retailprice of $89.95. We feel that is right on the mark.”

But when will we see Bluetooth CD quality audioproducts? “Bluetooth stereo headsets will beavailable before the end of 2004,” said Shaikh.“Then in 2005 you will see stereo Bluetooth

equipped cellphones, games devices, consumerand high-end audio equipment. The 2 yeardevelopment cycle of the automotive industrymeans it will be 2006 before in-car stereoBluetooth audio appears.” Getting more specific,Shaikh said that an iPOD/MP3 accessorycompany will launch this Fall, and Zeevo also hasa design win with a major PC/PDA maker.

Zeevo has demonstrated that it can compete onthe same playing field as the main Bluetoothsilicon suppliers. With its commitment to ”SoundDesign for Bluetooth” it has demonstrated that itis also prepared to innovate, and to take risks.Shaikh concluded by saying, “Zeevo is located atthe heart of a wireless centre of excellence inCalifornia, which is full of people to whominnovation and commercial daring come naturally.I feel that Zeevo is an archetypal Silicon Valleycompany, and we plan that it should stay thatway.”

www.zeevo.com

An interesting opportunity presented itselfas Incisor was planning the ‘Wireless inCalifornia’ issue. We had ten places availableto Californian companies. Then along cameone company suggesting that it was a goodidea to take the perspective of an American,but not West Coast/Californian company. Onreflection, this did seem like a good idea.

And that was how Incisor came to be meetingwith Glenn Platkin, Rajesh Rabindranath andSalman Ali of software company Atinav, in NewYork, on the final day of our recent trip.

Atinav markets a portfolio that includesBluetooth, UPnP and OSGi software products. Itshead office is on the East Coast - in Somerset,New Jersey. Here, 50 staff provide the principalcustomer interface. But the company’s maindevelopment site is in India. Here, in a state ofthe art facility which since 1996 has had tieswith select universities and R&D centres, morethan 150 engineers handle R&D, projectmanagement, QA and QC.

Atinav’s aveLink Bluetooth range runs from thebaseband to the upper layer – profiles and

applications. The aveLink portfolio is split intofour areas. First, there are application suites,where the key factors are ease of use andinvisibility of the technology to the consumer –no configuration, no pairing. Examples includeaudio drivers that require no configurationacross MP3, Windows Media Player or any audioapplication, and Bluetooth printing.

Next there are software development tools -SDKs. These are aimed at developers and areavailable on various platforms, includingWindows, Pocket PC, Linux and Unix.

Third are Java solutions, which – unlike theBluetooth SDKs - have a standard to adhere to,known as JSR82. Atinav has a pure Javasolution, which is also available as an OSGibundle.

Finally there are embedded systems, whichAtinav sees as the main vision of the company,though there are challenges, as Rabindranathexplained: “Bluetooth solutions for Embeddedplatforms require scalability, small footprint andthe ability to be tailored to the needs of theimplementation using configuration parameters.

Bridging contents brings competitiveadvantage to Atinav

Atinav's Wearable Computer Technology built to be fitted intoa vest or other clothing, using a Bluetooth headset with anembedded audio driver onboard

continued

Atinav profile:

www.zeevo.com


25

Atinav offers exactly such features as part of itsBluetooth Embedded solution. This offers aperfect fit option for any embedded Bluetoothapplications across different RTOS platformswith various Bluetooth hardware. Atinavleverages particular expertise in the whole lifecycle of the embedded development and canprovide services in different roles to thecustomer.”

Atinav has provided solutions for a range ofcommercial implementations includingintegrated Bluetooth solutions for mobilephones, Printer Modules and Audio Adapters. Alicommented: “In almost all of these scenarios,Atinav went the extra step to provide uniqueapplication services, based around the profilesand requirements.”

From a commercial point of view, this is quitea coup for Atinav, but the company has alsobenefited from corporate consolidation in theindustry. Platkin explained. “Since suchconsolidation took place, there has been theissue of expecting companies to redesign theirproducts around new silicon. This is too much toask and many are now seeking out alternativesto restrictive platforms and coming across tous.”

