CSR Launches BlueCore4 - 3-Times Faster for Bluetooth Enhanced Data Rate; Already Sampling, Bluetooth EDR Silicon is Ready and Waiting.Business Editors/High-Tech Writers WiCon World CAMBRIDGE, England & AMSTERDAM, Netherlands--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 8, 2004 CSR PLC CSR (LSE: CSR), or Cambridge Silicon Radio is a company based in Cambridge, England whose main product line is a single-chip implementation of the Bluetooth standard for radio-signal communication between devices. CSR is a fabless semiconductor manufacturer. (LSE LSE - Language Sensitive Editor : CSR (1) (Customer Service Representative) A person who handles a customer's request regarding a bill, account changes or service or merchandise ordered. Agents in call centers are known as CSRs. See call center. .L) today launched a fourth generation of its Bluetooth silicon, designed for Enhanced Data Rate (EDR (Enhanced Data Rate) An acronym occasionally used to reflect an advancement in transmission or transfer speed. For example, Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR provides a dramatic increase in speed over the previous version. See Bluetooth. ) Bluetooth which is being officially launched today by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) is the body that oversees the development of Bluetooth standards and the licensing of the Bluetooth technologies and trademarks to manufacturers. (SIG) at WiCon World, Amsterdam, Netherlands. CSR's BlueCore4 will deliver data rates which are three-times faster than current v1.2 Bluetooth devices, as well as lower power consumption for Bluetooth mobile phones or headsets. BlueCore4 is sampling now with major OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) The rebranding of equipment and selling it. The term initially referred to the company that made the products (the "original" manufacturer), but eventually became widely used to refer to the organization that buys the products and customers. Bluetooth EDR offers maximum data transfer rates of 2.1 Megabits per second (unit) megabits per second - (Mbps, Mb/s) Millions of bits per second. A unit of data rate. 1 Mb/s = 1,000,000 bits per second (not 1,048,576). E.g. Ethernet can carry 10 Mbps. (Mbps) compared to the current 721 Kilobits per second (unit) kilobits per second - (kbps, kb/s) A unit of data rate where 1 kb/s = 1000 bits per second. This contrasts with units of storage where 1 Kb = 1024 bits (note upper case K). (kbps) for v1.2 standard rate. This increase in transfer rate also means that, for a given amount of data, the EDR radio will be active up to 3 times less than a v1.2 radio, hence reducing power consumption, which greatly benefits battery-dependent mobile devices. CSR BlueCore4 is fully backwards compatible with existing Bluetooth v1.1 and v1.2 devices. Bluetooth EDR achieves its higher data rates by using a Phase Shift Keying (PSK (1) See preshared keys. (2) (Phase Shift Keying) A simple digital modulation technique that uses two different phase angles for 0 and 1. Quadrature PSK (QPSK) uses four phase shifts for each two bits of input. See phase modulation and DPSK. ) modulation scheme in place of the Gaussian Frequency Shift Keying (GFSK GFSK Gaussian Frequency Shift Keying ) of standard rate. This allows more bits to be transmitted in each symbol of the packet-payload when it is sent over the radio link. However, the symbol rate is still 1 Megasymbol per second; the packet timing and structure are the same; the spectral characteristics of transmissions are virtually unchanged; and support for both modulation schemes is mandatory for all EDR capable products. Together, these characteristics provide excellent backward compatibility with Bluetooth v1.1 and v1.2. The new generation further improves on CSR's best-in-class reputation for the ease with which its Bluetooth solutions can be incorporated into circuits and end products. CSR BlueCore4 is being made available in two variants - one for use with external Flash memory, and one with mask-ROM. BlueCore4-External, supplied in an 8x8mm BGA (Ball Grid Array) A popular surface mount chip package that uses a grid of solder balls as its connectors. Available in plastic and ceramic varieties, BGA is noted for its compact size, high lead count and low inductance, which allows lower voltages to be used. (ball grid array “BGA” redirects here. For other uses, see BGA (disambiguation). A ball grid array (BGA) is a type of surface-mount packaging used for integrated circuits. ) package, is a highly flexible solution for markets that demand the ability to upgrade quickly. For example, combined with BlueCore's status of being the only silicon currently available to offer all mandatory and optional features of the Bluetooth v1.2 specification, BlueCore4-External presents the ideal solution for PC applications which can benefit from the ability to wirelessly transfer files up to 3-times faster or to operate multiple high-demand Bluetooth links simultaneously. With the Bluetooth firmware committed to on-chip ROM, CSR BlueCore4-ROM offers lower costs and a much smaller footprint (3.8x4mm in a chip-scale package, or 6x6mm in a BGA which is pin-compatible with BlueCore2-ROM and BlueCore3-ROM). The ROM chip's size