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March - 2014 - issue > Cover Story
Redpine Signals All the Right Reasons to Be Leading the IoT Space
Sagaya Christuraj
Friday, March 7, 2014
The futuristic world of connected devices now called the "Internet of Things" is coming straight from science fiction into your home. Connected devices like those seen on "The Jetsons" have been around for years, but only recently have such technologies dramatically transformed the way we engage with the physical world around us.

There’s talk today of connecting just about everything, from the appliances in your home like thermostats, security systems and washing machines to devices that are worn on your body, such as eyeglasses, wrist watches or even clothing.
As we begin to imagine all of the things that we'll be able to do with these new connected devices, we also need to take a step back and think about how these devices will actually connect to the Internet – and each other. One technology that has been much talked about as a point of convergence for all these devices is Wi-Fi. Many companies have tried to leverage this technology but not many have succeeded because although Wi-Fi connectivity is more stable and provides longer range than Bluetooth and other connectivity options, it is perceived to be consuming large amount of power.

But a recent innovation by a company named Redpine Signals from San Jose, CA changes the equation. Headed by Venkat Mattela, Redpine Signals, Inc., a leading developer of ultra-low-power and high-performance multi-standard wireless chipsets and systems, announced the release of the industry's first multi-functional device with Wi-Fi, BT and BT-LE connectivity and incorporating photo-voltaic energy harvesting. The device included a sensor and an e-paper display that maintains display content at microwatts of power consumption. The device uses Redpine's RS9113 M2MCombo SoC device to provide connectivity through Wi-Fi, BT and BLE wireless interfaces for sensor data transfer and display updates. The device also supports location in conjunction with Redpine's RTLS infrastructure.

The extremely low power e-Paper display ensures that, with normal indoor lighting, display updates are possible every few minutes perpetually without the use of a battery. Configuring and re-configuring of the device is achieved either through an IP network via Wi-Fi or through a Smartphone via BT or BLE.

So it is clear that through attempts as such, the IoT crowd wants to take it a step ahead and attach tiny computers and sensors to just about every object in the world, and make them all talk to each other. With a relentless effort and R&D spanning over a decade, innovations by Redpine coming at this time are thus a major breakthrough in the world of Internet of Things and a step closer to making the dream a reality.
But it happened only because of the undying belief of Venkat in IoT and his will to yet again conquer the market. He was never a man who partook in the world's ignorance and believed in the power of IoT even before the word about hit Wall Street.

Redpine Signals today is a provider of wireless chipsets, modules and devices to over 2000 clients worldwide in the Internet of things , mobile and networking market. With over 150 patents filed and awarded and last ten years spent in M2M R&D and ultra low powered wireless SoC's for mobile phones, research and innovation manifested into the soul of the company and now Redpine is all set to explore the IoT industry. Venkat who himself holds a total of 11 U.S. patents, was already preparing for this from a long time. To say that he and his squadron are well armed to address the multi-billion dollar IoT space would be an understatement. The company is the only one to own chipsets, modules and systems in the inch deep and mile wide IoT market. Part of the reason is also the level of uniqueness, technology and robustness that the company brings to play on the field which has been the secret for Venkat's success from the inception.

Early Days

In 2001, when he founded Redpine Signals, it was a time of upheaval in the IT industry as it saw both tremendous boom and bust. But despite the instability, Venkat found immense opportunity in the VLSI, especially Wireless segment and founded the company. Apart from the instability, the market was also fiercely competitive, as there were about 100 other companies that got started to develop wireless chipset, specifically Wi-Fi. Today looking back, apart from half-dozen, including Redpine, all others have vanished from the scenario or have become not relevant. They either have closed down or surrendered to large players, while Redpine is one of the few lone warriors going strong since its inception.

