AMI Semiconductor's AMIS-52100 transceiver chip lets you design low-power radio-link data-transmission devices to operate in a number of licence-free bands under 500 MHz (depending on geography) (Picture). The chip targets implantable medical applications, for which it has been equipped with features that may prove useful in other designs that require robust data transmission.

Optimised for use in the 402- to 405-MHz band, the device builds on the mixed-signal and RF experience the company gained with its predecessor ASTRIC low-power-radio family members. The 52100 differs in that it includes clock-and-data recovery from the ASK (amplitude-shift-keyed)-modulated data.

Other features include an oscillator that can start and settle within 15 µsec, allowing the receiver to periodically wake, check for a signal, and either go to full operation or shut down again, with very low power consumption. The company calls this cycle "sniff mode," and you can program registers to set system parameters and minimise power. In implanted devices that may depend on a long-life battery to operate over many years, optimising these performance and power trade-offs is key to the final product specification. The 52100 will cost $1.95 (50,000) as a discrete device and will also be available as IP for integration into ASIC designs.

AMI Semiconductor, +32 55 33 22 11, www.amis.com.