IPextreme Bluetooth Core Lowers Power Consumption up to 50% for High Volume Mobile Applications

- Up-and-coming semiconductor intellectual property (IP) company, IPextreme, today announced the availability of the XBlue™ 1200 Core, a complete, self-contained Host Controller Interface (HCI) Bluetooth embedded solution that lowers overall Bluetooth power consumption by up to 50%. Ideally suited for high-volume battery-operated consumer applications, the XBlue architecture, with its low gate count, small memory footprint, and ease of integration, drives total system cost for adding Bluetooth to under $2.50. IPextreme will leverage the proven track record of Mezoe's v1.2 qualified Bluetooth software, to provide embedded designers with a complete solution, consisting of the XBlue 1200 Core, Mezoe's high-level Bluetooth stack, profiles and application examples, along with IPextreme's Bluetooth Development Kit. Mezoe is a brand of the leading design and development company, Cambridge Consultants.

Rather than choosing which Bluetooth radio to support at IP compile time, the XBlue 1200 Core, is the first Bluetooth core to support multiple radios in silicon. This gives companies flexibility for second-sourcing radios and the option to defer final radio selection much later in the design cycle. In addition, the XBlue Core significantly reduces power consumption via its embedded 6811-compatible 8-bit microcontroller, which efficiently handles all real-time Bluetooth activity, reducing the load and power consumption of the host CPU. Its automatic power management feature shuts down 99%of the logic within the baseband controller and microcontroller, and places the radio into sleep mode when there is no Bluetooth activity. >

The XBlue 1200 Core, which consists of fully integrated Bluetooth baseband controller hardware and link manager software supporting the v1.2 Bluetooth specification, enables fast time-to-market with its "drop-in" black box architecture and support of industry standard interfaces and APIs. The XBlue 1200 Core connects to any host CPU via a standard plug-and-play UART interface and is compatible with any qualified Bluetooth high-level stack and application profiles. It also includes a comprehensive verification environment, with bus functional models and test suites to simplify SoC integration.

Mezoe Joins IPextreme's Nexus Program

Mezoe has joined IPextreme's Nexus partner program, which provides a sales and support channel for companies that wish to broaden their distribution channel for high-value IP. The XBlue 1200 Core used together with Mezoe's high-level Bluetooth stack, profiles and application examples, along with IPextreme's Bluetooth Development Kit, which includes Mezoe's Interface Express™ and BlueStack®, a powerful and easy-to-use software suite, enables quick Bluetooth application development and integration for engineers with all levels of Bluetooth expertise.

"By participating in the Nexus program, we can ensure easy and cost effective integration for engineers who want to add Bluetooth technology to their embedded designs," said Richard Traherne, Business Manager at Mezoe. "Our rich set of Bluetooth v1.2 qualified profiles and proven protocol stack will enable users to quickly and reliably add wireless functionality to their products."

Pricing and Availability

The XBlue 1200 Core, Bluetooth Development Kit, and Mezoe Interface Express are available today from IPextreme. The Bluetooth Development Kit is priced at $3000. For more information and pricing regarding the XBlue 1200 Core and Mezoe Interface Express, contact an IPextreme representative at (800) 619-0618.

About IPextreme>

IPextreme is a thought leader in semiconductor IP. IPextreme creates, licenses, and brokers semiconductor IP and provides IP design and methodology services. In order to provide trusted, high-quality IP, IPextreme is committed to the continuous improvement of the design process itself, adhering to the principles of Extreme Programming, a software development methodology that embraces customer collaboration and takes sensible development practices to an extreme. IPextreme is a privately held company with locations in Campbell, California and Munich, Germany. For more information, please visit www.ip-extreme.com.