Imagination announces new iEB110 Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) v5.2 IP

iEB110, a complete BLE v5.2 solution will supercharge the development of the next generation of audio applications

London, England; 19^th February 2020 – Imagination Technologies announces its latest Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) IP, supporting the latest Bluetooth SIG version 5.2 specification. iEB110 is a complete BLE solution, including RF, controller software and Bluetooth Low Energy host stack. By providing a complete solution using the popular open-source Zephyr and Cordio host stacks together with a rich set of profiles, companies wanting to integrate BLE IP into their solution can take advantage of reduced integration and development costs, resulting in a quicker time to market.

Designed for integration into complex communication systems-on-chips (SoCs), the iEB110 provides a fully featured, ultra-low-power BLE v5.2 solution. It offers high performance, efficient RF, with optimum silicon area and external bill of materials (BOM). The iEB110 architecture allows seamless integration with Imagination’s Wi-Fi IPs to create cost-effective multi-standard, wireless communication SoCs.

iEB110 takes advantage of the new Low Complexity Communication Codec (LC3) and efficient software algorithm to deliver crystal clear audio at the lowest power, enabling manufacturers to create small form factor, low power audio devices such as earbuds and hearing aids.

The addition of low-energy audio in v5.2 is not just another incremental feature update by the Bluetooth SIG; it is a revolutionary step, which will transform the way we consume and share audio for many years to come.

iEB110 supports advanced Bluetooth 5.2 features such as Angle of Arrival/Angle of Departure (AoA / AoD) allowing sub 1m location and tracking accuracy, LE long-range operation for extended indoor and outdoor coverage, and LE-2M PHY for higher throughput.

Nick Hunn, wireless evangelist and Chair of the Bluetooth SIG Hearing Aid Working Group, says; “Originally conceived by hearing aid companies, low-energy audio has grown into one of the largest development efforts in the Bluetooth SIG’s history, laying down specifications to support the next twenty years of wireless audio innovation.”

Andrew Zignani, Principal Analyst, ABI Research, says; “With the addition of audio support in BLE, the market for Bluetooth Low Energy will gain a number of new opportunities, which have traditionally been using Bluetooth Classic or proprietary radios. In less than three years, annual Bluetooth Audio device shipments are expected to reach more than 1.2 billion presenting a tremendous opportunity for Bluetooth Low Energy audio”. Zignani adds, “a complete Bluetooth Low Energy IP such as the iEB110, will accelerate the implementation of the next generation of broadcast audio, high-quality multi-stream audio, and audio sharing applications.”

Richard Edgar, Senior Director of Product Management, Imagination Technologies, says; “We believe that with the new rich set of features provided by the latest BLE specification, the ability of BLE to provide low-power audio solutions and accurate indoor positioning will enable a new range of exciting applications. The iEB110 has been developed to enable silicon vendors who want to integrate the latest BLE features into their products, as a quick and cost-effective solution to do so.”

iEB110 is supplied as a complete IP solution comprising RF, controller, and host stack for Zephyr and Cordio complete with Bluetooth SIG certification and FCC and CE RF compliance.

Imagination will be demonstrating iEB110 at Embedded World in Nuremberg, Germany, 25^th – 27^th February 2020, Hall 3, stand 211.

About Imagination Technologies

Imagination is a UK-based company that creates silicon and software intellectual property (IP) designed to give its customers an edge in a competitive global technology market. Its graphics, compute, vision & AI and connectivity technologies enable outstanding power, performance and area (PPA), robust security, fast time-to-market and lower total cost of ownership. Products based on Imagination IP are used by billions of people across the globe in their phones, cars, homes, and workplaces. Imagination Technologies was acquired in 2017 by Canyon Bridge, a global private equity investment fund. See www.imgtec.com.