Communications
Broadcom Enables up to 10 Year Battery Life for Bluetooth Keyboards
Broadcom Corporation has introduced a new reference design and accompanying software that will dramatically increase battery life for wireless keyboards based on the classic bluetooth basic rate radio. Broadcom's new design, featuring updated firmware and innovative techniques designed to minimize power consumption, will yield a new generation of keyboards and other Human Interface Devices (HIDs) that could operate for the life of the product on a single pair of AA batteries.
The Bluetooth continues to gain momentum as the technology of choice for wireless mice, keyboards, 3D glasses and consumer electronics remote controls with more than 4 billion standard Bluetooth chips already installed in popular electronics to which these HIDs can connect. HIDs based on the Broadcom BCM20730 can enjoy the same battery life as those based on Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) technology, even when connected to existing devices that have shipped with older versions of Bluetooth.
The new BCM20730-based ultra low power HID reference design is available now and sampling to customers.
Tom Ramsthaler, Senior Director, Marketing, Wireless Personal Area Networks, Broadcom Corporation commented: Broadcom innovations continue to expand the usefulness of standard Bluetooth, allowing consumers to take further advantage of one of the most ubiquitous wireless technologies in the world. By boosting the battery life of keyboards to as long as 10 years, this new design satisfies consumer preferences for HIDs that could potentially never need new batteries.
Low-Power HID Reference Design Highlights:
• The Broadcom BCM20730 single-chip HID solution and reference design enable a new generation of wireless input peripherals that take advantage of Bluetooth wireless technology, the most widely available connectivity standard for these applications.
• The BCM20730 Bluetooth chip is compliant with the Bluetooth 4.0 Core Specification and includes support for Unicast Connectionless Data (UCD) and Enhanced Power Control (EPC) introduced in Bluetooth Core Specification 3.0 + HS.
• Compatible with Bluetooth® smart ready and other HID host devices such as computers, smartphones, tablets, televisions, game consoles and set-top boxes which include Bluetooth HID support conforming to Bluetooth Core Specification versions from 1.1 through 4.0.
• The design also supports the upcoming upgraded HID Profile 1.1, which enhances support for Secure Simple Pairing and Sniff Subrating, which allows the radio to dynamically adapt its performance to optimally trade-off power consumption and performance, as needed.
• The BCM20730 integrates multiple off-chip components for a lower bill of materials cost to deliver superior and more affordable HID products than those based on competing solutions.