SAN FRANCISCO -- At the Bluetooth Developers Conference here, Texas Instruments Inc. today announced a new ROM-based baseband processor for the short-distance wireless connection format. TI said its BSN6050 baseband chip will provide full data rate Bluetooth links at a "solution" price as low as $5 for system quantities over 2 million units next year.
Obviously, TI is gunning for mass-market consumer products with the new Bluetooth processor, which the Dallas-based chip company said is a fourth-generation baseband device fully compliant with revision 1.1 of the Bluetooth specification. The $5 solution includes the new baseband controller as well as a radio-frequency transceiver.
The ROM-based BSN6050 is a point-to-multipoint solution designed to deliver full Bluetooth data rates of 723 kilobits per second (DH5 packets), TI said. Its features include support for up to seven "piconet" links and up to three simultaneous SCO (synchronous connection oriented) voice channels, according to TI. The device also features master-slave switching. For power reduction applications, the device has "Park, Sniff and Hold" modes as well as a "deep sleep" mode for power-sensitive applications, said the company.
The new baseband processor is fabricated with a 0.18-micron (drawn) CMOS process technology. The BSN6050 offers a variety of interfacing options. For system interfacing, it supports two 1-megabit-per-second high-speed UARTs and for PC applications, a USB interface is offered with 12- Mbit/sec. bandwidth, TI said.
TI said its BSN6050 baseband solution--the baseband chip and a TRF6001 RF transceiver device--is designed for a range of Bluetooth applications, such as wireless information devices (cell phones, PDAs, printers, etc.), wireless device accessories (phone and music/MP3 players), access points (home automation), car telematics, and entertainment or PC peripherals. While some market observers continue to predict delays in Bluetooth products (see Dec. 10 story), TI cited a study by Strategy Analytics, which concluded that U.S. cellular phone users were willing to pay a 27% premium for Bluetooth connectivity in their handsets.
Engineering samples of the BSN6050 will be available to initial customers this month. Volume production is scheduled for mid-2002. The BSN6050 comes in a 10-by-10mm 151 ball-grid array (BGA) package.
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