Broadcom Announces Industry's First Dedicated Bluetooth(TM) Headset Solution
Superior Audio Quality, Talk-Time and BOM Enable Headset Makers to Drive Wireless Bluetooth Headsets Into the Mainstream Headset Market
IRVINE, Calif., Feb. 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Broadcom Corporation (Nasdaq: BRCM - news), the leading provider of integrated circuits enabling broadband communications, today announced the Broadcom® BCM2013, the industry's first Bluetooth(TM) solution developed specifically for use in wireless mobile phone headsets. The device integrates Broadcom's proven Bluetooth radio together with a baseband specifically designed for the Bluetooth headset market, providing a single chip that offers size, cost and performance advantages over existing solutions.
The BCM2013's headset-specific baseband enables audio purity, power conservation and retail price-points that general purpose Bluetooth devices simply cannot achieve. Superior audio quality is achieved through the combination of Broadcom's proven Bluetooth radio performance and proprietary on-chip filtering and smoothing algorithms. The BCM2013 enables wireless headsets to provide audio quality that rivals traditional wired headsets. Using a Bluetooth-enabled headset, mobile phone users can wirelessly connect to their phone handset, carrying on conversations while leaving their hands free for other tasks.
Designed with power conservation in mind, and capable of supporting many different battery chemistries, the BCM2013 enables talk-times that are greater than those advertised by competing solutions. Broadcom has demonstrated reference designs built on the BCM2013 with talk-times exceeding 10 hours using a 190mAh Li-Ion battery.
``Wireless headsets offer a better customer experience than wired headsets, all other factors being equal. Most wired headset customers have had the annoying experience of getting tangled up in their headset wire,'' said Gordon Burk, Director of Marketing for Bluetooth Headsets at Broadcom. ``With better audio quality than wired headsets, ten hours of talk-time and mainstream price-points, we expect wireless headsets based on the BCM2013 to quickly displace wired headsets in the market place.''
A BCM2013-based evaluation kit, the BCM92013EV, and a reference design, the BCM92013RD, are available to help OEM customers accelerate their introduction of headset products to market. The evaluation kit comes with user-friendly software and is intended to assist customers to analyze the BCM2013's radio performance and functional modes.
The reference design is a 20 x 15 millimeter, ready-to-manufacture, headset module. Layout, schematic, gerber file and bill-of-materials (BOM) are all available. Headset manufacturers should be able to design a complete headset for less than $18, which includes, the battery, speaker, microphone, plastics and everything contained in the reference design, including the BCM2013 chip.
``There are many useful Bluetooth applications, but the wireless headset is the one with perhaps the greatest mass appeal,'' continued Burk. ``Consumers instantly understand the benefit of a wireless headset, and recognition of this value should drive Bluetooth into virtually every cell phone by the end of 2004.''
BCM2013 samples are available now and volume production is scheduled to begin in March 2002.
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