Product category:
Design and Development Hardware
News Release from: Cypress Semiconductor | Subject: CY4672 PRoC LP Reference Design Kit
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial
Team on 25 September 2007
Design kit improves wireless coexistence
Wireless protocol is designed to overcome interference from emerging 802.11n networks, cordless phones, microwaves and other devices in the 2.4GHz band.
Cypress Semiconductor reckons that the latest improved version of its wireless protocol enables flawless operation in the 2.4GHz spectrum The new version of Cypress's best-in-class AgileHID wireless protocol is specifically designed to overcome interference from emerging 802.11n networks, which, along with cordless phones, microwaves and other devices in the 2.4GHz band, can severely hamper the performance of wireless peripherals
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 9 Jul 2008 at 8.00am (UK)
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The new protocol is currently available in the CY4672 PRoC LP Reference Design Kit (RDK).
The AgileHID protocol accomplishes interference immunity and power saving by enabling two unique features of Cypress's 2.4GHz radio devices: dynamic datarate (DR) and dynamic power amplification (PA).
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Dynamic DR delivers uninterrupted data transfer despite interference from 802.11n networks.
Dynamic DR works by enabling the radios at both the transmitting and receiving ends to dynamically switch modes to adapt to the interference level of the environment - bouncing from Cypress's patented, frequency-agile direct sequence spread spectrum (DSSS) technology to a Gaussian frequency shift keying (GFSK) mode.
The DSSS mode transmits at 250Kbit/s with enhanced robustness and extended range, while the GFSK mode transmits data at 1Mbit/s and saves battery power.
Dynamic PA works by automatically adjusting the PA setting of the radios to adapt to the range required for reliable communication, significantly preserving battery life.
"We have forecasted that unit shipments of 802.11n access point and bridge router equipment will grow rapidly to exceed 31 million units in 2011", says Dr Jagdish Rebello, Director and Principal Analyst at market research firm iSuppli.
"As bandwidth-hungry 802.11n technology becomes more common in the home, manufacturers of other 2.4-GHz peripheral devices will face a significant challenge in designing products robust to this increased interference".
"Cypress's existing wireless protocol and reference designs helped us complete our designs quickly at high quality with great RF performance", says Kim Chen, Darfon's Senior Sales Manager.
"With Cypress's new protocol, our tests have shown that our products will be prepared for 802.11n interference in the 2.4GHz spectrum".
"We based our WirelessUSB and PRoC technology on the ability to deliver uninterrupted performance in a crowded 2.4GHz environment, and the new features of our protocol extend our leadership in this area", says Matt Branda, Senior Product Marketing Manager of Cypress's Wireless Solutions.
"With wireless mice, keyboards, remote controls and other applications already coping with many sources of interference, the dawn of 802.11n networks poses the most severe test yet for these products".
"With Cypress's new wireless protocol, our PRoC LP and WirelessUSB LP customers will be uniquely prepared for this challenge and we expect this to result in further growth for our wireless solutions moving forward".
Cypress recently announced it has shipped over 20 million units of its wireless solutions, and that it has secured over 200 design wins for WirelessUSB LP and PRoC LP in the last year.
The CY4672 PRoC LP RDK includes a compact wireless mouse, a feature-rich wireless keyboard, and a small form-factor bridge.
To further streamline the development process, it also offers kit documentation, hardware schematics, bill of materials, development tools, and flexible firmware for customisation.
Manufacturers can easily copy the reference designs exactly, and only need to add enclosures to produce ready-to-ship devices.
In addition, the PRoC LP RDK features firmware and hardware support for Microsoft Windows HotStart (direct application launch), a new feature in Vista for launching applications directly from system startup through button presses from input devices.
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