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Background
to the development
Martel
recognised that their printer products needed updating and approached
the Electronics Design Support Centre at Northumbria University
to assess the feasibility of providing wireless communications
between their printers and a host computer. After a short study,
the Support Centre recommended that infra-red IrDA communications
should be used.
Martel's
initial choice of company to perform the IrDA design failed
to produce results, wasting several months of potential product
lifetime. This highlights the need to properly assess the capabilities
of contractors before committing work to them.
Martel
Instruments very quickly found several large customers in the
USA for a wireless version of their printers, and consequently
the Support Centre was asked to develop the interface in a very
short time ( 4 months) to meet the anticipated orders.
Working with the Support Centre
The Support Centre developed a small PCB module containing the
IrDA transceivers and a microcontroller containing a full embedded
IrDA communications protocol stack. The module translates the
Infra-red data to RS232 to allow all of Martel's miniprinters
to be IrDA connected without modification to their software.
The existing circuit boards and printer housings are also retained,
reducing Martel's production and product development costs,
and reducing time-to-market. The RS232 connector is simply replaced
by a plastic infra-red window.
Before
After
Why
not buy off-the shelf?
Martel
could have purchased the Intellectual Property (IP) rights for
an IrDA stack, but this would have cost the company over £40,000,
and would still require software and hardware design to integrate
with its printers. The company would also be liable to royalty
charges on every printer sold. Off-the-shelf IrDA to RS232 adaptors
are too expensive and their limited protocols cannot fulfil
the varied requirements of Martel's customers.
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Benefits
to Martel
- Increased
orders for miniprinters: Up from 500 per year to 10,000 per
year due to the wireless design.
- There
is great potential for further large orders from the USA and
the rest of the world.
- Improved
company image and market profile. Martel is now competing
successfully with the large miniprinter companies from the
USA and the Far East.
- Reduced
technical risk: relying on the technological expertise of
the Support Centre.
- Lower
development costs: Lower financial outlay at the development
stage and elimination of the cost of developing new printer
PCBs and printer housings.
- Transfer
of modern communications technology (IrDA). Previous products
were based on old technology (cabled RS232 ).
- Prospects
for new products based on the IrDA protocol. The Support Centre
and Martel have shared the IP rights for the IrDA stack, and
Martel already has ideas for new products using IrDA.
- Lower
production costs: RS232 and IrDA versions use the same printer
PCB and printer housing. No IP licensing costs. Cost per IrDA
module is low.
- Transfer
of improved design methodology, with modular and other "Best
Practice" design techniques.
Further
Prospects
The
increase in sales for the miniprinter represents a significant
increase in turnover and profitability for Martel. Following
the success of the IrDA project, Martel is now keen to engage
in further ventures with the Support Centre to develop new
products using other modern technologies. Using this strategy
Martel Instruments is able to compete with the world's large
printer manufacturers on a technological level whilst maintaining
its competitive advantage by providing custom features when
required.
The
co-operation between Martel and the Electronics Design Support
Centre has been so successful that Martel Instruments was
recently selected as the company that had made "most
effective use of the Support Centre service", winning
the Judges Special Award at this year's Electronics Industry
Design Awards event.
For
more information visit: www.martelinstruments.com
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