More Software Needed
While the specifications of the RF part remain almost the same, every additional potential application of Bluetooth ICs requires more complex software stacks and faster, more powerful processor cores. This delays the development and increases design and manufacturing costs.
When it comes to the cost aspect, system integrators mostly talk about $5 as the cost for adding Bluetooth functionality to their existing designs. No one, however, explicitly specifies whether the $5 is part of a semiconductor IC's price, or part of what it costs for an entire Bluetooth board that's ready to be integrated into the host system.
"We won't reach the magic $5 mark within the next three years," says Randy Guisto, vice president of Worldwide Mobile Research at International Data Corp. (IDC). As Guisto points out, the additional hardware costs for implementing Bluetooth into a final product to be shipped in the year 2000 are in the range of $25 to $35. Plus, it's quite likely that the entire costs for adding Bluetooth, including manufacturing of the board, external components, etc., won't come down to the $5 dollar mark before 2004 or 2005.
Beyond single- and two-chip solutions lies the fact that there's still a lot more to do in order to implement Bluetooth devices in a system. You can't just take a single- or two-chip solution, connect it to the host system, and add a short strip-line antenna. In most cases, even single-chip solutions still need about 20 to 30 additional external and discrete components, making the solution more susceptible to manufacturing errors and, of course, increasing the price of the entire design.
Despite all of these challenges, the design and development of Bluetooth chips is nevertheless proceeding full-steam ahead. Look for some novel solutions this year and beyond.
For More Information
To learn about the Bluetooth standard, the best way to begin is by pointing the browser to www.bluetooth.com, the official Bluetooth site. Check out the following sites for additional information:
www.CambridgeSiliconRadio.com;
www.ericsson.com;
www.lucent.com/micro;
www.mitelsemi.com;
www.national.com;
www.palopt.com.au/bluetooth/index.htm (general information links);
www.philsar.com;
www.rohde-schwarz.com/bluetooth (testers for Bluetooth);
www.semiconductors.philips.com/bluetooth;
www.siliconwave.com;
www.zucotto.com/prod/prod_wire.html (Bluetooth and Java/Jini).