Cypress WirelessUSB to kill Bluetooth?
Cypress Semiconductor announced new wireless technology that, according to the company, can replace Bluetooth along with all similar standards. New WirelessUSB chips of CY694X family (CY6941 Optical Mouse, CY6942 Keyboard, CY6943 USB Bridge) operate in 2.4 GHz (2400-2483 MHz) range and provide lower latencies that 27 MHz, 433 MHz and 900 MHz devices, being at that simpler and cheaper than Bluetooth solutions. CY694X-based products can connect at least 7 various devices within 10-meter radius with up to 20 ms latency (reduced to 8 ms for 4 devices). First, this should interest makers of game peripherals, that must feature not more than 30 ms latencies.
Samples are already being shipped, volume production is scheduled to Q1 2003. CY694X wholesale price makes $3.92 per unit, that’s rather cheap. Moreover, unlike Bluetooth, you don’t need any drivers to use such devices with USB-enabled PCs (and Microsoft still hasn’t supported Bluetooth in Windows).
WirelessUSB utilizes wideband transmission techniques similar to Bluetooth. Cypress claims its technology to be significantly more crosstalk-resistant and low-power: according to provisional calculations, standard power for a wireless keyboard will be enough for half-year operation. At that WirelessUSB supports 64- and 128-bit encryption. Max. transfer speed maked 217.6 Kbps. Chip voltage – 2.7-3.6V.
In other words, seems like sci-fi – cheapest WLANs with good features. If this is as good as claimed, we’ll soon hear of WirelessUSB and CY694X chips.
P.S. Those interested can download detailed WirelessUSB doc (448KB).
Write a comment below. No registration needed!
|
|