We are clearly living in a wireless world. More than ever before, wireless technologies have become our invisible partners in just about every part of life, bringing new levels of convenience, connectedness and efficiency to all the ways we experience the world.
Here at NXP, our in-house experts build on decades of leadership in RF technology not only to guide the ongoing expansion of wireless, but also innovate across the entirety of the wireless spectrum. Together with our partners and customers, we advance society by driving new levels of innovation across our smart connected world.
As June and July are unofficially considered connectivity months here at NXP, we are taking a moment to share what we we view as the latest in wireless trends, and also highlight the many ways NXP is reimagining what it means to connect and interact with the world around us.
The transition to 5G cellular is fully underway worldwide, creating networks that can carry substantially more data with significantly greater responsiveness and reliability. To support upcoming 5G use cases and services, however, network carriers face a number of critical challenges associated with deploying such new and complex infrastructure.
At NXP, we’re working with partners to meet these challenges, making it easier and faster to address tasks like network densification and diversification, all while increasing power efficiency and reducing the network’s carbon footprint. Our latest RF multi-chip modules (MCMs), for example, use a subtle combination of LDMOS and GaN technologies to dramatically improve efficiency, so the RF chain uses far less energy. Also, to support Massive MIMO – an antenna innovation essential for increasing capacity – we offer sophisticated beamforming ICs, which increase throughput while reducing interference. The result is more efficient operation in both the Sub-6 GHz and mmWave regions of the 5G spectrum. Completing our antenna-to-processor portfolio, our Layerscape Access programmable baseband processors continue to evolve with standards and deployment configurations for commercial 5G.
Smartphones, wearables and other mobile and portable devices are no strangers to our MIFARE and NFC technologies. These two interoperable contactless technologies work at close range to deliver contactless experiences that minimize effort, increase personalization and deliver the wow-factor that today’s consumers crave. Our MIFARE 2GO cloud service, for securely digitizing MIFARE product -based credentials, is quickly becoming the safe, easy way to deliver new contactless capabilities and supports mobile transport ticketing, micropayments, physical access, loyalty programs and more.
From production to warehousing and delivery, Industry 4.0 use cases are leveraging next-generation Wi-Fi 6 and 5G to wirelessly gather, analyze, interact with and leverage real-time information. We see these two emerging technologies working together, with seamless handoffs between Wi-Fi 6/6E and private 5G networks to provide complete coverage throughout a site, both inside and in the open air. We’ve optimized both our Wi-Fi 6/6E and 5G portfolios to ensure robust, high-QoS, industrial-grade network performance, and we deliver high performance on both sides of the access/client transaction. Extending the options into the supply chain, our comprehensive RAIN RFID solutions continue to provide greater transparency and real-time traceability, with high-level security features, for everything from raw materials to finished goods.
New features for home automation, many of them based on wireless standards, are gaining ground, but with so many different connectivity protocols to choose from, and so many different ecosystems to consider, it’s hard to know how to proceed, whether you’re a developer defining new products or a consumer considering a purchase. A new industry effort, called Matter (originally called Project CHIP) promises to create the unification, security and plug-and-play operation that smart home requires. Started by the Connected Standards Alliance (formerly the Zigbee Alliance) and supported by Amazon, Apple, Google and other prominent players (including NXP), Matter creates a common language that different protocols can use without additional translation, and will define an all-new certification program for compliant products. Also just as impressive, our ultra-wideband (UWB) and Bluetooth® Low Energy (BLE) solutions are delivering spatial awareness to things throughout the home, as illustrated by Samsung’s new Galaxy SmartTag+.
Vehicles are connected like never before, using a variety of connectivity protocols to increase safety, enhance enjoyment and add automation. For example, 5G and Wi-Fi 6/6E enable broadband to let vehicle stream infotainment and receive updates from the cloud. V2X communication provides interaction with other cars and the city infrastructure, thereby reducing congestion and preventing accidents. UWB turns your smartphone into a digital key, allowing hands-free access and ignition, and even lets you grant temporary access to other people. Secure RAIN RFID has a role to play, too, by giving your vehicle the ability to make payments, so you can seamlessly pay for road tolls, access parking lots, purchase fuel or even pick up dinner at the drive-through on your way home.
The IoT is home to a wide range of smart city applications, from smart infrastructure items like street lights, trash bins and parking meters to systems that monitor air quality, noise pollution and traffic congestion. Many IoT deployments are taking advantage of new 5G networks, which are designed to support massive quantities of IoT sensors and the like, but IoT developers are also making use of excess capacity in legacy 2G/3G/4G networks. low-power Wireless LAN (LPWAN) technologies, which includes the NB-IoT and CAT-M categories of 3GPP-defined cellular technology, as well as the narrowband connectivity protocol SigFox, require less energy to run and use legacy networks to deliver the longer battery life, reliable coverage, high network capacity and lower operating costs that smart city applications need.
Starting next week and over the next couple months, NXP will be put a giant spotlight on these wireless trends and our enabling solutions. We’ll explore new use cases, markets, technologies and more, so I encourage you to stay tuned. In the meantime, you can also visit www.nxp.com/connectivity to hear and see more of how we and our partners are connecting possibilities.
Starting June 8th, during our NXP Tech Days Connectivity event, we’ll also be taking a deeper technical dive into connectivity. You’re invited to register today and join us for four weeks of comprehensive training sessions covering some of the hottest wireless technologies — UWB, Wi-Fi 6, 5G and NFC/MIFARE—across a range of vertical markets and use cases.
Lastly, to kick things off next week—we are excited to host a very special industry panel discussion entitled, ‘Smart Connected Vehicles That Anticipate and Automate.’ Just as the smartphone opened vast potential for services, big data insights and personal convenience, the modern connected vehicle offers a wealth of fresh possibilities and untapped potential, this time for carmakers and third parties, as well as consumers. During this discussion, NXP and our exciting industry guests will explore the issues and technologies that drive tomorrow’s connected vehicles.
There’s a lot on the calendar, so be sure to join us in the coming months as we connect possibilities!
Mike is the global marketing communications manager for NXP’s wireless connectivity portfolio. In this role, he is responsible for communicating and driving the company’s wireless technology story and the way NXP is reimagining how we connect and interact with our smarter world.
