World's first single-mode solutions to achieve full-featured Bluetooth 4.2 qualification

Cypress Semiconductor has announced its easy-to-use, single-mode PSoC 4 BLE Programmable System-on-Chip and PRoC BLE Programmable Radio-on-Chip solutions are the world's first to achieve full-featured Bluetooth 4.2 qualification, which includes three key benefits for the Internet of Things (IoT). Key benefits : 1 - Data-Length Extension - A maximum data rate of 800 Kbps, 2.5 times faster than Bluetooth 4.1 2 - LE Privacy - Upgraded privacy that allows a user to designate trusted transmission sources and prevent tracking 3 - LE Secure Connections - Enhanced user security during connection setup to avoid eavesdropping attacks. These features enable Cypress's Bluetooth Low Energy solutions to address a broader range of applications for the IoT, says the company. "Adding Bluetooth 4.2 to PSoC 4 BLE and PRoC BLE enables our customers to create faster, smarter and more secure products," said Eran Sandhaus, vice president, wireless product family, Cypress. "The higher throughput of our Bluetooth 4.2 solutions allows OEMs to develop new capabilities such as multi-channel audio transmissions over BLE. They maintain user privacy for medical and wearable devices, and they bring true security to IoT applications such as secure locks and secure payments." PRoC BLE is a low-power Bluetooth Smart microcontroller with Cypress's industry-leading CapSense capacitive touch-sensing functionality, while PSoC 4 BLE offers expanded design flexibility by adding intelligent analog and programmable digital blocks that enable simplified integration with sensors and actuators. Both solutions integrate a Bluetooth Smart radio, a high-performance 32-bit ARMR CortexR-M0 core with ultra-low-power modes, 256KB flash memory, 32KB of SRAM, direct memory access (DMA) capability, 36 GPIOs, and customizable serial communication blocks, timers and counters. Customers designing with the solutions can apply to add the Bluetooth logo on their products by referring to Cypress's qualification identification number. Jim McGregor, principal analyst, TIRIAS Research, added: "Bluetooth 4.2 addresses the need for a fast, efficient, and secure connection to the trillions of sensors that will be deployed for a wide range of IoT applications. Cypress's full-featured Bluetooth Low Energy solutions will enable developers to quickly bring secure solutions to market." Cypress has simplified the Bluetooth Low Energy protocol stack and profile configuration into a new royalty-free, GUI-based BLE Component-a free embedded IC within PSoC represented by an icon-that can be dragged and dropped into designs using Cypress's PSoC Creator integrated design environment (IDE). Application details for Cypress's BLE Component are embedded in PSoC Creator with examples of all supported Bluetooth Low Energy profiles and hundreds of example projects for mixed-signal system designs. PSoC Creator enables complete system design in a single tool, accelerating time-to-market. Additional design support and multiple development kits are also available, says the company.