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Hitting the spot
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20/07/2006
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HP Labs has developed a wireless data chip which it believes could bridge the gap between the digital and print worlds.
The device, developed by the Memory Spot team at the company’s Bristol Laboratories, is said to have no equal in terms of size, memory capacity and data access speed.
Although only at the prototype stage, the rfid style device – which measures 1.4 x 1.4mm – can transmit data at up to 10Mbit/s using a proprietary load modulation protocol. John Waters, project leader, said: “It’s a derivative of rfid technology which uses the 2.45GHz spectrum. It’s made on a standard cmos process, which means any type of memory could be included.”
The device boasts a specially designed 10MHz parallel processor, which occupies 720 x 400µm on a 0.18µm process. “We thought about using an embedded processor, such as an ARM7,” Waters continued, “but it consumed too much power.”
The researchers envisage the chip being attached to objects – such as photographs or printed documents – or even embedded within them. Data would be read or written by suitably enabled devices – including mobile phones and digital cameras. According to Waters: “We can transmit 0.5Mbyte of data in 0.5s.”
Huw Robson, director of HP Lab’s media technology laboratory, said HP was in discussion with ‘some major companies’ about taking the technology forward as a standard. “But it’s most likely that HP will take this technology to market as a vertical solution.”
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Author
Graham Pitcher
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