Freescale Leads the Industry in IEEE® 802.15.4 Chipsets
No. 1 Semiconductor Supplier of ZigBee/802.15.4 Chipsets Ships 7 Million Units in 2008
Freescale Semiconductor, the leading supplier of 802.15.4 chipsets, announced it has shipped more than 7 million IEEE® 802.15.4 and ZigBee® units in 2008 for the wireless sensor networks used in smart energy, industrial control and home entertainment applications. Freescale is the industry’s foremost supplier of 802.15.4-based chips with approximately 60 percent market share.
A recent study by In-Stat, “802.15.4 – A New Sense of Energy,” projected that 802.15.4 node and chipset units will reach 292 million in 2012, up from 7 million in 2007. “We are projecting significant growth rates for 802.15.4 over the next four years,” said Brian O’Rourke, principal analyst with In-Stat. “Freescale has a diverse portfolio and has been able to achieve several key design wins and develop key relationships with third parties. The company is positioned very well in this market.”
“We’ve seen high demand for our IEEE 802.15.4 and ZigBee products as wireless applications such as home entertainment control, smart energy, industrial and process control and monitoring continue their rapid growth,” said Brett Black, manager of Freescale’s Wireless Connectivity Operation. “Our customers need platform solutions that help them get to market quickly so they can keep pace with this growth and be ready to develop their next applications.”
Designed to address the need for a low cost, low power wireless solution, IEEE 802.15.4 has become a solid foundation for monitoring and control networks, as well as numerous other standard network stacks such as ZigBee technology, RF4CE consortium, SynkroRF network technology and WirelessHART™ technology. Freescale’s platform approach makes wireless simple by providing a one-stop shop for customers, complete with hardware, software, development tools and reference designs.
More flexibility and control
ZigBee wireless technology has emerged as the winning technology in the smart energy/automated meter infrastructure market in the United States, and IEEE 802.15.4 is emerging in consumer electronics markets through efforts by the RF4CE consortium. RF4CE founding members – Panasonic, Philips, Samsung Electronics, Sony Corporation – announced the consortium in June 2008 and have been working together with Freescale to address increased demand for advanced functionality and robust performance not currently available through infrared or other proprietary wireless technologies.
As an early creator and adopter of RF control for consumer electronics, Freescale announced last year its initiative to offer its own Synkro RF entertainment control network technology as an open specification to leading consumer electronics manufacturers. Synkro RF control technology is the basis of RF4CE protocol and Freescale continues to lead the charge in the adoption of an open RF entertainment control specification based on IEEE® 802.15.4.
About ZigBee
ZigBee is the global wireless language connecting dramatically different devices to work together and enhance everyday life. The ZigBee Alliance is a non-profit association of more than 300 member companies driving development of ZigBee wireless technology. The Alliance promotes worldwide adoption of ZigBee as the leading wireless network, sensing and control standard for use in consumer electronics, energy, home, commercial and industrial areas. For more information, visit: www.ZigBee.org.
About Freescale Semiconductor
Freescale Semiconductor is a global leader in the design and manufacture of embedded semiconductors for the automotive, consumer, industrial, networking and wireless markets. The privately held company is based in Austin, Texas, and has design, research and development, manufacturing or sales operations around the world. www.freescale.com.
