Bluetooth Smart SoC for wearable devices and the IoT

Along with on-chip support for 2 serial peripheral interfaces, the new Bluetooth solution includes built-in wireless charging support for the Alliance for Wireless Power standard. This enables new innovations in the Internet of Things ecosystem. Pin compatible with Broadcom's existing Bluetooth Smart SOCs, the BCM20736 features full software support, including GATT, profiles, stack, APIs and application software development kit. It also features support for secure over the air updates.

Brian Bedrosian, Broadcom Senior Director, Embedded Wireless, Wireless Connectivity, comments: "Broadcom's WICED platform is gaining significant traction with key Internet of Things innovators like Electric Imp. In addition to embedded Wi-Fi, Bluetooth Smart technology is also growing at a rapid rate and quickly becoming the core of many small, battery-operated wearable devices. We are committed to pushing the boundaries on what wearables are capable of with our new WICED Smart chip. By offering support for wireless charging and reduced power consumption, we are empowering OEMs to design more effective products for more market segments, fueling the next generation of wearables and sensors."

Supplied in a small form factor, the BCM20736 is a flexible solution that can be incorporated into a wide variety of devices to support new use cases. This Bluetooth Smart compliant single mode low energy solution integrates an ARM CM3 microcontroller , radio frequency and Embedded Bluetooth Smart Stack all on a single chip.

With the highly integrated design, low latency and smaller size of the BCM20736, it reduces power consumption to extend battery life for wearables. Power optimized for single mode coin cell operation from 1.2v supply, Broadcom's new WICED Smart chip reduces cost and uses less power than competing products by enabling OEMs to host advanced applications with an ARM Cortex M3 processor.

"In the coming years, wearable computing devices will play a more crucial role in our lives. ABI Research projects over 50 million wearable devices will ship in 2013 and 540 million in 2018, providing higher user engagement levels. Bluetooth Smart will be a key enabler for ensuring the link between devices that are constantly 'on' and the optimum battery performance is held," commented Joshua Flood, Senior Analyst for Market Intelligence firm ABI Research.

The Broadcom BCM20736 is currently sampling with evaluation boards and SDKs also available.