Atinav’s customer list is split 50/50 betweenUS and international customers, and of theinternational customers, 70% are in Europe.Platkin explained. “Europe is considerablyfurther ahead in Bluetooth take-up. We see theUS as in a design and development phase, whileEurope is at development and deployment.”

One of the company’s most importantcustomers is the military. One of the militaryprojects that Atinav could talk about was a

combat vest that is under development. The vestincludes sensors monitoring the soldier’srespiration, heartbeat and blood pressure, plusBluetooth-enabled comms and a helmet-mounted video camera. In use, the vest willallow the soldier’s status and location to bemonitored at all times, feeding data back toheadquarters. Apart from operational benefits,the vest cuts costs for the army, as the Bluetoothlink alone replaces a super-high quality cablethat costs more than $1,000, while softwarecontrolled low-power systems improve batterylife - a major factor when you consider that thearmy’s budget for discarded batteries runs to astaggering $1 billion/week during combatperiods.

Rabindranath emphasised the key point for themilitary. “The army is hugely interested in thepotential of wireless technologies. Theelimination of cables is a very important goal.We are working with them on many suchsolutions.”

Atinav has also kept the door open to anemerging customer, Bluetooth ApplicationDevelopers. Typically these companies are start-ups and Atinav works with them by developingcustom Bluetooth Hardware and Softwaresolutions for business applications that utilizethe capabilities of Bluetooth technology.

Platkin explained that its geographical locationprovides Atinav with an important competitiveadvantage. “The Indian office sits in the middleof US and Far Eastern time zones, providingsupport 24 x 7. If a client logs a support request,someone will respond immediately. This meansreally fast turnaround – we believe some of thefastest measured.”

Rabindranath feels that Atinav’s softwarearchitecture also provides a major benefit,commenting, “From the start, our software wascreated around a modular architecture. It iscompletely configurable and easy to optimise oradapt. Hardware vendors can select featuresfrom a menu, choosing only what they need andnot paying for elements they don’t. Thisphilosophy is key to Atinav’s success.”

So, going back to the opening premise of thecounterbalancing viewpoint - does East Coastcompany Atinav feel that is has suffered as aresult of not being in Silicon Valley? “Not at all,”said Platkin. “There is a lot of wirelessdevelopment going on on the East Coast, butthat is not the point. Modern electroniccommunication and the Internet mean thatlocation is virtually irrelevant. The web is thebackbone to the rapid response and high levelsof service we provide to our customers.”

So, Atinav feels that the world is changing, andthat the Internet has revolutionised the UStechnology industry. Could it ever do the samefor New York taxi drivers, we wonder ….. ?

www.atinav.com

Applications developed using Atinav’s SDK will conform to JSR-82

www.atinav.com


26

After a three-year drought, demand forhigh-tech workers in California is climbingagain according to the Orange CountyRegister, a reliable source of data ondevelopments within this heartlandCalifornian county.

The 2000 crash of the Internet boom, followedby a broader recession, led to massive layoffs,including thousands of Orange County techworkers. That created an employers' market,where even the most highly skilled professionalswere quick to take almost any offer.

Now, aerospace engineers, computer-chipdesigners, software programmers and otherinformation-technology experts are leading a job

boom at the high end of the tech industry, whichis one of the pillars of O.C.'s economy. In May,payrolls of Orange County's information-technology service companies grew 5 percentfrom a year earlier, their fastest clip in threeyears.

Whether the boom will spread throughout thetech sector remains uncertain.

Employers, recruiters and economists expectcontinued brisk growth of high-skill tech jobs,citing anecdotal evidence from largecorporations such as Irvine computer-chipdesigner Broadcom, which has more than 170openings, and small businesses such as AlvakaNetworks of Huntington Beach.

Alvaka is looking for a senior networkengineer. Two candidates rejected offersbecause they had found work by the time Alvakamade the decision. Company President OliThordarson says he won't let the next one getaway. "We're just going to have to make an offeron the spot," Thordarson said.

