Project: Energy Efficient Wireless Platform for the Connected Home
Creating an Energy Efficient Wireless Platform for the Connected Home (EEWPCH) with the objective of saving energy is the primary goal of this project. It is, however, envisaged that the platform developed in this project can be applied in industrial and enterprise solutions as well. Although these two areas will deviate somewhat from the residential scope put forward in this project, the primary research items apply to all three areas. Put simply, the CO strategy in the project consists of creating a flexible and power optimized wireless platform for use in the Connected Home with the objective to reduce energy usage and minimize wasted energy (i.e. energy used with no obvious reason). The project distinguishes itself from other projects in the area by including the energy needed per transferred bit instead of just focussing on idle power. Overall this project will include novel ways of designing and deploying energy efficient devices for the Connected Home and the approach is applying wireless low power technology._x000D__x000D_Reduction of CO2 emission is a central issue today, and the SmartGrid initiative supports this by using digital technology to save energy, reduce cost, and increase reliability, and transparency in production and delivery of energy. Focus in the SmartGrid program is especially the integration of renewable energy sources into the power grid, optimization of power production, and distribution of energy. However, the average user of energy is not directly influenced by the introduction of SmartGrids. Consequently, the SmartGrid program is just a first important step on the road to considerable energy savings. This project stems from the idea that the next step in energy savings on a larger scale is to enable the average energy user to micro-control power consumption in their own homes. The Cleantech mega trend is one of the two central trends that make up the basis for this project; the second is the Home Networking & Communication mega trend. The essence of this trend is the fact that home networks start to embrace communication and converged services. Furthermore, operators seem to have chosen DECT as the preferred voice interface, hence deploying DECT enabled Gateways/Integrated Access Devices (IADs) on a larger scale. To support the above trends the consortium Ps have defined a new ground-breaking low power wireless technology, DECT Ultra Low Power (DECT ULP). This technology has the advantage that it can be installed directly on top of an existing DECT infrastructure, and through a DECT enabled IAD completely new opportunities in Internet connected DECT ULP devices emerge. Consequently, DECT ULP has a unique chance to be the technology that can accelerate growth in the market for energy-saving residential products by exploiting the huge momentum behind the deployment of DECT based IADs in especially Europe. This project will, therefore, focus on the next phases by innovating on the energy efficiency of the wireless infrastructure. Although alternative wireless low power technologies exist they have a number of disadvantages over DECT ULP. Firstly, almost all lack the native Internet connectivity (=additional energy consumption for a hub). Secondly, they typically operate in the crowded 2.4 GHz ISM frequency band (=ineffective wireless transmission). DECT ULP has native Internet connectivity and it operates in a reserved frequency band. However, to date only a simple DECT ULP enabled prototype system has been developed, and to realize the full potential of the Connected Home vision a considerable research and development effort is still needed._x000D__x000D_The defined project consortium consists of two companies with a solid background in cordless communication, SiTel Semiconductor BV (SiTel) and RTX Telecom A/S (RTX). SiTel is a fabless semiconductor company with HQ in The Netherlands and owned by HgCapital (private equity investor). _x000D_SiTel is a former Dutch business unit of National Semiconductor Corporation, involved in the design and sale of high-quality chipsets for cordless phones. The history of the company goes back to the late 1980s. In this project SiTel will provide expert knowledge within wireless chip design and manufacturing. _x000D_RTX was established in 1993 with HQ in Denmark, and listed on the NasdaqOMX stock exchange in 2000. RTX specializes in developing advanced solutions for wireless communications on ODM/OEM basis to a wide number of leading brand name manufacturers around the world (Panasonic, Siemens etc.). In this project RTX will provide expert knowledge in the field of RF, protocol SW, and application doCO. _x000D_SiTel and RTX have been close Ps for a number of years, and hence, this Pship is a solid platform for entering into a more strategic and long term joint project. Both SiTel and RTX regard DECT (and its successor, CAT-iq) their core technology; RTX is a leading supplier of DECT ODM products, and SiTel is one of the leading suppliers of DECT chipsets.
| Acronym | EEWPCH (Reference Number: 5572) |
| Duration | 01/09/2010 - 31/08/2012 |
| Project Topic | Awareness of energy consumption along with the infrastructure to measure and control this are central items in this project. The outcome is creation of an energy efficient wireless platform for the Connected Home including system prototypes that can be applied with the objective to save energy. |
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Project Results (after finalisation) |
The first silicon and software implementation has been finalized. ULE is aligned worldwide and established to embrace the new technology. _x000D_The ETSI standardization draft has been completed. |
| Network | Eurostars |
| Call | Eurostars Cut-Off 4 |
Project partner
| Number | Name | Role | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | RTX Telecom A/S | Coordinator | Denmark |
| 2 | SiTel Semiconductor BV | Partner | Netherlands |