Efficiency Delivered

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 the 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 a 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
MindTreey/a> 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.

Beryl M

berylm@cybermedia.co.in