Broadcom announced a new device that integrates a complete Bluetooth radio and baseband along with a high- performance FM stereo radio receiver into a single chip. Makers of multimedia cell phones and digital media players enabled with Bluetooth can now conveniently add FM radio functionality to their products with significant power, size and cost savings versus other solutions, offering a more complete stereo audio experience to their customers.

The Broadcom BCM2048 solution enables these manufacturers to easily add FM radio and wireless stereo capabilities with a single-chip, providing a cost savings of up to 40% and requiring only about 1/3 the board space of existing solutions based on discrete components.

"Our new BCM2048 Bluetooth chip removes many of the barriers to adding FM radio into a mobile phone, an important development especially for Europe where FM is rapidly becoming a popular feature in mobile handsets" said Scott Bibaud, General Manager of Broadcom's Bluetooth products.

The BCM2048 supports all of the key features of Version 2.0 of the Bluetooth specification, with capability to support the forthcoming Version 2.1 as well. It includes all the FM features one would look for in an advanced FM radio product, including high receiver sensitivity, station information enhancements through intelligent Radio Data Service (RDS) and Radio Broadcast Data Service (RBDS) processing, and superior tuning and station search functions.

The integration of both Bluetooth and FM radio technologies in a single chip provides the smallest footprint in the industry for these combined functions, requiring significantly less board area for space-conscious mobile device developers. In addition to reduced board space, the BCM2048 also provides combined Bluetooth/FM functionality at lower power consumption rates than implementations that utilize discrete components. By integrating passive electronic components that competitive solutions require, the Broadcom chip also reduces cost.