Date: 04/08/2011
FSK transceiver from austriamicrosystems selected for bicycle meters due to its 27MHz range
austriamicrosystems has announced that Echowell has selected its AS3900 27 MHz FSK (frequency shift keying) low-power transceiver IC with integrated Link Manager for their new bicycle metering platforms.
Echowell makes meters for bicycles to monitor speed, mileage, and heart rate of the user, and graphically displays the information. Echowell uses wireless technologies to connecting sensor to the display/system.
According to Johnsy Varghese, Marketing Manager Wireless, for austriamicrosystems, "The AS3900's high level of integration, ease of use, ultra-low power capabilities and superior performance in close proximity to the human body make it well suited for applications like Echowell's bike computers, as well as other fitness and medical products. We are excited to have Echowell as one of our wireless customers and look forward to building a strong relationship together."
austriamicrosystems explains that AS3900 low-power FSK transceiver features a built-in star network management protocol, and the transceiver operates in the 27 MHz worldwide ISM (industrial, scientific and medical) band, operation in this band avoids the interference found in the popular but cluttered 2.4 GHz band and results in a lower amount of energy being absorbed by the human body (SAR or specific absorption rate). This is a key consideration for transmitters operated close to the human body such as a BAN (body area network) or MBAN (medical body area network).
According to austriamicrosystems, AS3900 FSK transceiver offers a hardwired, royalty-free easy-to-use protocol for self-management of all network functions, simplifies product design and significantly reduces system power compared to alternative approaches requiring protocols that run full-time on an external or internal microcontroller. The low power transceiver requires only 2.5 ľA in standby polling mode, and typically 3.8 and 4.9 mA in receive and transmit modes, respectively, including the power required to manage the star network.
The performance and capabilities of the AS3900 suitable for a number of applications include data transfer among devices close to a human body, such as medical and intelligent sporting goods, industrial automation, body area networks and any short-range sensor network. An integrated wakeup receiver allows ultra-low current consumption of only 2.5 ľA while in polling mode, 27MHz Star Network transceiver operates with a small PCB antenna that resonates at 27 MHz and properties of 27 MHz transmissions enable better penetration of fluids than 2.4GHz and prevents reflections from giving errant range estimations using RSSI (received signal strength indication), says austriamicrosystems.
austriamicrosystems says AS3900 transmits data at up to 212 Kbit/s and integrates a number of key features include the wake up receiver, power amplifier, clock, 24 bits of OTP memory, battery level detection, power on reset (POR), system timers and digital RSSI, onboard CRC (cyclic redundancy check) and a bi-directional SDI bus (serial digital interface) allow for easy system integration.
Available: Now
Package: 5x5 mm 28-pin QFN package
Price: $2.25 each for 1K pieces.
For more information visit www.austriamicrosystems.com