What next for the smart phone?

By Raj Gawera, VP Marketing Handset Business Unit CSR.

In terms of current technology the smartphone has pretty much every base covered. It takes care of our emails, diaries, work calendars, phone calls, music, photos and videos, social media, and its on-board GPS tells us where we are and the best route to get where we need to be. In fact the smartphone has almost caught up with the laptop and it’s streets ahead already for battery life.

The convergence of the smartphone and the laptop, in particular the notebook, is something that has been debated many times. Today’s smartphone already has the processing and memory power of a laptop from ten years ago so it’s hardly surprising that people are wondering when the functionality from a modern laptop will make it into a phone, and indeed if that will make the laptop redundant.

The laptop will always have a key role to play for mobile business and communications but the increased functionality of the smart phone will see it replacing other devices that play a large part in our lives, from the MP3 players and cameras that it already rivals, to bank cards, keys, heart monitors, medical devices and remote controls. The smartphone’s multiple wireless technologies provide an advantage that a dedicated device can never offer, for example a camera phone can use GPS to geo-tag it and then Wi-Fi to upload the photo to a social networking site.

The smart phone will never replace a laptop and neither will it replace high end consumer goods such as digital SLR cameras and MP4 players, but the majority of people don’t need 80GB of music or a big camera, they need a few GB of music and 5MP camera that will take half decent photos and this is where the smartphone is best placed to take over. Original music phones only had a memory with enough room for a handful of tracks, but with expandable memory options a smartphone is now offering up to 12GB of space for music. Multiple wireless technologies give the smartphone the edge, for instance by using the on-board Wi-Fi the phone can also stream internet radio or an FM transmitter allows music to be played on a car stereo.

Through CSR’s Connectivity Centre products, handset makers can include GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Bluetooth low energy and FM all on a single module, with more room for more to included.. While it is practical for smartphones to include this high level of functionality it’s not for cameras or MP3 players to do the same. The biggest advantage that the smartphone has over a dedicated device such as a camera is the wide range of wireless technologies that it offers, most of which are already built in.

There are also plenty of additional functions that are starting to appear in smartphones and features that will see impressive growth in the coming years. Remote controls have already converged into a single multifunction unit, but with the predicted massive growth in Bluetooth low energy why not include such functions into the phone? You can already use your phone as a remote for laptops through Bluetooth; Bluetooth low energy can take it to the next level by allowing you to control home entertainment equipment, garage doors and even home automation systems such as heating and lights. The built-in GPS could allow the phone to switch on the garage remote function when you return home, switch on the remote for the projector or laptop at work when you’re in the office or even switch off your heating as you leave the house.

Thanks to the growing interest in Near Field Communications (NFC) you could leave your wallet at home and store your bankcard details on your phone instead. CSR demonstrated working NFC silicon at Mobile World Congress in February. The technology could even replace your car keys; many new cars feature keyless entry and ignition, requiring the key-fob to just be within a certain distance for the start button to work. There’s no reason why this technology couldn’t be embedded into a phone to cut down on the number of devices we need to carry with us.

All of this will be enabled through the smart integration of wireless technologies as illustrated in CSR’s Connectivity Centre. The key user benefit for this technological approach is that people should not need to notice what particular technology is at work, only the service that they are receiving as a result. They select location, not switch on GPS; they choose to surf the web, not to activate Wi-Fi to take them onto a wireless access point. With its Synergy software, each technology in CSR’s Connectivity Centre works seamlessly together, enabling the best technology to be used for each purpose without the user having to choose between them.


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A bitter harvest: ZigBee Green Power

ZigBee has been something of a contentious subject over the last few years or so. It has received some moderate attention at Incisor, but nothing sensational that would make us sit up and start taking notes. Arguably, a lot of the ZigBee news has been lacklustre and likewise, it has drawn some of us to several unfounded and premature conclusions, one of which might have been, “Could this be the last curtain call for ZigBee?” ZigBee isn’t necessarily a newbie wireless technology, but despite its longevity it still seems relatively new; if you like, it’s still wrapped up in its packaging.

