Two-chip Bluetooth system

Xemics' two-chip Bluetooth solution, using the recent Skyworks' 1.2 compatible radio, sees overall PCB surface required shrink to less than 49 mm2. This means that the two-chip solution is even smaller than the 'single chip solutions' available.

The XE1401 is the first member of the EasyBlue family and is tailored for battery powered applications requiring both SCO and ACL connection types. Clear and simple-to-use EasyBlue tools and a starter kit also exist for first-time Bluetooth developers.

The ROM-based system ensures a very low power consumption. This can be achieved using any supply ranging from 1.8 up to 3.6 V, which enables applications to take advantage of the wide choice of low cost batteries available. To optimise the system's power budget, an on-chip level shifter can be used to evenly mix different supply voltages inside one system.

The device is a standalone Bluetooth baseband protocol-on-chip solution providing full Bluetooth functionality from the radio interface up to the host controller interface (HCI). This ultra low power 'add-on' Bluetooth baseband device targets all battery powered applications with an already existing 8, 16 or 32 bit host controller.