Cambridge, UK-based CSR plc has launched its fifth generation of BlueCore, the Bluetooth hardware and software solution. It has also released its BlueMedia enhancements using new DSPs embedded inside the IC to bring both improved audio performance and added radio functionality.

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BlueCore5-Multimedia includes a doubling of the processing power of the DSP co-processor to 64 MIPS. The on-chip memory in BlueCore5-Multimedia has also been upgraded to 156 Kbytes SRAM, and improvements to the internal stereo analog Codecs now provide up to 90 dB signal to noise ratio. The BlueCore5-Multimedia IC is aimed at the increasingly sophisticated Bluetooth accessory market including mono and stereo headsets, automotive systems and music players. This chip combines a fifth-generation Bluetooth core and uses the BlueMedia enhancement to embed CSR’s second-generation ClearVoiceCapture (CVC) technology for improved on-chip echo cancellation and noise suppression. In addition, the BlueMedia enhancements are sized to run a wider range of digital music compression and decompression Codecs including MP3+, AAC, WMA3, and ATRAC, as well as new additional audio functions including voice recognition, text-to-speech synthesis and 3D-postitional surround sound.

BlueCore5-ROM features the fifth-generation Bluetooth core as a stand-alone IC to give the lowest power consumption, cost and size in the industry and is targeted for those applications, including the mobile phone, that already include a separate DSP co-processor. In this case CSR can provide the BlueMedia DSP software to run on the separate IC optimiz ed to run in conjunction with CSR ICs.

BlueMedia on-chip DSP enhancements are also used in its BlueCore5 ICs to offer other non-Bluetooth radios for broadcast reception. The first of these will be BlueCore5-FM, with FM radio embedded in the Bluetooth silicon. This IC is targeted at those applications that are looking to reduce the cost, size and power consumption of existing broadcast receivers at the same time as upgrading to include Bluetooth.

BlueCore5-Multimedia and BlueCore5-ROM will start sampling from Q4, 2005. BlueCore5-FM will start sampling in early 2006. Despite added functionality and performance, prices for the BlueCore5 range from $3 to $5.