Innovision launches Gem Near Field Communication IP evaluation and licensing programme

-- Innovision Research & Technology is making its unique Gem™ Near Field Communication (NFC) semiconductor intellectual property (IP) available under an evaluation licensing programme. This will enable semiconductor companies to develop NFC capability, either for stand-alone solutions or as part of System-on-Chip (SoC) integrated NFC solutions.

The move to license NFC silicon IP in this way – the first of its kind in the market – will clear the way for semiconductor companies to move to the next stage of NFC integration in chipsets and devices. It will deliver significant unit cost benefits to implementers of NFC technology, and accelerate mass-market deployment of NFC. The IP is fully compliant with NFC standards and includes support for advanced features such as ‘battery off’.

For the first time, developers will be able to create high-performance SoC designs that fully integrate NFC into other complementary technologies, including WiFi and other wireless or power chipsets. The benefits of this include a reduction in the silicon area, complexity and production cost of NFC-enabled devices.

Innovision’s Gem IP will be offered to interested parties under an evaluation licence, with forthcoming test silicon. This will not only enable detailed evaluation of the NFC IP, but also enable the creation of demonstration systems to show to end-customers.

A key benefit of the Gem IP is its relative ease of transfer from one silicon foundry process or geometry to another, due primarily to the Digital Signal Processing (DSP) approach to much of the analogue design. Furthermore, the ability to customize its features, interface, performance, power requirements and, ultimately, die area, enables a market-leading NFC chip to be developed in months rather than years.

Marc Borrett, Innovision’s business development director, says: “As NFC enters the next phase of volume deployment, manufacturers of handsets and other devices will require a competitive supply base to maintain innovation and reduce the cost of NFC technology. Making our advanced Gem IP available for evaluation now is a key step in realizing this vision. It will help many device and chipset designers to meet the growing demand for high-performance, lower-cost NFC-enabled devices and applications.”

Innovision has a stand in the Mobile Transaction TechZone with the NFC Forum at Cartes, row K, Hall 4, 13–15 November 2007, and has published several new application notes for NFC developers, available on the stand and via its website at www.innovision-group.com.

About Innovision Research & Technology plc

Innovision Research & technology plc, is leading the next generation of NFC/RFID solutions. As the leading fabless developer of Short-Range Data Communication semiconductor and system solutions, with particular focus on NFC/RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) and ultra low-cost Integrated Circuit (IC) and RF electronic design, IRT is pushing cost performance to enable clients to get maximum utility for minimum cost.
The company develops innovative semiconductor technologies, ICs, RF systems (HF/UHF) and complete end product applications for mass volume commercialisation and then licenses customers for its incorporation into their own products.
At the heart of the emerging Near Field Communication (NFC) market, Innovision R&T designs and develops NFC/RFID IC solutions for the global mobile handset and consumer device sectors.
Products include Topaz, mandated by the NFC Forum as the NFC number one tag type format, Jewel for mass transit ticketing applications, and io, the world's smallest standards compatible Near-Field RFID reader.
Headquartered in the UK, Innovision R&T was listed in 2001 on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange (ticker symbol:INN).