Smart Cities

Network slicing tests meet power saving protocol for 5G NR

Thu, Jan 06, 2022

Anritsu has collaborated with Qualcomm to deliver what is believed to be the first enhanced network slicing and user equipment (UE) power saving protocol conformance tests for 5G new radio (NR) standalone (SA). The equipment is verified on the 5G NR mobile device test platform ME7834NR powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X65 5G Modem-RF System, which the company says is the world’s first Release 16 modem-RF system.

Network slicing enables support of specific use cases on a set of network resources dynamically configured for the purpose. Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Release 16 introduces support for interworking from evolved packet core (EPC) to 5G core (5GC) for network slices. It also introduces authentication and authorisation controls.

New features for power saving in user equipment is also defined in 3GPP Release 16. These include wake up signal, enhanced cross-slot scheduling, adaptive MIMO (multiple input multiple output) layer reduction and relaxed radio resource management measurement.

The conformance tests are defined by 3GPP in TS 38.523-1 corresponding to core requirements in TS 38.331and have been submitted to 3GPP Radio Access Network Working Group 5 (RAN WG5) by Anritsu. These tests will also be submitted to Global Certification Forum (GCF) Certification Agreement Group (CAG), and PCS Type Certification Review Board (PTCRB) PTCRB Validation Group (PVG) for approval in the upcoming meetings.

The proposal consists of the 5G NR mobile device test platform ME7834NR, which is registered with both the GCF and PTCRB as Test Platform 251. 

The ME7834NR is for 3GPP-based protocol conformance test (PCT) and carrier acceptance testing (CAT) of mobile devices incorporating multiple radio access technologies. It supports 5G NR in both standalone and non-standalone in addition to LTE, LTE-Advanced, LTE-A Pro, and W-CDMA. Combined with Anritsu’s over the air (OTA) RF chamber MA8171A and RF converters, the ME7834NR covers the sub-6GHz and millimeter wave (mmWave) 5G NR frequency bands.

 http://www.anritsu.com 

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Monolithic radio supports Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2 and 802.15.4

Wed, Jan 05, 2022

Believed to be the first secure tri-radio device, NXP has introduced the IW612 at CES 2022, in Las Vegas. It enables simultaneous transmit and supports Matter, the interoperable, secure connectivity standard for smart homes. 

It supports the Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2 and 802.15.4 protocols for seamless, secure connectivity for smart home, automotive and industrial use cases, says the company. 

Consumers are therefore not restricted to single protocol ecosystems but can access different ecosystems and wireless network technologies. The three protocols can work together: Wi-Fi 6 reduces network congestion, extends range, improves robustness and lowers power; Bluetooth 5.2 is suitable for audio (A2DP, LE Audio), voice and network commissioning; and 802.15.4 is suitable for Matter with Thread mesh networking.

One of the primary challenges facing the IoT is limited interoperability, which can restrict the consumer’s ability to mix smart home products from different companies. Matter is a new standardised IoT connectivity protocol, designed by a consortium which includes NXP, which unifies how devices communicate, independent of the manufacturer or wireless technology. The protocol creates more connections between more objects, to simplify development for manufacturers and compatibility for consumers.

The IW612 overcomes hardware co-existence challenges that developers face today, while also enabling advanced security protocols to tackle security threats faced by the IoT, explains NXP.

It offers secure boot, debug and over-the-air firmware updates for ongoing protection, as well as WPA3 security and hardware encryption engines. 

“With the IW612, developers can leverage different wireless connectivity protocols on a single device to create an easy-to-use, secure product for smart home, industrial and automotive use cases,” said Larry Olivas, vice president and general manager for Wireless Connectivity Solutions, NXP Semiconductors. The tri-radio technology can operate across door locks and smart speakers to in-vehicle entertainment and telematics, he added.

“Interoperability has been a key challenge that has fragmented the smart home market for years, but Matter-enabled devices can change that,” confirms Jonathan Collins, research director at ABI Research.  

The IW612 can be used for border routers, bridges and gateways in the smart home that require connecting Thread or Bluetooth devices to the cloud using the integrated Wi-Fi 6 radio. Additionally, the IW612 enables communication between Matter devices regardless of whether the devices use Wi-Fi or Thread. This allows Matter-over-Wi-Fi products to control and monitor Matter-over-Thread devices, and vice versa. 

