Cadence Design Systems announced availability of Verification IP (VIP) in support of USB4, due to be released midyear. Engineers using the Cadence VIP will be able to develop standard-compliant SoC designs for mobile, consumer and display applications, it said Thursday. The USB Promoter Group announced pending release of the USB4 spec this month, saying it doubles the bandwidth of USB and enables multiple simultaneous data and display protocols. Based on Intel’s Thunderbolt protocol, USB4 is said to enable two-lane operation using existing USB Type-C cables and up to 40 Gbps operation over certified cables.

Emerging technologies have “significant potential to assist older adults with successfully aging in place," via cognition, communication, social connectivity, personal mobility, transportation and access to healthcare, a White House task force reported Tuesday. Challenges include user adoption, system requirements, functionality, privacy and security. “Cutting-edge technologies hold significant promise for older Americans, enhancing their mobility and independence, strengthening ties to their communities, and keeping them healthy and safe,” said Director Kelvin Droegemeier of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, which issued the report. It recommends continued research and development. The National Science and Technology Council convened the task force from across federal agencies.

The Seamless Air Alliance, working toward the next generation of in-flight connectivity, announced five new members ahead of Mobile World Congress, it said Wednesday. Adaptive Channel, Etihad Airways, GlobalReach Technology, Safran and SitaOnAir joined the organization, announced at MWC 2018, which also includes Airbus, Delta Air Lines, Air France-KLM, OneWeb, Sprint, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Nokia and Panasonic. The alliance has set up a research laboratory and established three working groups writing specifications for technology, requirements and operations, it said. The alliance’s mission is to enable air travelers “to use their own devices to automatically connect to the Internet with no complicated login process nor paywall to scramble over,” it said. It plans to demonstrate the technology this year.

Anker began taking preorders Monday for its first Powerline II USB-C to Lightning cable. The cable is designed for an iPhone 8 and later smartphone and can deliver up to a 50 percent charge in 30 minutes when paired with a USB-C Power Delivery charger, it said. Special shielding is said to extend the life of the cable. Delivery of the $16 charger is slated for Feb. 20.

Initial comments were positive, but others are expected to oppose a 5G Automotive Association request to deploy cellular vehicle-to-everything technology (C-V2X) in the 5.9 GHz band's upper 20 MHz. Comments are due Feb. 8, though many filed early (see 1901280031) or before the FCC delayed deadlines (see 1901290043). The Public Interest Spectrum Coalition, NCTA, Wireless ISP Association and auto companies supporting dedicated short-range communications are among those likely to raise objections, industry officials said. One objection is the waiver would undermine the requests for a Future NPRM in the broader 5.9 GHz proceeding. T-Mobile supported the waiver in a filing posted Wednesday in docket 18-357. It would "remove a regulatory barrier to near-term deployment of C-V2X, unleash new investment and innovation in this technology, and ensure America’s continued global leadership in the development and evolution of C-V2X,” T-Mobile said. The groups didn't comment.

Silicon Labs released Bluetooth software with a direction-finding feature for its Wireless Gecko IoT portfolio, it said Monday. Targeted to the location services market, the feature allows devices to determine the direction of a Bluetooth signal and supports multiple methods for determining signal direction including angle-of-arrival and angle-of departure within 5 degrees, said the company. Previous solutions for the target market have provided location accuracy within 3-4 meters; Si Labs’ Bluetooth 5.1 improves accuracy to the sub-1-meter level, enabling applications not previously possible, it said. Other attributes of Bluetooth 5.1: It reduces power consumption with sleep clock accuracy updates; improves smart home connection performance using generic attribute profile caching; and optimizes beaconing for Bluetooth mesh in crowded RF environments with the advertisement channel index feature, it said.

Cable manufacturer Chromis is taking orders for DisplayPort 1.4 active optical cables it’s billing as 8K-HDMI-ready. The pre-terminated cables support 8K60 display stream compression, 8K30 and 4K120 video, it said. No power is required, said the company.

In its first CES appearance since its purchase by Foxconn Interconnect Technology (FIT) for $866 million in May (see [Ref:1803270004]), Belkin and its Linksys and Wemo brands announced Apple-weighted audio, USB-C, mobile power and connected home products at CES. Belkin is showing MF-certified Rockstar headphones with a Lightning connector (summer), Rockstar headphones with a USB-C connector (later this year) and Boost Charge charging cables, including Lightning types, available in spring for $24-$34, it said. Boost car chargers have QuickCharge 4+ technology that's said to enable charging up to 50 percent in 15 minutes ($39-$49). The Boost Charge high-capacity power bank, supporting USB-C devices ($129), is slated for spring delivery. Linksys introduced a tri-band mesh router promising speeds up to 2.2 Gbps ($199, available). Parental control subscriptions are available for $5 per month beginning February, and network security subscriptions will be $2 per month when available later this year, it said. New Wemo light switches are HomeKit-compatible and leverage Apple’s software authentication for HomeKit compatibility without the use of other hardware, it said. Switches are $39 and $49 (summer) for single-pole and three-way versions.

Eighty-three percent of smart TV owners connect their set to the internet, up from 70 percent four years ago, Parks Associates reported Tuesday. Smart TV ownership grew from 34 to 53 percent. “Rise of direct-to-consumer offerings and the blurring of lines between pay-TV and [over the top] are leading to increased fragmentation in the viewing experience, where consumers are having to face complex self-curating systems,” said Anthony Smith-Chaigneau, Nagra senior director-product marketing, ahead of a Parks video conference in Marina del Rey, California, next week. Service providers should embrace the cloud, act as aggregators and leverage data, he said.

More IP traffic will cross global networks by 2022 than in the 32 internet years combined through 2016, Cisco forecast Tuesday. Sixty percent of the global population will be internet users, said Cisco, and more than 28 billion devices and connections will be online, with video comprising 82 percent of all IP traffic. “The size and complexity of the internet continues to grow in ways that many could not have imagined,” said Jonathan Davidson, general manager-service provider business. Since the company's first forecast in 2005, internet traffic has increased “56-fold,” he said. To handle the data surge, service providers are transforming their networks to better manage and route traffic, while delivering premium experiences, said Davidson. IP traffic is expected to reach 396 exabytes monthly by 2022, up from 122 exabytes monthly in 2017, he said (an exabyte = 1 million terabytes). Cisco predicts 4.8 billion internet users -- 60 percent of the global population -- by the end of the period, up from 3.4 billion last year. It predicts 28.5 billion fixed and mobile personal devices and connections in four years at an average 3.6 per person, up from 2.4 per person last year. More than half of all devices and connections by 2022 will be machine-to-machine, up from 34 percent last year. Global fixed broadband speeds are forecast to grow from 39 Mbps to 75.4 Mbps, and Wi-Fi connection speeds will more than double to 54 Mbps. Average mobile connection speeds will rise to 28.5 Mbps from 8.7 Mbps, and video, gaming and multimedia will comprise more than 85 percent of traffic. Gaming traffic is expected to grow ninefold over the period, to 4 percent of traffic, and virtual and augmented reality traffic will skyrocket, reaching 4 exabytes monthly as more consumers and businesses use the technologies. North America is forecast to see triple IP traffic growth to 108 exabytes monthly.