Ember Unveils Next-Generation ZigBee Network Processor

On the heels of last week's debut of the industry's first ZigBee-on-a-chip solution, Ember today introduced at the ZigBee Open House event a network processor version of the same product family for OEMs that prefer to build ZigBee applications using popular third-party microcontrollers (MCUs). ZigBee is a wireless network standard that solves the unique needs of remote monitoring and control, and sensor network applications.

The new Ember EM260(TM) network processor provides all of the advanced ZigBee wireless networking features and functionality as Ember's next-generation EM250(TM) ZigBee-on-a-chip, but in conjunction with application microcontrollers from Atmel, Texas Instruments and others. The EM260 is designed for OEMs who have standardized on a particular microcontroller, or who wish to tap into the booming ZigBee wireless market quickly without having to rewrite and port their application code to a new platform. It's also well suited for certain larger, processor-intensive ZigBee applications that would benefit from a dedicated MCU.

"The EM260 gives OEMs great flexibility in using the MCUs and tools in which they've already invested a significant amount of time, training and development expertise," said Alf Bogen, Atmel's AVR managing director. "The Atmel/EM260 platform lets OEMs leverage that investment to get up and running quickly on a next-generation ZigBee network and MCU integrated chipset."

The EM260 platform enables for the first time a ZigBee-compliant network node, which allows for easier commissioning, management and network sub-segmentation. It also has the best in class RF characteristics and lowest power consumption along with an integrated hardware AES 128-bit encryption engine using a true random number generator.

The EM260 features EmberZNet(TM) 2.0, a major new release of Ember's networking stack featuring a number of Ember enhancements that extend ZigBee functionality, simplicity and performance. Beyond full support for the ZigBee standard, EmberZNet 2.0 supports application profiles for home controls as well as user-defined network applications. It also features an Ember transport layer to provide more reliable wireless communication between nodes and enable distributed bindings. The Ember transport layer, along with Ember's application programming interface (API), also makes it easy for Ember's existing customers to port their EmberNet(TM) applications to the new ZigBee platform.

New tools

The EM260 features a new development kit with unique software tools to further accelerate customers' time to market. Ember WorkBench provides a suite of tools for developing and debugging embedded ZigBee applications. It combines an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) with distributed network debugging and visualization tools. Developers can connect to their target devices, effortlessly control their application, upload firmware and collect debugging information across multiple devices simultaneously.

"Ember is building the pervasive standard for embedded wireless networking," said Venkat Bahl, Ember's vice president of marketing. "Our next-generation platform is based on years of extensive wireless networking experience from real-world implementations. The new platform gives OEMs a fully integrated, one-stop-shop solution that shields them from everything except what they do best: building applications."

Pricing and availability

The Ember EM260 will be available this summer and costs less than $3.50 per unit in high volumes.

About ZigBee: Wireless Control That Simply Works

The ZigBee Alliance is an association of companies working together to enable reliable, cost-effective, low-power, wirelessly networked, monitoring and control products based on an open global standard. The ZigBee Alliance is a rapidly growing, non-profit industry consortium of leading semiconductor manufacturers, technology providers, OEMs, and end-users worldwide. Membership is open to all. Additional information can be found at www.zigbee.org.

About Ember Corporation

Ember Corporation develops ZigBee-compliant wireless semiconductor solutions that help automate homes, make buildings consume less energy, enable manufacturing plants to run with fewer breakdowns, and keep the country's borders and infrastructure safe and secure. With more than 120 customers, Ember's vision is to help create an "Internet of things" by enabling the eight billion microcontrollers built into products each year to support low-cost, low-power networking applications in any industry. Headquartered in Boston with offices and distributors worldwide, the company is a lead promoter of the ZigBee Alliance and its platform is the National Technical Systems' (NTS) "Golden Suite" for 802.15.4/ZigBee interoperability testing.

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