Ember today announced that it has begun shipping samples of its fourth-generation standards-based embedded wireless mesh networking semiconductors and software.
Ember’s much awaited EM250 ZigBee system-on-a-chip (SoC) – which
includes a low-power 16-bit processor, 128 kilobytes of flash memory,
digital signal processor, 2.4GHz CMOS radio and enhanced ZigBee
networking software – performed exceptionally well in initial tests –
sending packets more than twice as far as competitors.
Two selected Ember customers are involved in alpha testing the
EM250, with another dozen customers to begin beta testing in December.
The current rate of progress should make the EM250 generally available
by year end, with ramping volumes through the first quarter of 2006.
Ember’s ZigBee/802.15.4 SoC chip was designed in Ember’s RF
semiconductor development center in Cambridge, England, which it
acquired from Cambridge Consultants last year.
Ember previously partnered with Atmel to develop embedded mesh
networking chips. EmberNet software ran first on Atmel
microcontrollers, which are now by far number one in ZigBee
application deployments. Subsequently, Ember also partnered with
Chipcon to co-design the EM2420 2.4GHz radio chip, manufactured by
TSMC, which is now by far the number one radio in ZigBee application
shipments.
“Of the million-plus 2420 chips shipped to date, more than
three-quarters are for customers of the Ember platform,” noted Ember
Chairman Dr. Robert M. Metcalfe. “Now, the next generation EM250 chips
are here and working exceptionally well in initial tests, delivering
an RF range twice that of our competitors. The rapid development and
high performance of Ember’s EM250 vindicates Ember’s decision last
year to acquire the advanced 802.15.4 technology and team from
Cambridge Consultants. Since that acquisition, Ember’s Cambridge RF
team has moved and grown. Ember recently recruited an elite RF system
architect to augment the team, and is now planning to add an
additional 20 engineers, to help develop next-generation radios.”
Ember is currently approaching all the major microcontroller
vendors offering to partner with them in ZigBee-enabling their
microcontrollers with Ember semiconductors and software. Atmel and
more recently Texas Instruments (TI) are working with Ember, but Ember
is seeking deeper partnerships with Atmel, TI, and the many other
micro-controller suppliers who now ship more than eight billion
microcontrollers per year. Ember is planning to announce some of these
partnerships at or before the ZigBee Open House in Hong Kong on Dec.
8.
About ZigBee
The ZigBee Alliance is an association of companies working
together to enable reliable, cost-effective, low-power, wirelessly
networked, monitoring and control products based on an open global
standard. The ZigBee Alliance is a rapidly growing, non-profit
industry consortium of leading semiconductor manufacturers, technology
providers, OEMs, and end-users worldwide. Membership is open to all.
Additional information can be found at www.zigbee.org.
About Ember
Ember enables communication among embedded microcontrollers with
standards-based wireless mesh networking semiconductors and software.
Ember helps its customers to automate home appliances, lower energy
consumption in buildings, keep borders and infrastructure secure, and
control industrial processes, just to name four of the many diverse
applications being developed by Ember’s more than 100 customers. Spun
out of MIT in 2001, Ember is headquartered in Boston and has its radio
development center in Cambridge, England and distributors worldwide.
Ember is a lead member of the ZigBee Alliance, and its platform is the
National Technical Systems’ (NTS) “Golden Suite” for 802.15.4/ZigBee
interoperability testing. For more information, please visit
www.ember.com.