California high-tech workers seeimproving job prospects

The tech industry isn’t having it all its ownway in Silicon Valley, according to the SanJose Mercury News. A flood of investmentsin biomedical companies is reshaping thelandscape of the Bay Area economy --terrain long dominated by other industrygiants of software, the Internet andtelecommunications.

Over the past four quarters, localbiotechnology and medical device companiescollected $1.7 billion in venture capital

investment, for the first time surpassingsoftware companies that have long been thefavourite of high-tech investors.

Those worried about the future of SiliconValley's economy welcome the trend. Theseexperts acknowledge that the biomedical sectorwon't be able to fill the void left by the collapseof the dot-com bubble three years ago. But itwill help. Biomedical companies will be agrowing source of jobs and spending that canhelp the region ride out the inevitable storms in

its high-tech industries.Today, the Bay Area's biomedical sector is

getting one of every four venture capital dollars-- compared with one out of 16 in the year2000's frenzy of high-tech investment.

Biomedical companies outbidding I.T. for VC dollars

US Corporate profits are on the rise acrossa broad range of industries. Overall, thenation's top 500 companies are expected to report second- quarter profit growth of 19 percent.

Another sure-fire sign that companies aremore confident, and making money, is thatadvertising spending is up again. WPP - one ofthe world’s largest advertising agenciesannounced last week that client income was up

16% so far this year. When adjusted toaccount for currency fluctuations, thisbecomes 21%.

Profits grow too - companies start marketing again

27

At first glance, airline luggage, hospitalpatients and a box of breakfast cereal mightnot seem to have a lot in common. But theydo: they are all prime targets for new smart-tag technology that can help identify,distribute and/or keep track of them - andvirtually anything else.

Mohsen Moazami, vice president of theInternet Business Solutions Group at CiscoSystems, was recently selected to serve on theBoard of Governors for EPCglobal, Inc., thestandards body that is leading the developmentof industry-driven standards for the ElectronicProduct Code (EPC) Network to support the useof Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) - thesmart tags in today's retail supply chain andother information-rich trading networks.

Incisor spoke with Moazami recently to learnmore about RFID and its importance to a widerange of industries.

LET'S START BY DEFINING TERMS. WHAT IS RFIDAND WHAT IS THE EPCGLOBAL NETWORK?

MM: Think of RFID as the Internet of objects.We're arriving at a point in which every bottle of

shampoo and container of prescription medicinehas self-identifying capabilities. Each can havean RFID tag, or a 'passport' that it carries with it.People can scan that passport to obtaininformation about that specific bottle, much likethey do today with bar code scanners. However,with RFID, the scanning can be doneautomatically without human intervention.

The industry's vision is to be able to trackinventory and supplies this way, to handle themin a far more efficient, automated way.

RFID tags are one component of the EPCnetwork. Together, RFID and the othertechnology layers of the EPC network help withimmediate, automatic identification and sharingof information.

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?

MM: This technology crosses many differentindustries. But let's look at just one problem forone industry - the retail industry.

The 'out of stock' problem costs more than$400 billion a year to that industry alone. Thisoccurs when we, as consumers with money inour pockets, walk into a store intending to buy aparticular item, only to find that the store istemporarily out of stock. So we leave, withoutspending our money.

The most efficient retail operator is Wal-Mart,and even that giant suffers an 8 percent loss ofits business from this issue. Others suffer lossesof up to 28 percent. So the promise of thistechnology is that retailers can do a better job ofinventory management and visibility.

WHAT ARE SOME OTHER APPLICATIONS?

MM: In the pharmaceutical industry,counterfeiting is a multi-billion-dollar problem.Fake drugs - that don't have the same degree ofpotency as the genuine article - are sometimessold to consumers. RFID technology will make iteasier to fight this problem.

In health care, operating rooms in the western

world contain literally millions of dollars worth ofspecialized equipment. RFID technology canhelp keep track of this valuable equipment moreefficiently - not to mention keeping track ofpatients.

And, of course, in the retail industry, thistechnology will help enable businesses to keeptrack of every single individual stock item.

