e.Digital Corporation (fka EDIG)

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Posted by: gernb1
In reply to: None Date: 5/29/2002 10:43:43 PM
Post # of 12846

OT USB dongle reference design combines USB plug-and-play with embedded Bluetooth

29-May-2002-A Bluetooth USB dongle reference design that provides low-cost Bluetooth functionality for electronic devices was co-developed by Texas Instruments (TI-Dallas, Texas) and Widcomm (San Diego, Calif.).

The reference design combines USB plug-and-play with fully embedded Bluetooth functionality without requiring software installation and configuration. It allows wireless connectivity between a PC and peripherals, printers, or cell phones.

Based on TI's BSN6050, an integrated point-to-multipoint Bluetooth solution, the reference design helps embed the Bluetooth protocol stack into the dongle to reduce cost by eliminating the need for a processor host. This also improves user experience by getting rid of the need for any software installation. The out-of-the-box dongle solution is suitable for any USB-compatible device for a plug-and-play experience.

The BSN6050 is a high-performance solution that supports 723 kbytes/s of data, or the full Bluetooth data rate. Features include support for up to 7 piconet links and up to three simultaneous Synchronous Connection Oriented (SCO) voice channels. The device also supports master-slave switching and Park, Sniff, and Hold modes for power reduction applications. The BSN6050 uses advanced 0.15-micron technology to ensure low power consumption for users.

Prototypes for Human Interface Devices (HID) support are available now for Bluetooth-enabled peripheral devices such as keyboards and mouse. Future releases will include dial-up support to be used in combination with cell phones (DUN-profiles) and printing support. A GVC dongle based on the Widcomm/TI USB dongle reference design will be released in the third quarter of 2002 for under $20 in volume quantities. Widcomm can be found on-line at www.widcomm.com. Visit TI's Web site at www.ti.com.