Nokia launches Wibree, Bluetooth-like wireless LAN technology

The radio technology was developed by Nokia Research Center and is intended to complement other local connectivity technologies and would be easy to integrate with Bluetooth, Nokia (Helsinki, Finland) said. Wibree is intended to link personal computers with button cell powered objects such as watches, wireless keyboards, toys and sports sensors.

The use of Wibree as a personal area network for entertainment, sports and healthcare applications appears to be the primary targets for Wibree.

Wibree operates at a range of up to 10 meters and with a data rate of 1-Mbit per second and uses a 2.4-GHz carrier in the license-free ISM band. Nokia said Wibree could be implemented as a stand-alone chip or as Bluetooth-Wibree dual-mode chip.

To bring Wibree to market quickly Nokia has teamed up with Broadcom Corp. CSR plc, Epson, Nordic Semiconductor ASA, Suunto Oy and Taiyo Yuden to define the Wibree interoperability specification. The first four mentioned have licensed the Wibree technology from Nokia to allow them to make chips incorporating the technology. Suunto is a sports instrument designer and manufacturer, Nokia said.

The first commercial version of the interoperability specification will be available during second quarter of 2007, Nokia said.

According to Bob Iannucci, senior vice president and head of Nokia Research Center, the new interface addresses four specific needs: low peak, average and idle power consumption; low cost and small size for accessories and human interface devices; little additional cost or require for space in handsets; and it can be ubiquitous.

While Wibree is similar to Bluetooth and can leverage the same chips and antenna, it uses a different packet structure and modulation scheme, Iannucci added, which can reduce power by up to a factor of 10. The main target is low data-rate applications with infrequent usage patterns.

Nokia also hopes to push it through established standards bodies and will license the technology.

"Wibree will enable new market opportunities for low power embedded wireless applications not currently served effectively by other radio technologies — especially in mobile phone applications in which CSR already has a successful track record," Glenn Collinson, a senior vice president with CSR, added in a statement. "It is complementary to Bluetooth where CSR remains committed to working with the SIG on the development of the standard. We are joining the Wibree initiative and will be working with the other members to bring this technology to the market as quickly as possible. Wibree will broaden CSR's portfolio of wireless technologies including Bluetooth, WiFi and UWB."

Nokia did not say from where the Wibree name derived, but it does have its own website at www.wibree.com

—Patrick Mannion contributed to this story from Helsinki.