CSR launches 6th generation Bluetooth chip: ‘most important’ so far
CSR plc (CSR.L) today launched BlueCore6, its sixth generation of BlueCore silicon for Bluetooth that includes both industry-leading radio performance and power consumption, as well as full support for the latest version (v2.1+EDR) of the Bluetooth specification.
It includes CSR's AuriStreamT technology, which the Cambridge-headquartered company said is a radical improvement to the way Bluetooth handles voice traffic; AuriStream provides toll quality voice calls and can reduce power consumption by 40%.
Volume production will start in Q1 2008.
CEO John Scarisbrick (pictured) said: "BlueCore6 is CSR's most important Bluetooth silicon to date and offers more unique new technologies than any previous generation we have launched.
“The fact that the technologies inside BlueCore6 are way ahead of anything else on the market today clearly demonstrates that CSR continues to be the leader in wireless innovations.
"We have already had substantial interest in BlueCore6 from key handset and headset tier one manufacturers."
CSR has enhanced the RF performance to give BlueCore6 Class 1 Bluetooth range without the need for an external power amplifier. A total 11dB link margin improvement over BlueCore4 (+4dBm to Tx, -7dBm to Rx) makes BlueCore6 the industry's most efficient Bluetooth radio and helps improve operation across the body, for example when a Bluetooth headset connects to a mobile phone worn on the user's belt. BlueCore6-ROM is packaged in CSR's tried and tested wafer level CSP format and is smaller than competing Bluetooth silicon.
Voice remains the key application for Bluetooth, and users continually demand higher voice quality - but also longer battery life. CSR's BlueCore6 has inherited all of the features that made BlueCore4 the leading Bluetooth silicon, plus substantial improvements in both voice quality and power requirements.
CSR has introduced a range of technologies into BlueCore6 which bring savings on either the Bluetooth or the host device's power consumption for mobile phone architectures. CSR has reduced the power in standby and restructured how Bluetooth devices scan for other devices. On average standby current accounts for over half the total power consumption of a Bluetooth system.
CSR has added two improved scan modes in BlueCore6: conditional scan and casual scan. By combining these techniques CSR's BlueCore6-ROM can save up to 86% of Bluetooth's power consumption in scan mode.
5th September 2007
