Bluetooth, GPS to become ubiquitous


location based services

Jul. 27, 2007In its financial report for the quarter ending June 29, 2007, CSR (formerly Cambridge Silicon Radio) forecast continued growth in the Bluetooth market, particularly in new non-cellular areas such as PMPs, gaming consoles, cars, and cameras. Interestingly, the company said it is readying a Bluetooth chip with built-in software-based GPS.
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CSR said it expects the proportion of new cars that include Bluetooth -- such as the %20target=" new?>Windows Automotive-enabled Fiat 500 -- to increase from the five to eight percent seen today to 30 percent in the medium term. Aftermarket car-kits such as TomTom products incorporate CSR's Bluetooth technology, the company noted. The company also said it will sample what is claimed to be the industry's first ULP Bluetooth silicon by the end of this year. Previously known as Wibree, ULP Bluetooth can be used to transfer simple data sets between compact devices, and reportedly runs for up to ten years on a single "button cell" battery. It can be incorporated into products such as watches, training shoes, and TV remotes. Also significant is the market opportunity for Ultra-Wide Band (UWB), expected to become the wireless alternative for USB. It is up to 100 times faster than Bluetooth over short ranges, according to CSR, and will be launched in single-chip, low-power format in 2008.Finally, the company said it plans to integrate a software-based, high performance GPS solution onto a Bluetooth chip, bringing GPS into a wide range of new low-cost devices. "Development ... is on schedule ... and product launch still on track for 2008," according to the company.CSR already offers the BlueCore 5-Multimedia, a Bluetooth chip that has on-chip memory and a 64 MIPS DSP (digital signal processor). It includes a stereo amplifier and, optionally, a text-to-speech function for talking caller ID. The BlueCore 5-FM adds an FM receiver to the mix, with interference suppression that reportedly ensures no conflict between FM and Bluetooth.