MagnaCom’s Revolutionary WAM Technology 802.11ad Transforms Wireless Communications
The New
MIRACLE WORKER
An Inside Look at Cochlear’s Bone Conduction Hearing Implants
August 2015
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Wireless & RF Magazine
EDITORIAL STAFF Content Editor Alex Maddalena amaddalena@aspencore.com Digital Content Manager Heather Hamilton hhamilton@aspencore.com Tel | 208-639-6485 Global Creative Director Nicolas Perner nperner@aspencore.com Graphic Designer Carol Smiley csmiley@aspencore.com Audience Development Claire Hellar chellar@aspencore.com Register at EEWeb http://www.eeweb.com/register/
TECH REPORTS
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NXP Wireless Charging Receivers Utilize Rezence Technology What to Expect from the 802.11ad Protocol TECH SERIES
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Wi GaN Single Amplifier for Multi-mode Wireless Systems INDUSTRY INTERVIEW
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Reinventing Wireless Interview with MagnaCom’s Yossi Cohen COVER STORY
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The New Miracle Worker A Look at Cochlear’s Bone Conduction Hearing Implants
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Published by AspenCore 950 West Bannock Suite 450 Boise, Idaho 83702 Tel | 208-639-6464
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Victor Alejandro Gao General Manager Executive Publisher Cody Miller Global Media Director Group Publisher
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Wireless & RF Magazine
NXP
Wireless Charging
Receivers Utilize
Rezence Standards and Technology 4
TECH REPORT
W
ireless charging is not a new concept; it was first conceptualized over a century ago, though it was not used
commercially until somewhat recently. However, despite being popular with toothbrushes, wireless charging has not extended deeply into consumer products. There have been many reasons this has been the case. The technology, inductive charging, had relatively low efficiency for several years, which limited it to low power devices. Also, the proximity of the charger and the device being charged had to be closely controlled, and no industry standards had been defined to allow interoperability between chargers and receivers. In 2008, the Wireless Power Consortium was created and developed the standard Qi, which has overcome several of the stumbling blocks involved with wireless charging. Now, devices from different manufacturers can work together with over 70% efficiency. However, even with these improvements, there are still drawbacks to the inductive charging technology. To address these issues, Rezence, formerly known as the Alliance for Wireless Power (A4WP), has created a new standard for magnetic resonance charging technology.
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Wireless & RF Magazine
Rezence, formerly known as the Alliance for Wireless Power (A4WP) has created a new standard for magnetic resonance charging technology. NXP’s 6W A4WP wireless charging receiver
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Magnetic resonance allows for much more loosely coupled systems, which provides an improved user experience by increasing the distance required between the charger and the device being charged. In addition to the increased charging distance, chargers can also operate through more materials, meaning that charging can be done through clothes, books, or even tabletops. Also, with a properly sized charger, a single charger can charge multiple devices simultaneously, even if their power requirements are different. Finally, the presence of metallic objects such as coins or keys do not interfere with the charging, further increasing the flexibility. The current standard uses Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) for communication between the charger and the device, which tells the charger the device is close enough to charge, its power requirements, and other control and feedback information. As with any technology, there are downsides as well as upsides. While the magnetic resonance technology has increased flexibility, it is at the cost of
TECH REPORT efficiency. The more loosely coupled system means that efficiency typically sits around 60%. Rezence technology has already passed the stringent FCC regulations that keep the emissions within safety limits. The strengths that Rezence exhibits are ideal for filling every aspect of wireless charging: higher freedom of placement and orientation. As of the spring of 2015, Rezence is in active discussion with Power Matters Alliance (PMA), an organization promoting the standardization of inductive charging, to merge and provide a single organization that addresses both magnetic and inductive charging. This reflects the reality that there will be times when inductive charging will be preferred over magnetic charging and both require standardization. It also opens up the possibility of creating devices that are capable of either form of charging. This merger will benefit Rezence by adding know-how, which will improve the standard, letting them certify products that use the standard, and work to make its usage more widespread. The more widespread the standard is, the more benefit that end consumers will find. Not only is NXP a member of Rezence, but it has already developed easily scalable wireless charging receivers capable of 300mW up to 6W—the NX1A4WP and NX2A4WP—that uses Rezence technology and conforms with the standard. This receiver coordinates the control and protection of the charging circuits as well as acts as an intermediary between the receiving coil and the charging circuit. This integrates with current charging circuits for
mobile devices, minimizing the design change necessary to include wireless charging capabilities. Communications between the NX1A4WP/NX2A4WP and the host device is via a simple I2C interface and the overall footprint for the entire solution is less than one square centimeter. The chip is well suited for power scalability allowing for multiple classes of power requirements all user programmable through the I2C interface. The size of the receiving coil will be dependent on the power requirements and guidelines are available in the standards that have been created. The Rezence standard is a relatively new entry to the wireless charging world and the first products incorporating it are only now being developed and hitting the markets. However, with many members such as NXP working to bring this from a technical specification to real devices that will end up in consumer’s hands, Rezence magnetic resonance charging has the capability of to becoming the de facto standard methodology for charging consumer electronics.
