NEW YORK-A group of Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni has determined that wireless handsets need a certain aura about them in order to be conveniently hands-free when used.
Two years in development, their proprietary chip technology employing a weak magnetic induction field, is the reason for the existence and the name of Aura Communication Inc. The Wilmington, Mass., company was established in January 1995.
The Aura chipset will be available in large quantities late this year and now “is under evaluation by all the major OEM’s (original equipment manufacturers),” said Frank A. Walden, company president. It can be embedded into original equipment or added as an after-market accessory for cellular, personal communications services and cordless phones, as well as specialized mobile radios. The chipset will be offered under technology licensing agreements.
Typical headsets need an awkward cord to connect them to handsets, even wireless ones, Walden commented. Furthermore, for communications between the earphone and microphone and the antenna transmitter/receiver, they use other types of energy waves that are energy guzzlers. Thus, hands-free units usually require batteries that result in heavyset headsets.
By comparison, low-level magnetic fields are energy misers, so the power source is a button-sized battery with at least eight hours of useful life before it needs recharging.
The button battery is designed to slip inside a rosebud headphone set with an extension arm for the microphone mouthpiece-all weighing less than an ounce, Walden said. The companion antenna, a separate part, is half the size of a pencil.
There are other advantages for users of this technology, he added. Separating the keypad from the audio function will permit users to keep their eyes on the road if they’re driving while dialing and punching in responses to voice requests. “We’re hoping hands-free [phones while driving] will be mandated by law,” Walden said.
Having the microphone near to the speaker also eliminates the annoying sound distortions call recipients hear when listening to someone talking at a distance from the microphone, he said. That would improve the telephony quality of the new “smart phones,” which incorporate wireless laptop computer functions into their bundled technology, he said.
