Wireless Charging Market Set to Expand by Factor of Nearly 70 by 2014

By Nick Flaherty www.flaherty.co.uk

Perhaps it is finally time for the wireless charging market to take off after any false starts. Market researchers iSuppli think so, with a flood of electronic products with wireless charging capability arriving on the market in the coming years, causing global shipments of such solutions to soar to 234.9 million units in 2014. That's up by a factor of 65 from 3.6 million in 2010.

The product-specific wireless charging systems consist of a charger as well as a so-called “skin” or receiver sold for specific devices. These contrast with aftermarket solutions, which comprise universal chargers and various skins that can be used with multiple consumer electronics.

“While a number of serious challenges continue to present barriers to immediate wide adoption, wireless chargers will start shipping in meaningful volume this year and then quickly ramp up as the devices achieve greater market acceptance,” said Tina Teng, senior analyst for wireless research at iSuppli. “Over the next five years, wireless charging devices will find their way into an increasing number of applications, including mobile phones, portable media players, digital still cameras and mobile PCs. Among these, mobile phones will contribute the largest share of revenue to wireless charging—not only because of the large volume of mobile devices expected to benefit from the technology, but also because of participation by name brands in manufacturing the device, providing much needed market recognition in the process.”

Growth is also projected for aftermarket wireless charging, with revenue rising at a massive five-year Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 133.4 percent.

Barriers remain to wide adoption

Although wireless charging is poised for growth in 2010 and the years to come, it will take several years for manufacturers to fully implement wireless charging in their devices, iSuppli believes. In particular, manufacturers will need to consider how to integrate wireless charging into the design of printed circuit boards, and significant adoption of wireless charging technology will be needed to drive down costs.

One way to spur adoption by the market is for the wireless charging industry to adopt a common standard that would ensure interoperability among the solutions being developed. At present, all commercial solutions are based on proprietary technology, and the skin made by one company, for example, will not work with the charger pad of another.

“Until the industry finds a standard to follow, the wireless charging industry will be fragmented, and consumers will hesitate to adopt any solution that could be compromised by the rival companies,” Teng said. “However, an open, standardized system will create a healthier competitive environment and prompt manufacturers to join forces—which will enhance consumer awareness and lead to adoption in the markets.”

Participants, technologies, and applications scramble for power

Of the four current wireless charging technologies in place today, magnetic inductive is the most widely adopted by nodes in the value chain.

Based on the principle of electromagnetic induction, in which current generated from the induced magnetic field in the receiver coil is used to charge devices, the technology enjoys wide support from semiconductor vendors, device manufacturers, accessories makers as well as retailers. The most successful proponent of magnetic induction is Powermat, a Michigan-based company founded in 2009 that also owned 62 percent share of the wireless charging market in 2009—the largest slice in the industry.

Other wireless charging technologies include conductive, developed by the company WildCharge and currently licensed to Procter and Gamble’s Duracell; near-field magnetic resistance, championed by wireless telecom giant Qualcomm as well as Intel; and far-field magnetic resonance, a technology that has raised safety as well as health concerns and for which no commercial products are available for the time being.

While most companies are thought not to be ready with any commercial products until sometime this year, several high-profile manufacturers are examining the feasibility of producing wireless charging solutions. The companies include Texas Instruments and ST-Ericsson from the semiconductor side; Nokia  and Research In Motion from the device manufacturer side; and Logitech and Case-Mate from the accessory manufacturer side.

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austriamicrosystems Launches Highly Integrated Ambient Noise Cancelling Speaker Drivers

Dramatically improves listening quality in mobile accessories with minimal impact on power

In a move contrary to the trend to increasing digitalisation, austriamicrosystems has launched two Active Noise Cancelling (ANC) ICs for mobile accessories such as headphones using fully analogue designs. The AS3410 and AS3430 provide industry’s lowest BOM cost and low power consumption through a high level of functional integration through reducing low frequency noise on the receive path.

The AS3410 ANC IC is ideally suited for feed-forward topology enabling small, cost-effective solutions targeting on-ear and in-ear devices. The AS3430 addresses feedback topologies resulting in end products with superior noise cancelling capabilities but with a more complex design. Both devices include; mic pre-amps, filter op amps, true ground headphone amp, mic gain calibration, LED driver, volume control and an assisted hearing mode. These features enable PCB space savings of up to 50% as compared to discrete implementations.

The AS3410 and AS3430 Active Noise Cancellation ICs provide a level of performance unmatched by competitive solutions with more than 20 dB noise reduction achievable and SNR of more than100 dB and THD of 0.1%. Running off a single AAA battery these devices support operating life of more than 100 hours, making them well suited for headsets for mobile phones, music players, netbooks and eTablets.

“With an extensive set of development tools and comprehensive documentation, these new ANC products enable rapid prototyping and system optimization, simplifying development and reducing time to market,“ said Oliver Jones, austriamicrosystems’ Marketing Manager for Audio products. “In addition, this expansion to our existing Active Noise Cancelling portfolio simplifies the production process for headsets due to the integrated calibration feature and reprogrammability.“

The AS3410 is available in a 24-pin 4x4 mm QFN package and is priced at $2.55 for 1000 piece quantities. The AS3430 is housed in a 32-pin 5x5 mm QFN package and is priced at $4.55 for 1000 piece quantities. Both operate from a 1.0 to 1.8 V supply over a temperature range of -20 to +85 °C.

