Nordic Semiconductor Releases Complete Off-the-shelf RF Protocol Stack for Wireless Desktop Control Devices

(Product News, 21 Aug 2007)

Nordic Semiconductor ASA has launched the Wireless Desktop Protocol, a complete RF protocol stack for advanced RF control devices that eliminates the need for engineers to write such a protocol themselves.

The Wireless Desktop Protocol is a complete communication software solution for Nordic Semiconductor's 2.4GHz transceivers with Enhanced ShockBurst link layer and includes all upper protocol layers for implementing wireless connectivity for advanced control devices.

The protocol provides reliable, high performance data communication with excellent 2.4GHz co-existence performance using an advanced asynchronous frequency agility transmission scheme offering nominal packet latencies as low as 1.5ms. In addition, a unique ReverseBurst feature allows simple high-throughput data streaming from the host (the appliance being controlled) to the device (the controller), making it a perfect solution for the bidirectional communications demanded by advanced Media Center remote controls with displays. The protocol's native support for bidirectional communication combined with its other leading features means the protocol meets or exceeds the requirements for tomorrow's wireless PC peripherals.

The protocol stack also provides native support for star topology networking of up to five control devices with bidirectional data connections to one host, enabling easy implementation of 3-in-1 desktop bundles utilizing mouse, keyboard and remote control.

As battery lifetime is a key design criterion for wireless PC peripherals, the protocol stack is optimized for ultra-low power consumption on the device (controller) side by minimizing the time on air. This enables the implementation of products with best-in-class battery lifetimes.

The protocol stack is designed to run a low cost 8-bit microcontroller and employs a modular implementation in ANSI-C to offer full portability to different microcontroller architectures. Using the API it is easy for application developers to develop innovative applications on top of the protocol stack without having to deal with tough RF-related challenges.

Nordic Semiconductor