"There were some important aspects that helped us in building this successful company; the foremost being the underlying technology. Unlike the regular IT/ITeS space, in wireless industry we could not have survived in the market without having had something new and unique to offer and developing this required a strong technology as foundation," adds Venkat. Redpine had its beginning during the 2001 dot com bust and the downturn gave it the luxury of time to develop its technology while keeping a very few key people in. Additionally, Venkat decided to carve a niche by developing high end wireless technology and came out with a portfolio of several industry firsts in low power chipsets. He also believes that for a company to truly differentiate itself from the competition, the differentiation has to be at the level where the consumer can experience it. This has been the dogma that has been one of the main reasons for the company to create an impact in the M2M and semiconductor industry.

The IoT Space

This Internet of Things represents a major departure in the history of the Internet, as connections move beyond computing devices, and begin to power billions of everyday devices, from parking meters to home thermostats. Estimates for Internet of Things or IoT market value are massive, since by definition the IoT will be a diffuse layer of devices, sensors, and computing power that overlays entire consumer, business-to-business, and government industries. The IoT will account for an increasingly huge number of connections: 1.9 billion devices today, and 9 billion by 2018. That year, it will be roughly equal to the number of smartphones, smart TVs, tablets, wearable computers, and PCs combined. And of course the prediction 50 billion devices by 2020 that the Industry always refers to.

Wireless connectivity is a key component, or can even be considered the key component, of the Internet of Things. Embedded systems in the Medical, Building Automation, Smart Grid, Transportation, Industrial, and other markets are more often built with wireless connectivity than without, with the connectivity called Machine-to-Machine or M2M communication. "The Internet of Things (IoT) need not necessarily be comprised of devices and equipment designed afresh to be M2M capable, but would have a host of legacy equipment, sensors, and other devices into the M2M concept. The devices may thus employ various wireless data transfer methods and protocols, including 802.11 WLAN (or Wi-Fi), Bluetooth 3.0 and 4.0, and Zigbee among others. Each is designed for specific range of usage and applications, but they all contribute to connecting devices into the IoT. Using the right connectivity technology is critical because M2M communication is rarely just a direct link between two machines. It usually involves a network of varying complexity comprising machines, sensors, equipment, network controllers, storage devices and servers. It is obvious that a native IP based wireless protocol is preferred to seamlessly connect devices hence the preference of Wi-Fi technology over others for IoT deployment" says Venkat.

The innovation and uniqueness that has been a part of the DNA of the team has helped them to create a new suite of products to address the IoT market, the RS9113 M2MCombo chipset. This supports the latest 802.11n WLAN in both 2.4 and 5 GHz bands, dual-mode Bluetooth with EDR and LE, and Zigbee, making it an ideal building block in the M2M networks of tomorrow. The chipset is available in module form with various form factors with and without an antenna included, further easing wireless integration. Redpine's RTLS solutions comprise all necessary components of a deployment – including tags, configurators, augmentation devices, survey tools and cloud based locationing software.

"We started off a decade ago to create a convergence chipset for mobile phone but today we offer ultra low power wireless chipsets and also systemproducts in the form of modules and devices. Contrary to many critic's belief, our strategy of providing total solution created a unique position to succeed in this inch deep mile wide IoT market" says Venkat.

The Remedy to Traffic Woes

Redpine's pioneering technology innovation in its wireless products is the foundation for applicability in the Internet of Things, M2M Communications, mobile and computing space, and the digital home and networking areas. Redpine's extensive innovation and optimization has gone into the core components of its product lines. These include the CMOS RF transceiver, the Wi-Fi MAC/Baseband processor, the CPU that runs the protocol and application software, the range of modules tailored for various applications and all the firmware and embedded software that implement standards-compliant protocol.

Redpine addresses the problem of extending battery life of wireless embedded devices on several fronts, with a substantial patent portfolio backing its innovations in this area. System architecture ensures optimal construction of subsystems and delineation of functions between software and hardware. High performance wireless processing – involving the RF, analog, and baseband processor enables the use of higher data rates reducing the time spent in energy consuming active states.

