Freescale opens Synkro protocol to leading consumer electronics manufacturers
(Technology News, 14 Jan 2008 )
With the advent of radio frequency (RF) entertainment control network technology, infrared (IR) based remote controls will soon become as antiquated as buggy whips in the automotive age. To help accelerate the transition from IR- to RF-based technology in the consumer electronics world, Freescale Semiconductor has announced an initiative to offer its RF entertainment control network technology as an open industry specification to leading consumer electronics manufacturers.
Freescale is currently defining the entertainment control network specification, known as Synkro, in collaboration with an elite group of consumer electronic manufacturers. Freescale plans to make the Synkro protocol broadly available to the industry through an open and global standards forum designed to enable wide adoption of the technology. The standards forum and entertainment control network specification are being defined and finalized simultaneously.
About Synkro protocol Synkro is the networking protocol software stack written on top of the IEEE 802.15.4 global standard to be used in the design of home entertainment products, such as digital televisions, DVD players, audio/video receivers, set top boxes, docking stations and remote controls. The Synkro protocol provides a software and hardware migration path for future product line extensions designed to revolutionize the way consumers control their home entertainment devices.
The entertainment control networking layer was developed with the consumer in mind. This technology addresses a growing concern among today’s electronics manufacturers: the technology limitations and interruptions caused by IR-based solutions that are not compatible with their consumer product roadmaps. This comprehensive platform enables advanced control capabilities, such as two-way communication between entertainment devices. It eliminates the need for line-of-sight control devices and provides the foundation for a universal remote control for any consumer electronic component.
