Connectivity and platform solutions for next gen home entertainment

Both solutions, designed to support interactive and engaging media experiences in upcoming streaming devices, set-top-boxes and smart TV products, extend the Company’s portfolio for home entertainment which also includes the CSR102x Bluetooth Smart System-on-Chip (SoC) used in wireless remote controls and accessories.

The QCA9379 chip with integrated WiFi and Bluetooth extends the Company’s portfolio of connectivity solutions for smart TVs and home entertainment devices. The combo chip features Bluetooth 4.2 with data length extensions to wirelessly connect with remote controls and gaming accessories, overcoming the line-of-sight limitations of traditional infrared remotes and enabling advanced functionality such as voice commands. The QCA9379 is designed to interoperate with Qualcomm Technologies’ Bluetooth Smart 4.2 SoC for remote controls and accessories, the CSR102x, delivering an end-to-end ecosystem solution that helps manufacturers rapidly develop easy-to-use, responsive home entertainment and gaming products with long battery life in accessories and optional support for voice.

The chip also features the newest WiFi 802.11ac standard with receive support for Multi-User MIMO, allowing fast and seamless access to bandwidth-intensive online content such as 4K Ultra HD video. A new higher transmit power mode improves performance and wireless range versus prior solutions, facilitating robust connectivity across the home even through walls, floors, or in remote areas. The product’s dual-stream capabilities improve WiFi performance in scenarios requiring concurrent connectivity, for example, receiving online video in a media box and simultaneously casting it to an external display or projector.

The QCA9379 includes technology to manage operation of Bluetooth and WiFi in the same radio band, helping prioritise delay-sensitive transmissions for example voice commands from a speech-enabled remote, or the push of a fire-button in a gaming pad, even under loaded wireless network conditions. Deep sleep modes with extreme low-power consumption, wake-on-wireless and wake-on-Bluetooth features in the QCA9379 provide superior power efficiency. Also, the integration of WiFi, Bluetooth, power amplifier and low-noise amplifier in a single chip allows manufacturers to optimise for cost.

QCA9379 joins Qualcomm Technologies’ family of solutions for smart TV and home entertainment connectivity, with well over 100 million units from leading brands shipped using the Company’s connectivity chips.

Qualcomm Technologies also introduced a 4K Ultra HD media box reference platform featuring its flagship Snapdragon 820 processor. The reference platform helps manufacturers accelerate development of set-top-boxes and streaming devices in 4K Ultra HD resolution, and it is designed to deliver the compute and graphics power required for console-quality gaming, rich UIs and concurrency of applications enabling the next generation of TV user experiences. The platform’s flexible and power-efficient design allows for fan-less, small form factors. It also includes Gigabit Ethernet and dual-stream WiFi 802.11ac connectivity from Qualcomm Technologies for fast downloads and seamless streaming, as well as Bluetooth Classic and Bluetooth Smart to support connectivity with remotes, game controllers and other user interface devices with optional support for voice.

“Consumers worldwide are eager to experience more immersive, engaging and interactive media experiences within the home,” said Anthony Murray, Senior Vice President and General Manager, IoT, Qualcomm Technologies International. “These product and platform introductions for home entertainment result from our continued commitment and efforts in the Internet of Things, helping manufacturers commercialize products faster and more cost-effectively using our scale and expertise in connectivity and compute.”

The QCA9379 is sampling now, with commercial devices expected to be available the fourth quarter of 2016. The 4K Ultra HD media box reference platform from Qualcomm Technogies is available now, with commercial devices expected to be available by the end of 2016.