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CSR has launched a new Bluetooth chip and example design that dramatically reduces the cost of Bluetooth headsets and stimulates market demand. CSR’s new BlueVOX-QFN chip, together with all of the necessary components for a Bluetooth mono headset, will cost OEMs only $6 bill of materials (eBOM), meaning they can now produce Bluetooth headsets at a fraction of current costs

CSR’s BlueVOX-QFN is available, and headsets using BlueVOX QFN are expected to be on the market by this spring.

BlueVOX QFN is the only Bluetooth headset chip available that enables the use of a low cost, two-layer, single-sided PCB. This means lower overall cost, faster PCB design time and simpler manufacturing than alternative solutions that require PCBs with four or more layers.

With a powerful +5.5 dBm transmitter and a sensitive -88 dBm receiver, the new device offers superior RF performance to any Bluetooth headset solution announced so far. This performance advantage means that headsets designed using the BlueVOX QFN chip will, for example, be noticeably better when there is no line-of-sight connection between the headset and the phone.

Power consumption is also better than any announced headset solution, with a battery life of up to 10 hours using a small lightweight battery. The device’s internal battery charger uses an advanced charging algorithm, including temperature-controlled charging. In addition the charging circuitry can also support low cost Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) batteries.

CSR has launched BlueVOX QFN with an accompanying example design that simplifies the task of creating a high-quality, low-cost headset. The example design includes schematic layout, BOM and Gerber files. The total eBOM of $6 covers the silicon plus costs for lithium battery, PCB, microphone and speaker plus all of the necessary additional electronic components.