Fully integrated, single-chip Bluetooth 1.2 device enables cell phone, smart phones, and PDAs to run longer
STMicroelectronics announced that the company is sampling its latest Bluetooth product, the STLC2500, a single-chip product for handheld terminal applications that adds full Bluetooth v1.2 function and capability with superior radio performance and very low power consumption. The STLC2500 includes a highly integrated radio, a base-band using the Ericsson Core Bluetooth Baseband Platform Q-E1, an ARM7 microprocessor core, RAM, ROM, and patch RAM, all on the same silicon die. Its high level of integration requires with very few additional external components.
The STLC2500 is produced in ST's HCMOS9, 0.13 micron, low-power technology, designed for ultra-low-leakage transistor performance. In addition, the device supports various low-power modes. The STLC2500 is the world's most power-efficient Bluetooth IC, using only 10.9 milliamps (mA) for audio communication, 21.8 milliamps (mA) for symmetrical data transfer and 6 microamps ( A) in shutdown mode. These power levels set a new benchmark for low power consumption with a Bluetooth device making it ideal for mobile applications.
The Bluetooth radio embedded in the STLC2500 has a proven track record for achieving superior performance. The receiver assures excellent stability and sensitivity performance, under clean or dirty transmitter conditions, and over the complete range of voltage and temperature. The receiver maintains its solid performance even with a very high maximum useable input power.The result is a very low bit error rate, enabling high throughputs. The overall robustness of the radio results in unprecedented audio quality.
Ease of interfacing is available via the UART (Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter) and PCM (Pulse Coded Modulation), while general-purpose I/O's are available for the implementation of a software-configurable 2, 3, or 4-wire WLAN- (wireless local area network) coexistence and collocation hardware scheme.
STLC2500 is offered in an 84-ball, 6x6x1.2 mm, 0.5mm pitch TFBGA package. Ease of RF integration on the printed-circuit board is assured through a full-function reference design with few external components and the fact that the STLC2500 does not require any RF calibration. This flexibility and ease of development results in fast time-to-market for customers designing Bluetooth applications. The STLC2500 is competitively priced at under $3 for the total Bluetooth solution, including external components.
