Toshiba Launches Low Power Consumption ICs for Bluetooth® Smart

Toshiba Launches Low Power Consumption ICs for Bluetooth® Smart Communication Devices with NFC Tag functions

Incorporating Two Kinds of Communication Functions for Wearable Healthcare Low Power Devices

TOKYO — (BUSINESS WIRE) — September 24, 2014 — Toshiba Corporation (TOKYO:6502) today announced the launch of “TC35670FTG”, a low power consumption dual function IC that supports both Bluetooth^®Low Energy (LE)^[1] communications and NFC Type 3 Tag. Sample shipments start today.

Toshiba launches low power consumption ICs "TC35670FTG" for Bluetooth(R) Smart communication devices with NFC Tag functions (Photo: Business Wire)

Recently, more and more Bluetooth^® Smart^[2] devices offer Bluetooth^® LE compatibility. The new IC joins Toshiba’s line-up of Bluetooth^® LE ICs, and offer two key features: easy operation of Bluetooth^® pairing with NFC Tag function; long-time stand-by status for devices powered by small coin-cell batteries. The IC will facilitate adoption of Bluetooth^® LE communications in small devices, such as wearable healthcare devices, sensors, toys and, most notably, future touch and start smartphone accessories.

Previously, set makers had to integrate ICs for both Bluetooth^® and NFC Tag when designing a system supporting both communication functions. Toshiba’s new approach offers a design that will help to minimize the part counts, reduce the assembly area by about 30% and shorten system development.

The NFC Tag component has a 1.5 Kbyte E²PROM for storing data that set makers can access using both the Bluetooth^® LE and NFC Tag to connect each I2C interfaces, allowing data to be easily handled in each system.

These functionalities allow the new device to support three ways of use:
1.		Put both Bluetooth^® LE and NFC Tag in stand-by mode and prioritize the connection from the 1^st access.
2.		By adding NFC Tag function, easy pairing of Bluetooth^® LE devices can be realized and a long time stand-by status can be maintained.
3.		The NFC Tag can provide a system on/off switch function, and cut off the hardware switch from a lot of devices that are required to reduce stand-by power.

Key Features of the New Product

Low power consumption:
- Below 5.9mA at peak consumption of Bluetooth^® communication (@3.3V, -4dBm transmitter output power or receiver operation)
- Below 600μA for NFC Tag communication (@3.3V)
- Below 0.5μA in deep sleep (@3.3V)^[3]
Receiver sensitivity: -92.5dBm
Supports Bluetooth^® LE central and peripheral devices
Supports servers and client functions defined by GATT (Generic Attribute Profile）
NFC Forum Type 3 Tag

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