Broadcom InConcert BCM20751 combo chip combines Bluetooth + GPS + FMradio + media playback + recording functions

Broadcom has announced a new Bluetooth + GPS + FM combination ('combo') chip solution that integrates advanced media processing, providing a power-efficient connected audio subsystem for multimedia smartphones and other handset devices. This new single-chip solution delivers high performance Bluetooth connectivity while enabling a range of media playback and recording functions that would otherwise have to be performed by the phone's host processor.

The new Broadcom InConcert BCM20751 combo chip is a powerful communications and media subsystem that enables key smartphone connectivity (including GPS and FM radio) while also providing sophisticated audio processing. It offloads host processing from the phone's baseband processor to achieve significant power savings, increasing playback time by as much as 100 percent in multimedia handsets.

The BCM20751 is based on the Broadcom BCM2075 InConcert combo chip highlights:
+ The processor includes additional memory buffering (up to 90 Kb) and integrated MP3 and ACC+ decoders, as well as an on-chip 5-band audio equalizer that enables the BCM20751 to perform high quality music playback of popular music file formats while the baseband sleeps.
+ It enables an increase in music playback time (up to about 70 hours) in comparison to 40 hours of music playback for popular standalone MP3 players.
+ It includes Broadcom’s Stereo Headset emulation that allows the handset to operate as a Bluetooth stereo headset using the wired earphones, and provides up to 50 hours of Bluetooth music listening.
+ MP3 recordings of FM radio (up to 50 hours), as well as FM transmission.
+ It’s Bluetooth 3.0-enabled!
+ The GPS core uses a host-based integration architecture that splits the processing duties between the BCM20751 and the host CPU. It provides the lowest power consuming GPS available, delivering 50 percent better power performance when compared to today's leading solutions.

This new Broadcom InConcert BCM20751 combo chip solution will be demonstrated at next week's 2010 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain.