CSR µEnergy platform powers Bluegiga Bluetooth low energy OEM module

CAMBRIDGE, ENGLAND & SAN JOSE, USA: CSR plc announced that CSR’s leading performance µEnergy platform has been selected by Bluegiga Technologies for its new BLE211 Bluetooth low energy OEM module.

Targeting sensors and accessories requiring ultra-low-power connectivity, the BLE211 module provides OEMs with an easy way to integrate Bluetooth low energy technology based on CSR’s µEnergy platform into their products and bring them to market quickly.

The BLE211 module opens the door for simple integration of CSR’s Bluetooth low energy technology into a variety of industrial, medical and consumer electronics applications. Markets for the BLE211 include sports and fitness, medical and healthcare, home and industrial automation, mobile PC and phone accessories, security and proximity tracking. In healthcare, for example, the BLE211 can provide connectivity for gym fitness equipment, weight scales, blood pressure monitors and other medical devices.

The CSR µEnergy platform provides the BLE211 with proven interoperability and full certification to all the appropriate radio standards, making it simple for OEMs to integrate the module into a wide variety of devices.

“As a leader in the development of Bluetooth low energy solutions, CSR recognises there is great demand for new applications that feature the connectivity and extended battery life benefits of this emerging technology, but not everyone can spend time integrating and testing separate components,” said Anthony Murray, senior VP of the audio and consumer business unit at CSR.

“Many OEMs have been waiting for a fast, straightforward solution for embedding Bluetooth low energy technology into their products, and through this new Bluegiga module, CSR is now helping to make this possible.”

“The partnership with CSR has enabled us to manufacture the BLE211, which we consider the most straightforward route on the market today to integrating Bluetooth low energy functionality,” said Mikko Savolainen, vice president of product management for Bluegiga Technologies. “When selecting our Bluetooth low energy platform, it made sense to partner with a company that was well ahead of the game in terms of Bluetooth low energy development, and who could offer us high performance and good value for money. That company was CSR.”

The BLE211 OEM module offers what customers need to build a Bluetooth low energy application, including radio, antenna, microcontroller for running customer applications, Bluetooth stack and flexible hardware interfaces to connect sensors, displays or other peripherals. It can act as a master or slave device, and can be powered directly with a standard 3-V coin cell battery or pair of AAA batteries, consuming only 600 nA in lowest power sleep mode.

The BLE211 module uses CSR’s qualified Bluetooth v4.0 host stack, and features the Generic Access Profile (GAP), L2CAP, Security Manager, Attribute Protocol (ATT) and Generic Attribute Profile (GATT). It is also provided with fully BT4.0 compliant GATT profiles to easily enable the latest applications to be created on chip.