Issue link: https://resources.mouser.com/i/1520712
5 Qorvo 2024 Qorvo's unique single-chip, single-radio solution, combined with a powerful software development kit, can manage data traffic from multiple standards or protocols simultaneously and with no detectable latency. Plus, designers can reduce part content, resulting in smaller, sleeker form factors and lower product costs. With ConcurrentConnect support, greater flexibility in standards provides customers with virtually unlimited options to develop innovative use cases. Why Does It Work Better? There are significant hardware and software challenges when a single radio must support multiple protocols simultaneously. This is because every protocol has its own specifications for how and when devices should listen to incoming data packets and transmit outgoing packets. Some phases in the protocol may have fixed-time intervals, during which the radio can predict when it should switch to the right frequency (e.g., Bluetooth® Low Energy "in connection" phase). However, most of the time, especially while detecting candidates for connection during the listening phase, the radio is required to constantly detect incoming packets asynchronously without prior knowledge of specific times in which the radio is required to open its receive window to receive the packet. Additionally, applications require a simple-to-use interface to operate over multiple protocols seamlessly, such that the application developer becomes immune to protocol dependencies, removing the burden of switching to the corresponding protocol when needed. ConcurrentConnect technology from Qorvo—fluently and continuously services two or more networks using different protocols, whether it's Zigbee + Matter (formerly Project CHIP), Zigbee + Bluetooth® Low Energy to a smartphone, Matter + Bluetooth® Low Energy Mesh, or other multi-network protocol use cases. ConcurrentConnect technology will deliver seamless operation of devices connected in the home via different networks without performance loss. To illustrate, let's consider a network situation combining Zigbee or Thread and Bluetooth® Low Energy devices using a standard node without ConcurrentConnect support. Since the node does not have ConcurrentConnect listening abilities, it switches back and forth between these standards and must communicate with one standard at a time. In addition to the obvious inefficiency, this switching can result in dropped communications and latency, as only one standard is communicated while the other is blocked until the medium becomes free again. Thus, the amount of communication possible in a set time frame becomes a challenge. With a node that utilizes ConcurrentConnect technology, concurrent listening is achieved, allowing near-instantaneous switching from Bluetooth® Low Energy to Zigbee or Thread with little to no dropped communications (Figure 2). Thus, the communications between devices are faster, more efficient, more scalable, and able to receive more data packets. This enables unprecedented single-device concurrency capabilities between these protocols. Figure 2: ConcurrentConnect technology, shown to the right, manages communications from different standards and protocols simultaneously with no detectable latency. (Source: Qorvo)