The Rezence standard is a relatively new entry to the wireless charging world and the first products incorporating it are only now being developed and hitting the markets. 7
Wireless & RF Magazine
What to Expect from the
802.11ad Protocol
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TECH REPORT
802.11ad is about to transform wireless into a seamless user experience in terms of data use, battery life and system interfaces. By David Recker, Broadcom When using mobile devices to stream content, the most important things for consumers are battery life, signal strength, and avoiding the dreaded “spinning wheel.� With the upcoming migration to the IEEE 802.11ad standard, these concerns may be a thing of the past.
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Wireless & RF Magazine
O
perating over a wide 60GHz wireless channel, 802.11ad provides unprecedented bandwidth that allows bit rates of up 7 Gigabits per second (Gbps). Combined with the most efficient use of energy per bit of any wireless interface, 802.11ad is about to transform wireless into a seamless user experience in terms of data use, battery life and system interfaces. With such a massive amount of capacity, 802.11ad enables HD downloads in seconds, seamless transitions from 802.11ac Wi-Fi, and inherent characteristics that enable a myriad of devices including radar-based gesture recognition and seamless connectivity between mobile devices. At the heart of 802.11ad capabilities is its use of the unlicensed 60GHz band, specifically the 8.64GHz of bandwidth that is available between 57.24 and 65.88GHz. That bandwidth is divided into four 2.16-GHz channels, each containing an actual signal band that is 1.8GHz wide. If you’re paying attention and doing the math, then you’ll notice a gap. That leftover 360MHz is divided in two and placed on each end of the signal band to serve as the guard band to keep the four signal channels separated sufficiently so that they don’t interfere with one another.
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This is a roundabout way of saying that the available signal bandwidth for each channel at 60GHz is 1.8GHz. Compare that to the baseline 40MHz channels of 802.11n. It is this extremely wide bandwidth that allows 802.11ad to achieve data rates of up to 7 Gbps. That in itself is impressive in that using the 60GHz band allows full HD Blu-ray discs to be transferred in seconds, versus the half an hour needed when using regular Wi-Fi. While the technology is enabling, the real magic comes in the form of IEEE 802.11ad’s work to ensure that 60GHz radios work seamlessly with 2.4 or 5GHz 802.11b/g/a/n, and 802.11ac radios. One of the unique characteristics of 60GHz operation is that the signals typically do not penetrate walls, but they do reflect well, and when beamforming is applied, the in-room connections can run at full rate. If the user moves outside the room, 802.11ad’s protocols kick in and initiate a seamless switchover from 60GHz operation to 2.45 or 5GHz operation to allow for longer range or wider coverage. This full, seamless integration of all available bandwidth provides service providers with the assurance that content will be streamed at optimum rates, uninterrupted, while users gain maximum freedom and almost instant downloads.
TECH REPORT
With such a massive amount of capacity, 802.11ad enables HD downloads in seconds, seamless transitions from 802.11ac Wi-Fi, and inherent characteristics that enable a myriad of devices including radar-based gesture recognition and seamless connectivity between mobile devices.
