Bluetooth chip runs audio onboard

Edited by the Electronicstalk editorial team Nov 13, 2003

The novel UltimateBlue Audio solution combines Clear Voice Capture software from Clarity Technologies with Silicon Wave's single-chip UltimateBlue Bluetooth ICs.

The novel UltimateBlue Audio solution combines Clear Voice Capture software from Clarity Technologies with Silicon Wave's single-chip UltimateBlue Bluetooth ICs.

The solution eliminates the need for a costly DSP, and has been optimised to run on the 32bit ARM7TDMI processor core, which is embedded in the Silicon Wave SiW3000 and SiW3500 chips.

UltimateBlue Audio delivers a low-cost, high-performance audio solution for Bluetooth wireless devices.

"We are impressed with Clarity's Clear Voice Capture (CVC) technology, especially their noise cancellation solution that specifically addresses our customer's needs", said Steve Brown, Vice President of Business Development and Product Marketing for Silicon Wave.

"Our UltimateBlue Audio incorporates the benefits of Clarity's industry-leading technology to deliver a superior audio experience with less background distractions such as road, wind and crowd noise".

The addition of the UltimateBlue Audio to Silicon Wave's portfolio of products provides customers with a total audio solution for wireless headsets, phones and other mobile devices.

Running the CVC audio algorithms and Silicon Wave's UltimateBlue Embedded Software stack, which includes headset and handsfree profile support, directly on the ARM7TDMI processor core embedded in the UltimateBlue single-chip ICs, reduces the total cost of a Bluetooth product while significantly enhancing its audio performance.

"There are two key factors for great audio in Bluetooth devices, a high-quality RF radio link to eliminate drop outs and interference and post processing of voice to eliminate background noise", said Jim Wargnier, Executive Vice President, Engineering Operations for Clarity.

"Silicon Wave's UltimateBlue radio processors provide superior radio performance in a compact single-chip form factor with an embedded ARM7TDMI processor core that provides enough MIPS to run our CVC algorithms.

The result is clear voice quality".

UltimateBlue Audio is available exclusively from RF Micro Devices, Silicon Wave's global channel partner for its CMOS single-chip radio processor and stand-alone radio modem Bluetooth solutions.