With the development of Bluetooth, wireless charging, and other technologies, the wearable market is expanding. Devices such as smartwatches, fitness bands, and smart glasses are becoming more mainstream. Intense market competition is pushing wearable manufacturers to design differentiated products within short timeframes, but mature development solutions that meet the full range of these needs are still limited. On Semiconductor has introduced a scalable wearable design platform intended to accelerate development of feature-rich wearable products and address common engineering challenges.
Wearable electronics outlook
Market analysts IHS and Gartner forecast steady growth for the wearable market from 2016 to 2020. Shipments of smart wearable products are expected to approach 200 million units in 2016 and exceed 350 million units by 2020. Smartwatches and smart glasses are projected to show the fastest growth. The hearing-aid market, where On Semiconductor has maintained a leading position, is also expected to remain a significant segment of wearable revenue, accounting for about 45% of market revenue.
On Semiconductor's capabilities in wearables
Through technology investment and strategic acquisitions, On Semiconductor provides a broad portfolio of power and data management solutions for mobile devices. Its product lineup includes high-efficiency power management, analog, sensors, logic, timing, connectivity, discrete components, system-on-chip (SoC) and custom devices. These products are deployed across automotive, communications, industrial, aerospace, medical, consumer and computing markets.
Within wireless and wearable segments, On Semiconductor focuses on smartphone/tablet peripherals, consumer wearables (non-medical), and smart charging/connectivity. Its offerings relevant to wearables include power management, battery FETs, wired and wireless charging solutions, fuel-gauge solutions, AC-DC adapters, EEPROM, image sensors, and packaging capabilities. These resources support development of scalable, high-performance wearables with long battery life, compact form factors, and low power consumption.
WDK1.0 reference platform
To address market needs, On Semiconductor released the WDK1.0 wearable reference design platform. The flexible development kit includes hardware, firmware, an integrated development environment (IDE) and downloadable SmartApp software. It supports designs ranging from simple fitness trackers to complex smartwatches.
Manufacturers have varying product requirements, but common priorities include low power consumption, charging methods, processor performance, size, wireless connectivity, human-machine interface, and sensing functions. The WDK1.0 is designed to meet these requirements. Developers can adapt the platform by swapping the processor, MCU, or display (or creating a display-less product) and by modifying the software reference design for coding, compiling, and debugging. This approach aims to shorten time-to-market and reduce engineering effort.
The WDK1.0 kit includes the NCP6915 power management IC with one programmable DCDC regulator and five LDOs supporting multiple output voltages for power-efficient operation. The platform also exposes GPIOs for further expansion. The kit contains an NCP1855 battery charger IC, an LC709203F fuel-gauge IC, and a 10 W rated SCY1751 wireless charging front-end controller compatible with AirFuel resonant wireless charging. Depending on configuration, battery life can reach 24 to 36 hours; wired charging completes within about 1 hour and wireless charging within about 2 hours. The platform also integrates a MEMS-based FIS1100 inertial measurement unit for multi-axis motion tracking, including a 3-axis gyroscope and a 3-axis accelerometer. Additional components include an embedded temperature sensor and an LC898301 haptic driver IC for tactile feedback.
