Qualcomm has dominated the market for smartphone applications processors, and now it wants to lead the way in creating chipsets and software for devices that can connect to your phone. “There are a lot of devices out there that are really dumb devices that we want to make smarter, so by adding the communications to these devices we’re enabling new services on there,” said Ed Pawlak, senior product manager in Qualcomm’s emerging business division. To that end, Qualcomm has launched new low power chipsets, a connection manager to help developers connect more devices to cellular modems, and a collaboration with Dragon Innovation to give hardware startups more access to Qualcomm’s technologies.
The company envisions smartphones that use WiFi to connect to devices throughout the home to enable services like home automation, energy management, and home security. Qualcomm has partnered with Haier Home Appliances, which will embed its low-power chipsets in items like washing machines and air conditioners. “We fully expect these connected appliances to be popular among consumers who want the convenience of receiving remote notifications and being able to set commands through their mobile devices,” said Lily Li, general manager of Qingdao Haier Smart Home Technology Limited.
“These devices have typically very small controllers in them,” said Pawlak. “Unlike your TV set or your computer that has a big processor, most of these devices have been developed with small microcontrollers, maybe something 16 or 32 bit tops, and basically what we’re doing is taking our device and offloading all the communication capability onto our device so that we don’t burden that small microcontroller. We’re also interfacing it with the very simple interfaces typically found on those microcontrollers. They’re typically only serial interfaces.” Pawlak said that in some simple devices, like light bulbs, the Qualcomm chipset can take over the device’s core function as well as its connectivity.
Qualcomm’s two new low-power chipsets that target this market are the QCA4002 and the QCA4004. They use 802.11n WiFi to connect everyday home appliances to smartphones and tablets. End users can program the chips with their own applications, and Qualcomm is promoting its own AllJoyn software for this. Network security and a full IP stack are part of each chipset. The QCA4002 and the QCA4004 are “specifically built from scratch for the Internet of Everything,” according to Pawlak.
Other chipmakers are also focusing on the Internet of Things. In May, Broadcom announced its BCM4390 Wi-Fi system-on-a-chip, targeting small home appliances, along with a Bluetooth version called the BCM20732. Freescale is targeting the healthcare market with tiny, ingestible chips. And ARM recently signaled its interest in architecting the Internet of Everything by purchasing SensiNode, which develops software for connected devices.
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