Advancing home networking with a radio chip

8th November 2016

Qorvo

Lanna Deamer

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Qorvo is helping to advance smart home networking with a radio chip and software that significantly expand the ability of consumers to control their homes with spoken commands.

The GP712 radio chip supports multiple communication protocols in a single-chip design suited to connected-home applications. It was introduced earlier this year by GreenPeak Technologies - now Qorvo's Low Power Wireless business - and is now in production.

When integrated into VPAs (Virtual Personal Assistants), the GP712 enables the VPA to respond to voice commands and communicate directly with millions of smart-home devices that use ZigBee and Thread protocols. Previously, a separate gateway was required to connect the VPA speaker with the ZigBee and Thread sentrollers.

VPA-enabled wireless speakers - such as Amazon Echo and Google Home - have microphones that link consumers directly to cloud services using voice commands. According to ABI Research, more than 120m voice recognition-enabled devices are forecast to ship annually by 2021.

Cees Links, General Manager of Qorvo's Low Power Wireless business, said: "This new capability allows designers to create more capable voice-controlled smart home assistants that directly support a wider variety of devices and standards. It enhances the user experience, advances the IoT and brings us closer to the fully networked home."

Live demonstrations of smart home applications, as well as other innovative solutions from Qorvo, will be featured at the company's booth during electronica in Munich, 8-11^th November, 2016, Hall A3 Booth #142.