CSR Launches Complete V.90 Bluetooth Access Point Design; BlueCore Technology Enables Production of Lowest Cost Access Point.

Business Editors, High-Tech Writers

CTIA Wireless 2002

ORLANDO, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 20, 2002

CSR (Cambridge Silicon Radio) today launched a ready-engineered example of a point-to-point Bluetooth access point for dial-up networking.

This fully specified design will make it quicker and easier for companies to produce their own lowest cost V.90 access point using CSR's BlueCore technology and is being made available through CSR's website (www.csr.com).

The embedded system at the heart of the access point is focused on reducing costs to an absolute minimum by eliminating the need for a host microcontroller and by running the access point firmware directly on the Bluetooth chip. This exploits the availability of the on-chip microcontroller inside the CSR BlueCore2 chip. Costs are further minimized by the ability of the design to provide virtually Class 1 range without the need for a power amplifier.

CSR's V.90 design provides everything necessary to assist designers with their development of a fully featured access point incorporating Bluetooth. Included is an example PCB layout, circuit diagrams, circuit descriptions, complete BOM and all software (including the embedded Bluetooth stack). The dial-up networking profile required for this Bluetooth application runs in external Flash memory but the circuit design may be easily converted to a ROM based single chip solution.

A growing number of devices are being sold which incorporate Bluetooth, including PDAs, laptops, mobile phones and headsets. There is a need for more access points to connect these devices directly to networks to facilitate Internet or email access; this applies equally to the office and the home. The home user market for access points is however very price sensitive and it is this segment that CSR has chosen to address with its ultra low-cost V90 access point design. This is one of a series of example designs CSR will be launching to help electronic OEMs reduce the time, costs and risks of bringing Bluetooth products to market.

Eric Janson, vice president CSR North America, commented, "In making this design available we are promoting the wider development of Bluetooth access points for Internet connections in residential properties which typically only have a conventional dial-up network connection. Our design offers a quick and low risk route to a working access point at the lowest possible cost."

About CSR

CSR (Cambridge Silicon Radio) specializes in providing single-chip radio devices to the global market for short-range wireless communications, including Bluetooth(TM). The company's mission is to create the most highly integrated radio devices available, fabricated using standard CMOS technology, to provide its customers with the lowest cost of ownership of high quality digital radio.

CSR was the first company in the world to offer a true single-chip Bluetooth solution with BlueCore, a fully integrated 2.4 GHz radio, baseband and microcontroller. In Q4 2001 CSR released BlueCore2, its second generation family, and offer developed hardware/software bundles for each of the fastest growing Bluetooth applications markets. Users can combine the chips with the CSR Bluetooth software stack to provide a fully compliant solution for data and voice communications or, used with an upper layer host software stack, CSR is able to offer a complete Bluetooth end-to-end solution.

CSR has a growing list of major international companies including Sony, Compaq, IBM, Fujitsu, LG, ALPS, TDK, 3Com, Mitsumi, Siemens and Motorola, who have already used CSR's BlueCore in the development of a range of Bluetooth products. In fact, up to the end of 2001, 70% of available pre-qualified modules, as listed on the qualified products page of the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) web site, feature BlueCore01 and it is in 60% of all qualified Bluetooth v 1.1 enabled end product designs.

CSR is headquartered in Cambridge, UK, with offices in Richardson, Texas; Tokyo, Japan; Singapore and Aalborg, Denmark.

More information about CSR can be found on the web site at www.csr.com.