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ZigBee Alliance Certifies First Golden Units for ZigBee RF4CE

ZigBee RF4CE standard for advanced remote controls now ready for adoption by manufacturers

ZigBee AllianceSan Ramon, Calif. — June 2, 2009 —  The ZigBee Alliance, a global ecosystem of companies creating wireless solutions for use in energy management, commercial and consumer applications, today announced the availability of ZigBee Golden Unit platforms that implement the ZigBee RF4CE specification. ZigBee RF4CE was designed to replace infrared (IR) remote controls with radio frequency (RF) and thereby offer non-line-of-sight operation, longer range and battery life for consumer electronic (CE) devices like HDTV, home theater equipment, set-top boxes and other audio equipment. 

Freescale Semiconductor and Texas Instruments are the first members to have successfully implemented the new ZigBee RF4CE specification and pass independent testing conducted by NTS Corporation, TRaC Telecoms & Radio and TUV Rheinland to achieve Golden Unit status. This milestone enables original equipment manufacturers (OEM) to create ZigBee RF4CE certified products that allow for advanced interoperable communications between components and remote controls while providing interoperability between OEMs. Other platform suppliers are now able to seek ZigBee RF4CE platform certification and further broaden the already strong ZigBee supply chain.

“Having the Golden Units so soon after approval of the ZigBee RF4CE specification shows that its adoption within the Alliance is a success story,” says Eddy Odijk, vice president of standardization at Royal Philips Electronics. “This milestone enables innovative remote controls for HDTVs, home theater equipment, set-top boxes and other CE products that the industry has been waiting for.”

To maintain the highest quality, the ZigBee Alliance requires Golden Units for all new specifications. This process ensures all platforms demonstrate full interoperability for future ZigBee RF4CE products. Golden Units also prove all technical aspects of the specification can be implemented and perform as intended using multiple independent implementations.

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