WHY IS CISCO INTERESTED IN RFID, ANDWHAT PLANS DO YOU HAVE?

MM: Customers have asked for our help, andwe're responding.

Global customers like hospitals, retailers andmanufacturers are deploying RFIDinfrastructures today. This is creating a platformfrom which a lot more data will be captured,stored and communicated. These customerswant to get the most from their existinginfrastructure as they deploy and use RFIDtechnology.

Currently, we're assisting our customers withexisting RFID pilots. Ultimately, in keeping withour vision of an intelligent network, we're addingeven more intelligence to the network edges.

With that intelligence, instead of undergoingthe cost of transporting, storing and archiving allscanned data, I can determine what is importantenough to keep and what can be deleted. Theintelligence can also identify particularlyimportant information that should be routed to amanager, for example.

DO YOU THINK IT IS IMPORTANT FOR CISCOTO BE PART OF EPCGLOBAL?

MM: This is a member-driven body. The usersof this technology have come together to helpdefine industry standards so that this industrydoesn't face a 'Beta versus VHS' problem, inwhich a lot of investment was wasted becauseof divergent standards.

Also, EPCglobal will help address concernssuch as consumer privacy. Through advocacy

Making supply chain and othernetworks smarter with RFID

An interview with: Mohsen Moazami, Cisco Systems

continued

28

While the debate over which flavour ofUltra-Wideband will dominate – will it be theTI/Intel-driven MBOA or will it be theFreescale Semiconductor’s direct sequenceoption - the latter party can apparently claimfirst blood.

Freescale (formerly the Semiconductorproducts sector of Motorola), claims it is the firstcompany to receive Federal CommunicationsCommission (FCC) certification for its Ultra-Wideband (UWB) communications solution. Withthis certification, Freescale can begincommercial shipments of its XS110 chipsetimmediately. This enables Freescale’scustomers to design UWB technology into theirconsumer electronics applications forunlicensed operation anywhere in the UnitedStates.

“By working closely with the FCC over the pasttwo years, we felt confident that our directsequence UWB (DS-UWB) approach wouldcomply and enable coexistence with otherwireless technologies,” said Martin Rofheart,director of UWB operations for Freescale. “Withthe FCC’s action, we’re now focused ondelivering UWB product to our consumerelectronics customers so their products will beable to reach the U.S. market as early as theholiday season.”

The XS110 chipset uses the DS-UWBapproach, which Freescale describes as a‘leading candidate’ for the IEEE 802.15.3standard for high-speed wireless personal areanetworks (WPANs). Using DS-UWB, the chipsetachieves over 110 megabits per second (Mbps)data rates and consumes minimal power,

making it ideal for multimedia applicationsrequiring the wireless distribution of audio andvideo.

Players from the MBOA camp, which until nowhas been regarded as leading the charge toestablish the basics of the UWB standard, maybeg to differ with Freescale’s opinion.

and education, this group will try to addressthese and other issues that could hinderaccelerated adoption of this infrastructure.

And at end of day, this is a network. Given ourprominence in the networking space, we can be

very influential in helping the acceleration andadoption of the EPC network across the globe.

This is a major, transformational industrydevelopment that will occur on a widespreadbasis by the end of this decade. Cisco intends to

play a significant role as this importanttechnology unfolds.

UWB allows consumers to create a hometheatre environment without cables. It alsoprovides instantaneous, wireless transfer ofimages from a digital camera to a PC/laptopor television. Employees can connect laptops

and projectors without wires and music fans cantransmit multiple megabytes of MP3 audio fromlaptops to MP3 players. Initial consumerapplications are expected to include largescreen displays (plasma, LCD), digital video

recorders and set-top boxes, with mobileapplications such as portable hard drives anddigital cameras to follow later in 2005.

Freescale strikes a blow for DS-UWB

Ultra wideband - the future of wireless multimedia

Freescale - offspring of Motorola - stokes fire of UWB standards war

Incisor directory

29

Incisor directory of Bluetooth andwireless industry companies

Access point/gateway productsBLIP Systems Clipcomm Inc.Commil Ltdlesswire AGInventel �

Pico CommunicationsRed-MTadlysWireless Networks Inc.

