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Related Documentation: Wireless Home
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TI Chip Set Supporting FLEX Messaging Protocol Now AvailableMessaging Devices Broaden TI's Wireless DSP Solutions Product Portfolio
DALLAS (Nov. 11, 1996) -- A new two-chip solution that will enable original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to rapidly develop messaging devices that conform to the emerging FLEX messaging protocol was announced today by Texas Instruments. This chip set exemplifies the TI Wireless Communications Business Unit strategy to expand its DSP Solutions product portfolio to include paging and messaging products. Targeted at alphanumeric pagers and other embedded wireless messaging applications, the new FLEX Chip Set simplifies implementation of the FLEX protocol in these systems by interfacing directly with most popular off-the-shelf receivers and microcontrollers. As a result, pager OEMs will be able to develop FLEX-compliant products quickly and easily from existing designs with minimal hardware changes. The first OEM to declare its intent to build equipment with the new chip set is the Motorola Paging Products Group (PPG), which licensed the FLEX technology used in the chip set to TI. "Motorola PPG respects TI's strength as a technology developer and IC manufacturer," said Gavin Bourne, FLEX marketing director, Motorola Transport Division. "We feel confident in TI's ability to help us set the pace in the fast-changing messaging market." The TMS320FLEX1 Chip Set consists of the TLV5591B FLEX Protocol Decoder, a signal processor that decodes the FLEX messaging protocol transmission, and the TLV5590 A/D Converter, which converts the analog signal from the receiver into a digital signal for decoding by the TLV5591B. A complement to the chip set is FLEXstack software, designed to facilitate application development. Running on the system processor, FLEXstack handles interchip communications and interprets host commands for the TLV5591B, serving to simplify development of OEM software that uses FLEX functions. FLEXstack is available on Motorola's World-Wide Web site at http://www.mot.com/FLEXstack. The alphanumeric paging market targeted by the chip set is currently growing by approximately 20 percent annually*. Two-way paging and other new and evolving developments based on the advanced ReFLEX and InFLEXion protocols are expected to continue driving market growth. Other embedded wireless messaging applications that are expected to use the chip set include systems as diverse as notebook PCs, personal digital assistants (PDAs), smart home electronics and automobiles. "TI is excited to engage in the messaging market with Motorola, especially in developing products based on the FLEX technology. With these companies working as a team, we can stretch the limits of existing messaging technology and help bring new services to the market," said Kevin Thomazios, TI's marketing manager for FLEX products. "In addition, we see an opportunity to bring added value to other TI wireless and PC customers who want to integrate messaging functions in their products." The FLEX messaging protocol was developed by the Motorola Paging Products Group in order to improve the performance and reliability of message transmissions, lower power consumption for longer battery life in paging products, and enable paging service providers to offer a new range of messaging services in the future. FLEX quadruples the capacity of older paging protocols and supports up to five billion addresses. With three speeds of transmission, FLEX provides a logical, compatible upgrade path to paging and messaging service providers, allowing them to match their system capacities to market requirements. FLEX has been licensed by service providers around the world and has become the de facto messaging protocol of the future.The TMS320FLEX1 Chip Set benefits service providers by supporting the 1600-, 3200- and 6400-bit per second (bps) transmission speeds of the FLEX standard. Service providers can minimize their upgrade costs by migrating gradually from older standards to FLEX1600 to FLEX3200 to FLEX6400. The substantial increase in the number of subscribers per channel will help lower infrastructure costs. For end users, the chip set will help provide up to five times the battery life of older paging protocol standards, enabling miniaturization and improvements in design because of the smaller batteries required. The chip set supports alphanumeric messages and group pages. It will also help improve signal integrity for greater error protection and positive message termination. "TI's new integrated baseband chip set has helped us get to market much faster with new messaging products that implement the FLEX protocol," said Tim Von Kaenel, vice president and general manager, Airmedia products group, Division of Ex Machina, Inc. "Since the chip set interfaces directly with our existing receiver and microcontroller, we can use our existing design with virtually no changes." Samples of both the TLV5590 A/D Converter and TLV5591B FLEX Protocol Decoder are available now, with volume production planned for January. The TLV5590 is packaged in a 14-pin small-outline IC (SOIC), and the TLV5591B in a 32-pin thin quad flatpack (TQFP). Sample pricing for the TMS320FLEX1 Chip Set in North America is $8.30 (U.S.) in quantities of 100K.
Purchase of the TMS320FLEX1 chip set satisfies all FLEX protocol
licensing requirements for OEMs. No separate licensing agreement
with Motorola is necessary.
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