Low power consumption
CSR's single chip implementation, combined with unique power saving strategies embedded into the architecture of BlueCore5-Multimedia External, allow the device to offer excellent battery life compared with many current MP3 players. Typical consumption when streaming an SBC file to stereo headphones is just 45 mA (at 3.8V)*.
This allows the player to offer a battery life of around 17.5 hours with an 800 mAh cell (life would be around 7 hours with a small 320 mAh cell). The onchip battery charger provides fast recharging - a 320 mAh cell would be typically recharged 2.1 hours, for example.
The example design measures just 39 x 56 x 14 mm. This means that it can be added easily into items such as treadmills, exercise cycles, headsets, DAB radios, satellite radios, and many other types of product and equipment.
*If files are streamed in MP3 format, using EDR, then power consumption drops even lower, by around 20% (because transcoding from MP3 to SBC format is avoided).
Tiny eBOM
BlueCore Player breaks new ground in the electronic bill of materials (eBOM) required to implement an MP3 player. Just one major IC is used: BlueCore5-Multimedia External, which provides a Bluetooth radio plus DSP and RISC processor cores*, and a quality CODEC (16-bit stereo with -95 dB SNR).
This device also includes a voltage regulator and a battery charger. Some current MP3 player architectures would require up to six or seven major devices to implement the same wireless player capability.
The only major external components required are a balun/filter, antenna, 16 Mbits Flash memory IC for firmware, DC-DC converter for powering the SD Card reader, plus the user interface OLED display and control buttons. In this form the eBOM costs less than $10 in volume.
Further savings are possible:
A ROM version of this device is in development, saving the Flash memory.
The DSP core performs the compression functions required to stream stereo over a Bluetooth link. However, spare processing capacity is available, allowing users to add features. One option from an eXtension partner is audible menu navigation (potentially, this feature could be used to eliminate the need for an OLED display).
*Note that there are no license fees payable for the processor cores (or CODEC) used in this application.