No. 06 December 2011

Get the most out of

Wi-Fi Direct! iWave platforms & solutions, help developers leverage the new personal, portable avatar of Wi-Fi that goes with you, everywhere, anytime

Wi-Fi Direct a new wireless networking

specification introduced by the Wi-Fi Alliance is

based on a set of software protocols that allow

Wi-Fi devices to talk and connect to each other

with or without a Wi-Fi network or hotspot

available. Wi-Fi Direct combines the advantages

of Wi-Fi Ad-hoc connection and Blue Tooth

connection.

Wi-Fi Direct can provide low power secure

communications over fairly long distances for industrial

communications, surveillance equipment, logistics &

freight management, medical patient monitoring and

remote diagnostics.

The key features of Wi-Fi Direct are:

Connecting easy: Wi-Fi Direct devices discover one

another and in some cases the services available. Also

establishing the connection can be as simple as pressing

a button.

Connections are protected by WPA2 security: Wi-

Fi Direct connections will work at typical Wi-Fi ranges

protected by WPA security (with AES or TKIP

Encryption) protocols and including WMM QoS

mechanisms. It supports WPS and WPA2 by default

which many older products using the old broken WEP

encryption don’t.

Connects two or more devices, including legacy

Wi-Fi CERTIFIED gear.

Wi-Fi Direct and Ad-hoc: The ad-hoc networks allow

devices to exchange data with each other without an

access point but implementations almost universally

offer poor security and degraded throughput. The new

method Wi-Fi Direct is a wholesale replacement of the

weak ad-hoc networking mode which is a part of

802.11 but never built into a standardized part of Wi-Fi

nor put through a testing and certification program like

infrastructure mode has. This can make it difficult or

impossible to use the mode between computers running

different OS or even different wireless networking

hardware.

Wi-Fi Direct can also handle quick peer-to-peer sharing

as needed. That’s the kind of thing the 802.11 ad-Hoc

mode has done for years but never with much ease

because Wi-Fi Direct will include mechanisms for

advertising service availability without connecting as

for example you can’t connect wireless printers through

ad-hoc mode while using Wi-Fi Direct you can. One

advantage of the new method is that it can preserve the

full bandwidth of 802.11 and overtake incompatibility

issues that ad-hoc would suffer.

Wi-Fi Direct and Bluetooth : It is said that “Wi-Fi

Direct Could Be the Death of Bluetooth”, as Bluetooth

2.1 reaches a speed of 3 Mbps and Bluetooth 3.0 a speed

of 24 Mbps, Wi-Fi Direct can reach 250 Mbps per

second with 802.11n networks which means Wi-Fi

Direct will be 80 times faster than the common

Bluetooth. Bluetooth is designed with low power

consumption but with a short range approximately 10m

in Class 2 with MPP of 2.5 mW (4 dBm) but Wi-Fi

supports higher ranges with much more power

consumption hence the next move (continued on p.2)

( from p. 1) is to extend wireless power save mode to

all Wi-Fi devices. Almost all notebooks and PCs are

equipped with WLAN cards though it’s not Bluetooth

enabled devices which increases the probability of Wi-Fi

Direct domination. In Bluetooth we have a problem,

changing an encryption key must be done every 23.3

hours (one Bluetooth day) so the Bluetooth host was

required to handle pausing data transfer. With EPR

technique the Bluetooth controller ensures that no

unencrypted data is transferred while they key is

refreshed. Bluetooth 4.0 is using AES 128 bit

encryption while Wi-Fi Direct is using AES 256-bit

encryption.

Mobility & Portability: Wi-Fi Direct-certified devices

connect anytime, anywhere. Users have the ability to

create direct connections with the very first Wi-Fi

Direct-certified device they bring home. For example, a

new laptop certified for Wi-Fi Direct can create direct

connections with the existing legacy Wi-Fi devices in

the user’s home. Wi-Fi Direct devices have features that

allow users to identify available devices and services

before establishing a connection.

Backward compatibility: Wi-Fi Direct is also

designed with backward compatibility in mind, even an

old 802.11b radio could support it. Interoperability

between Wi-Fi Direct devices and legacy devices is a

key element of the specification. Even non-upgraded

devices can join a Wi-Fi Direct network.

Upgradability: Wi-Fi Direct does not require new

hardware to operate so some vendors may offer

software upgrades to existing devices.

Power Management: Efficient use of power is critical

for portable devices. The P2P Specification includes

power management mechanisms that can reduce power

consumption for devices regardless of role within a

Group, while maintaining valuable discovery

capabilities. Wi-Fi Direct devices can support WMM®

Power Save, and the Wi-Fi Direct specification also

defines new power saving mechanisms-- Opportunistic

and Notice of absence.

The key mechanisms of Wi-Fi Direct are:

Device Discovery: The objective of P2P (peer to peer)

Device Discovery is to find P2P Devices and quickly

determine the P2P Device to which a connection will be

attempted. P2P Device Discovery consists of two major

phases: Scan and Find

Service Discovery: The Service Discovery procedure

is an optional frame exchange that may be performed at

any time to any discovered P2P Device, for example

following a successful Device Discovery procedure prior

to group formation. This procedure can be used to

determine compatibility information on the services

offered by a P2P Device.

