EM Microelectronic, the chip arm of Swatch, has announced the Bluetooth V4.0 qualification of its EM9301 0.8V transceiver.
The IC is a single-mode master/slave controller providing Bluetooth low energy function from the radio up to the host controller interface (HCI), optimised for low voltage and low energy systems such as wireless sensors, remote controls and monitoring.
"With operating supply voltage as low as 0.8V, the circuit allows applications to take advantage of a wide range of common single-cell batteries or of energy harvesters such as solar cells, piezo-electric and electro-magnetic elements," said EM, claiming: "Interfaced with a 8051 controller, this circuit offers the industry's most energy-efficient solution for a Bluetooth low energy application."
In receive mode, the circuit requires 16.5mA peak current from physical layer to application layer.
An integrated DC/DC converter can operating the RF chin and deliver up to 100mA to an external device, and a sub-1uA sleep mode is available.
It can be interfaced with 8, 16 or 32bit host controllers.
EM Microelectronic worked with software firm Alpwise to provide tools including development kits, dongles, modules and software.
Samples and kits are available form either company.
Chip production will start in Q1 2012 in a MLF24 package.
