1999-10-09 , E/IC-1077/46
Product News From Philips Semiconductors

Bluetooth capability, although first appearing in mobile phones and laptop computers to bring mobile office communications to business users, has the potential to revolutionize connectivity in high-volume consumer markets. Highly integrated low-cost silicon system solutions from Philips Semiconductors will soon make this possible

By combining its world-class RF and baseband capabilities with the advanced baseband and ASIC technologies it acquired through its merger with VLSI Technology Inc., Philips Semiconductors, the largest European semiconductor manufacturer, has become the first semiconductor company in the world to introduce commercially available Bluetooth 1.0 compliant silicon system solutions. With a clear product roadmap towards highly integrated Bluetooth solutions and highly flexible embedded Bluetooth cores, this means that Philips Semiconductors already leads the field in bringing Bluetooth connectivity to mass-market communications and consumer products, ranging from cellular and cordless telephones, to PDAs, computers and digital cameras.

"The similarities to DECT, in which we are already a recognized world leader, meant that we were sixty to seventy percent there with the Bluetooth design before we even started," said Dirk Braune, International Product Marketing Manager for corded and cordless telephone ICs at Philips Semiconductors' Telecom Terminals Business Unit. "Adding VLSI's baseband technology, which was developed in direct collaboration with Bluetooth founder Ericsson, virtually gave us an instant total solution."

Philips Semiconductors' first Bluetooth chip-set, for which a complete hardware/software developer's kit is already available, will be ready by the beginning of next year. Fully compliant with Revision 1.0 of the official Bluetooth specification, this chip-set comprises a baseband controller (part no. VWS26002) that implements the Ericsson Bluetooth engine and protocol stack, plus a 'Low IF' single-chip transceiver (part no. UAA3558), and a baseband interface chip that couples the baseband controller to the transceiver.

"This provides our customers with a fully tested solution they can start using for Bluetooth development today, and it is just the beginning of a roadmap to more highly integrated and advanced Bluetooth products," said Braune. "By April next year we will have an enhanced baseband controller working with the UAA3558 transceiver, with specialized hardware and software for highly integrated Bluetooth solutions. And soon after that we'll have embedded system components to meet a wide range of different Bluetooth profiles."

This comprehensive range of Bluetooth solutions depends much on the synergies between Philips Semiconductors and VLSI Technology that prompted their merger. On the RF side, Philips Semiconductors contributes its 'Low IF' transceiver technology, which it originally developed for DECT. By allowing high-sensitivity alignment-free radio transceivers to be implemented without the need for SAW filters, this technology meets the low cost and small size requirements of Bluetooth applications. Philips Semiconductors has already incorporated its new UAA3558 Bluetooth transceiver into a thin-film hybrid RF module that measures only 10 x 12 mm, making it the smallest in the industry. The module requires absolutely no alignment, and consumes a mere 45 mA in receive mode and 30 mA in transmit mode.

Philips Semiconductors also adds its RF power amplifier technology, with an add-on power amplifier that boosts the Bluetooth wireless range from 10 metres to the 100 metres required in large office and outdoor applications. Although currently implemented in GaAs, this power amplifier will soon be migrated to an all-silicon design that will allow it to be integrated into the transceiver chip.

On the baseband side, VLSI Technology not only provided the first commercially available Bluetooth baseband controller. Its 'Velocity' Rapid Silicon Prototyping system has also been upgraded with all the elements needed for hardware/software co-design of Bluetooth systems or embedded Bluetooth ASICs using libraries of fully tested and re-usable IP blocks. Hardware IP blocks will allow high performance ARM or MIPS processor cores, memory systems, and peripheral interfaces such as USB ports or UARTs to be integrated alongside the company's new 'LightBlue' Bluetooth link controller. Velocity's software design tools will enable designers to bring together only those software blocks that are needed for the desired Bluetooth profile, so that they can meet the ROM size requirements of their systems.

Future generations of Bluetooth products will also benefit from new process and packaging technologies being introduced by Philips Semiconductors. As a result, it will be possible to integrate the baseband and RF parts into one IC. . Together with Philips Semiconductors' wealth of knowledge in the fields of cellular, cordless and wired communications and in audio, video and display technologies, these Bluetooth solutions will make the penetration of Bluetooth into mass market consumer applications only a few short steps away.

"By providing virtually instant connectivity plus the freedom to move about, Bluetooth has the potential to give us much greater flexibility in the way we all work and play," said Braune. "Philips Semiconductors is committed to providing the low-cost silicon solutions that will make it happen."

Philips Semiconductors, a division of Royal Philips Electronics, headquartered in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, is the eighth largest semiconductor supplier based on Dataquest's 1998 report (*). Headquartered in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, the company's innovations in digital audio, video, and mobile technology position it as a leader in the consumer, multimedia and wireless communications markets. Its recent acquisition of VLSI Technology (San Jose, California, USA) further enhances Philips Semiconductors' position as one of the world's leading suppliers of handset solutions for digital cellular and cordless telephone systems including GSM, CDMA, TDMA, DECT, ISM, GPRS and Bluetooth. In addition to these digital system solutions, Philips Semiconductors also produces ICs for wired and analog cordless telephony and paging. The company's activities are supported by sales offices in all major markets around the world, and by systems labs. Additional information on Philips Semiconductors can be obtained by accessing its home page at  www.semiconductors.philips.com

* Based on Vendor Revenue from Shipments of Total Semiconductors Worldwide according to Dataquest's 1998 Worldwide Semiconductor Market Share report published in May, 1999.