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Wireless & RF Magazine
LESS POWER, MORE FEATURES
SURELY YOU GESTURE?
It almost seems contradictory, but the value of extremely high data rates enabled by 60GHz operation also comes in the form of power savings. When implemented and managed correctly, the circuits on a device are only really consuming significant power when the device is transmitting and receiving. As soon as that ends, the device goes back into sleep mode where minimal power is consumed.
Typically, with massive instantaneous HD downloads, seamless switching to “regular” Wi-Fi and much-reduced power consumption would be enough— but 60GHz has yet another trick up its sleeve. Google recently showed how to turn its inability to penetrate walls and objects into a feature: gesture recognition using radar. Google’s Project Soli employs radar techniques at 60GHz to perform gesture recognition as a means of interfacing with a wearable device where human-machine-interface (HMI) options are extremely limited.
At 60GHz, the data rates are high enough that the overall joules of energy consumed by the circuit between awakening, transferring the bit, and going back to sleep is up to 10x less than 802.11ac Wi-Fi. This has huge implications for battery life, particularly for smartphones.
When implemented and managed correctly, the circuits on a device are only really consuming significant power when the device is transmitting and receiving.
WHAT’S NEXT? Industry momentum and user anticipation of 802.11ad 60GHz technology is growing. The Wi-Fi alliance recently launched its WiGig CERTIFIED™ program for products that operate in the 60GHz frequency band. With 60GHz technology now under the wing of the Wi-Fi Alliance, the WiGig CERTIFIED program will ensure devices provide a great user experience, the latest security protections, and multi-vendor interoperability. Access points with 60GHz are expected in early 2017 from OEMs such as Netgear, Aruba, and Cisco. Google has plans to incorporate 802.11ad in its Chromecast OTT dongle in the same timeframe.
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TECH REPORT
The whole home coverage of 802.11ac Wi-Fi with the in-area multi-gigabit connectivity of 802.11ad will provide a superior connected experience. Google’s Project Soli opens yet another application of 60GHz: gesture recognition, a useful feature for HMI-limited devices such as wearables.
Meanwhile, peripherals such as NAS storage devices are coming from SanDisk, Western Digital and Hitachi. The whole home coverage of 802.11ac Wi-Fi with the in-area multi-gigabit connectivity of 802.11ad will provide a superior connected experience. Integration of 802.11ad into mobile platforms will also allow for nearinstantaneous access to the cloud and greater cellular network offload. David Recker serves as Vice President of Marketing for Wireless Connectivity at Broadcom. Reach the author at Broadcom.
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MYLINK
MYLINK
Wireless & RF Magazine
Michael A. de Rooij, Ph.D. Executive Director of Applications Engineering Efficient Power Conversion Corporation
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TECH SERIES
Wi GaN: Single Amplifier for a Multi-mode Capable Wireless Power System In the previous installment of WiGaN, we presented a comparison of radiated EMI between a class E and ZVS Class D amplifier when used in a wireless power application driving an A4WP compliant load. In this article we look at expanding the reach of eGaN速 FETs into enabling wireless power solutions.
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Wireless & RF Magazine
The proliferation of wireless power products and multitude of wireless power standards [1, 2, & 3] for mobile applications is leading to consumer confusion and hindering adoption. Some manufacturers have begun offering multimode solutions that are compatible with two or more wireless standards [4]. The simplest solution is a multi-mode device (receiver) that can be used with any wireless standard source. This unfortunately increases the cost for the end user, and due to the proliferation of single standard devices, is not a complete solution. Alternatively, the transmitting source can be made to support multiple wireless power standards. Typically multi-mode sources employ multiple amplifiers to drive multiple coils, each to a specific standard. This solution adds significant complexity and cost to the source system, which can further hinder its adoption. To address this problem we present a small modification to the ZVS Class D amplifier that allows it to drive either an Alliance for Wireless Power (A4WP) Rezence compliant or Wireless Power
Consortium (WPC) Qi / Power Matters Alliance (PMA) compliant coil set. Multiple Wireless Power Standards There are currently three wireless power standards for the mobile device market; namely, the Wireless Power Consortium (Qi) standard [1], the Power Matters Alliance (PMA) standard [2], and the Alliance for Wireless Power (Rezence™) standard [3]. The major similarities and differences between these standards are given in table 1. Wireless power transfer products based on all three of the standards are already in various design stages. All the wireless system architectures are similar in structure and are comprised of an amplifier, a coil-set and a rectifier. The differences stem from operating frequency, rated load power, spatial requirements and control communications. A single amplifier strategy needs to overcome the main difference among the wireless power standards; namely the large differences in operating frequencies.