ZigBee enters the healthcare market
ZigBee endeavours to address multiple low energy wireless solutions within health, home and building automation, along with a number of ‘coming soon’ applications. More recently, the ZigBee Alliance was endorsed by the Continua Health Alliance (continuaalliance.org), as it was suggested that ZigBee has “superior power efficiency and networking capabilities” (ZigBee Enters Health Care Market, Incisor July 2009). Nonetheless, it has been suggested that the technology isn’t as prolific as the ZigBee Alliance seems to suggest (zigbee.org). Likewise, some still argue that ZigBee continues to suffer from coexistence and interoperability issues which are plaguing many of its member companies.

The basic premise of any wireless product is to offer coexistence and interoperability with multiple manufacturers, but some reports have indicated that this simply doesn’t happen with ZigBee and ZigBee PRO or, at the very least, that some manufacturers are experiencing issues with what is perceived to be a proprietary technology rather than an industry recognised standard. Arguably controversial, and further heated by accusations from antagonists suggesting that the Alliance has self-declared the technology as a standard, yet it is still to be recognised by the IEC, ISO and so on. What some of you may not know is that ZigBee comprises two significant components, which make up its current solution and technology. The first is the radio, which is based on the IEEE 802.15.4 standard; however, the majority of ZigBee’s technology is founded within a software protocol stack that sits on top of the radio – a fact that is often misunderstood and the mainstay upon which ZigBee’s IP is invested.

What’s that blip on our radar?
So, what brings ZigBee to our attention this month? The current blip on our short-range radar, is ZigBee’s most recent announcement (June 2009, zigbee.org) of its Green Power offering – a prophecy perhaps of an imminent bitter harvest. Having been featured within Incisor for two consecutive months now, we could speculate that the ZigBee Alliance’s marketing machine must be doing something right, right? Yes, the ZigBee Alliance announced a new feature set, namely the ZigBee Green Power specification, which is planned to be completed circa end of 2009. We pestered the Alliance for additional information and perhaps a sneak preview, but they were keeping their cards close to their chest. Nevertheless, the Alliance’s Kevin Schader, Director of Communications (and the PR group) was very supportive and provided a better perspective of the new feature set, albeit a helicopter view, as the scope was very new.

However, before we begin to broach the nature of the controversy that ensued following their announcement, let’s fill in some blanks for those who might be new to this particular topic. It seems traditional, as part of our ‘saving the world’ mantra, to throw a little ‘green’ into the product portfolio – after all it’s been the colour populating most of our headlines at Incisor over the past few months. Both classic Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are power hungry technologies and therefore often raise ‘green’ issues, but, then again, they do offer very different applications to those afforded by ZigBee. In more recent news, we have seen both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth strive to become greener in their applications and technologies. In the low power domain, a number of companies offer low energy solutions, which directly compete with ZigBee; for example, Z-Wave (from zen-sys.com) and EnOcean (enocean.com), which employs a number of clever energy harvesting techniques that date back to the early 1990s (EnOcean technology emerged from the Siemens group, where the spin-off company that became EnOcean GmbH had previously invented the technology). But ZigBee already boasts a low power theme and has proudly done so since its inception; however, with its Green Power specification it offers something a little different and this is where the controversy begins.

EnOcean is synonymous with energy harvesting
EnOcean is primarily the proponent company offering energy harvesting techniques and commercial solutions in over 100,000 buildings. The technology dates back to early 1990s where Siemens originally conceived the technology and, with over a decade’s experience, the company has accumulated numerous patents that not only detail techniques, but extend to some fundamental applications, several of which are publicly available on their website (see enocean.com/en/products-technology, courtesy of Graham Martin, Chairman, EnOcean Alliance). At Incisor, we also became privy to other numerous patents, which baffled us somewhat as to how ZigBee could possibly move forward with any energy harvesting solution whilst EnOcean had it so well-covered and protected. So, we caught up with Graham Martin, EnOcean’s Alliance Chairman who couldn’t publicly offer us any comment, although he did support his perspective on the issue with some comprehensive reference material.

