Chipcon Launches Low-Cost 2.4-GHz Chips

Dec. 16, 2004

Chipcon (Oslo, Norway) announced a pair of radio chips for the unlicensed 2.4-GHz band. The model CC2500 is a multichannel RF transceiver and the model CC2550 is a multichannel RF transmitter. The chips are specifically designed for low-cost wireless mice and keyboards, wireless game controllers and wireless headset as well as a number of other consumer applications. According to Geir Forre, President & CEO of Chipcon, "Over the last two years Chipcon has invested heavily in this new product generation and our expectations are huge. The main focus on this new generation has been to develop the industry's most cost efficient RF-solutions, and we have succeeded!" The CC2500 has typical current consumption as low as 12 to 14 mA in receive mode. The devices are designed to operate on voltages of +1.8 to +3.6 VDC, with current consumption as low as 12 mA at -12 dBm output power. Both devices are rated for maximum output power of 0 dBm. Both devices are capable of burst-mode data transmission. The transceiver's radio features high sensitivity of -101 dBm at 10 kb/s. They support data rates from 1.2 to 500 kb/s. Chipcon --> http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/eA0JtlqC0Gth0BCpQ0Al

About the Author

Jack Browne

Technical Contributor

Jack Browne, Technical Contributor, has worked in technical publishing for over 30 years. He managed the content and production of three technical journals while at the American Institute of Physics, including Medical Physics and the Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology. He has been a Publisher and Editor for Penton Media, started the firm’s Wireless Symposium & Exhibition trade show in 1993, and currently serves as Technical Contributor for that company's Microwaves & RF magazine. Browne, who holds a BS in Mathematics from City College of New York and BA degrees in English and Philosophy from Fordham University, is a member of the IEEE.