Table 1. Comparison of the various wireless power standards.
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TECH SERIES A Multi-Mode Capable Amplifier Topology The ZVS Class D amplifier has proven to be a simple high efficiency solution for 6.78MHz loosely coupled highly resonant wireless power applications [5, 6, & 7]. The basic power schematic is limited by the mechanism that establishes ZVS, which will need to be overcome if the ZVS Class D amplifier is to be used at a lower frequency (used by both Qi and PMA wireless power standards). The modified ZVS Class D of Figure 1 can achieve this, where the ZVS tank circuit is disconnected during low frequency operation and operated in hard-switching mode. Driven directly from logic gates, the ultra-low cost EPC2036 [8] eGaN FET can be used to disconnect the ZVS tank circuit. Experimental The performance of the ZVS Class D amplifier operating to the A4WP Class-3 standard at 6.78MHz has been reported in [5, 6] using the EPC9919 Rev. 2.0 amplifier fitted with EPC8010 [9] devices. These evaluation boards include a synchronous bootstrap FET circuit, eliminating gate driver induced bootstrap diode QRR losses.
This amplifier was configured as single ended. Testing to the A4WP standard revealed that the MOSFET version of the amplifier was found to be A4WP Class-3 compliant over the imaginary impedance range of -30j Ω though +20j Ω, whereas the eGaN FET version of the amplifier was found to be A4WP Class-3 compliant over the imaginary impedance range of -35j Ω though +35j Ω – a relative difference of 20j Ω. At ±35j Ω the required voltage for the amplifier to drive the coil reached 80V and is the only limiting factor for the eGaN FET amplifier. In the case of the MOSFET amplifier the gate driver or device temperature exceeding 100°C were the limiting factors. Figure 2 shows the measured total amplifier losses, including the gate driver, as function of imaginary load impedance for various load resistances. The higher the load resistance became, the greater the performance benefit the eGaN FET version of the amplifier had over the MOSFET version.
Figure 1. Modified ZVS class D amplifier for multi-mode operation
Figure 2. Experimental performance comparison between MOSFET (red) and eGaN FET (blue) total amplifier losses operating at 6.78MHz delivering power to a class-3 A4WP load as function of imaginary load impedance for various real load impedances multi-mode operation.
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Wireless & RF Magazine
Measured system efficiency (DC power in to DC power out) based on the Qi/PMA standard using the EPC9509 amplifier with disconnected ZVS tank circuits for differential-mode operation results is shown in Figure 3. The setup used a Vishay coil set [10]. It is notable that the efficiency of the system does not exceed 80% and is primarily driven by the coil set. This is evident when analyzing the losses in the system. Figure 4 shows the thermal performance of the amplifier and rectifier operating at 300kHz and delivering 5W load power. It can be seen that the gate driver is the hottest component at 10°C rise and that the eGaN FETs [11] barely show in the thermal image. On the rectifier side, the schottky diodes are the hottest components with a temperature rise of 25°C. These results clearly show that the performance of the low-frequency system is dominated by the coil set.
Figure 3. System efficiency results as function of output power when the amplifier is operating hard-switching and using the Vishay-coil set.