Group Formation ( Client Discovery and Invitation) :

A P2P Device may use the Group Formation Procedure

to form a new P2P Group. Group Formation is used to

determine which device shall be the P2P Group Owner

(appears to be an access point to other legacy Wi-Fi

Devices.)

iWave Wi-Fi Direct expertise includes Wi-Fi Direct

support for the iMX51 CPU Platform (iW-Rainbow-

G8D board). iMX53 CPU Platform (iW-Rainbow-G11D

board) support is under development. We currently

support Wi-Fi Direct with features like WPS,

WPA/WPA2 Authentication, AES /TKIP Encryption.

iWave can provide Wi-Fi Direct Linux source code and

support for building WLAN driver. We also support Wi-

Fi Direct driver in Vx works, ITRON, Android and

other operating systems.

A dedicated team at iWave, for Wi-Fi Direct research

and development is poised to introduce many more

solutions that will help OEMs and product developers

leverage this exciting new extension to Wireless

networking, providing users a single-technology

solution to transfer content and share applications

quickly and easily among wired and wireless devices.

- Dhanya J.R.

iWave’s

iW-Rugged Handheld:

A computing companion for extreme environments

iWave’s Rugged Handheld is your solution

to the challenge of operating a computing

device in harsh outdoor environments for

military, aeronautical or industrial

applications.

The iW-Rugged handheld is packaged in tough,

rugged shell made of aluminium alloy and

meets the Military Standard 810E for drop,

vibration, water and dust at temperatures

between -20 to +70 degree centigrade, as well as

the 461E MilSpec for EMI/EMC.

This tough buddy has an ARM based Marvell

PXA270 processor, working at 520 MHz and is

rich in communication peripherals and

memory/storage interfaces. The Rugged PDA has

a unique modular design that consists of the core

computer which has a SD Card slot, a serial port,

audio in/out, and an internal Li-ion battery (7.4V

– 1.7 Ah).The unit is completely sealed, and can

be used in rain. Even more, the handheld packs a

seamlessly integrated resistive touch screen to

ensure input and control flexibility for

applications like GPS navigation and

communication in general.

This integrated modular design saves Time to

Market and design cost by providing

customization for wide spectrum of applications.

For more information, visit

http://www.iwavesystems.com/iW-

RuggedPDA.htm

iWave’s Singapore saga is one year old!

iWave’s Singapore family

In 2010, iWave and local partner Spyro Technology

(www.spyrotechnology.com/) won a design service

contract from a key customer in Singapore. For iWave

and for the eight engineers who have made Singapore

their home for over a year now, this was breakthrough

and vindication of the way we work and deliver. We are

happy to announce the renewal of our Singapore

contract in recognition of the good performance from

our engineers. For many of our engineers, it was their

first taste of the island-city and a year down the road,

they have happy memories to share:

For Siddiq, the clean and green multi-culture country

with fast growing economy is what impresses most. “

It’s so easy to adopt for any kind of people. My mother

tongue is Tamil and it is one of the Singapore's national

languages. There are many Tamil speaking people,

schools, and it is also used in MRT stations too”, he

says.

Gomathy has no doubts: “No noise pollution or air

pollution!”, she exclaims, adding, “Singaporeans are so

patient. Everywhere you can see people standing in

queue …in restaurants, bus stops, ATM, etc. Even

when people are in a hurry, they will wait for the green

light signal before they move on”.

Saravanan has done all the touristy things and says:

“I recommend Sentosa for a great day out with the

family. Underwater world creates an environment as if

you are walking under the sea. You will see very rare

sea-life species and learn about the water animals.

Songs of the sea is a unique water show in which you

can see images being projected into a screen make up of

splashing water..”

No slackers when it comes to the professional side,

iWave’s Singapore team has a few notes to share: “Stick

with the performance and standard criteria. Strictly

following the organization work processes. Learning

any technology/domain very deeply. Singaporeans are

multi talented technical people and it is always a

pleasure to work with them!”

Meet iWave engineers and executives at these international shows:

http://www.dspdesigncontest.com/Technology_Day/Tech

_Registration.aspx

http://www.embedded-world.de/en/

Missed some of our product announcements and tech

briefs in earlier issues of Crest? Here’s a checklist of

key topics and links to past issues:

Crest November 2011:

iWave's FPGA IP core: A hedge against x86 obsolescence http://www.iwavesystems.com/IPs/Crest_5_November.pdf

Crest October 2011:

iWave’s Unified learning kit with TI OMAP3530: http://www.iwavesystems.com/IPs/iWave_Crest%204%20October.pdf

Crest September 2001:

Industry-first solution for Freescale i.MX508 processor and applications centred around Electronic Paper Displays

http://www.iwavesystems.com/IPs/Crest%203_September_Issue.pdf

Crest August 2011: iWave SOM for Freescale’s i.MX53 processor. Application: x86 FPGA core used for air traffic control

systems. iWave’s solutions on Intel Stellarton FPGA-processor.

http://www.iwavesystems.com/IPs/iWave_Crest%202%20August%20Edition.pdf

Crest July 2011:

iWave’s RainboW SOM based on FreeScale’s i.MX51 processor http://www.iwavesystems.com/IPs/iWave%20Crest%20July,%202011.pdf

www.iwavesystems.com mktg@iwavesystems.com