Efficiency at it's Best

With the emphasis on energy saving technologies growing by the day, solutions providers today make it a point to look into this aspect, while for telcos it is an added investment; but one with very good returns. Thus, today, 'smart', 'solar' and 'energy efficient', are terms used to describe an increasing number of technologies, along with 'low-cost', 'speed' and 'high capacity'.

Solar powered handsets have been on the anvil of many vendors and operators for some time. With companies like Spice Mobile, Samsung, and HTC having already introduced these, new research is being conducted everyday in an effort to upgrade this latest technology, which could be especially useful in rural India, where twenty-four hours electricity is one of the major setbacks for operators. Thus, solar powered handsets could not only save electricity, but are also low cost, and solar charging is also being looked at as an option by leading solutions providers.

That said, the latest in energy saving technology comes from MindTree. EtherMind Bluetooth low energy stack enables low-power and interoperable wireless communication between a mobile phone and its accessories, opening up a new set of interesting use cases like caller ID displays on watches and data transfers from health devices to the Internet via mobile phones.

Built on the quad-radio, single-chip WiLink 7.0 solution from Texas Instruments, MindTree's Bluetooth low energy stack supports a broad range of profiles, including PUID and time and network availability, which will drive a new breed of mobile applications across a variety of markets. Utilizing the stack's maturity and benefits, TI's WiLink 7.0 solution will allow developers to get WiLink 7.0 solution based designers off the ground more quickly and efficiently.

Bluetooth low energy stack is also optimized for low memory footprint and has APIs that enable easy integration with the resident applications on the platform. The stack is built on clean abstraction layers and is written in ANSI C, enabling easy portability onto a variety of operating systems and platforms.

In addition, Bluetooth stack and profiles are qualified for Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, and have been proven in multiple products for interoperability and robustness by world's leading companies like NEC Corporation, GN Netcom, and Logitech. The products include headsets, handsets, and automotive infotainment platforms.

For energy savings, the new low energy bluetooth technology reduces devices to peak current, thus making their battery last longer. This technology can also be used in the healthcare industry for monitoring heart rate while exercising, blood glucometers, insulin palmtops and health-monitoring, whereby hospitals can remotely monitor patients at home, using cellphones as a gateway.

Moreover, Bluetooth low energy stack can also be used in enterprises, using bluetooth to replace wired technology with wireless switches. A unique feature of this technology is that it has lower energy consumption than WLAN and almost the same energy consumption as WIGBY. However, bluetooth is already present in mobile phones, which is a gateway to other applications, thus giving MindTree an edge over WIGBY.

This technology can also be extended for use as a remote control and infra-red mechanism, using the mobile as a remote control for electronic devices, or for parking meters. MindTree already has a few takers for this low cost technology abroad in the healthcare industry and for parking meters.

The seven-year long partnership with Texas Instruments came about as the latter is a leading chip manufacturer for mobile handsets, helping reduce costs for phone manufacturers by evolving multiple wireless technology in a single chip with bluetooth, using multiple interfaces and combining energy-efficiency.

MindTree is also looking at ultrasound technology with Texas Instruments' processors and video surveillance using mobile technology in the future. MindTree's low energy bluetooth stack is scheduled to be launched within six to nine months in high-end phones in India and abroad, with this technology being extended to low-end phones later, for use in remote control technology.

berylm@cybermedia.co.in