Prompted by demands to cut power consumption of radio technologies for mobile devices, Finland-based Nokia Research Center has developed a new radio technology that consumes only a fraction of the power compared to other such radio technologies, enabling smaller and less costly implementations with the ability to integrate with Bluetooth solutions. Called Wibree, it is the first open technology offering connectivity between mobile devices or personal computers, and small, button-cell battery power devices such as watches, wireless keyboards, toys and sports sensors, said Nokia. By extending the role mobile devices can play in consumers’ lives, this technology increases the growth potential in these market segments.

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To bring this new technogy to market as soon as possible, Nokia is defining the Wibree interoperability specification together with a group of leading companies representing semiconductor manufacturers, device vendors and qualification service providers. The technology will be made broadly available to the industry through an open and preferably existing forum enabling wide adoption of the technology, said Nokia. The forum solution is under evaluation and will be defined by the time the specification is finalized. According to the current estimate the first commercial version of the interoperability specification will be available during second quarter of 2007.

The current members of the group defining the specification are: Broadcom Corporation, CSR, Epson, Nordic Semiconductor, Suunto and Taiyo Yuden.

“Wibree technology is an important development that opens up new market opportunities and a whole new range of possibilities for mobile users,” said Bob Iannucci, head of Nokia Research Center. “Our aim is to establish an industry standard faster than ever before by offering an interoperable solution that can be commercialized and incorporated into products quickly.”

Wibree technology complements close-range communication with Bluetooth like performance within the 0-10 m range and data rate of 1 Mbps. Wibree is optimized for applications requiring extremely low power consumption, small size and low cost. Wibree is implemented either as stand-alone chip or as Bluetooth-Wibree dual-mode chip. The small devices like watches and sports sensors will be based on stand-alone chip whereas Bluetooth devices will take benefit of the dual-mode solution, extending Bluetooth device connectivity to new range of smallest devices.