BusinessWire
March 31, 2006 01:00 AM US Pacific Timezone

CSR Drives Down the Cost of Designing Bluetooth Headsets BlueVOX1 Enables Low Cost Bluetooth Headsets to Be Designed in 60 Minutes

CAMBRIDGE, England--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 31, 2006--CSR PLC (LSE:CSR):

CSR PLC the wireless technology innovator and world leader in Bluetooth, today launched a design solution package which allows customers to create a high-performance, low cost Bluetooth headset in as little as 60 minutes. CSR's BlueVOX1 incorporates all the necessary hardware, software, design notes and support for advanced Bluetooth headset design, allowing manufacturers to create, customise new products and get them to market with minimal delay. CSR's comprehensive interoperability pre-testing and pre-qualified hardware and software make Bluetooth qualification of the end-product a formality, further reducing time to market. Under soon to be adopted rules this qualification cost could be reduced to zero.

Karen Parnell, product marketing manager, CSR explained, "The Bluetooth headset market has grown dramatically in recent years and is now entering early maturity, putting pressure on manufacturers to reduce the bill of materials (BOM) if they are to remain competitive. Meanwhile, headset suppliers are struggling to meet ever-rising consumer expectations for headset design and functionality. The BlueVOX1 system provides all the technological elements required for producing a robust and high-performance headset, leaving the designers with more time to concentrate on differentiating their offering through customisation and industrial design innovation."

The BlueVOX1 package includes CSR's single-chip BlueCore4 hardware to achieve the ultra-low power consumption levels required by today's headset makers. The chip is highly integrated with on-chip switch mode power supply, lithium battery charger and audio codec. Power consumption for active voice calling is less than 13mA, falling to just 0.076mA in standby mode. This power consumption can be reduced even further when the headset is connected to an HFP1.5 EDR capable phone, reducing the power consumption by more than 15%. Headset V4 application software featuring the new handsfree profile (HFP) 1.5 to support EDR and eSCO which improves audio quality by allowing retransmissions of corrupted voice data are also enabled in the BlueVOX1 solution. The chip includes new wind noise filter, which allows you to use your headset even in windy environments. CSR's BlueVOX1 Solution Development System (SDS), which includes mono headset Software Development Kit (SDK), headset-specific hardware development kit, fully tested reference design, headset application source code, "Configurator" and local technical support are also crucial elements of BlueVOX1.

"By using the ROM-based development kit and straightforward Windows-based set up GUI featured in BlueVOX1, called the Configurator," noted Parnell, "it is possible to design a competitive headset product in just one hour."

About CSR

CSR plc is the leading global provider of Bluetooth technology and has developed expertise in other single-chip wireless communication standards such as Wi-Fi (IEEE802.11). CSR offers developed hardware/software solutions for Bluetooth based around BlueCore, a fully integrated 2.4 GHz radio, baseband and microcontroller.

CSR has now launched its fifth generation BlueCore suite and is in volume manufacture of its fourth generation BlueCore devices. BlueCore4 supports the Enhanced Data Rate (EDR) standard which was ratified at the end of 2004. BlueCore4 remains the only EDR silicon to be shipping in volume today. In November 2004 CSR launched UniFi, the first single chip 802.11a/b/g embedded solution specifically targeting the mobile phone and consumer electronics markets.

BlueCore features in over 50 per cent of all Bluetooth devices shipped and over 60 per cent of all qualified Bluetooth enabled products and modules listed on the Bluetooth website with industry leaders including Nokia, Dell, Panasonic, Sharp, Motorola, IBM, Apple, NEC, Toshiba, RIM and Sony using BlueCore devices in their range of Bluetooth products.

In March 2005, CSR acquired Clarity Technologies Inc., for its Clear Voice Capture (CVC) technology that enhances the audio performance of any voice-based product or system. Applications for CVC include wireless headsets, handsets and automotive hands free systems.

In August 2005, CSR completed the acquisition of UbiNetics' software business, providing a strong R&D team to accelerate its existing software development in Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and UWB. The UbiNetics team gives CSR the capacity to extend its offering to mobile handset customers.

CSR has its headquarters and offices in Cambridge, UK, and offices in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, China, India, France, Denmark, Sweden and both Texas and Detroit in the USA.

More information can be found at www.csr.com and the partner web site www.btdesigner.com

More information about Bluetooth technology can be found on the SIG web site at www.bluetooth.com