The IW612 is sampling now.

http://www.nxp.com 

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SoC can support the Bluetooth LE spectrum, says Infineon

Wed, Jan 05, 2022

The Airoc CYW20829 Bluetooth LE (low energy) SoC is a Bluetooth 5.3 core spec-compliant device for IoT, smart home and industrial applications, introduced by Infineon. It is designed to support Bluetooth LE use cases for home automation, sensors, lighting, Bluetooth Mesh, remote controls and any other Bluetooth LE-connected IoT application, says the company.

The SoC has efficient peripheral design, low leakage silicon with scalable and efficient MIPS, and a low power Bluetooth radio, said Sonal Chandrasekharan, vice president of the Bluetooth product line at Infineon. It is claimed to offer superior RF performance for reliable, robust connections, he added.

The Airoc CYW20829 integrates a power amplifier with 10dBm of transmit output power and has receive sensitivity of -98.5 dBm for LE and -106 dBm for LE-LR 125kbits per second, making it the best link budget in Infineon’s Airoc Bluetooth portfolio. The RF performance offers reliable, robust connectivity without compromising low power, says the company, making the SoC suitable for a range of applications in smart home, smart building, medical, industrial, mesh and human interface devices (e.g., keyboard, mouse, remote control).

The CYW20829 is the first Infineon Airoc Bluetooth SoC to use the Arm Cortex M33. The Bluetooth LE sub system includes an optimised radio and an Arm Cortex M33 core as the Bluetooth controller. A second Arm Cortex M33 with a floating point unit can be clocked up to 96MHz to provide high performance compute at low power.

The application sub system has configurable serial communication blocks that can be turned into UART, I2C or SPI as needed. It also has multiple timer / counter pulse-width modulators, I2S, PDM, CAN and LIN interfaces. For security, there is a ROM-based root of trust, a TRNG, eFuse for custom keys and cryptography acceleration. The SoC also supports XIP from external flash and encryption on the fly for content on the flash.

The AIROC CYW20829 is supported by ModusToolbox – a collection of software and tools for the development of Bluetooth-enabled IoT designs. 

The Airoc CYW20829 Bluetooth LE SoC is currently sampling to select customers. 

http://www.infineon.com

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High resolution radar sensor monitors vehicle’s blind spots

Wed, Jan 05, 2022

Using a Doppler division multiple access (DDMA)-based signal processing method, the AWR2944 radar sensor can help automotive makers implement systems that can detect vehicles further away than is possible today. The 77GHz sensor has been announced by Texas Instruments and is supplied in a small form factor which it claims is approximately 30 per cent smaller compared to radar sensors today. 

The AWR2944 sensor integrates a fourth transmitter to provide 33 per cent higher resolution than existing radar sensors, enabling vehicles to detect obstacles more clearly and avoid collisions. The DDMA signal processing improves the ability to sense oncoming vehicles at distances up to 40 per cent farther away than is currently possible. 

The high resolution radar sensor will enable driver assistance technology to more accurately monitor blind spots and efficiently navigate turns and corners to safely avoid collisions for improved advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), says the company.

According to the Federal Highway Administration, more than half of fatal and injury crashes occur at or near intersections or junctions. Texas Instruments says that the AWR2944 radar sensor can help vehicle manufacturers meet new safety regulations, enabling vehicles to detect obstacles more clearly to avoid collisions.    

“Visibility around corners has historically been challenging for autonomous and semiautonomous vehicles,” concedes Curt Moore, manager for Jacinto processors at TI. “For automated parking and driving, being able to see farther with devices like the AWR2944 sensor – and then seamlessly process that data with our Jacinto processors – leads to improved awareness and safety,” he believes.

The AWR2944 and an AWR2944 evaluation module (AWR2944EVM) are available now. 

Texas Instruments (TI) designs, manufactures, tests and sells analogue and embedded processing chips for markets such as industrial, automotive, personal electronics, communications equipment and enterprise systems. 

http://www.TI.com

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