CEVA extends connectivity product line with Bluetooth 2.0+EDR

(Product News, 20 Mar 2007)

CEVA Inc., a leading licensor of innovative intellectual property (IP) platform solutions and DSP cores for wireless, consumer and multimedia applications, has released a new platform solution for Bluetooth Specification Version 2.0+EDR, providing Enhanced Data Rate (EDR) performance to chip designers looking to embed Bluetooth in consumer or automotive integrated circuits. Leveraging on the Company’s silicon-proven and fully certified Bluetooth 1.2 solution, CEVA’s low power Bluetooth 2.0+EDR IP provides full flexibility in the choice of CPU, Bluetooth radio chipset and operating system. This fully adaptable architecture offers customers a range of system configurations when incorporating Bluetooth into their designs, a crucial selection factor when choosing Bluetooth IP.

The increasing rate of adoption of Bluetooth in consumer devices has created renewed demand for the short-range wireless technology in both entry-level and high-end applications. Bluetooth 2.0+EDR offers maximum useful transfer rates of 2.1 Megabits per second (Mbps) compared to 721 Kilobits per second (kbps) achievable with certified Bluetooth 1.2 technology. The Enhanced Data Rate enables a new range of applications previously unfeasible with lower data rate Bluetooth, such as streaming high definition stereo audio and sharing large multimedia files. These new consumer-driven applications for Bluetooth give both mobile multimedia and consumer electronics developer’s more incentive to integrate the technology into their products. In addition, for power-conscious mobile device applications, this increase in transfer rate means that, for a given amount of data, the EDR radio will be active up to 3 times less than a radio operating with Bluetooth 1.2.

"CEVA has a strong track record in Bluetooth development, with the first platform delivered in 1999. The Company's certified Bluetooth 1.2 solution is shipping with a number of licensees and customer demand for the technology continues to grow, particularly in APAC," said John Ryan, Vice President and General Manager, Communications Business Unit, CEVA. "With the development of our latest Bluetooth platform, we offer a migration path to Bluetooth 2.0+EDR and provide our licensees with a robust solution for integration into their SoC designs, saving die size and lowering the overall Bill of Materials in the process."

CEVA Bluetooth 2.0+EDR is a complete hardware and software Bluetooth Baseband IP solution designed for the embedded market. This fully adaptable and flexible solution comprises of:
• Hardware IP: Bluetooth 2.0+EDR baseband engine, available as fully synthesizable Verilog RTL code that can be integrated into customers' SoCs.
• Software IP: Bluetooth 2.0+EDR Controller software stack (up to and including HCI). For maximum portability the protocol stack is implemented in ANSI C and can operate with or without an RTOS.

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