Characterizing the RF performance of the eZ430-Chronos wrist watch

The Texas Instruments eZ430-Chronos development kit is a popular wireless platform for researchers, commercial developers, and hobbyists. Built into the form factor of a standard wrist watch, the Chronos is ideal for wireless body area networks (WBANs), indoor localization, and activity detection. Many of these applications requires knowledge of the RF performance of the platform, which has never been characterized by Texas Instruments nor any third parties. Here, we provide experimental data characterizing the RF performance of the eZ430-Chronos watch in various configurations, including when worn by a person while sitting, standing, and reaching. The RF performance of the Chronos watch is compared with an Angelos Ambient wireless mote that uses a common type of ceramic chip antenna. Our results indicate the Chronos has excellent omnidirectionality and reasonably good RF gain in all tested configurations.