Innovative Bluetooth(TM) Platform Offers Exceptional Performance Features

AUSTIN, Texas, Dec. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Motorola's (NYSE: MOT - news) Semiconductor Products Sector, a world leader in networking and wireless communication, announces a comprehensive Bluetooth Platform Solution. To meet the challenges of today's demanding designs, this platform provides a V1.1 compliant Bluetooth solution with exceptional performance, high quality audio, certified interoperability and 802.11b coexistence, as well as embedded software, development tools, and reference design kits.

Motorola's platform is designed to accelerate development of high-performance Bluetooth solutions for application in cell phones, personal digital assistants, headsets and other systems that can benefit from Bluetooth communications.

"Motorola's Bluetooth platform offers more than just a comprehensive and economical solution," notes Bill Dunnigan, corporate vice president and general manager of Motorola's Wireless Local Connectivity Division. "It also promises a superior Bluetooth user experience through a design that can provide up to four times the range, plus capacity for twice as many ad hoc networks and operation 50% closer to noise sources when compared to performance required by the Bluetooth standards."

This platform represents only the first of a family of products for the Bluetooth market. Future solutions are planned to provide specialized platforms for targeted markets, and Motorola is enabling greater integration of Bluetooth IP core into host processors. This IP core integration of Bluetooth baseband functions into a system processor will allow low cost implementation and will speed the adoption of Bluetooth by the general market. Bluetooth wireless technology is a key value-added feature in Motorola's wireless portfolio, including the Innovative Convergence(TM) family of wireless platforms for manufacturers of mobile devices and the DragonBall(TM) family of applications processors.

Motorola is also one of the companies providing leadership in the standards and definition of high rate Bluetooth 2 technology that will provide more than 10Mb/s transfer speeds while still operating at low power.

New Technology Drives Improved Performance

Key to the performance of this Bluetooth platform are recent Motorola inventions, which allow efficient implementations of Joint Detection & Maximum Likelihood Sequence Estimation (JD/MLSE) technology. Motorola's unique JD/MLSE data demodulation technology enables a robust link near 802.11b WLAN connections-and other sources of interference in the public ISM band, such as microwave ovens and cordless phones. It provides greater range, more capacity, and improved quality compared with "bit slicing" based radios. This greater range means improved service availability, while increasing the service coverage area by up to 16 times. The additional capacity means that throughput is maintained in high-density Bluetooth environments such as airports, shopping malls and other public places.

This Motorola system solution is expected to be one of the first implementers of SIG endorsed Adaptive Frequency Hopping (AFH) technology. Motorola is one of the drivers of the technology definition in the Coexistence Working Group. AFH is expected to increase the throughput for both Bluetooth and 802.11b networks operating in the same proximity by minimizing destructive mutual interference.

The Bluetooth Platform Solution from Motorola

Based on Motorola's third-generation Bluetooth architecture, the Bluetooth Platform comprises these specific products (with part numbers in parenthesis):
    -- V1.1 compliant baseband processor with Bluetooth standard  Host Controller Interface (MC71000)
    -- V1.1 compliant RF BiCMOS transceiver, Bluetooth Class 2 (MC13180)
    -- V1.1 power amplifier, for Bluetooth Class 1 (MRFIC2408)
    -- Power management IC for headset and cell phone accessories (MC13181)
    -- V1.1 compliant embedded Bluetooth software
    -- Development Kit for rapid prototyping and development
    -- Reference Design Kit
 
 

Additional product details are available in technical briefs on the Motorola SPS Bluetooth website: http://www.motorola.com/semiconductors/bluetooth

Bluetooth Qualification Board Certification

The Bluetooth Qualification Board has certified the highly integrated MC13180 RF BiCMOS Transceiver. Qualification improves the level of interoperability with other Bluetooth products and reaffirms Motorola's commitment to driving Bluetooth adoption by providing certified products to the industry.

3rd Party Software Stack

In a separate release, Extended Systems Inc., a leader in commercial software stacks, has announced that its Bluetooth software stack will support the Motorola platform. Additionally, tools are available from Motorola to simplify the use of proprietary stacks with the platform.

Product Price and Availability

Motorola has working silicon today and expects to sample the platform solution with development kits to customers in the first quarter of 2002. Production is planned for the second quarter. The chipset comprising this Bluetooth solution is expected be available at a suggested list price of $5.90 in million unit volume.

Solutions from a Leader in Bluetooth Standards

Motorola is one of only nine companies participating as Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) promoters -- the highest membership level available. As a pioneer in many RF technologies, including Bluetooth wireless technology, Motorola has the experience and knowledge to drive a wireless market. With dozens of Motorolans participating in leadership positions in various SIG standards working groups, and over 25 qualified Bluetooth products to date, Motorola plans to continue playing a major part in the market adoption of Bluetooth wireless technology.

About Motorola

As the world's #1 producer of embedded processors, Motorola's Semiconductor Products Sector creates DigitalDNA(TM) system-on-chip solutions for a connected world. Our strong focus on communications and networking enables customers to develop smarter, simpler, safer and synchronized products for the person, work team, home and automobile. Motorola's worldwide semiconductor sales were $7.9 billion (USD) in 2000. http://www.motorola.com/semiconductors

Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT - news) is a global leader in providing integrated communications and embedded electronic solutions. Sales in 2000 were $37.6 billion. http://www.motorola.com/

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