【Thinking】What is the added value brought by wearable technology?

As the Internet of Things (IoT) continues to grow, the value that wearable electronics can offer is also increasing. Traditionally, standard wristwatches were the defining product of the early days of wearables. Today, these watches do more than just tell time; they are increasingly interacting with the user’s surroundings. One of the first markets targeted by wearables was health and fitness, with built-in accelerometers that allow these devices to analyze a user’s movements. This technology has added new interest to wearables, but the use of wireless connectivity has further enriched the functionality and value of the devices. Wearable watches can wirelessly connect to wristbands to monitor a user’s heart rate. This means that wearables can help users gain a deeper understanding of their fitness results.

As the number of connected nodes increases, wearables begin to do more amazing things. Suddenly, watches can be used to remind users to water their plants regularly, or to sound an alarm when their pets sneak out of the house. Now, although the shape and size of wearable devices have not changed much, their functions are constantly increasing. Through near-field communication (NFC) or Bluetooth low energy (BLE) technology, wearable devices can not only connect directly to devices with more complex nodes such as mobile phones to take advantage of their increased computing power, but also use the device's Wi-Fi function to connect to any node in the world through the cloud. In this way, users can use this function to connect to other devices, such as Wi-Fi security systems that can report illegal break-ins to users, or contact others through email.

There is no doubt that wearable devices can bring greater convenience to users and even help improve their work efficiency. However, the development of wearable devices still faces many challenges. First, these devices are usually powered by batteries. If they are only used for timing, the battery can maintain operation well. But if wireless data transmission or other large amounts of data processing are required, the battery life will be greatly reduced. Secondly, wearable devices also face another huge development challenge, which is to realize full-featured electrical design in a small space. In any case, the operating space is very limited when putting a small computer on the wrist.

TI's ultra-low-power MSP430 microcontroller can greatly reduce the challenges encountered in wearable design. This microcontroller features an integrated analog-to-digital converter (ADC), a segmented LCD controller, and other components to help reduce the size and cost of wearable devices. At the same time, with efficient power management and the use of low-power software-controllable modes, its optimized peripherals and microcontroller core can greatly reduce system power consumption. The most noteworthy is the CC430 system-on-chip (SoC), which further simplifies the development process and reduces the size of wearable devices by combining the MSP430 MCU with the CC110L Sub-1 GHz radio.

For engineers who plan to develop a wearable electronic product, TI's eZ430-Chronos provides them with the best choice. In just a few minutes, users can wirelessly control computer demonstrations or connect to a chest strap to monitor heart rate. This is a wireless development kit mainly for wrist-type wearable applications, providing all the components needed in the development process.

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