AntennasFractusGigaAnt

Cellular handsetsMitsubishi Electric Telecom EuropeMotorolaNokiaPanasonicPhilipsSony Ericsson

Communications ConsultingAlpine CommunicationsPA Consulting Group

Connectivity/Hardware products

3ComAnycom, Inc.Brain Boxes Ltd �

Ensure TechnologiesLogitechMediaSolv.comRoving Networks Socket CommunicationsTactel ABTDK Systems

Troy GroupXircom

Digital pen and paper technology

Anoto

Hardware and softwaredesign/IP

Adamya TechnologiesARC Wireless Solutions Inc.Atinav Inc.CEVA Inc.Colligo Networks Inc.Cosmic Co LtdDsIT Technologies LtdEricsson Technology Licensing

Company �

ImpulsesoftIVT CorporationLinTech GmbHMecel ABMindTree ConsultingNewLogic TechnologiesPenell A/SRTX TelecomStollmann E+V GmbHTality CorporationTelecaTTPCom Ltd.WaveLab Engineering AG

HeadsetsGN NetcomPlantronics

Industrial productsBaracodaBlueGiga Technologies

ConnectBlue AB

Market research & analysisARC GroupBaskerville �

Chorleywood ConsultingEMCIMS Research

Mobile Computing productsCasioFujitsu Siemens ComputersIBMPalmSamsung ElectronicsSony Information Technology

EuropeToshiba Information Systems

OEM solutionsSMART Modular

Technologies �

Silicon/SemiconductorsAlcatel MicroelectronicsAtmel CorporationBrightcom Technologies, Inc.Conexant Systems, Inc.Cambridge Silicon

Radio (CSR) �

Infineon TechnologiesIntel CorporationKC Technology IncNational Semiconductor GmbHPhilips Semiconductors �

RF Micro DevicesSiGe SemiconductorSilicon & Software SolutionsSilicon Wave �

SpireaSTMicroelectronicsTexas Instruments, Inc.XEMICS SAZeevo, Inc.

Software solutions &applicationsAtinav Inc.BandspeedMezoe �

Microsage WirelessNorwood SystemsOpen InterfaceRegiSoftRococo SoftwareSofBlue Inc.WIDCOMM �

Zi Corporation

Test EquipmentAnritsuBerkeley Varitronics SystemsCatalyst EnterprisesCETECOM Spain �

IAR SystemsTektronix, Inc.Tescom Co Ltd

Test houses7 layers �

CETECOM Inc. �

EricssonETS DR.GENZ GmbHIntertek ETL SEMKO �

Radio Frequency Investigation (RFI) �

TM

contact details for that company by clicking on the icon. This provides a link toan expanded profile of that company.

Incisor continues to be the only continuously published magazine dedicatedto Bluetooth and short range RF technology, and is received at more than 1200companies across the world, and enjoyed by an estimated readership of25,000 individuals. To add your company or a profile for your company to thisdirectory listing, email: [email protected]

As time goes on, more and more companies join the Bluetooth SpecialInterest Group (SIG), becoming part of the global network of companies that areworking to take Bluetooth technology to market.

On an ongoing basis, Incisor includes a listing of companies providingproducts and services within the Bluetooth and short range RF sector.

Beyond the simple listing, wherever there is an open book icon (�)alongside the company name, you will be able to obtain more information and

http://www.click.co.uk/directory.htm#inventel

http://www.click.co.uk/directory.htm#BrainBoxes

http://www.click.co.uk/directory.htm#EricssonTechnologyLicensingCompany

http://www.click.co.uk/directory.htm#baskerville

http://www.click.co.uk/directory.htm#SMARTModularTechnologies

http://www.click.co.uk/directory.htm#CambridgeSiliconRadio

http://www.click.co.uk/directory.htm#PhilipsSemiconductors

http://www.click.co.uk/directory.htm#SiliconWave

http://www.click.co.uk/directory.htm#RFI

http://www.click.co.uk/directory.htm#mezoe

http://www.click.co.uk/directory.htm#widcomm

http://www.click.co.uk/directory.htm#cetecom

www.click.co.uk/directory.htm#7layers

http://www.click.co.uk/directory.htm#cetecom

www.click.co.uk/directory.htm#interteketlsemko

Wireless industry calendar of events

30

PRODUCED/DISTRIBUTED BY:

