Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Short-Range Communication Chip Uses Magnetic Waves

From: [email-masked]
Date: Thu, 20 Nov 2003 21:56:23 -0500

Short-Range Communication Chip Uses Magnetic Waves

By Paul Eng
ABCNEWS.com
Nov. 11, 2003

Whether at a restaurant, in the movie theater, in their cars on the highway, or
walking down the street, some cell phone subscribers just can't stop yakking on
their mobile phones - much to the annoyance of the others around them.

But soon it could get worse.

A company called Aura Communication http://www.auracomm.com in Wilmington,
Mass., says it has a way for chatty Kathys and Kens to stay on their mobile
phone for hours at a time - and without removing the handset from their pocket
or purse.

The company has developed a new short-range wireless communication scheme called
LibertyLink.

http://www.auracomm.com/Downloads/llcondenseddatasheet.pdf

The system is composed of a pair of silicon chips that act as transmitters and
receivers that can be built into various electronic devices - such as cell
phones, cordless phones, or even medical devices.

Magnetic Messengers

But unlike other wireless communications setups such as Bluetooth, the
LibertyLink system doesn't use radio waves. Instead, the Aura chips use a
well-understood technology called magnetic induction.

In the Aura setup, the chips can take electronic signals - a digitized voice, or
computer data - and encodes them into magnetic waves. The varying magnetic waves
are then transmitted over the air to be picked up a matching receiver chip,
which decodes the waves back into electronic signals.

The system acts just like a conventional radio transmission system.  But because
magnetic waves behave differently from radio waves, the LibertyLink system is
said to be much less prone to interference.

Dan Chui, vice president of sales at Aura, says that each pair of LibertyLink
transmitter and receiver chips is mated by a unique 16-bit digital code. That,
says Chui, helps to create a "secure bubble of communication" between the chips.
"One of the nice things about LibertyLink is that we protect the integrity of
the signal," says Chui. "Anyone that wants to receive the transmissions has to
have the appropriate [code] and be within that bubble."

NASA Calling

And such a robust wireless scheme could do more than just transmit sound without
a hitch.
John Hines, technology development manager at NASA's Ames Research Center, has
been studying the Aura chips for potential use as a simple and secure data
communications link.
One possible application: a better way to monitor the health of astronauts in
space.
"Right now, all medical monitoring is done hard-wired," says Hines. 
"[Astronauts] have to connect electrodes to themselves and sit in the vicinity
of the equipment."

But in Hines' pilot project, an Aura-based system designed into a future space
uniform would allow such health monitoring to become "untethered" within a
spacecraft.
"The best thing about this technology is that it's magnetic, so there's no radio
frequency interference from other devices," says Hines.  "We're very encouraged
by this and, if successful [in further tests], it could facilitate a lot of
logistical concerns."
Hines says that the results of the pilot study will be released next month. If
there is enough interest to continue the study, next year Hines will examine how
much data can be carried by magnetic induction. The research, which is being
shared with the Department of Defense, could also lead to new data
communications systems for soldiers in the future.

Earthbound - for Now
But wireless magnetic induction communications isn't without a hitch.  The
greatest limitation of the technology is that it works only when the chips are
in very close range - up to 10 feet.
As such, Aura's chips are - for now - being used in new wireless, hands-free
headsets for cellular phones. And in such applications, proponents say the
magnetic induction technology outshines similar short-range schemes such as
Bluetooth.
Since the magnetic waves operate on a much lower frequency than the radio waves
used in mobile phones and ordinary cordless phones, Aura-powered headsets are
less prone to static and interference during use. And because the chips use a
lower frequency, they also require much less power.

FoneGear  http://www.fonegear.com a wireless headset maker in Troy, Mich., is
currently producing a unit with Aura chips that can be powered by a single AA
battery, yet offer up to twice the operating time of a similar Bluetooth
headset.
"Magnetic induction is certainly a better option [for headsets]," says Fred
Creamer, vice president of marketing for foneGear. "There's no interference, no
blocking and with two to five hours of talk time, it's perfect for handsets."

http://abcnews.go.com/sections/SciTech/FutureTech/wireless_magnet_031111.html

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