Why Next-Generation Wearables Demand a New Class of Wireless
The next generation of wearables is pushing the limits of conventional wireless. Richer sensing, continuous data exchange, and more responsive user experiences require a wireless link that can deliver high throughput, ultra-low latency, and exceptionally low energy consumption—without forcing compromises between performance and battery life.
WHERE CURRENT WIRELESS FALLS SHORT
Why Existing Wireless Technology Holds Wearables Back
Conventional wireless technologies were designed around distinct performance priorities rather than the combined demands of next-generation wearables. As device capabilities expand, these architectural trade-offs become increasingly visible across data capacity, responsiveness, energy consumption, and overall system complexity.
Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)
BLE was designed for low- to moderate-data workloads. As next-generation wearables move toward continuous sensing, richer data streams, and real-time interaction, they are beginning to exceed the performance profile BLE was originally optimized to support. While newer generations continue to improve throughput, sustained data transfer and lower latency still require increased radio activity, preserving the fundamental trade-off between performance and the ultra-low energy consumption wearable devices demand.
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi was designed to deliver high throughput and broad network connectivity. In next-generation wearables, however, sustained Wi-Fi performance introduces significant energy and system overhead, competing with processing, sensing, display, and audio for a limited device budget. While newer generations continue to improve efficiency, the fundamental trade-off between sustained data performance and the ultra-low energy consumption required by wearable devices remains.
SPARK Microsystems delivers more than a radio. It provides the wireless layer that unlocks richer sensing, real-time intelligence, and responsive experiences in AI-powered wearables—within the same physical, thermal, and energy envelope.
APPLICATIONS
Enabling the Next Generation of Wearable Experiences
Across wearable applications, SPARK LE-UWB™ gives designers the flexibility to tailor wireless performance to each product’s sensing, responsiveness, form-factor, and battery requirements. A single configurable silicon platform supports diverse operating profiles without forcing a redesign of the underlying wireless architecture.
AI Glasses
AI glasses depend on continuous coordination across microphones, cameras, sensors, and nearby compute. SPARK LE-UWB™ provides the low-latency, energy-efficient link needed to move data across the wearable ecosystem while preserving the battery budget for sensing, processing, and on-device intelligence.
AR/VR Devices
AR/VR devices depend on precise coordination across audio, motion tracking, controllers, and connected accessories. SPARK LE-UWB™ delivers deterministic timing and ultra-low latency to keep interactions synchronized, responsive, and consistent across the entire device ecosystem.
Immersive Experience Wearables
Immersive experience wearables transform audiences from spectators into active participants. SPARK LE-UWB™ enables precisely timed light, haptic, and proximity-based interactions across large groups of devices, allowing each experience to respond instantly to movement, location, and programmed cues.
High-Fidelity Wearable Audio
Audio fidelity depends on the wireless link as much as the drivers. LE-UWB™ delivers low-latency streaming and voice capture within a power envelope sized for earbuds, headsets, and hearing-assist devices.
Evaluate SPARK LE-UWB™
The SR1120 EVK gives wearable engineering teams a complete platform to experience SPARK LE-UWB™ and evaluate its performance within their own product architecture. Combining the SR1120 transceiver with SPARK’s SDK, Datalink interface, and application firmware examples, the kit provides a direct path from initial evaluation to a fully characterized wireless proof of concept.
Products
SR1120, LE-UWB™ transceiver.
Its configurable physical layer, dynamic PHY scaling, and antenna diversity support give system designers the flexibility to optimize their wireless link for the specific constraints of their device, without needing to change silicon as requirements evolve.