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Summary In this column, a modified ZVS Class D amplifier capable of operation at both high (6.78MHz) and low (100kHz – 315kHz) frequencies was presented. At high frequency, the amplifier was capable of driving an A4WP Class-3 compliant load of 16W or 800 mARMS over a reflected impedance range of 1 Ω – 56 Ω and ±35j Ω without the need for adaptive retuning of the coil. At low frequencies, the amplifier was operated in hard-switching mode at 300kHz to the Qi/ PMA standards. At full power of 5W, the eGaN FETs were operating around 40°C in an ambient of 30°C. Ultimately an integrated automatic selectable coil can be designed to be used with the modified ZVS Class D amplifier that yields a system with a comparable cost structure to that of an A4WP-only capable system.
Figure 4. Experimental thermal performance of the amplifier using the Vishay coil set, hard-switching, operating at 300kHz and delivering 5W load power and ambient temperature of 30°C.
TECH SERIES References [1] “System Description Wireless Power Transfer,” Vol. I: Low Power. Part 1: Interface Definition, Version 1.1.2, June 2013. [2] Power Matters Alliance. [Online]. Available: www.powermatters.org
[7] A. Lidow, J. Strydom, M. de Rooij, D. Reusch, GaN Transistors for Efficient Power Conversion, Second Edition, Chichester, United Kingdom, Wiley, ISBN 978-1-118-84476-2.
[3] A4WP Wireless Power Transfer System Baseline System Specification (BSS), A4WP-S-0001 v1.3.1, February 25, 2015.
[8] Efficient Power Conversion, “EPC2036 – Enhancement Mode Power Transistor,” EPC2036 datasheet, June 2015, [Online], Available: http://epc-co.com/epc/Products/eGaNFETs/ EPC2036.aspx
[4] V. Muratov, “Multi-Mode Wireless Power Systems can be a Bridge to the Promised Land of Universal Contactless Charging,” Wireless Power Summit, Berkeley CA, U.S.A., November 2014.
[9] Efficient Power Conversion, “EPC8010 – Enhancement Mode Power Transistor,” EPC8010 datasheet, December 2013 [Revised January 2015], [Online]. Available: http://epc-co.com/epc/Products/eGaNFETs/EPC8010.aspx
[5] M. A. de Rooij, “Performance Comparison for A4WP Class-3 Wireless Power Compliance between eGaN® FET and MOSFET in a ZVS Class D Amplifier,” International Exhibition and Conference for Power Electronics, Intelligent Motion, Renewable Energy and Energy Management (PCIM - Europe), May 2015.
[10] Vishay Intertechnology, “Wireless Charging Receiving Coil/Shield with Attractor,” IWAS-4832FF-50 datasheet, October 2012, [Online] Available: http://www.vishay.com/ product?docid=34311
[6] M. A. de Rooij, Wireless Power Handbook,” First Edition, El Segundo, March 2015, ISBN 978-0-692-37192-3.
[11] Efficient Power Conversion, “EPC2108 – EnhancementMode GaN Power Transistor Half Bridge with Integrated Synchronous Bootstrap,” EPC2108 datasheet, June 2015, [Online]. Available: http://epc-co.com/epc/Products/eGaNFETs/ EPC2108.aspx
eGaN® FET is a registered trademark of Efficient Power Conversion Corporation.
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Wireless & RF Magazine
Reinventing
WIRELESS
MagnaCom’s WAM Technology Enables Next-gen Wireless Communication 22
INDUSTRY INTERVIEW
Interview with
Yossi Cohen
Co-founder and CEO of MagnaCom
E
very few years, a technology comes along that shakes up an industry. In today’s world, with the prevalence
of smartphones and mobile devices, it may come as a surprise that the technology behind wireless system modulation— quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM)—has not changed in over 40 years. For an industry as rapidly changing and expanding as wireless communications, this technological stasis prompted MagnaCom founders Yossi Cohen and Amir Eliaz to commercialize a revolutionary modulation technology that has already garnered over 50 patents, with 100 additional patents pending. The technology is called WAM, and its already proving to be the biggest disruptive technology the wireless industry has seen in decades. EEWeb spoke with Yossi Cohen about the ins and outs of WAM and how it is challenging the 40-year dominance of QAM in the wireless industry.
