Product category: Reference Designs
News Release from: TTPCom | Subject: Bluetooth integration
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial Team on 11 December 2001
Software upgrade puts
$3 Bluetooth into handsets
TTPCom has revealed its strategy for making Bluetooth a viable mass-market technology for inclusion in low cost cellular handsets
TTPCom has revealed its strategy for making Bluetooth a viable mass-market technology for inclusion in low cost cellular handsets by offering a simple two-phase GSM Bluetooth integration roadmap for handset and silicon manufacturers. Phase 1 allows cellular handset manufacturers to add complete Bluetooth functionality to their devices through a simple software upgrade to the TTPCom GSM/GPRS stack plus an interface to any of the standard Bluetooth chipsets currently available.
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 11 December 2001 at 8.00am (UK)
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Phase 2 for silicon companies will deliver a pre-integrated dual-mode Bluetooth GSM/GPRS Baseband hardware solution that allows all of the GSM/GPRS and Bluetooth software to run on the same embedded processor.
Bluetooth is integrated into the handset through this dual mode chipset and the addition of a separate standard Bluetooth radio device to the system.
This significantly reduces the cost of adding Bluetooth to a handset, provides much better power consumption and reduces the footprint and complexity of the handset.
"The market outlook for Bluetooth in cellular terminals is very encouraging", commented Charles Sturman, Bluetooth product manager at TTPCom.
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"A recent report from ARC Group9 predicted that Bluetooth penetration in cellular handsets will reach 75% by 2006.
If you combine this with market indicators that point towards more than 1 billion cellular subscribers by 2004, it implies healthy opportunities for Bluetooth technology".
He added, "Our phase 2 approach will add less than $1 to the cost of the GSM/GPRS silicon device (in terms of additional silicon area).
With a separate Bluetooth RF device now available for around $2 to $3, we can deliver a Bluetooth enabled handset for around $3 additional cost to the bill of materials (BOM) today.
This delivers a significant cost saving over the "$5" chips that it is claimed will be available in the future".
He continued "TTPCom's highly integrated approach is only made possible by having full visibility and ownership of all components of both the Bluetooth and GSM/GPRS systems and by considering the problem when we started our Bluetooth development.
It is extremely difficult, if not impossible to guarantee reliable operation and timely co-existence of such real-time critical protocols without owning all the technology".
Phase 1 splits the system at the host controller interface (HCI).
The real-time baseband layer software runs on the CPU within the Bluetooth digital baseband device and the host protocol stack and application software runs on the CPU within the GSM/GPRS digital baseband device.
This allows flexible sourcing of the Bluetooth chipset, but requires a physical connection (ie UART) between devices and more significantly, requires two CPUs and memory subsystems in addition to the inherent overhead of two silicon devices (silicon fab, packaging and test).
Moreover, the possibilities for power conservation are limited due to the hard system partitioning which this represents.
Phase 2 embeds the Bluetooth baseband into the GSM/GPRS chipset and the HCI interface and any physical connection can be completely removed.
All the software (Bluetooth baseband layer, host protocol stack and GSM/GPRS stack) can run together on a single CPU.
The advantages include reduced power consumption by tightly coupling the GSM/GPRS and Bluetooth low power modes and lower device footprint, and a significantly lower bill of materials (BOM) for the Bluetooth enabled terminal.
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