Fine grained power control ensures blocks and subsystems operate in full power only when needed. Fast acting power mode decision making provides instantaneous and transparent setting of optimal modes. Dynamic trade-off between performance and power helps use the right operational mode for each step in an operational profile. Ultra low power sleep timers enable the entire system to be turned off while awaiting the arrival of the next update event seconds, minutes, or hours later. Special purpose hardware engines offload energy consuming security and intensive data handling operations. And extensive firmware handles enable application level optimization of the system's power profile.

By end of 2012, there were over five billion WLAN devices shipped, and over the next five years this figure is expected to reach 20 billion. The result of this growth is visible already – crowded channels with noticeable data drop-outs, reduced quality of service and even difficulty to connect. The 5 GHz band, with its 24 distinct channels as opposed to three in the 2.4 GHz band, is a solution. However, the use of all 24 channels requires adhering to DFS functionality – to avoid interfering with radar in the vicinity. Redpine has been offering dual-band - 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz - modules for industrial grade embedded applications for several years. Redpine's hardware assisted radar detection algorithms open up the use of all 5 GHz channels even in systems built around low-cost microcontrollers offering client or AP functionality.

High throughput and high Quality of Service (QoS) requirements are common in a number of applications, especially those involving PC notebooks, tablets, and Smartphones. The congestion in the 2.4 GHz band often comes in the way of the desired user experience in these applications. Moving to 5 GHz would be an instant fix. However, the devices and routers may still be required to connect to embedded devices or networks in the 2.4 GHz band for maintaining connectivity to the Internet of Things. A solution commonly adopted in routers is to use two separate chipsets – one in each band. Such an approach addresses the performance requirement for such routers, but is not feasible for implementation in handhelds due to the cost and power-consumption implications. Redpine's MIMO products operate simultaneously in both bands in a configurable manner. For example, the 3x3 chipset can be software-configured to support a single 3x3 802.11n link, a 2x2 link at 5 GHz and a single-stream link at 2.4 GHz, or other combinations. In this space, Redpine owns a fundamental invention of operating simultaneously in both 5GHz and 2.4GHz band and introduced Industry's first simulataneoud dual-band 11n 3x3 chipset, RS9330 in 2010.

Continuing to Innovate

The team has been researching ways to minimize power even more and has been recognized for its efforts by being awarded "The Best Application for Energy Harvesting at the Energy Harvesting and Storage 2013 USA". Redpine Signals was honored for its innovative WiSeMote-EH device, which leverages the significant innovation in Redpine's Wi-Fi chipset and module products, as well as Redpine's system level products for the Real Time Location Systems (RTLS) market.

"Redpine Signals won the Best Application for Energy Harvesting award for its innovations in ultra-low-power operation to enable advanced applications with Wi-Fi connectivity," said Raghu Das CEO of IDTechEX. "The external panel of judges felt that Redpine Signals WiseMote-EH product incorporates ground breaking technologies in RF, baseband, processor and firmware systems in creating energy harvesting applications with all IP wireless networks"

Methodically Conquering New Territories

One of the reasons why Redpine Signals has found so much success is also because of the motivation that has been provided to the employees of the company. Venkat recently moved to a popular location in the city ofHyderabad, India and spent a mammoth of over one million dollars only to revamp the interiors of the place. There is a huge wall filled with patents, to motivate the employees each time they see it in the office too in addition to setting up multiple wireless labs. He encourages and supports his employees to pursue higher education in the US in prestigious institutions such as the Staford University.

The man has left no stone unturned to take his company to the top of the league in the past and is not planning to quit now. The acquisition of Nest Labs, a manufacturer of the maker of high-tech thermostats and smoke detectors by Google for a staggering $3.2 billion has proven that the IoT is here to stay. He believes that everything that is happening is just in favor of the company. Venkat points at his watch to indicate that the time has come for his company to conquer the IoT space like he has done with Wireless industry. In the process he has successfully survived the fierce storm, set industry standards and rolled out a wide portfolio of industry first products, built a technically capable team that can compete with the best minds in the industry without any backing from investors. All this legacy about the company leaves no doubt in anyone's mind about the methodical way in which the company will vanquish the competition in the IoT space and go on to become the leader of the league yet again.

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