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Single mini USB for charging, audio and data

Freescale Semiconductor is introducing a mini USB interface IC that helps mobile device designers and manufacturers create smaller, sleeker consumer products by using a single mini USB connector for external accessories including chargers, headsets, microphones and audio/data connections.
In addition to saving valuable board space by eliminating the need for multiple connections, the MC34825 analog IC also lowers power consumption and extends battery life by supporting all-passive audio accessories such as stereo audio, microphone and cord remote control functionality.

“The MC34825 leverages Freescale’s 15 years of experience in delivering portable power management solutions that help our customers differentiate in competitive consumer electronics markets,” said Scott Ward, vice president and general manager of Freescale’s Analog, Mixed-Signal & Power Division. “This IC helps consumer device manufacturers give consumers what they want – smaller form factors and a single connection that eliminates the need for multiple adapters and cords.”

The chip can be used in smartbooks, netbooks, eBooks, mobile phones, smartphones, portable media players, portable navigation devices, digital still cameras and camcorders.
It uses uses intelligent switching to identify up to 32 different accessory types, such as headsets, microphones and chargers. It automatically identifies the attachment and informs the host system, switching the signal or setting the charge current based on the plugged-in charger.
As a universal charging solution, the MC34825 supports multiple charger types including AC, DC and USB. The IC identifies the battery charger type and sets the charge current level accordingly. Additional battery charging features include up to 28V OVP for the VBUS power input, ultra low operating current (<10uA at standby), a power-save mode and automatic detachment detection.

First 3G RF power amp in CMOS

A US startup has developed the first 3G RF power amplifier in CMOS, bringing down the power and cost of portable multimedia equipment.

Black Sand Technologies in Austin, Texas, specializes in advanced power amplifier technology for wireless applications and has just raised $10m in a second round of funding, bringing the total investment to $18m. Its proprietary CMOS PA architecture offers a breakthrough in combined performance, cost, battery life, and reliability for mobile devices such as mobile phones and datacards, and Black Sand will use the funding to bring its power amplifiers into mass production and accelerate development of additional products.
The PA products are targeted at mobile phones and other 3G wireless devices, such as datacards and netbooks. Over time CMOS has replaced GaAs technology in many other applications from audio chips to DVD decoders. However, CMOS does not lend itself easily to use in power amplifiers, so a revolutionary architecture was required.

"By leveraging our breakthrough PA architecture, Black Sand, as the first company to deliver 3G PAs in CMOS, is ready to capitalize on the historic shift from GaAs to CMOS, and benefit from the explosion in demand for new 3G devices appearing on the market today,"

said John Diehl, CEO of Black Sand Technologies.

"The RF front end of mobile phones is continuing to grow in complexity and with the development of linear, 3G CMOS PA technology, enabling advances such as integrated digital control circuits, Black Sand is in a unique position to profit from this technological shift as the market moves from 2G to 3G," added Brian Modoff, Senior Wireless Equipment Analyst at Deutsche Bank.

Diehl was co-founder and CEO of PrairieComm, developing baseband processors and protocol software for 2G and 3G cellular handsets, and before joining Black Sand, he was director of strategic business development for Freescale Semiconductor’s Wireless and Mobile Solutions Group. He took over from Black Sand co-founder and acting CEO Dave Pietruszynski in September 2007, with Pietruszynski staying as vice president of engineering.

ST-Ericsson takes on Wolfson in DACs

The newly formed joint venture ST-Ericsson has launched its first product, a igh-quality audio digital-to-analogue converter (DAC) that aims to take on devices from Wolfson Microelectronics in the mobile music market.
The STw5211 combines ST-Ericsson’s Playback Time Extender (PTE) processing technology with 102dB signal-to-noise ratio through the whole audio path, allowing OEMs to build music phones with high audio quality and double today’s typical 10-hour playback time and comes in a 2.6mm x 2.6mm wafer-level chip scale package (WLCSP). By incorporating the power management circuitry, the device can be directly connected to the battery with no need for external voltage regulators. Additionally, the headset amplifier is of “true ground” type and does not need coupling capacitors.
“STw5211 was developed to address increasing demand for mobile music handsets with both higher audio quality and longer playback time,” said Monica de Virgiliis, Vice President at the Wireless Multimedia Group at ST-Ericsson. “Typically, power consumption increases as features are enhanced and quality improved; however, STw5211 with PTE technology allows music to be played autonomously while the rest of the platform is switched into a power-saving state. This results in a substantial increase in battery life without any compromise in audio quality for the consumer.”
Volume production of the STw5211, built in 130nm, is planned for August 2009, with samples available in April.
Key features:

· 102dB SNR audio quality

· Integrated PTE technology for extended playback

· 66dB THD

· 8 to 192kHz sample rate conversion

· 32kHz RTC clock-only operation

· System clock generator

· Ultra-small 2.6 x 2.6mm footprint, requiring few external components