OSAKA, Japan /BUSINESS WIRE/ -- Panasonic Corp. announced that it has developed a new multiband wireless communication technology that enables low-powered stable communication through simple wireless connections between devices of different standards. Devices equipped with this technology will be able to support all the frequency bands of wireless sensor networks and realize energy savings of 30% of the power of conventional single-band wireless blocks. These technologies will accelerate the spread of machine-to-machine (M2M) sensor networks that support cloud-based data exchange without human intervention.
The development combines all of the tuning circuits that had previously been necessary for each frequency band, allowing for a stable connection to the network regardless of the location and the wireless standard of the device. In addition, by detecting the radio frequency component directly, a reduction in the size of the chip and its power consumption has also been achieved. In applications where the power supply can be problematic, sensor network radio powered by batteries has become possible. Through this technology, connecting devices and equipment will become easier, accelerating the development of a new business model for cloud applications.
The developed technology has the following features:
- It supports all frequency bands (400 MHz, 900 MHz, 1.2 GHz and 2.4 GHz) for IEEE802.15.4x sensor network radio regulations.
- The surface area of the chip that supports multiband communicationsis 12% smaller than a conventional single-band chip.
- More effective demodulation process is introduced to reduce power consumption. The working time is expected to be more than 20 years under typical wireless network operating conditions in the field of smart meters and HEMS applications, with data transmission every 30 seconds with a 1200 mAh battery.
This development is based on the following new technologies:
- Multiband technology makes the removal of some inductors on receivers and filters on transmitters that were previously necessary for each frequency band possible through digital-assist analog circuits.
- Demodulator is achieved with a direct frequency detection scheme for reducing the circuit size and power consumption of the receiver.
Panasonic holds 25 Japanese patents and 14 overseas patents, including pending applications, for this development.
This result was supported in part by the "R&D of radio communication infrastructure technology using multiband/multimode compatible sensors" of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, Japan. A part of this technology will be presented at Wireless M2M Expo 2013 at Tokyo Big Sight, Japan on May 8–10.
About Panasonic
Panasonic Corp. is a worldwide leader in the development and engineering of electronic technologies and solutions for customers in residential, nonresidential, mobility, and personal applications. Since its founding in 1918, the company has expanded globally and now operates over 500 consolidated companies worldwide, recording consolidated net sales of ¥7.85 trillion for the year ending March 31, 2012. Committed to pursuing new value through innovation across divisional lines, the company strives to create a better life and a better world for its customers.