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New-Tech Magazine l 79
Imec and Holst Centre
Present Multi-Standard Low-
Power Wide-Area Radio Chip
The world-leading nanoelectronics
research centers imec and Holst
Centre (set up by imec and TNO),
presented a low-power wide-area
(LPWA) multi-standard radio chip
today at imec’s annual technology
forum in Brussels (ITF Brussels
2016). The new radio chip is a
best-in-class product, which can
operate with a lower level of power
consumption than any other radio
chip technology released to date
for long range connectivity in
sensor networks. The sub-GHz
radio chip’s technology can serve
a multitude of protocols including
IEEE 802.15.4g/k, W-MBUS, KNX-
RF, as well as the popular LoRa
and SIGFOX networks, and future
cellular IoT for applications such
as smart metering, smart home,
smart city and critical infrastructure
monitoring.
The radio chip operates in industrial,
scientific, medical (ISM) and short-
range devices (SRD) bands,
covering a frequency range from
780MHz to 930MHz. The robust,
low-power design combines a large
link budget, with state-of-the-art
interference rejection and lowest
bill of materials by minimizing
external components as compared
to of-the-shelf available chips. The
radio is implemented as a complete
System-on-Chip (SoC) including the
RF front end, power management,
an ARM processor,160kBytes of
SRAM and peripherals like SPI, I2C
and UART. It features a targeted
sensitivity of -120dBm at 0.1%
BER (1kbps) and ultra-low power
consumption of 8mW (Rx) and
113mW (Tx) for 13.5dBm output
power. The receiver supports a
wide gain range to handle input
signals from -120dBm to -15dBm,
corresponding to a large dynamic
range of 105dB. The PA features
automatic ramp-up and ramp-down
for ARIB spectral mask compliancy.
Furthermore, the output power is
controllable from <-40dBm up to
15dBm.
“With the foreseen release of the
NB-IoT protocol in June 2016 by the
3GPP, it is clear that protocols such
as NB-IoT, SigFox and LoRA are
here to stay for the coming years,”
stated Kathleen Philips, program
director perceptive systems at
imec/Holst Centre. “Our novel sub-
GHz radio chip can serve multiple
of these protocols and is an ideal
solution for long-range wireless
connectivity for IoT applications.”
Imec’s Industrial Affiliation program
on the Intuitive Internet-of-Things
(IoT) focuses on developing the
building blocks for the future. The
program explores an intuitive IoT,
with sensor systems that can detect
and assist with the needs and wants
of people in an unobtrusive way, and
can take into account their varied
perspectives and surrounding
environment. Along with low-power
radio chips, imec also develops
ultra-small, low-cost, intelligent,
and ultra–low power sensors and
heterogeneous sensor networks.
Interested companies are invited
to partner with imec on its varied
research initiatives. Companies can
also connect with imec to request
access to imec’s technological
advances to further develop their
projects through licensing programs
with imec.
TI delivers the industry’s
first RF sampling 14-bit,
3-GSPS analog-to-digital
converter
Texas Instruments (TI) (NASDAQ:
TXN) introduced the highest level
of radio-frequency (RF) sampling
performance with the ADC32RF45,
the industry’s fastest 14-bit analog-
to-digital converter (ADC). This
dual-channel ADC enables direct
RF signal conversion up to 4
GHz, giving engineers access to
the highest dynamic range and
input bandwidth. The first in a new
data converter family in TI’s RF
sampling portfolio, the ADC32RF45
eliminates up to four intermediate-
frequency downconversion stages
in multiband receivers, which
simplifies system architecture and
reduces board space up to 75
percent.
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