In starting to write this story we made several assumptions based on initial information, but looking more closely at the press releases and following up on a number of pertinent questions to the ZigBee Alliance with a ‘pull no punches’ stance, we eventually arrived at a very different conclusion. Inevitably, we were caught up in the furore of the ZigBee Alliance venturing into developing energy harvesting technology and trampling all over EnOcean’s well-established IP territory. Crikey, it’s all too easy to wag the proverbial finger, as was initially the case with ZigBee’s new Green Power specification, where the Alliance allegedly purported energy harvesting techniques, offering a new generation of batteryless ZigBee products; something which was ringing a familiar bell – reminding us perhaps of the very same energy harvesting techniques first presented by EnOcean and quite clearly now a bone of contention between the two companies.

IP infringement – that’s just suicide!
Neither the ZigBee Alliance, nor any other company for that matter, could afford a battle in court surrounding IP infringement – no-one would be that stupid, right? But let’s take a closer look at the Alliance’s press release: dated, June 29, 2009 (also available on its website) which states “The ZigBee Alliance, ... today announced development of the ZigBee Green Power feature set to establish a global standard technology for self-powered devices operating through energy harvesting techniques. These devices will communicate seamlessly with existing ZigBee and ZigBee PRO networks and will enable maintenance free, environmentally friendly products that eliminate the need for wires and batteries.” Let’s translate this into English!

The first point in the release is the definition of a new feature set, which will establish a global standard for self-powering devices – doesn’t sound like anyone is developing any new technology here! When we asked Alliance execs to clarify, they intimated that their software protocol stack, the part of the ZigBee offering that they have heavily invested in, would be modified to support energy-harvesting-enabled devices. Eh? What? What did we miss? Surely, you’re developing new technology and techniques that are going to conflict with existing IP, right? Well, apparently, not! Instead, Kevin Schader, Director of Communications, ZigBee Alliance confirms “ZigBee Green Power is an enhancement to the ZigBee and ZigBee PRO [protocol] stacks.” Schader continues to explain, “It will allow energy harvesting devices, regardless of manufacturer, to join a ZigBee network.”

What, another protocol stack?
Naturally, many antagonists would be raising some inevitable issues regarding another change to the protocol stack, as ZigBee has already suffered from some backwards incompatibility problems with its early stacks. But, with the delivery of its new feature set, it’s certainly going to be one to watch. Schader was quick to remark “ZigBee Green Power is backward compatible with existing ZigBee devices and networks.” Presumably, the Alliance can’t afford another faux-pas whilst maintaining and promoting a technology to a diverse market. It seems the ZigBee Alliance is working towards some kind of wireless utopia in enabling its devices to extend and connect with energy-harvesting-enabled devices. Dare we say, it’s offering an outstretched arm to technologies such as EnOcean?

It seems that many analysts initially reacted to ZigBee’s press release with the attitude that it was nothing less than a corporate suicide note, but let’s recall an old saying, “there is no such thing as bad publicity except your own obituary” (Brendan Behan). Was lack of tenacity and ability to focus on anything other than the PR ‘headline’ reason enough for others to wonder if ZigBee was writing theirs? It seems a shallow pool for Zigbee’s PR to drown in. Nonetheless, when actually taking the time to read the press release in full, alongside unequivocal support from the Alliance and applying a generous measure of good common sense it seems ZigBee’s Green Power feature set is merely an enhancement to their protocol stack which, in turn, the Alliance hopes will support a global ecosystem of multiple products from multiple manufacturers. Anyhow, we shall be watching ZigBee’s evolution of its Green Power offering very closely, along with monitoring EnOcean’s reaction.

You see, all this wireless stuff can be exciting and is certainly not for the faint hearted!


by Dean Anthony Gratton

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