2.4GHz interference-avoiding DECT
offers high-quality wireless platform for applications worldwide

The product development consultancy Cambridge Consultants is introducing new software intellectual property that optimises DECT for use in the license-free 2.4GHz ISM frequency band - making it ideal for worldwide markets including the USA where the usual 1.8-1.9GHz band is unavailable.

Cambridge Consultants has added proprietary interference-avoiding technology onto the DECT protocol to optimise it for use at 2.4GHz. With suitable low-cost radio chipsets already in existence, this new DECT platform offers considerable quality-of-service advantages compared with existing US cordless technologies for instance, as well as alternative wireless technologies such as WiFi and Bluetooth.

Cambridge Consultants' new software intellectual property extends DECT's capability to optimise the technology for use in the increasingly-crowded 2.4GHz wireless space. It employs a coexistence strategy based on a discovery algorithm that provides information on the current real-time usage of the spectrum by popular wireless systems, to determine the quietest channels.

The DECT protocol still offers an unmatched quality of wireless service in this arena. Among its attributes are high-quality voice and data connections, a range of up to 300m (328 yards), low battery power consumption, and seamless hand-over between basestations for mobility.

"DECT continues to offer a very cost-effective and powerful platform for OEMs," says Tim Whittaker, Cambridge Consultants' Wireless Enabled Products Group Leader. "In addition to its obvious applications in cordless telephony, it's ideal for wireless-enabling equipment wherever quality of service and mobility is paramount, such as in medical and industrial arenas."

Cambridge Consultants has worked on DECT applications for many years and has a rich IP portfolio for this wireless technology, including a complete protocol stack that it will customise for OEMs. The IP is installed in numerous applications today, running on DECT chipsets from National Semiconductor and Philips.