New Single-Chip Bluetooth LSI from Toshiba Integrates RF and Baseband Circuits

Toshiba Rolling Out Complete Bluetooth System Solution for North American Customer Base

SAN JOSE, Calif., December 09, 2002 -- Toshiba America Electronic Components, Inc. (TAEC) today announced a new single-chip Bluetooth™ large scale integration (LSI) that integrates radio frequency (RF) and baseband circuits. Designated TC35654, the single-chip device is targeted at applications, such as cellular phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs) and other hand-held products as well as many emerging applications that require wireless connectivity, such as telematics, set-top boxes, small office/home office routers and residential gateways. At the same time, TAEC announced the North American availability of a complete lineup of Bluetooth semiconductor products, including RF and baseband chipsets and a full software protocol stack.

"We view Bluetooth wireless communications as one of the most important digital communications technologies and believe we are very well positioned to capture a sizable share of the market," said Farhad Mafie, vice president of the ASSP Business Unit at TAEC. "One of our keys to success is our ability to marshal manufacturing capacity and rapidly deliver in volume. In addition, our flexible business model gives our customers a safe migration path from modules to chips to systems-on-a-chip (SOCs)/application specific integrated circuits (ASICs)." He added that as one of the original five Bluetooth Special Interest Group founding members, Toshiba ensures standard compliance and proven interoperability.

Toshiba achieved the single-chip solution by using complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) process technology for the RF circuit instead of the usual bipolar process technology. Applying the same process technology to both the baseband and RF circuits resulted in an LSI that requires fewer external components. It can be housed in a 7 x 7 millimeter (mm) plastic wireless frequency land grid array (PWFLGA) only 0.8mm high. It occupies approximately 65 percent less space on a printed circuit board compared to a solution with separate RF, baseband and mask ROM integrated circuits (ICs.)

"The TC35654 with its small footprint and low-power consumption is ideally suited for applications such as cellular phones and PDAs where board space and low power are key design criteria," said Andrew Burt, wireless market development director of the ASSP Business Unit at TAEC. "Our complete Bluetooth product portfolio is also comprised of individual RF and baseband chips with complete support for protocol stack and application layer software. Our dedicated Bluetooth engineering team with expertise in software, 2.4 gigahertz (GHz) radio and the Bluetooth certification process is in place to jumpstart our customers' designs," he added.

The new LSI incorporates Bluetooth core circuit technology licensed from Nokia, the world leader in cellular phones and thereby assures highly reliable interoperability between multiple Bluetooth-enabled platforms.

Future Plans
Toshiba is planning to introduce and sample a new Bluetooth RF IC, TB31296FT, based on silicon germanium Bi-CMOS technology in December 2002. In addition, Toshiba is developing Bluetooth intellectual property for SOC/ASIC implementation.

Pricing and Availability:
Engineering samples of TC35654 are scheduled to be available in February 2003 at $5.00 per piece in 100,000-piece quantities. Mass production is slated to begin in July 2003 at an initial run rate of 50,000 units per month.

Specification Summary:

About TAEC
Combining quality and flexibility with design engineering expertise, TAEC brings a breadth of advanced, next-generation technologies to its customers. This broad offering includes semiconductors, flash memory-based storage solutions, optical communication devices, displays and rechargeable batteries for the computing, wireless, networking, automotive and digital consumer markets.

TAEC is an independent operating company owned by Toshiba America, Inc., a subsidiary of Toshiba, the second largest semiconductor company worldwide in terms of global sales for the year 2001 according to Gartner/Dataquest's Worldwide Semiconductor Market Share Ranking. Toshiba is a world leader in high-technology products with more than 300 major subsidiaries and affiliates worldwide. For additional company and product information, please visit TAEC's web site at chips.toshiba.com.