Nye generation af 'low energy' Bluetooth chips

Under navnet µBlue vil Nordic Semiconductor senere på året lancere Bluetooth 'low energy' løsninger (in english).

Ultra low power (ULP) 2.4GHz RF specialist, Nordic Semiconductor, has provided a preview of µBlue, its upcoming Bluetooth low energy solution range. µBlue will bring Bluetooth wireless connectivity to portable devices running on small but standard coin cell (watch) batteries and support battery lifetimes from months to years depending on the application.

Bluetooth low energy is the next step in Bluetooth wireless technology, designed from scratch to consume only a fraction of the power of classic Bluetooth. Bluetooth low energy wireless technology supports two fundamentally different chip implementations called ‘single mode’ and ‘dual mode’.

Single mode chips will be the ones that deliver the true ultra low power consumption by being a Bluetooth low energy only implementation. Dual mode chips will be a combination of classic Bluetooth wireless technology and Bluetooth low energy in a single chip at a very small price differential. What dual mode will drive, however, is the rapid deployment of Bluetooth low energy because it is expected to become a de facto feature of, for example, almost all new cell phones and many computers. Single mode devices can connect to dual mode devices or other single mode devices.

Highly integrated single chip

µBlue will be a range of single mode Bluetooth low energy solutions based on a single chip architecture integrating radio, baseband and microcontroller with fully embedded Bluetooth low energy software stacks. By providing a complete solution, µBlue significantly eases the effort and cost for manufacturers to make Bluetooth low energy wireless enabled products. This high level of integration, tiny chip size and low external component count makes µBlue ideal for size constrained applications like watches and wearable sensors. µBlue will also be made available in a number of targeted application variants to suit the specific requirements of products in various market segments.

A micro ampere Bluetooth wireless solution

µBlue will provide a true ULP wireless solution with peak currents low enough to support standard coin cell battery operation and micro ampere range average current in connected mode enabling months to years of battery lifetime.

This means that µBlue will drastically expand the range of applicable application areas where manufacturers can take advantage of Bluetooth wireless connectivity as well as deliver an improved user experience in existing applications.

While classic Bluetooth solutions typically require rechargeable batteries and weekly charging cycles, µBlue will support applications that use non-rechargeable batteries, such as coin cells, and that therefore need to deliver months to years of battery lifetime to avoid end user frustration. Applications that use classic Bluetooth today like Bluetooth enabled watches and remote controls can benefit on both battery lifetime and cost by migrating to µBlue Bluetooth low energy wireless technology.

Ultra low power wireless with mobile phone connectivity

While the single mode implementation is the true ultra low power solution in Bluetooth low energy, crucially important for its widescale adoption will be its dual mode implementation.

Dual mode will combine Bluetooth low energy and classic Bluetooth on a single chip with a very small price delta compared to a classic Bluetooth solution. Combined with the fact that the two radio technologies can share most of the radio circuitry, Bluetooth low energy has the potential for fast and near saturation adoption in classic Bluetooth applications like mobile phones. With this connectivity to mobile phones, µBlue will enable manufacturers to create new and innovative products centered around the cell phone. Not only is the cell phone a natural hub device, but the latest designs also typically feature internet connectivity and large color displays that can all be leveraged for new applications.

Leading radio performance

The ultra low power consumption of µBlue does not come with a compromise on radio performance. µBlue is built on Nordic Semiconductor’s latest class-leading ULP 2.4GHz radio technology and is therefore expected to deliver best-in-class sensitivity and blocking performance from launch. Combined with the robust adaptive frequency hopping of Bluetooth low energy, µBlue will provide excellent co-existence performance with other radios like Wi-Fi and classic Bluetooth.

Estimated general availability of the first µBlue products is late 2009. The first offerings will include the nRF8001, a single mode Bluetooth low energy slave solution ideal for applications like watches, mobile phone peripherals, remote controls and sensors. More detailed specifications and pricing indications will be supplied at the official product launch later this year.