RF Micro Devices, Inc. has announced the SiW4000 system-on-chip (SoC) Bluetooth solution with Enhanced Data Rate (EDR) for up to three times faster throughput than current Bluetooth 1.2 devices. With its small size, low power consumption and low bill of materials (BOM) cost, the SiW4000 is specifically designed for mobile phone applications.

Developed using a 0.13 micron CMOS process technology with inherently lower operating voltage, the SiW4000 consumes three times less power than current Bluetooth products. Low power consumption is critical to maintaining the talk time and standby time required of today's feature-rich mobile phones. Efficient memory utilization and small die size allow the SiW4000 to be assembled in an easy-to-use 4.5 x 4.5mm ball grid array (BGA) package, which provides a 40 percent reduction in size compared to current solutions and minimizes the footprint of the printed circuit board (PCB). Requiring only eight external components, including six capacitors, one inductor and one band pass filter, the SiW4000 lowers the overall BOM cost.

The SiW4000 features Enhanced Data Rate (EDR), which delivers two- to three-times higher data transfer rates than the current Bluetooth 1.2 specification and is backward compatible with Bluetooth V1.1 and V1.2 devices. The SiW4000 also provides a coexistence interface to reduce interference with collocated 802.11 systems.