CSEM licenses IcyTRX™ Bluetooth Low Energy silicon RF IP to Oticon

Neuchatel, 11 October 2016 – CSEM, the Swiss Research and Technology Organization, today announced that they have licensed their IcyTRX™ silicon RF IP core to Danish hearing aid manufacturer Oticon.

Oticon has integrated IcyTRX™ IP core into their new chipset for the new Oticon Opn™ range of advanced wireless-enabled hearing aids, allowing direct connection and streaming audio between Bluetooth-enabled devices. IcyTRX™ is the most advanced RF IP core available in the market today.

Compatible with Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), IEEE802.15.4 and proprietary RF protocols, it has been licensed by a growing number of semiconductor companies. Building on CSEM’s ultra-low-power design experience, it consumes less than 5mW and runs directly from a hearing aid battery on low voltages. Furthermore it has a best-in-class receive sensitivity of -97dBm and is highly integrated allowing tiny form factors. The Opn™ hearing aid was announced earlier this year. IcyTRX™ has played an important role in enabling a longer battery life in Opn™ than that achievable with standard BLE transceivers, as well as immunity to external wireless interference, improving comfort of the user.

Fin Möhring, VP of R&D, Oticon says: “We have selected CSEM’s IP because of its remarkable performance and quality; furthermore we’ve received excellent support from CSEM’s design team which is fundamental when you’re developing a product as advanced as Opn”. Alain-Serge Porret, VP Ultra-low power Systems, CSEM says: “We are proud to have contributed to the development of Oticon Opn™ which confirms CSEM as the leading provider of ultra-low-power RF IP”. IcyTRX™ is being used in a wide range of connectivity applications from wearables to IoT, and will be presented at Electronica Munich in November.