and cost makes it ideal for mobile phones, headsets and other mass-production, cost-sensitive applications which increasingly require Bluetooth functionality to be integrated. BlueCore4 offers increased on-board RAM of 48 KB compared to 32 KB on previous BlueCore silicon. Some of this extra memory is required for additional buffer space to handle the Enhanced Data Rate, while the rest ensures that future specifications such as Scattermode will be fully supported. BlueCore4-External and BlueCore4-ROM will initially bring the benefits of Bluetooth EDR's faster data rates to some of these existing key Bluetooth markets, speeding file transfers, reducing power consumption and enabling the operation of multiple simultaneous links. It will also open up some potential new application areas for the technology. As mobile phones integrate higher resolution digital cameras, transferring the image files becomes time consuming - EDR Bluetooth means that a 1 MB image download, which currently takes about 12 seconds, will now only take 4 seconds. PCs will increasingly be asked to support multiple Bluetooth links as users type on a Bluetooth keyboard and move a Bluetooth mouse while listening to music on a set of Bluetooth stereo headphones Head-mounted speakers. Headphones have a strap that rests on top of the head, positioning a pair of speakers over both ears. For listening to music or monitoring live performances and audio tracks, both left and right channels are required. and synchronising contact details with their phone or using the phone as a modem to connect to an email or internet service. As 'One Phone' converged cordless phone (using Bluetooth) and cellular phones (using 2.5 or 3G) with a single telephone number become popular, the higher speed Bluetooth radio connection from the cordless home or business access point will allow for the simultaneous transfer of more data whilst the telephone call is being placed over the fixed line infrastructure. Bluetooth has previously been restricted to application in ink-jet printers but EDR will enable data to be transmitted at speeds suitable for laser printers. EDR will also open up Bluetooth to potentially wider applications in home-entertainment. A Dolby 5.1 surround sound system typically transmits its signal at rate of up to around 1 Mbps. Bluetooth EDR could offer a potential cost-effective solution for removing the wires from such systems. The Bluetooth SIG is incorporating Bluetooth EDR as an addendum to the current v1.2 specification. CSR is sampling BlueCore4-External now, with full production in September. BlueCore4-ROM will sample in Q3 2004 with mass production planned to start in Q4 2004. Glenn Collinson, Sales Director and co-founder of CSR, commented, "Power is a critical issue for mobile device manufacturers looking to boost the functionality of their products with wireless technologies such as Bluetooth. With data rates three times that of standard rate, CSR's Bluecore4 makes it even easier for designers to maximise battery life in their products." Collinson continued, "Put simply, BlueCore4 will make it possible for designers exploit new potential applications of Bluetooth EDR with the minimum possible investment in new hardware and software and the fastest possible time-to-market" About CSR CSR PLC (LSE: CSR.L) is a leading provider of single-chip radio devices for Bluetooth wireless communication. CSR offers developed hardware/software packages based around BlueCore, a fully integrated 2.4 GHz radio, baseband and microcontroller. BlueCore features in 60 percent of all Bluetooth qualified end products and modules with international names such as Microsoft Corp, Nokia, Dell, Panasonic, Audi, NEC (NEC Corporation, Tokyo, www.nec.com, www.necus.com) An electronics conglomerate known in the U.S. for its monitors. In Japan, it had the lion's share of the PC market until the late 1990s (see PC 98). NEC was founded in Tokyo in 1899 as Nippon Electric Company, Ltd. , Toshiba, Samsung and Sony already using BlueCore in their range of Bluetooth products. In June 2003, CSR launched the third generation BlueCore devices with full support for v1.2 of the Bluetooth specification. In February 2004, CSR floated on the London Stock Exchange London Stock Exchange London marketplace for securities. It was formed in 1773 by a group of stockbrokers who had been doing business informally in local coffeehouses. in the largest UK technology floatation in three years. CSR is headquartered in Cambridge, UK, with offices in Richardson, Texas, USA; Tokyo, Japan; Seoul, Korea; Taipei, Taiwan and Aalborg, Denmark. More information can be found at www.csr.com and the partner web site www.btdesigner.com More information about Bluetooth can be found on the SIG web site at www.bluetooth.com Ref: EME n. 1. An uncle. 9625 Photo ref: PEM (Privacy Enhanced Mail) A standard for secure e-mail on the Internet. It supports encryption, digital signatures and digital certificates as well as both private and public key methods. Not widely used, work on PEM later evolved into S/MIME. See MIME. 4051, PEM4052 To download: http://www.csr.com/images/hires/pem4051.jpg http://www.csr.com/images/hires/pem4052.jpg |
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