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Wireless & RF Magazine
What led you to co-found MagnaCom? I met my co-founder of MagnaCom, Amir Eliaz, a few months after my departure from Motorola Mobility and we decided to start this company in late 2012. Amir mentioned that he invented this new, unique, and truly revolutionary modulation technology that is a computationally effective way to get capacity gains on non-linear channels. “I was skeptical initially due to the strong claims that Amir made, but all my questions were answered, so I conducted an extensive due-diligence on the technology, with a number of industry experts that later became investors or partners in the company. When my close friends who are some of the top industry experts, said “this is technology is for real,” I was honestly pleasantly surprised. It clearly passed the due diligence and we decided to start the company. We raised the first round of financing from friends who are executives in the technology and telecom industry, and used that money to do two things: First, we felt we needed to create a hardware demonstration of the invention, because the immediate reaction we got from most people was skepticism, which continues to be our biggest enemy. The second thing was protecting the intellectual property by filing patents. A short year later, we’ve hired a small team of scientists, got an office and have already been able to demonstrate—with real hardware—the big advantage of our technology, compared to the traditional QAM solutions. In addition, we filed close to 40 patents and have ben granted 15 patents within our first year.
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INDUSTRY INTERVIEW We continued on that trajectory and in the beginning of 2014, raised our second round of financing—still from executives in the industry and extended our list of investors even more. In the beginning of this year, we expanded our solution into multiple markets by creating a stronger solution of our first generation product, but also expanded our offering into the OFDM (orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing)multi-carrier side. This allowed us to participate in large and lucrative market segments like Wi-Fi and cellular. As of today, we have filed over 150 global patents and have already been awarded over 50 US patents, with over 1,200 underlying inventions—so the amount of IP that was generated at MagnaCom is really massive. That’s why we were called “An Innovation PowerHouse.”
Let’s talk about the technology itself—what is WAM and how does it differ from QAM? MagnaCom is challenging the 40year dominance of QAM (Quadrature Amplitude Modulation) as the modulation of choice for all advanced
communications systems. QAM is used in virtually all wired and wireless products today, and deployed in many billions of connected devices. WAM technology modulates information differently, resulting in a major system gain benefit, of up to 10dB compared to QAM. And most important, it is backward compatible to all the existing legacy QAM systems. It does not require any
The technology is a pure digital modulation scheme, which uses the exact same analog and RF circuits as QAM.
changes to the antennas, radio or RF. The technology is a pure digital modulation scheme, which uses the exact same analog and RF circuits as QAM, requiring no analog or mixed-signal re-design. Now, if you step back and look at the trajectory of digital communication over the past 20 years, the industry continued to progress along the line of higher-order QAM modulations. What they have done
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Wireless & RF Magazine
is continue to move into higher and higher orders of modulation because every time you go up in order, you improve the efficiency of the network (add a bit). However, as you progress through orders of QAM, a problem arises called nonlinearity. QAM originally was invented to withstand white noise, which was the biggest problem to solve at the time. However, as you get higher and higher in orders of modulation, the notion of nonlinearity becomes a bigger and dominant problem.
“Any wired or wireless communication can benefit from an enhanced modulation like ours.”
If you look at the operation of any amplifier, you turn it up and the volume (power) goes up. But you can’t do that indefinitely—at some point, it starts to flatten, so the performance starts to go from linear to non-linear. The problem is that the underlying mathematics in the QAM modulation must assume a linear channel. Once the channel is non-linear, everything completely diverges. We have invented a modulation technique, called WAM, which does not require the channel to be linear. This has two advantages: First, it does not have to do all of the extra work to linearize and fight the problems that nature creates. The other advantage is that I can operate in a much higher level of efficiency at
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higher portions of the operating area of an amplifier, where efficiency is much higher and WAM can get a lot more out of the channel—I am not limited by just the linear portion of the amplifier. When you look at QAM, you only get two coordinates—I and Q— representing the wave’s phase and amplitude. QAM is a two-dimensional modulation because you must have 100% orthogonality between the two parameters you are dealing with. For example, in the case of SC-WAM (the single carrier flavor of our technology), orthogonality is not an underlying requirement. So, with complex math, you are able to create a multi-dimensional modulation, starting with the third dimension. SC-WAM takes advantage of this and we are no longer limited to a two-dimensional modulation. Here is how it works intuitively: If someone gave you 64 dots and were to spread them on a two-inch by two-inch piece of paper—which is like a two-dimensional constellation for QAM—then they are going to be a certain distance from each other. If I told you that you could take the same 64 dots and spread them on two-inches by two-inches by two-inches in a cube, the distance between the dots will be much bigger and therefore much more immune to noise. That is the underlying benefit to SC-WAM technology. For the OFD-WAM multi-carrier solution, we built on some fundamentals of SC-WAM, but expanded it to deal with other issues which are predominant in OFDM, such as non-linearity and other interferences.
