Platform supports development of new markets for mobile accessories

According to CSR, the µEnergy platform will provide everything required to create a Bluetooth low energy product with rf, baseband, microcontroller, qualified Bluetooth v4.0 stack, and customer applications running on a single chip. The platform is said to enable ultra low power connectivity for applications previously limited by the power consumption, size constraints and complexity of other wireless standards. Anthony Murray, senior vice president of the Audio and Consumer Business Unit at CSR, believes the platform unlocks the potential of the Bluetooth low energy standard and describes it as a 'huge step forward' in consumer wireless technology. Murray said: "Bluetooth low energy technology is an alternative to the fractured market of proprietary and poorly adopted standards and can be deployed in a variety of everyday devices, changing the way that we interact with our local environment. The ultra low power consumption of CSR's µEnergy platform enables a new range of accessories to connect to the mobile phone, tv, pc, media player or tablet, enabling consumers to experience the power of these services in the home or products that they carry. Bluetooth low energy sensors in consumer products will enable their behaviour to be customised to the needs of the user, and tags will enable consumers to search and locate products and services around them." The CSR µEnergy platform has been optimised to support only Bluetooth low energy features and CSR says that chips can run for years on a single coin cell battery. It is designed for use in consumer products and requires no external processor to run customer applications. It includes four quadurature decoders to enable mouse and pointing devices, three analogue inputs for direct measurement of sensor, and digital serial connectors for external sensors and displays. The chips each have direct antenna connections, can connect directly to a 3V coin cell or a pair of AAA batteries, and come with three pulse width modulation outputs for variable power control in applications such as lighting control or vibration motors. They can run in optimised sleep modes with currents as low as 600nA and the chips are designed to 'wake' quickly in response to external input signals for applications such as remote controls. Both chips provide embedded support for keyboard scanning while 'asleep' at below 5µA. Two package options are available - CSR1000, which comes in a 32pin 5x5x0.6mm QFN package, and CSR1001, which comes in a 56pin 8x8x0.9mm QFN and provides extra pins for more complex products with a larger number of digital inputs.