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Qualcomm Atheros brings ultra-low power near field communication chip for mobile devicesDec 06, 2012 (TELECOMWORLDWIRE via COMTEX) -- Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) subsidiary Qualcomm Atheros, Inc., introduced a new ultra-low power near field communication solution that will enable mobile devices with contactless communications and data exchange, including next-generation mobile payments. The QCA1990 is the industry's smallest, ultra-low power system-on-chip with an overall footprint that is 50 percent smaller than current NFC chips available in the market. When paired with Qualcomm Atheros' WCN3680 1-stream, dual-band 802.11ac Wi-Fi/Bluetooth 4.0/FM chip, the QCA1990 will enable seamless user experiences in the mobile, computing and consumer electronics markets. The QCA1990 offers platform-level integration with the Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 and next-generation processors and modems to seamlessly enable NFC on Qualcomm's OEM partner smartphones and tablets. The QCA1990 software stack complies with the NFC Forum Controller Interface and is fully integrated to enable faster time-to-market for customers. Its state-of-the-art radio frequency performance exceeds requirements established by EMVCo and the NFC Forum. With supported antenna form factors that are eight times smaller than current market offerings, QCA1990 offers significant cost savings for OEMs to integrate NFC at a significantly lower price point. As consumers continue to rely more on their mobile devices for new and extended applications, battery drain can be a significant issue; the QCA1990 employs extremely low-power polling algorithms to prolong battery life. The QCA1990 also offers a wide range of secure element options, both embedded and SIM-based, while supporting multiple secure elements concurrently, including support for a dual-SIM configuration. Qualcomm is a world leader in 3G, 4G and next-generation wireless technologies. Comments on this story may be sent to [email protected] |