INDUSTRY INTERVIEW
Spectrum congestion is a big deal and MagnaCom is obviously working a lot to alleviate that. How soon can you commercialize this and bring it to market? We have a piece of technology that is fundamental and impactful to the world of digital communications. Any wired or wireless communication can benefit from an enhanced modulation like ours. We are 100-percent backwards compatible with QAM because 2D is one case of 3D—if I have a 2D modulation and I want to represent it in 3D, it is not a problem at all and there are no problems with interoperability. I think one of the most commonly committed mistakes by startup CEOs is de-focus; you can develop a technology that is really cool and you can try and do 16 different things with it and it is just not a good idea. We looked at our technology and we thought that we needed to go after markets that do not require heavy barriers to entry, like wireless backhaul infrastructure where operating from point to point has no emphasis on standards. We are in the process of working with customers on that side and if things go well, this could be deployed next year. In parallel, we have developed the technology for multi-carrier solutions and we started working with the leaders in that area to enable them to test and look at the capabilities for both Wi-Fi and cellular.
Are people starting to buy into the idea once they see it? They are already buying into it. We have gotten reports from customers that confirm the capabilities of the technology and they have seen it perform as expected in their labs and have integrated it into their system.
Is there a downside to WAM? It is a very feasible solution, but there is some silicon required to implement our technology and it is mitigated to a few cents. In the last five years, you might spend three dollars for a piece of silicon to try and improve the capabilities by a couple of dBs. We are coming in and saying we are going to give you an up to 10 dB advantage and it will cost you a few cents. It is very manageable and non-prohibitive.
MagnaCom is very focused on one area in wireless backhaul and you mentioned other areas that you want to get into. With regards to MagnaCom’s constellation from QAM4096 and QAM64—is that scalable up to get even more bandwidth out? Absolutely. If you look at what happened in the last 20 years or so, you will see that it has increased in orders from QAM-2 to 4 to 16, 64, to 256, and so on. Based on this trend it would be safe to say that in five to ten years, it will go to even higher-order constellations. The higher order you go, the more advantages we
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Wireless & RF Magazine
have. The benefit of WAM versus QAM grows significantly as you go to higherorder modulation. The progression towards higher-order modulation is paced by silicon process geometry and advancements in analog communication. When people are ready to design QAM16000, the benefits of WAM may be 15 or more dB.
The benefit of WAM versus QAM grows significantly as you go to higher-order modulation.
If someone wants some of the benefits of WAM, but doesn’t need all of the performance, are they able to scale down as well? Let’s say you don’t want to spend three cents, but you want to spend one cent; instead of wanting the 10dB advantage, you want 3dB—you could do that. In some cases, distance of communication is more important than throughput, like in IoT devices for example. With those cases, our customers are saying they are less concerned with getting the fastest, highest-speed Wi-Fi connection, but they care more about having a continuous connection over longer distances. In other cases, like a Wi-Fi access point, customers care more about the absolute highest throughput, because they want to do video streaming or other demanding operations.
