Cypress Qualifies Bluetooth Low Energy Radio to Integrate with PSoC

“Adding a BLE radio to our programmable platforms allows Cypress to explore an intriguing variety of new solutions,” commented Hassane El-Khoury, Executive Vice President of the Programmable Systems Division at Cypress. “For example, pairing this efficient wireless connectivity with the programmable analog of PSoC delivers unparalleled flexibility for designers of wearable electronics and other emerging applications.

“Additionally in the wearable market, BLE is a complementary technology for our TrueTouch products, providing designers with a true single-chip solution that integrates capacitive sensing, an analog front-end for biometrics sensors, and now BLE for power savings and smaller design footprints,” El-Khoury concluded.

Cypress has qualified the BLE radio in its S8 130-nanometer flash-based Silicon Oxide Nitride Oxide Silicon process technology, which is the primary manufacturing technology for PSoC, CapSense and TrueTouch products. SONOS is compatible with standard CMOS technologies and offers numerous advantages, including high endurance, low power, and radiation hardness. The technology enables Cypress’s BLE radio to operate in the industrial temperature range of -40 to +85 degrees C.

“BLE is quickly gaining adoption in a broad range of human interface devices,” said Badri Kothandaraman, EVP of Data Communications Division. “Its low power consumption extends system battery life and eliminates the need for an external dongle, which has been a requirement in systems based on proprietary 2.4-GHz technology. The integration of this wireless connectivity and touch functionality enables the development of cost-effective, compact and sleek designs.”

Cypress expects to sample its first integrated BLE device in the first quarter of 2014.