As LE Audio product development accelerates, the FSC-BT631D compact module is described as the world's first Bluetooth module that simultaneously supports LE Audio and Bluetooth Classic audio, measuring only 12x15x2.2mm. The Feasycom module integrates a Bluetooth Classic transceiver chipset for enabling legacy Bluetooth audio applications. And it is still compact enough to enable LE Audio implementation for headphones and general audio devices, meeting a level of compatibility that will be expected by consumers for quite some time.
"As the industry transitions from Bluetooth Classic Audio to LE Audio, wireless audio product developers ask for solutions that support both versions. We developed the FSC-BT631D module for these product developers, making audio streaming over Bluetooth LE possible with enhanced sound quality, power consumption, latency, and bandwidth performance," says Nan Ouyang, CEO at Shenzhen Feasycom.
Audio designs employing the Feasycom module can connect to today's audio source devices such as a smartphone, laptop or TV using Bluetooth Classic, and will then be able to transmit audio to an unlimited number of other LE Audio devices using Auracast broadcast audio.
Originally unveiled in 2020, Nordic's nRF5340 multiprotocol SoC for dual-mode Bluetooth Classic audio and LE Audio employs dual Arm Cortex-M33 processors – providing a high performance application processor capable of DSP and Floating Point (FP) alongside a fully programmable, ultra low power network processor. The application core manages both the LE Audio codec and the codec for classic Bluetooth audio, while the Bluetooth LE protocol is supervised by the network processor.
The LE Audio connectivity is made possible through the nRF5340 SoC’s 2.4 GHz multiprotocol radio featuring 3dBm output power and -98dBm RX sensitivity for a link budget of 101dBm. This radio also supports other major RF protocols including Bluetooth 5.3, Bluetooth Direction Finding, Long Range, Bluetooth mesh, Thread, Zigbee, and ANT.
"We selected the nRF5340 SoC because it achieved a stable coexistence of LE Audio and Bluetooth Classic which was key to this application," adds Ouyang. "The performance of the dual-core CPUs, excellent power efficiency, and RF performance were other factors in the decision.”
The ultra-low power consumption is made possible due to the nRF5340's new, power-optimized multiprotocol radio, which offers a TX current of 3.4 mA (0 dBm TX power, 3 V, DC/DC) and RX current of 2.7 mA (3 V, DC/DC). The sleep current is as low as 0.9 µA. Additionally, because the cores can operate independently, developers have the flexibility to optimize performance for power consumption, throughput, and low latency response.
"The nRF Connect SDK was also invaluable throughout the LE Audio development process, alongside the excellent technical information and application engineers provided by Nordic," states Ouyang.
Feasycom will be at CES 2024 in Las Vegas, exhibiting at the Venetian Expo, on booth #52162. The company will be unveiling its latest wireless innovations, including AoA positioning gateway and tags, Bluetooth BLE beacons, as well as LE Audio, RFID, and UWB solutions. Feasycom is a provider focused on wireless modules and solutions that include Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, LoRa, and UWB, for any applications.
https://www.feasycom.com/fsc-bt631d
www.nordicsemi.com
