Dialog provides wearables solution for OceanMedallion cruise experience

Dialog Semiconductor plc, a provider of battery and power management, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth LE, and edge-computing solutions, has announced a new partnership with Carnival Corporation. The goal is to integrate Dialog’s Wireless Ranging (WiRa) technology into Carnival’s OceanMedallion wearable devices for proximity-based locationing to ensure passenger safety and offer enhanced cruise services.

Originally unveiled in 2017, the Medallion device connects passengers on Princess MedallionClass cruise ships into its Experience Internet of Things (xIoT) intelligent, shipboard ecosystem to enhance crew-passenger interactions with unprecedented levels of personalized passenger services.

The award-winning wearable elevates the guest experience by enabling touchless embarkation and disembarkation, frictionless commerce, and keyless stateroom entry.

Additionally, this includes:

Service-on-demand
Dytoucelss
namic way-finding
Family and friends locator
First-run movies on-the-go
Interactive events and activities planner
Interactive fun

Given new requirements and regulations involving COVID-19, Princess is using Dialog’s WiRa technology to enable higher accuracy ranging between Medallions when compared with RSSI (Receive Signal Strength Indication) based technology, improving the company’s ability to protect passengers from exposure to infection.

“These technologies, including WiRa, which I am particularly proud to deliver, significantly outperform competing solutions in challenging environments such as cruise ships or safety and asset tracking type applications,” said Sean McGrath, senior VP and GM, Connectivity and Audio Business Group at Dialog Semiconductor.

Dialog’s WiRa technology offers fine-grain, phase-based ranging performance approaching UWB (ultra-wideband) accuracy while using significantly lower power, extending battery life, and lowering solution cost — including advanced and proprietary algorithms to deliver enhanced performance.

This is especially important on ships built from steel where wireless signals are easily reflected, which can cause errors in distance estimation and require advanced, multi-path cancellation techniques. To implement WiRa and advanced multi-path cancellation, Carnival turned to Dialog’s well acclaimed DA14697 Bluetooth LE SoC.

The DA1469x family is the market leader for wearables, offering the highest integration while also providing the optimum processing performance.

In addition to Dialog’s DA1469x Bluetooth LE SoC, Carnival also selected Dialog’s AT25FF series SPI NOR Flash and SLG46108V GreenPAK technology. The AT25FF offers an ultra-deep hibernation mode, consuming less than 7nA for extended Medallion battery life. Dialog’s SLG46108V, GreenPAK technology maximizes the Bluetooth LE SoC’s sleep time, further increasing battery life, while also reducing the PCB area needed.

“The OceanMedallion was initially developed to enrich guest-crew interactions and democratize elite travel experiences,” said John Padgett, chief experience and innovation officer for Carnival Corporation. “Partnering with Dialog further enhances the performance of these wearable devices as we expand the OCEAN Platform to power all aspects of the guest experience, service operations, security, health, and safety processes.”