CUSTOMER APPLICATION: RF AUDIENCE RESPONSE & VOTING SYSTEMS
The Ativa is a high speed and scalable professional audience response and interactive voting system that centers on the WRS8200 wireless keypad. This keypad employs a large, color touch-screen that can be configured to display anything from tailored keys/buttons to a full onscreen QWERTY keyboard for posting text messages during public meetings and special events. A smart card reader also assures secure data entry
Oslo, Norway - November 12, 2009 - Ultra low power (ULP) RF specialist Nordic Semiconductor ASA (OSE: NOD) today announces that a leading US-based designer and manufacturer of RF audience response keypads and voting systems, Fleetwood Group, has standardized on Nordic nRF24L01+ 2.4GHz transceivers in its latest Ativa® audience voting system. Fleetwood currently ships around one million RF keypads a year to some of the world's largest companies and organizations (see its product marketing website www.replysystems.com for more info).
The new Ativa audience voting system centers on the interactive WRS8200 wireless keypad that runs from a rechargeable lithium polymer battery and employs a large, backlit 3.2-inch QVGA color touchscreen that can display fully customizable key/button responses for any given interaction or voting opportunity. Text responses can be made via an onscreen QWERTY keyboard or SMS-style buttons, and an onscreen slider allows measurement of moment-to-moment responses and moods. Smart card support is also offered for secure user registration and data logging at potentially sensitive events such as shareholder or political voting sessions.
In operation, an Ativa base station equipped with a Nordic nRF24L01+ 2.4GHz transceiver housed in an enclosure roughly the size of a regular USB memory stick, plugs into a PC USB port from where it can form a secure, 2-way RF link with sister nRF24L01+ transceivers embedded into each of up to 15,500 uniquely identifiable Ativa WRS8200 wireless keypads over a range of up to 500 ft (about 150 meters).
The Ativa system is controlled by a PC software application that integrates seamlessly with Microsoft PowerPoint presentation software. This allows presenters or meeting technicians to instantly create audience polling slides and display the live results to an audience via a projector or display, and to individual participants via the Ativa keypad's own display screen.
"One of the most challenging aspects of getting such a large-scale response system to work reliably is that everything hinges on the speed and responsiveness [latency] of the wireless link," explains Pat Moody, VP of Sales & Marketing for the Electronics Division of Fleetwood Group responsible for manufacturing the Ativa product in the US. "This link has to maintain its integrity even in hostile, RF-dense operating environments where the system will have to cohabit with other active 2.4GHz sources of potential interference within a venue, such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth."
To achieve this, Fleetwood employs an advanced and patented synchronized polling method and pseudo-random frequency hopping RF protocol that includes integrated Wi-Fi avoidance features. This allows the USB base station to sweep around a venue, time synchronize and individually poll every single keypad of the thousands present within a matter of seconds. If the base station fails to get through to any one keypad, it will instantly retry on another frequency. An added benefit of this approach is that it also makes the Ativa platform highly resistant to unauthorized eavesdropping and interception.
"There is no room for error in a professional voting situation where every vote absolutely must and has to be counted," continues Moody. "That's why we internally design, optimize and fine tune both our front and back end RF circuit elements to perfection around the Nordic nRF24L01+ in the keypads so that is able to do what it does best: absolutely nothing until asked. Whereupon it wakes almost instantaneously, transmits its data as quickly possible using as much of its 2Mbps maximum air data rate as it needs, and goes straight back into a 900nA power down mode, all while sipping class-leading amounts of power from the batteries."
"Audience response is becoming a regular feature of many public gatherings and events because it heightens participation, interest and retention levels," comments Geir Langeland, Nordic Semiconductor's Director of Sales & Marketing. "Examples include political meetings, training and education seminars, focus groups, shareholder meetings, conventions, TV studios, and auctions.
"In addition, as the popularity of audience response systems has grown, so has their level of sophistication and diversity in response to end user requests and feedback. This latest Ativa product platform demonstrates why two-way, ultra low power 2.4GHz RF technology is a key enabler to making this happen for large numbers of battery powered keypads, and we are proud to have been able to support such a leader and pioneer in the field as Fleetwood Group."
The Ativa platform joins Fleetwood Group's leading Reply® range of wireless audience response systems, which cater for all types of application and also employ Nordic Semiconductor 2.4GHz transceivers. Fleetwood has shipped around four million RF keypads to date, and in February this year, for example, announced that it had just secured a US $23m contract to design and build handheld RF keypads for a top US provider of portable student assessment technology.
About Fleetwood Group, Inc. (www.fleetwoodgroup.com)
Fleetwood Group, Inc. is a Christ-centered, 100% employee-owned, US company with a rich heritage and record of business achievement. In May 2006, Fleetwood was named by The ESOP Foundation as the #1 employee stock owned company among the approximately 2,000 wholly-owned and 11,000 partially-owned organizations in the US (reference: ESOP Association, www.esopassociation.org). In April 2009, Fleetwood Group was named a finalist for The Wall Street Journal Top Small Workplaces 2009 award.
About Fleetwood Group Electronics Division (www.fleetwood-electronics.com)
All Fleetwood Group's RF wireless electronics devices are designed and manufactured by its Electronics Division in Holland, Michigan, US. The Division has a full suite of development, testing, and manufacturing capabilities that have been honed over its more than 35 years in the RF communications field, resulting in innovative products like its Reply® Wireless Audience Response System (more info: www.replysystems.com). The company currently produces over 1 million RF wireless devices per year in its ISO-9001 certified Holland, MI, US facility.
