Reducing the cost of Bluetooth systems

The Bluetooth/sup TM/ industry has set itself an ambitious goal of just $5 for the implementation of a complete receiver/transmitter, including its DSP-based subsystem and associated ROM and RAM. Although this is unlikely to be realised until Bluetooth wireless technology has achieved considerable market penetration and gained economy of scale through very high volume production, some manufacturers appear to be closer to this goal than others. CSR, for example, had shipped over 1 million of its BlueCore single-chip Bluetooth radios by June this year, and 48% of all Bluetooth equipped end-user products on the market now contain this chip. This article takes a look at some of the design techniques that CSR has employed to reduce cost as much as possible, and outlines some of the issues that are likely to affect how quickly the market ramps up.