Fractus Antennas Enable CSR Wi-Fi/Bluetooth Combo Card For Handsets

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Fractus, the fractal antenna technology pioneer, has worked withCSR, the wireless technology provider and world leader in Bluetoothconnectivity, to develop an example design of a Bluetooth/Wi-Fi combocard that provides VoIP and Bluetooth calls running at the same timeinside a mobile handset device.

The Bluetooth/Wi-Fi combo card design brings together two FractusSlim Reach Xtend(TM)antennas and CSR's UniFi-1 Portable Wi-Fi chipand BlueCore4-ROM Bluetooth chip on a single card that delivers a verysmall, high performance co-existent design.

"We evaluated antennas from different developers worldwide andfound the Fractus antennas to offer the best value and size for ourcustomers - performance, price and technical support," said CSR VPStrategic Marketing, Simon Finch.

"The CSR combo card highlights the flexibility of Fractus antennatechnology to enable a 2.4 GHz diversity system within a handsetpowered by CSR," said Fractus Short-Range Wireless Division DirectorTim Hillison.

CSR is making the Bluetooth/Wi-Fi combo card example designavailable to key customers on request and will demonstrate thissolution during 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona, February 13-16th.

Fractus Slim Reach Xtend antennas ship worldwide in the millions.They are used for a wide range of devices from mobile handsets, tostereo Bluetooth(R) headsets. Fractus offers a variety of solutionsfor short-range wireless communications within all mobile devicescovering the Zigbee, GPS, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and UMTS standards.

UniFi(TM) is CSR's single-chip solution for all the major Wi-Fiprotocols, providing multi-mode 802.11a, b or g operation, extremelylow power consumption, built-in antenna diversity processing forextended speed/range, and coexistence with Bluetooth. BlueCore4implements Bluetooth v2.0+EDR (Enhanced Data Rate) and can deliverdata rates up to three times faster than other Bluetooth devices aswell as lower power consumption.

Further information about these devices is available fromwww.fractus.com and www.csr.com.

About CSR

CSR plc is the leading global provider of Bluetooth technology andhas developed expertise in other single-chip wireless communicationstandards such as Wi-Fi (IEEE802.11). CSR offers developedhardware/software solutions for Bluetooth based around BlueCore, afully integrated 2.4 GHz radio, baseband and microcontroller.

CSR has now launched its fifth generation BlueCore suite and is involume manufacture of its fourth generation BlueCore devices.BlueCore4 supports the Enhanced Data Rate (EDR) standard, which wasratified at the end of 2004. BlueCore4 remains the only EDR silicon tobe shipping in volume today. In November 2004 CSR launched UniFi, thefirst single chip 802.11a/b/g embedded solution specifically targetingthe mobile phone and consumer electronics markets.

BlueCore features in over 50 per cent of all Bluetooth devicesshipped and over 60 per cent of all qualified Bluetooth enabledproducts and modules listed on the Bluetooth website with industryleaders including Nokia, Dell, Panasonic, Sharp, Motorola, IBM, Apple,NEC, Toshiba, RIM and Sony using BlueCore devices in their range ofBluetooth products.

In March 2005, CSR acquired Clarity Technologies Inc., for itsClear Voice Capture (CVC) technology that enhances the audioperformance of any voice-based product or system. Applications for CVCinclude wireless headsets, handsets and automotive hands free systems.

In August 2005, CSR completed the acquisition of UbiNetics'software business, providing a strong R&D team to accelerate itsexisting software development in Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and UWB. TheUbiNetics team gives CSR the capacity to extend its offering to mobilehandset customers.

CSR has its headquarters and offices in Cambridge, UK, and officesin Japan, Korea, Taiwan, China, India, France, Denmark, Sweden andboth Texas and Detroit in the USA.

More information can be found at www.csr.com and the partner website www.btdesigner.com

More information about Bluetooth technology can be found on theSIG web site at www.bluetooth.com

About Fractus

Fractus designs and manufactures miniature, multi-band antennasfor wireless applications that are easy to integrate, cost-effectiveand provide high performance. Using the unique space-filling andmulti-level properties of fractals, Fractus antennas are used inmobile phones, wireless consumer electronics using Bluetooth(R), WLANand UWB, and base stations. Fractus has a significant intellectualproperty with 37 patent families and was named a 2005 TechnologyPioneer by the World Economic Forum.

For more information, www.fractus.com