Packetcraft is a leading provider of Bluetooth embedded stacks and software solutions with more than 100M enabled devices. Combining Packetcraft's leading Bluetooth 5.4 host and controller software with EM Microelectronic's em | bleu (EM9305) small and ultra-low power consuming Bluetooth LE SoC delivers critical differentiation for new designs.
EM Microelectronic, a company of the Swatch Group, is a global powerhouse in ultra-low power consumption and miniaturization making their Bluetooth LE SoC well suited for devices such as hearing aids, headsets, watches, wearables, trackers, and electronic shelf labels (ESL). With the recent introduction of the Bluetooth 5.4 Core Specification and PAwR feature, and corresponding Packetcraft’s software enablement, EM is poised to lead the market with both innovation and time-to-market advantages.
Bluetooth 5.4 includes a new ultra-low power networking technology referred to as Periodic Advertising with Responses (PAwR) which is poised to enable high-volume applications including Electronic Shelf Labels (ESL) for retail applications whereby thousands of power sensitive connected end nodes are synchronized with infrastructure. Bluetooth 5.3 support delivers Bluetooth LE Audio and Auracast broadcast audio, bringing advanced wireless audio capabilities and quality multi-stream stereo.
"Bluetooth is undergoing one of its biggest evolutions in performance and capabilities, enabling better quality wireless connectivity at lower power, while delivering advanced use cases and serving new markets. Since late 2022, LE Audio has experienced rapid adoption by major smartphone manufacturers as the evolution from Bluetooth Classic Audio gets seriously underway, making now the ideal time to accelerate ones LE Audio product development," Packetcraft underlines.
"We selected Packetcraft to provide their leading-edge Bluetooth software solutions and test tools because their product portfolio, expertise, and support are an ideal complement to our industry-leading em | bleu Bluetooth LE System-on-Chip," says Marc Morin, Vice President at EM Microelectronic-US, Inc. "Packetcraft’s Bluetooth software enables our low current consuming, high performing RF, and extremely small EM9305 SoC to be ideally positioned for a variety of applications where battery life and energy harvesting are critical, including hearing aids, trackers and ESL."
EM has also licensed Packetcraft Controller Tester, a versatile and powerful software tool offering both protocol testing and tools for Continuous Integration (CI). This custom Python-based tool, originally developed by Packetcraft’s engineers for internal development and validation, offers several thousand test cases including hundreds of unique test cases for qualification, protocol feature, robustness, soak, and system testing.
"EM Microelectronic’s engineers are amongst the finest in the industry and have been a pleasure to support as we enable the EM9305 SoC with both Bluetooth LE 5.4 and 5.3 software solutions," says John Yi, CEO at Packetcraft. "We have noticed that EM’s customers truly value their sophisticated on-chip power management system which affords flexibility in battery selection and makes their solution well suited for energy harvesting applications, both of which are valued for devices being supported with PAwR and LE Audio capabilities."
Packetcraft’s Bluetooth LE Audio and Auracast broadcast audio demonstrator using em | blue (EM9305) is available by appointment only at EM’s booth during Embedded World at stand 3-238, with a multi-channel broadcaster delivering stereo content to multiple receiving devices, supporting real-time encoding/decoding of HQ LC3 (48kbps, 12-bit, 10ms). Auracast broadcast audio aims to enable greater hearing accessibility in noisy environments, in venues including stadiums and movie cinemas, where televisions may be muted (sports bars and gyms), for shared private listening, and where public announcement systems are in use, for both the hearing impaired and those wanting to enjoy clear sound through stereo earbuds and headphones.
With protocol experts offering well-tested and efficiently designed software that is amongst the first for qualifications, Packetcraft's semiconductor and product company licensees have a market advantage with both accelerated time-to-market and leading-edge capabilities including LE Audio.
www.emmicroelectronic.com
www.packetcraft.com