Click I.T. Ltdwww.click.co.uk

Hampshire Gate, Langley, Rake, Hampshire GU33 7JR, EnglandTel: +44 (0)1730 891330 · Fax: +44 (0)1730 894132

Incisor provides commercial and promotional opportunities in the Bluetooth and short range RF sector. Sponsorship, advertising and e-marketing enquiries should be directed to Vince Holton (see below)

CONTACT DETAILS:

Publisher/Editor-in-chief: Vince Holton · [email protected] · Telephone: +44 (0)1730 895614

Features Editor: Paul Rasmussen · [email protected]

News Editor: Manek Dubash · [email protected] · Telephone: +44 7788 923557

Contributing Editor: Mads Ølholm · [email protected] · Telephone: +45 355 57372

Staff Writer: Becky Russell · [email protected] · Telephone: +44 (0)1730 894962

The Incisor is produced as an independent publication by Click I.T. Ltd. Views expressed within are those of the Incisor editoral and management representatives.

This newsletter is distributed on a monthly basis to companies and individuals with an interest in Bluetooth, WLAN, ZigBee, UWB, RFID, NFC and other RF technologies.

Should you wish to stop receiving Incisor, then please contact Click I.T. Ltd using the contact details shown.

Editorial contributions are welcomed. Companies should send press releases to the editorial contact across.

Individuals are invited to express their views as to the content and style of Incisor.

Bluetooth is a trademark owned by the Bluetooth SIG, Inc., USA.

Incisor is a trademark of Click I.T. Ltd© Click I.T. Ltd 2004

Ericsson Technology Licensing AB

Smart Modular Technologies

Sony Information Technology Europe

TM

Further wireless industry events will be added to the calendar as soon as they are announced. See notes below regarding editorial submissions.

DATE EVENT LOCATION NOTES LINK

Sep 1 - 3 2004 Mobile Device Developments 2004 Hilton Kensington, - mailto:[email protected] London, UK

Sep 21 - 23 2004 Wireless Enterprise World ExCeL London - www.wirelessenterpriseworld.com/2004

Sep 27 - Oct 1 2004 3GSM World Congress Asia Suntec International - http://www.gsmconferences.com/3gsmasia/ Convention & Exhibition Center, Singapore

Oct 13 -14 2004 Enterprise Wireless Technology Olympia, London Dedicated enterprise event for mobile and http://www.enterprisewirelesstechnology.com/ wireless technologies

tbc, October 2004 WiCon Asia Singapore - www.wiconworld.com/asia November 8 - 10 2004 WiCon Americas Santa Clara - www.wiconworld.com/americas Convention Center November 16 - 17 2004 Wi-Fi World Africa 2004 Sandton Convention - http://www.wirelessenterpriseworld.com/2004/wifi%5FZA/ Centre, Johannesburg, Africa

May 24 - 25 2005 Wireless Connectivity World ExCel, London, UK - www.wiconworld.com

TM Infusion

Now access Incisor and other products and services from Click I.T. Ltd at

apendigTM

www.wirelessenterpriseworld.com/2004

www.gsmconferences.com/3gsmasia/

www.enterprisewirelesstechnology.com/

www.wiconworld.com/asia

www.wiconworld.com/americas

www.wirelessenterpriseworld.com/2004/wifi%5FZA/

www.wiconworld.com

www.click.co.uk

www.click.co.uk

INCISOR THIS MONTH RF Micro Devices announces faster ... NEWS FROM THE BLUETOOTH™ AND SHORT RANGE...

Documents

Transcript of INCISOR THIS MONTH RF Micro Devices announces faster ... NEWS FROM THE BLUETOOTH™ AND SHORT RANGE...