Nordic, Broadcom Develop Bluetooth 4.0 Device

Nordic Semiconductor ASA has announced successful wireless communication tests between a prototype design for a small, low-cost Bluetooth low energy proximity fob and Broadcom’s BCM4330, the industry’s first combo chip solution certified to the Bluetooth 4.0 standard.

The prototype fob design demonstrates the interoperability between Bluetooth low energy chips and Bluetooth v4.0 devices. Adherence to the Bluetooth v4.0 specification ensures that devices from different providers communicate seamlessly.

The recently released Bluetooth v4.0 Proximity Profile enables the communication between the fob and next generation host devices like laptops (using the Broadcom BCM20702) and mobile phones (using the BCM4330). The fob is designed to prevent a device such as a laptop being accessed in the owner’s absence. After ‘pairing’ with the chip in the mobile device, the user carries the fob on their person. If the distance between the user and the mobile device exceeds a pre-set threshold (as may occur, for example if the mobile device is left behind or stolen), the pairing is broken and the mobile device automatically locks.

The fob is based on a Nordic µBlue nRF8001 single chip Bluetooth low energy solution expected to be ready for volume production from early third quarter of this year. The nRF8001, a fully-tested and -compliant Bluetooth v4.0 peripheral solution, features power consumption that maximizes the battery life of the CR2032 coin-cell powered fob.

Broadcom’s BCM4330, the successor to the company’s BCM4329, is the industry’s first combo chip solution certified with the Bluetooth 4.0 standard (that includes Bluetooth low energy as a hallmark feature). The successful demonstration of interoperability between Broadcom’s host solutions and the µBlue nRF8001-based proximity fob makes for a great solution for systems that require proximity based security solutions for mobile devices – such as smartphones and laptop computers – and Bluetooth low energy proximity fobs which use coin-cell batteries. As Bluetooth low energy use cases proliferate, more prototypes and applications are expected to go through this interoperability process on their way to deployment.

Bluetooth low energy (now a hallmark part of the latest Bluetooth v4.0 specification, which was adopted by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group in June 2010) has been designed from the outset to extend Bluetooth wireless connectivity to compact, coin cell-powered devices. The .

Several Profiles, which allow the Bluetooth low energy software stack to be customized for a particular application, are due for release in the next several months, starting with the Proximity Profile used by the proximity fob prototype.

Nordic Semiconductor

Broadcom