About the nRF24L01+TM
The nRF24L01+ is a single chip 2.4GHz transceiver that builds on the legacy of Nordic's proven nRF24L01 wireless solution. The nRF24L01+ is fully drop-in compatible with the nRF24L01, mechanically, functionally and electrically. Enhancements over the nRF24L01 include improved wideband blocking and intermodulation performance. In addition, the inclusion of a fast front-end automatic gain control (AGC) further improves dynamic range and operational robustness in the presence of close proximity interferers. The net result is fewer retransmits, reduced average latency and lower average current consumption in noisy RF environments.
The nRF24L01+ features an up to 2Mbps (Mega bits per second) on-air data rate combined with ultra low power (ULP) operation and advanced power management. Peak transmit current is 11.3mA (at 0dB output power) and peak receive current is 13.5mA (at 2Mbps). The transceiver also features a 900nA power down mode, extending battery life. The nRF24L01+ runs at microampere average currents and can be powered from standard coin cell batteries for up to several years (depending on the application).
The nRF24L01+ extends the feature set of the nRF24L01 with a 250kbps data rate option that, by providing -94dBm sensitivity, can extend operating range by around 3x compared to operation in 1Mbps mode. This makes the chip an ideal ULP 2.4GHz transceiver for battery-powered RF applications that require maximum operating range without sacrificing battery life. The 250kbps mode is fully air compatible with the 250kbps mode in Nordic's previous generation nRF2401A transceiver family (nRF2401, nRF2401A, nRF2402, nRF24E1, and nRF24E2), providing a direct migration path to a superior cost, power, and performance solution in existing designs.
Supplied in a compact 4x4mm package, the nRF24L01+ integrates a complete 2.4GHz RF transceiver, an RF synthesizer, and full baseband logic including the unique Enhanced ShockBurstTM hardware link layer (minimizing processing load on the host microcontroller reducing average current consumption), advanced power management, and a high-speed SPI for the host controller interface. No external loop filters, resonators or VCO varactor diodes are required, only a low cost ±60ppm 16MHz crystal, matching circuitry and the antenna.
The nRF24L01+'s Enhanced ShockBurst hardware link layer features both automatic packet handling and automatic packet transaction handling.
Automatic packet handling key features include:
- Packet assembly
- Packet detection and validation
- Dynamic payload length
- MultiCeiverTM support for up to 6 bi-directional logical links for 1:6 star network topologies
Automatic packet transaction handling key features include:
- Acknowledgment of received packages
- Payload in acknowledgment packet
- Retransmission of lost packages
Typical coin cell battery-powered applications for the nRF24L01+ include wristwatches and wireless sensors (e.g. heart rate monitors and foot pods used in sports products). Prime AA or AAA battery-powered application examples include wireless mice, keyboards, and RF remote controls that would benefit from battery lifetimes of up to one year.
About Nordic Semiconductor ASA
Nordic Semiconductor is a fabless semiconductor company specializing in ultra-low power (ULP) short-range wireless communication. Nordic is a public company listed on the Norwegian stock exchange.
Nordic provides RF silicon solutions including:
- Highly integrated RF silicon
- Sophisticated and flexible development tools
- Application specific communication software
- Complete reference designs
The company's innovative range of wireless solutions includes:
- The nRF24LE1TM single-chip, ultra-low cost and power, fully integrated 2.4GHz transceiver with radio, microprocessor, flash memory and MultiCeiverTM technology supporting up to six simultaneous wireless devices;
- The nRF24L01+TM ultra-low cost and power 2.4GHz transceiver with MultiCeiver technology supporting up to six simultaneous wireless devices;
- The nRF24LU1+TM single chip 2.4GHz transceiver with full-speed USB, microcontroller and flash memory enabling ultra-compact USB dongles for wireless peripherals;
- The nRF24AP2TM ultra-low power 2.4GHz transceiver for wireless communication with Dynastream Innovation's production-proven low-power network protocol, ANT";
- The nRF24E1TM and nRF24E2TM low cost transceivers paired with an industry standard 8051 MCU core, and leading peripherals to create the world's first complete low cost SoCs for global 2.4GHz operation;
- The nRF24Z1TM single-chip system for CD quality audio streaming of up to 16-bit, 48-kHz audio;
- The nRF905TM single-chip multiband radio transceiver for the 433, 868 or 915MHz ISM band;
- The nRF9E5TM low-cost, single-chip system with fully integrated RF transceiver for the 433, 868 or 915MHz ISM band.
Nordic Semiconductor's nRF24xx range of 2.4GHz transceiver and transmitter devices are aimed at applications such as PC peripherals such as wireless keyboards/mice, game controllers, intelligent sports equipment and wireless audio (for example, mp3 and portable CD player headphones and PC speakers). The latest nRF24L01+ family, for instance, is targeted at ultra-low cost and power applications such as wireless desktops and intelligent (for example, wristwatch-based) sports equipment.
Nordic is an associate member of the Bluetooth SIG and has contributed core expertise in ultra-low power RF design to the forthcoming specification for Bluetooth low energy wireless technology (formerly ultra low power Bluetooth). Bluetooth low energy wireless technology is a short range RF communication technology featuring ultra-low power consumption, a lightweight protocol stack and simple integration with Bluetooth® wireless technology chips. Bluetooth low energy wireless technology ushers in the next generation of RF communications by opening up many new opportunities for wireless data links between suitably equipped mobile phones or personal computers (PCs) and coin cell battery-powered devices such as sports and health sensors.
Nordic's products are all manufactured in ultra modern semiconductor process technologies through strong relationships with world-best manufacturing facilities. Sales are primarily made through a carefully selected worldwide distribution network. The company has offices in Trondheim and Oslo, Norway, the US (west coast), Hong Kong, Korea and Japan, and is listed on the Norwegian Stock Exchange (OSX: NOD). All operations are managed according to the ISO 9001:2000-approved quality assurance system.
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