January
1999, Issue 102
Wires,
Wires Everywhere
The
RF Solution
by
Tom Cantrell
Tom's
had a wire problem for years. But, with some embedded-world
technology, he may have found the fix at last. He's
hoping Micre;'s complete radio receiver in a single
chip will bring him a cable-free future.
I
hate wires. The tangled web that binds is an unfortunate
by-product of the modern computer age. Keyboard, mouse,
CRT, speakers, printer, modem, game ports, scanner,
and more all call for their own hookup, not to mention
the requisite power connections.
Hope
lies with reducing if not the quantity, at least the
confusion, of all these cable connections. But, progress
has been agonizingly slow.
For
instance, USB has been on-deck for more than two years
(see "Oh Say Can USB?" INK 74). Yet,
despite liberal seeding with USB-enabled motherboards
and chips, progress has gone at a snail’s pace. Part
of the problem was a software driver vacuum while waiting
for Windows 98, and some would argue that the air is
still thin.
The
other problem is sheer inertia. I recently got a new
PC that came with a regular mouse and keyboard, leaving
my USB ports to gather dust like most everyone else’s.
My only bit of hope is that I did notice a few square
feet of shelf space devoted to a handful of USB gadgets
at the local computer shop.
Ironically,
after all the PC huffing and puffing, it may be the
appearance of the Apple iMac that gives USB the push
it needs. I recently saw a Mac-oriented mail-order catalog
with a page full of USB gadgets (mice, trackballs, disks,
printers, etc.) for this new baby.
But
even as USB pokes along, the powers that be turn their
attention to the next big thing in the form of IEEE
1394 (i.e., Firewire). In an article I wrote for Computer
Design ("Firewire Getting Hot," October
’97), I referred to 1394 as the "RCA jack of tomorrow."
It’s the holy grail of convergence, a single cable that
purports to connect every A/V gadget we own.
Of
course, 1394 will have to cross the same barriers as
USB and then some. Besides hardware inertia and lack
of software, it’s being challenged by that all-too-common
malady of creeping featuritis (i.e., the ink on one
spec is barely dry before someone decides more tweaking
is in order).
Worse
yet, the fear of having their art reduced to easily
copied 1s and 0s has Hollywood and their armies of lawyers
involved in torturous and time-consuming negotiations
over the nitty-gritty of copy protection. Last I heard,
not only will authorized 1394 gear be subject to a gag
rule when it comes to copying, but it’ll also rat on
any unauthorized gear that plugs in.
Unlike
the PC world, where even the smallest innovation seems
to require consensus from Redmond to Washington DC,
the embedded world is blessedly agile. Wireless TV remotes,
phones, car locks, and headphones are all common and
welcome additions to our daily lives.
Free
from the politics, inertia, and jockeying of the PC
market, embedded wireless technology proceeds at a silicon
rather than human pace. A recent chip announcement from
Micrel demonstrates what I mean.
