Abstract
FARELL Instruments is a 12-employee Spanish company, established
in 1989, who designs, manufactures and sells specialised equipment for
data transmission via radio, like radio-modems and radio control systems,
with a turnover in 1997 of 1.44 MEUR. According to the EU standard classification
of economic activities, it belongs to the Industrial Sector of Radio and
Electronic Capital Goods (NACE 3220).
FARELL Instruments has experience in the manufacture of electronic products,
and has wide knowledge of both microprocessor technology and radio transmission.
Typical customers of its products include water, gas, electricity and
petroleum distribution companies and, in general, any business requiring
industrial control systems that have to be monitored or controlled remotely.
One of our products is the T-MOD, a microprocessor-controlled modem for
transmitting data by radio, which works on the basis of the analogue modulation
of data. The T-MOD is principally used by systems integrators so that
different control networks can communicate with each other. The current
product's performance pushed the analogue technology to its limits, not
being able to provide the always higher data rate - without increasing
the expensive RF spectrum bandwidth - that the new remote control and
monitoring applications were demanding.
The goal of this AE was to improve the T-MOD's performance by substituting
the previous analogue modulation system with a digital one, incorporating
a DSP which carries out all modulation and demodulation tasks. This new
technology allowed an increase in transmission speed without increasing
bandwidth. As a result, not only the number of possible uses within its
current market increases, but also the T-MOD is able to compete in new
areas, such as compressed video transmission.
The experiment lasted 18 months, with a total investment of 70.5 KEUR,
plus other additional 5 KEUR for industrialisation. The estimated payback
period will be of 30 months after launch, with an estimated ROI of 270%
after 4 years. The company is now able to repeat the experiment, applying
the possibilities of DSP to other products. An important lesson learned
in this project is the high risk involved in making the design depend
on too new standard devices, not yet available in the market.
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| You can also benefit from microelectronics
DSP technology provided FARELL INSTRUMENTS S.Lwith the means of improving
its products and enhancing its market position. You can also achieve significant
benefits by acquiring the right microelectronics technology and utilising
it in your product or manufacturing process. You can get help from FUSE
to realise this.
FUSE is a technology transfer programme, funded by the European Commission to stimulate the wider use of microelectronics technologies by European enterprises to increase their competitiveness and enhance their economic growth. The demonstrator described here is one of many examples in the public FUSE portfolio covering the whole spectrum of microelectronics technologies and spanning a wide range of applications and industry sectors.
FUSE provides you with:
- Best practice in acquiring specific microelectronics technologies and conducting full development projects through the FUSE portfolio of real life demonstrator documents.
- Local training and expert support to plan your innovation realistically and help you conduct your project successfully.
Further information and support relating to this and other demonstrators can be obtained from the addresses below. |
