March 3, 2009 – Utrecht – The Netherlands – GreenPeak announced of the ultra low power RF4CE compliant software stack and set of reference designs for Radio Frequency (RF) based remote control devices based on its Emerald GP500C chip. This allows a total solution cost less than $2.00, excellent range, robustness against interference, lifetime battery and a small and simple to adopt software environment. RF4CE is an open standard for radio based remote controls in the field of audio/video consumer electronics. It was originally developed by the RF4CE Alliance founded by Panasonic, Philips, Samsung and Sony.
RF4CE recently joined forces with the ZigBee Alliance to launch the RF4CE standard under the ZigBee umbrella.
It provides low power consumption, easy and intuitive pairing, instantaneous response time, frequency agility, co-existence with other IEEE802.15.4 (2.4 GHz) communication systems, robust connection, security and support for multiple applications.The RF4CE reference designs provide omni-directional (no point-and-shoot), high-speed, low latency two-way communication with high throughput, allowing fast content browsing, touchpad operation, gaming, as well as high resolution displays on the remote control.
With a 30-meter range, RF4CE remotes can control equipment anywhere in a business. RF4CE remotes can also control systems hidden away inside cabinets or closets as well as monitoring and managing air conditioning, heating, security, etc.By using GreenPeak’s RF4CE software stack and reference designs, manufacturers are now able to build interactive, long distance remotes that are essentially maintenance free – able to run on a single coin cell battery without ever having to change or recharge it. All this for less than two dollars per remote. The GreenPeak reference designs will be delivered with a very small protocol stack which fits very well within processors with 16KB of program memory.
The embedded IEEE 802.15.4 MAC layer allows a short time to market and a simple, stable and reliable software application. GreenPeak’s solution also includes IR as secondary use for legacy systems and allows the use of a single universal remote control for both IR and RF devices. Additionally, the reference designs are based on a single layer low cost PCB with integrated antennas and a very low component count, guaranteeing a very low cost BOM.