- Connected Oven Concept

- Significantly improves the convenience and quality of home cooking

- Support for new and attractive business models and the resulting opportunities

June 25, 2015, Seoul, Korea — Freescale Semiconductor (www.freescale.co.kr) unveiled its vision at the Freescale Technology Forum (FTF) for a groundbreaking, innovative home appliance concept that can dramatically change the way we cook by utilizing semiconductor radio frequency (RF) technology. Developed in collaboration with frog, a global product strategy and design firm, this innovative concept allows you to cook fresh, professional-quality meals at home with minimal effort or preparation time.

By using this smart, connected RF cooking concept, which combines the convenience of a microwave with the cooking quality of a conventional oven, you can control exactly which part of the food, when, and how much heat energy is applied directly. This enables more precise cooking, significantly enhancing consistency in taste and nutrition. This sophisticated heating function prevents overheating, thereby avoiding the destruction of nutrients, reduced moisture, and wasted energy. Furthermore, home appliance OEMs can use Freescale’s semiconductor RF cooking technology to create products with extremely fast food preparation times, capable of cooking multiple dishes simultaneously with a single appliance.

By precisely controlling the position, rotation, and amount of energy for cooking, food can be quickly cooked to the appropriate temperature without needing to be touched during cooking, even when the ingredients are raw or frozen. In addition to the convection heating method of the oven, which can cook the outside of food to a crispy brown with a textured texture, this concept can freely support various cooking methods, such as rapidly applying heat to cook specific parts or gently baking the whole thing, as well as the amount of ingredients.

Paul Hart, Vice President and General Manager of Freescale’s RF Business Unit, stated, “Consumers around the world want to prepare nutritious, gourmet meals at home in a short amount of time. Until now, people had to choose between food quality and convenience, but that is no longer necessary. With gourmet food delivered to your home ready to cook, you can create restaurant-quality meals in minutes. This is an exciting new concept for home appliances based on a novel cooking paradigm.”

Freescale’s new concept for connected RF cooking is expected to gain significant attention by providing a highly convenient cooking environment for consumers looking to cook simply at home, much like the popularity of simple coffee brewing devices enjoyed by people who enjoy coffee at home and at work. This convenience will open up avenues for creating new business models and opportunities. For instance, there could be a service where consumers order online, and fresh, ready-to-cook ingredients are delivered to their homes from various sources such as restaurants, grocery stores, and farm-to-table companies, allowing users to simply cook quickly and easily. This concept also holds the potential to improve the efficiency of the food supply chain by collecting and transmitting big data. This will lead to effects such as more efficient food distribution, the provision of services tailored to target consumer preferences, and product improvements.

Combining this concept of connected RF cooking with IoT (Internet of Things) solutions makes it possible to access almost any recipe library. Online social communities enable users to learn new cooking methods, customize settings to suit consumer preferences, and add or save recipes in real time. Furthermore, the introduction of semiconductor RF power technology into cooking appliances allows for a smaller size, making stylish and sophisticated kitchen appliance designs possible. Consequently, appliance manufacturers can freely design and produce products with significantly differentiated shapes, features, and functions. Additionally, because this solution utilizes narrow-band energy, it can be used in conjunction with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and other connected devices.

Freescale is introducing this concept this week in the Smart Home section of the Freescale Technology Forum Technology Lab. Sessions on cooking with RF power will also continue throughout the week. More details about the sessions can be found at http://ftf.freescale.com/learn.