AntennaWare and Silicon Labs join forces
EP&T Magazine
Electronics Engineering Wearable Technology AntennaWare Silicon Labs wearableFirms seek to address a major performance bottleneck in the wireless wearables market
Innovative antenna technology company AntennaWare has joined the Silicon Labs technology partner program in a partnership that will address the wireless performance bottlenecks for on or near-body wireless wearables in Bluetooth markets including connected healthcare, audio, and sports applications.
AntennaWare has developed BodyWave, an elegant solution to overcome difficulties with wireless coverage. The technology generates waves that flow efficiently around the body, supporting communication links even when the body is blocking the signal. Side-by-side testing of the AntennaWare/Silicon Labs reference design, which integrates the BodyWave Bluetooth antenna and the Silicon Labs Thunderboard BG22, demonstrates an additional 16dB link margin, resulting in maximized performance, dependability, longer communication ranges, or lower power levels, without the need for additional access points.
BodyWave – 2.4GHz. Source: Silicon Labs
Connectivity issues caused by body blocking are a known problem for any application where a wireless device is worn close to, or on the body, impacting wireless adoption and market growth in areas of the wireless wearable market such as asset and personnel monitoring, connected health, and sports.
This issue is particularly critical for wireless applications that rely on real-time, continuous reporting and monitoring such as close-fitting medical patches worn on the body, wireless health monitors which track an individual’s vital signs in real-time such as blood pressure monitoring, and glucose monitors.
Dr Gareth Conway, AntennaWare co-founder.
“By joining forces with a partner with the reach and reputation of Silicon Labs, we will be able to offer the market a robust solution to a very real problem for many wireless manufacturers – one that has held back adoption of wireless technologies in many areas up to now,” says Dr Gareth Conway, AntennaWare co-founder.
“One of the stickiest trends from the COVID-19 pandemic has been the adoption of wearable devices by consumers to gain greater insights into their own health,” added Anders Pettersson, director of mass market, Silicon Labs. “Our partnership with AntennaWare gives us a new way to address one of the most common challenges with wearables and improve their connectivity.”
Anders Pettersson, director of mass market, Silicon Labs.