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Wireless & RF Magazine
Cochlear Bone Conduction Implants:
The New
MIRACLE WORKER “I am just as deaf as I am blind. Deafness is a much worse misfortune. Blindness separates us from things but deafness separates us from people.� Helen Keller
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COVER STORY
Helen Keller never met Mats Dotevall, but he could have changed her life. The Director of Design and Development at Cochlear Bone Anchored Solutions, Dotevall spent over twenty years in the conventional hearing aid industry before he began working with the revolutionary technology that allows people with mild to profound hearing loss to hear. The extraordinary Keller died in 1968 without hearing a bird sing. The first successful Baha速 implant took place in Sweden, in 1977. Today, the much-refined invention and its results have offered nothing less than an auditory miracle for approximately 120,000 people worldwide, including many children. Mats Dotevall
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Wireless & RF Magazine
The device recently won the world’s most prestigious design award, The Red Dot Award, for creative, innovative and high-quality products.
“Cochlear’s bone conduction implant technology works on the same principal as a tuning fork,” says Dotevall. “Sound is vibrated through the bone in the skull.” The implant is surgically placed into the skull bone behind the ear. The external sound processor is an intricate and graceful device that includes microphone, battery, a transducer and sound processing platform. That’s a simplified definition of the very complicated mechanics of a beautiful marriage between technology and our human physiological process of hearing. Cochlear’s latest generation, the Baha 5 Sound Processor, is proof that the biggest miracles can come in the smallest packages. This processor is sleek, weighing only 20 grams compared to the skull that weighs two to three kilos. The device recently won the world’s most prestigious design award, The Red Dot Award, for creative, innovative and high-quality products. “When we asked Baha users what was the most important thing with our product, “Dotevall explains, “usually they say they want it discreet.” “Being able to use different architecture to construct the electromagnetic vibrator reduced the volume of the device by half,” says Dotevall. “Increased efficiency also allows a smaller battery.”
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COVER STORY
Google Glass operates on similar technology. With Google’s approach, sound is captured by the Glass frame and converted into something hearable through similar bone conduction transfer. This design aspect is proving a boom with the hearing aid market a $6 billion dollar industry and expanding as babyboomers age into a senior citizens. Traditional hearing aids, based on transistor technology, have loudspeakers. Far more prevalent and affordable than surgical implants, their methodology can’t help those with physical blockages or damage in the ear canal or middle ear bones. Cochlear bone conduction technology bypasses the ear canal. The auditory implant industry, however, is also different in that the hardware is considered a medical device, requiring surgery and regulation, Safety, efficacy and ongoing developments must be continually monitored and documented by the manufacturer and approved by the FDA before market placement. Comparatively, conventional hearing aids, designated as a “consumer electronics,” can be purchased on the internet.
“Your iPhone can now be used as a remote control for your hearing device.”
“What’s most impressive with this wireless development is the use of Apps,” says Dotevall. His enthusiasm is audible. “We utilized Apple latest technology to develop a smart app. Your iPhone can now be used as a remote control for your hearing device.”
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Wireless & RF Magazine
You heard right. The Baha 5 is a Madefor-iPhone device and it connects seamlessly with iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. You can FaceTime or watch Jurassic World. One imagines this “interior streaming” must give a whole new meaning to surround sound. To illustrate the difference, imagine listening to a concert from the nosebleed section, as opposed to experiencing the band’s music inside your skull—literally. Thankfully, the Cochlear Baha Smart App also offers volume, treble, and base controls. There’s even an option that works like the Find My iPhone tracking to Find My Processor. (Yes, the device can be removed at will and with a price tag near $10,000, misplacement is not an option ) “Data Logging” is an additional plus. You may not remember where you went last night, but your audiologist will know by studying the sound levels and patterns. This comprehensive record of sounds affords fine-tuning and avoids trial and error adjustments. Such efficacy is especially important if you’re a parent of a hearing-impaired child. Two to three children in each one thousand born in the U.S. have hearing loss in one or both ears. More than ninety percent of deaf babies are born to hearing parents. Revolutionary technology always comes at a high cost, but what price tag can we put
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on the gift of hearing? Do the math and you’ll begin to understand how Cochlear technology regularly inspires tears of grateful joy. A recent YouTube video demonstrates the powerful impact that Cochlear implants have on the hearing impaired, as it shows a baby hearing his mother’s voice for the first time. Click the link below to watch the video: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=ZDD7Ohs5tAk
Two to three children in each one thousand born in the U.S. have hearing loss in one or both ears.
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