Bluetooth enables voice and data communications between mobile appliances (like between a cellphone and a laptop computer), and between mobile and fixed appliances (like between an electronic camera and a printer). It replaces cables and makes automatic unattended communications between appliances possible.

Bluetooth is a compact and cost effective short range radio transceiver operating in the international 2.4 GHz ISM band. Because its communications protocols are standardized, it can communicate at any location in the world with other Bluetooth units. The Bluetooth technology is an open standard jointly developed by Ericsson, Intel, IBM, Toshiba, and Nokia.

As the company behind the concept of the Bluetooth standard for wireless data transmission, Ericsson was a likely early producer of Bluetooth components. The company has now followed through with the actual hardware with a full Bluetooth module which is claimed to be fully compliant with version 1.0 of the standard at the class 2, 0dBm level in the 2.4-2.5GHz industrial, scientific and medical band. The 1.0 specification had not been finalised by the time of the product launch but is expected over the summer.At the heart of the unit’s RFcapability is a silicon BiCMOS application specific integrated circuit (ASIC). It is flip-chip mounted onto a low temperature co-fired ceramic substrate, housed in a small outline ball-grid-array (BGA) package measuring 10.2x1 4.0x1.6mm3. Within the BGA package but off-chip are the transmit and receive baluns, the VCO tank, a loop filter, and the front end antenna switch and filter.The module is intended to be soldered onto a PCB with a ground plane, with the components on the same side as the solder balls, facing down towards the board. That, claims the company, should make the module self screening although the prototype boards shown so far do appear to have a metal cover over the RF component. For the future 100 mW, high power version, a shield is expected to be a requirement. The VCO tank is laser trimmed and makes up part of the phase locked loop with the loop filter used filter the tuning voltage applied to the VCO tank. The baluns are integrated in the LTCC substrate. An external 13MHz reference is required and the balanced input/output are at 50Ohm. Specifications quoted by the company include a frequency range from 2.402-2.495GHz, a 2.8V typical supply voltage and a receiver dynamic range, with respect to 0.1% bit error rate, from -70 to -20dBm. Current consumption is quoted at 40mA in receive mode and 33mA in transmit mode. Ericsson has been working closely with VLSI Technology, recently bought by Philips, on the Bluetooth circuits For more information on the Bluetooth concept, visit the Bluetooth homepage at: www.Bluetooth.com
 
 

Datasheets for Ericsson Bluetooth Radio transceiver in PDF-format (127KB)

Datasheets for Ericsson Bluetooth Module in PDF-format (141KB)

The Ericsson Bluetooth Development Kit in PDF-format (119KB)