Spread spectrum family strikes up a new band

A 868MHz spread spectrum transceiver has been designed specifically for products destined for the European market.

Aerocomm has developed a 868MHz spread spectrum transceiver specifically for products destined for the European market.

Aerocomm is one of a few select companies to gain approval for an RF solution that operates in this highly restricted European band.

On the date of its release, more than 20 expectant manufacturers have already designed the AC4868 transceiver into their products.

Built to provide OEMs with licence-free RF communications over long distances - up to 15km - the AC4868 becomes the essential, affordable alternative to products operating in the saturated 433MHz band.

Priced at hundreds of dollars less than competing solutions, it is the only fully certified 868MHz transceiver to deliver up to 250mW of output power (EIRP) - the maximum allowed in Europe.

Hence the AC4868 is ideally suited for highly industrial applications where reliable long-range deployment is crucial.

Aerocomm's robust transparent protocol (RF232) - which enables seamless cable-to-transceiver replacement - has been embedded into the AC4868 to support a host of communication architectures: point-to-point, point-to-multipoint or peer-to-peer.

The AC4868's dynamic serial firmware manages difficult over-the-air issues, such as error detection, multipath concerns, link verification and interference.

As with all of Aerocomm's transceiver products, the AC4868 module will operate over the industrial temperature range of -40 to +85C.

Full "CE" approval lets OEMs to use the transceiver in mobile and fixed product applications without additional licensing.

The AC4868 will also accept a wide input voltage range of 3.3 to 5.5V.

Flexible datarates reach 76,000bit/s.

"Aerocomm designed the AC4868 with the European OEM in mind", said Randy Macke, Aerocomm's International Sales Manager.

"The module is not only extremely low cost - making it a genuinely practical alternative to 433MHz radios - but it also simplifies the integration process by enabling wireless product development without further licensing requirements".

"Using higher levels of circuit integration, AC4868 employs our already acclaimed AC4490 900MHz module's form factor - maximising our economies of scale and allowing us to pass significant cost savings on to the OEM", added John Eckart, Aerocomm's Vice President of Sales.

"In fact, global suppliers are often excited to learn that all of our AC4000-series modules are plug-compatible, from 2.4GHz to 900MHz and now 868MHz".

"Now manufacturers can design globally and comply locally".

The transceiver modules are aimed at designers/manufacturers of industrial or commercial products that currently use alternative methods of communication, such as infra-red, serial/wired, memory card download, or other less sophisticated wireless means.

AC4486s are suitable for a wide range of applications including vending, meter reading, gaming, signage, automotive, recreation, point of sale, fleet management, lighting control and security.

Pricing starts at under $85, with volume pricing as low as $60.

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