CEVA Inc. is collaborating with ROHM Co. Ltd. on a Bluetooth 2.0+EDR reference design that integrates ROHM's 2.0+EDR Radio with CEVA's Bluetooth 2.0+EDR baseband and protocol stack IP.

Paddy McWilliams, managing director of CEVA’s Communications product line, said customers are independently integrating the two products. He said the firms decided to partner “to simplify the integration process and optimize the reference design for our collective customers.”

CEVA’s Bluetooth 2.0+EDR IP consists of an RTL baseband engine coupled with an ANSI C software stack. It is available as a discrete IP package for use with third-party embedded processors, or it may be licensed together with a CEVA DSP for a complete Bluetooth platform.

ROHM’s Bluetooth 2.0+EDR radio is a CMOS RF transceiver IC consisting of an LNA, PA, Tx/Rx switch, crystal oscillator, regulator, VCO and digital modulator/demodulator for FSK/PSK. It’s said to offer high performance and low power consumption for 2.4 GHz band Bluetooth applications while minimizing the need for external components. It’s packaged in a 6.0 mm x 6.0 mm x 1.0 mm VQFN40 with a 0.5 mm pin pitch).

CEVA also said that Renesas Technology Corp. has begun shipping chipsets that integrate CEVA’s Bluetooth IP. The chipsets are for high-volume automotive applications.