Nordic ships ULP Bluetooth silicon and kits

The Bluetooth low energy specification is still under development by Nordic (Oslo, Norway) is providing a complete beta implementation, including host and profiles subsystem, enabling customers to begin both hardware and software development of their first single mode Bluetooth low energy applications.

Nordic expects to have a feature complete and qualified product shortly after the specification is finalized by the Bluetooth SIG.

"Even though the Bluetooth low energy specification is still under development and some aspect of the product will have to be completed and changed, we have a complete solution that works," said Thomas Embla Bonnerud, product manager for ultra low power wireless at Nordic Semiconductor.

Bluetooth low energy wireless technology will encourage rapid deployment of ultra-low power (ULP) wireless by providing a technology that is interoperable. It will enable products to communicate with mobile phones and PCs featuring modified Bluetooth wireless technology transceivers opening up a whole new range of possibilities.

The technology will operate in the globally accepted 2.4GHz Industrial, Scientific & Medical (ISM) band. It features a physical layer bit rate of 1Mbps over a range up to 15 meters.

The Bluetooth low energy wireless technology specification will feature two implementations, namely 'dual mode' and 'single mode'. In the dual mode implementation Bluetooth low energy functionality is integrated into classic Bluetooth circuitry. The resulting architecture shares much of Bluetooth technology's existing functionality and physical radio and results in a minimal, if any, cost increase compared to contemporary Bluetooth chips.

Nordic plans to demonstrate the technology and showcase the development kit at the IMS Bluetooth Evolution Conference in London on Nov 17 and the Second International Bluetooth low energy Conference in Beijing, China, Nov 19.

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