74c1f5e5   
   XPost: sci.electronics.design, sci.electronics.misc   
   From: r_delaney2001@yahoo.com   
      
   Wireless is everywhere now, miniaturized to an astounding degree.   
      
   Recently, I saw a report on a button size gardening   
   gadget - stick it in the soil, it reports on moisture.   
   Bluetooth earphones, etc.   
      
   Who's designing these things?  In my experience, RF   
   designers are a rare breed, and with the digital market   
   vastly larger, they're even rarer.   
      
   I'll guess, the IC have been perfected to the no-brainer   
   level.   But still, you need need amps, filters, antenna, plus   
   issues of noise and layout, yes/no?  That stuff isn't obsoleted.   
      
   I don't work in this area, but I'm curious, so can anyone   
   elaborate on what's going on, from a system viewpoint?   
   What are the chip functions, options, price, trade-offs?   
   In which situations would you reject them, to roll your own?   
      
   Is it simple on/off keying, or more sophisticated?  Currently,   
   in communications theory, sensor networks are a hot topic,   
   where thousands of sensors are competing for bandwidth,   
   but for mundane consumer apps, I doubt those issues arise.   
      
   I'm looking to pick the brains of any gurus here -   
      
      
   --   
   Rich   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)