Cloud2GND Bumblebee Bluetooth LE Audio Demonstration Board

Cloud2GND, an engineering house specializing in electronic circuit design, embedded systems, protocols, and connected devices developed the Bumblebee LE Audio Demonstrator, the first chipmaker-independent platform for product developers to test and evaluate Bluetooth LE Audio and Auracast applications. Featuring the Panasonic PAN1783 Bluetooth Low Energy 5.3 module, the board is a ready-to-use platform with a class-D amplifier, AKM stereo ADC/DAC, MEMS microphone, NFC and is powered over USB or external power supply.

Packetcraft, a leading provider of Bluetooth embedded stacks and software solutions, announced their Bluetooth Qualified LE Controller is shipping with Nordic Semiconductor’s flagship nRF5340 dual-core Bluetooth 5.3 SoC enabling LE Audio in commercial products. At CES 2023, Packetcraft is already showcasing Bluetooth LE Audio and Auracast broadcast audio applications using Nordic’s nRF5340 SoC, including from Sonical, EMSi and Fanstel.

Following the publication of the full set of LE Audio specifications by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG), the industry is now putting together the building blocks that will enabling bringing products supporting the next generation of Bluetooth audio to market. This article explains what is needed and how to support Auracast broadcast audio, a new Bluetooth capability that enables an audio transmitter to broadcast to an unlimited number of nearby Bluetooth audio receivers.

Synaptics announced the SYN4381 Triple Combo system-on-chip (SoC), the first to combine Wi-Fi 6/6E (802.11ax with extended 6 GHz operation), Bluetooth 5.2 (BT 5.2) with BLE Audio and High Accuracy Distance Measurement (HADM), and IEEE 802.15.4 with built-in support for the Thread protocol and Matter application layer. The solution simplifies product development while supporting 600 Mbps video and data, low-power Thread communication, and platform-agnostic device setup and interoperability.

The new BL5340 Series of Bluetooth 5.2 and 802.15.4 modules from Laird Connectivity are now available. Based on Nordic Semiconductor’s nRF5340 system-on-chip (SoC), the BL5340 Series delivers a secure, high-performance dual-core MCU wireless solution with a choice of modules - BL5340 with nRF5340, or a power amplified variant (BL5340PA with nRF5340 + nRF21540), with integrated pre-certified PCB or Trace pad antenna options, and multiple tools for advanced Bluetooth LE product development.

CEVA announced that its RivieraWaves Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) 5.2 Platform has achieved Bluetooth SIG Qualification. As the first IP company to receive Bluetooth LE 5.2 qualification, CEVA enables its licensees to reduce their product development risk and so benefit with expedited time-to-market and end-product qualification process. Since September 2020, the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) started qualifying products using the new LE Audio Specification, announced in January 2020.