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CSR Music'N'Voice Dongle Design Enables Versatile Headset Use in the Home

Posted on: Tuesday, 30 October 2007, 06:00 CDT

CSR (LSE:CSR):

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CSR has launched a USB Bluetooth dongle design that will enable stereo or mono Bluetooth headphones to be used with a PC for Voice over IP (VoIP) calls, as well as the wireless streaming of music. CSR has designed the low cost Music'n'Voice (MV) Bluetooth dongle to allow users to switch seamlessly between listening to music and taking a VoIP call. The MV Dongle design is available now from CSR, including BOM, reference design and software development kit (SDK).

The example reference design is a single chip solution using CSR's BlueCore3-Multimedia chip with integrated DSP processor and high-quality codec. Very few external components are required, enabling CSR to offer the MV Dongle with a very low BOM -- leaving open the option for these dongles to be bundled with mobile phones or Bluetooth headsets.

Simplicity is foremost in the design of the MV Dongle, and the software supplied supports automatic pairing with most Bluetooth headsets. It will also allow auto-reconnection to previously paired headsets on power on. The CSR dongle is capable of storing up to five Bluetooth addresses and is designed to be true plug and play, so there is no need to install additional software on the PC before the user can benefit from wireless connection and control through a headset. This means the portable dongle can be easily used with multiple PCs without time-consuming configuration or software installation.

In spite of the low BOM and compact design, CSR has not compromised on functionality and performance. The MV Dongle works with headsets supporting HFP (handsfree) profile and supports the AVRCP (remote control) and A2DP profiles (Advanced Audio Distribution Profile) now found in the Bluetooth implementation of many mobile phones. The CSR DSP in BlueCore3-Multimedia encodes a 48KHz 16-bit stereo audio stream to SBC for transmission over A2DP.

When the MV Dongle is inserted into a PC's USB port, the system will recognise it as a sound card, and it will automatically work with popular media player software such as Apple iTunes, Windows Media Player, RealPlayer or WinAmp, running on Microsoft Windows 2000, XP or Vista.

CSR's MV Dongle also supports all major VoIP providers such as MSN, Skype, Google Talk and Yahoo Talk. Skype has at least 200 million registered users, highlighting the growing interest in VoIP services. As more of our communications become PC-centred, it makes sense to allow users to communicate wirelessly, anywhere around the home using a Bluetooth headset.

The CSR MV Dongle reference design includes schematics, BOM and Gerber files as well as example hardware. The dongle user interface (LEDs, button presses) can be configured without code changes so manufacturers will be able to quickly customise a MV Dongle to their own specification.

Anthony Murray, Senior Vice President for CSR's Wireless Audio Strategic Business Unit, commented, "Customers are telling us that Bluetooth headsets are growing in popularity and since more devices support the necessary Bluetooth profiles, we could well see CSR-based Music'n'Voice dongles bundled with handsets and Bluetooth headsets, to offer end users a wider application for their Bluetooth headsets."

About CSR

CSR is the leading global provider of personal wireless technology and its product portfolio covers Bluetooth, eGPS, FM receivers and WiFi (IEEE802.11). CSR offers developed hardware/software solutions, based around its silicon platforms, that incorporate fully integrated radio, baseband and microcontroller elements.

CSR's customers include industry leaders such as Apple, Dell, LG, Motorola, NEC, Nokia, Panasonic, RIM, Samsung, Sharp, Sony, TomTom and Toshiba.

CSR has its headquarters and offices in Cambridge, UK, and offices in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, China, India, France, Denmark, Sweden and both Dallas and Detroit in the USA.

More information can be found at www.csr.com

Source: Business Wire

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