To
help systems designers more easily navigate the quickly evolving
consumer wearables market, Freescale Semiconductor is enabling an
open-source,
scalable reference platform that gives OEMs the building blocks they
need to rapidly develop a wide range of wearable product designs from a
common platform.
Unlike
other wearable solutions, the new platform is not limited to just one
form factor or product category. The highly flexible, system-level
design kit supports
embedded wireless charging, incorporates processors and sensors within a
hybrid architecture for scalability and flexibility, and comes with
open-source software. The wearables reference platform (WaRP) is
engineered to unleash design creativity for multiple
vertical segments such as sports monitors, smart glasses, activity
trackers, smart watches and healthcare/medical applications.
“Wearables
represent one of the ultimate edge node sensors for the Internet of
Things, and hold tremendous promise for equipment makers, service
providers and consumers
alike,” said Rajeev Kumar, director of worldwide marketing and business development for Freescale’s Microcontrollers business. “This new solution is engineered to dramatically streamline the design and development of exciting
new wearables products. It allows designers and OEMs to go from concept to prototype as quickly as the market is changing.”
According
to Juniper Research, retail revenue from smart wearable devices will
reach $19 billion by 2018, compared with $1.4 billion in 2013. The firm
also projects
that sales of smart wearable devices will approach 130 million units by
2018, which is 10 times higher than the number estimated to sell in
2013.
WaRP
speeds and simplifies development by addressing many of the top
technology challenges of the wearables market – connectivity, usability,
battery life and miniaturization
- thereby freeing developers to focus on creating differentiated
features. The platform is built on Freescale’s i.MX 6SoloLite ARM®
Cortex®-A9 apps processor as the core processing unit, supports the
Android OS, and integrates production-grade silicon, software
and hardware. The BOM-optimized hybrid architecture also features
Freescale’s Xtrinsic MMA9553 turn-key pedometer, award-winning FXOS8700
electronic compass and ARM Cortex-M0+ Kinetis KL16 microcontroller.
WaRP
is a result of collaboration between Freescale, Kynetics and Revolution
Robotics. Kynetics provides the expertise for the platform’s software,
and Revolution
Robotics supplies the solution’s hardware. Freescale, Kynetics and
Revolution Robotics worked together to develop a platform that is both
scalable and modular for various usage models in the wearables market.
This hybrid architecture-based platform enables
customers to address different and new verticals as the market evolves,
and to scale and customize their designs from both a hardware and
software perspective to develop a product, or even an entire portfolio.
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Development Support
A
nonprofit, community-based organization will provide service and
support for the wearables reference platform. The solution's hardware
and software will be open sourced and community-driven.
No closed development tools or licensing fees are required when used in
conjunction with open source resources. In addition, WaRP will have its
own .org community to drive innovation in the market.
Availability
The
wearables reference platform kit includes the main board, a daughter
card, an LCD display battery and a micro USB cable. Availability is
planned for Q2 2014 at www.WaRPboard.org, for $149
(USD) manufacturer’s suggested resale price.
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