TI Korea (CEO Kent Jeon, www.ti.com/ww/kr ) March 10, 2014 – TI (CEO Kent Jeon) announced the expansion of its SimpleLink™ Bluetooth® CC256x portfolio by adding new modules and audio reference designs to its product line for rapid prototyping, development, and production. The newly introduced solutions are Bluetooth 4.1 certified and include updated features such as new Bluetooth Low Energy capabilities and on-chip audio encoding and decoding. The SimpleLink Bluetooth Dual Mode portfolio enables the implementation of a wide variety of innovative audio solutions suitable for applications such as toys, Bluetooth speakers, audio streaming accessories, and sports/health fitness.

TI's new SimpleLink Bluetooth module is based on the CC2564 dual-mode solution and includes all FCC/IC and CE certified components. Additionally, the CC256x family has been updated to support new on-chip audio processing that can offload subband coding (SBC) encoders and decoders from an external host. By keeping the audio path outside the host microcontroller (MCU), this solution expands the range of suitable host MCUs, thereby lowering system costs and power consumption.

TI makes it easier to develop Bluetooth audio using MCUs such as the ultra-low power MSP430F5529, MSP43055438, and Tiva™ C Series microcontrollers. In addition, this platform is supported by the following flexible and diverse devices and tools.

TI licenses the Bluetopia® Bluetooth stack, profiles, and sample applications necessary to implement all silicon versions of Bluetooth, Bluetooth Low Energy, on-chip audio, and ANT from Stonestreet One, providing flexible, royalty-free software options. The new CC256x devices are pin-to-pin compatible with previous TI devices. The CC2564 Bluetooth solution is currently available as a module from TI, and FCC/IC and CE certifications are scheduled for the second quarter of this year, coinciding with the release of the EVM (Evaluation Module) board. The following reference designs are provided for low-cost speaker and toy applications.

TI's Bluetooth Audio Sync reference design includes a SimpleLink CC256x device, an ultra-low power MSP430F5229 MCU that provides a low-power 1.8V I/O interface to the CC256x without additional components, a TAS2505 digital input Class D speaker amplifier, and a bq24055 single-cell lithium-ion battery charger. Since all necessary functions are supported by the Bluetooth stack, profiles, and sample applications, developers can add the ability to render audio content from mobile phones or tablets on their products using Bluetooth audio streaming capabilities. The reference design in operation can be seen in the video.

The TI audio source reference design scheduled for supply at the end of the second quarter includes SimpleLink CC256x devices, an ultra-low power MSP430F5229 MCU, a TLV320ADC3101 stereo ADC converter, and a bq24055 single-cell lithium-ion battery charger, and is an ideal solution for Bluetooth audio source designs.