CSR launched UniVox, a VoIP phone based on the company's UniFi single-chip WiFi technology. CSR has designed UniVox to enable manufacturers to produce wireless phones for residential use at the lowest cost, and lowest power with up to 20 hours talk time and 400 hours standby time from typical handset batteries, using latest generation access points. CSR is providing UniVox customers with schematics, layout and bill of materials (BOM) as well as royalty-free design software. To ensure the lowest cost, CSR has designed UniVox to be highly integrated, so the total cost of components listed in the BOM is under $20 with electronic bill of materials (eBOM) totalling less than $15. CSR is demonstrating and sampling UniVox today, and expects a full production-ready UniVox example design by the end of the year.

"Untethering VoIP calls from PCs is exactly what consumers want, and for wireless VoIP phones to succeed both power and pricing have got to fall", said J. Gerry Purdy, Frost & Sullivan's VP and Chief Mobile Wireless Analyst. "Only lower prices and long battery life will drive widespread adoption; CSR's UniVox handset reference design should help ODMs achieve those goals."

CSR has built UniVox around its UniFi-1 Portable chip to provide a design for a low cost, low power VoWiFi (Voice over WiFi) phone. UniFi-1 is CSR's 802.11b/g single-chip WiFi silicon and offers the industry's lowest power consumption whilst in a chip-scale package that allows a very small footprint (6x6mm). CSR has also designed its own MAP (Multimedia Applications Processor) into UniVox, combining a low power RISC based applications processor with high performance DSP function, audio CODECs and echo cancellation; as well as intelligent power management. To ensure high voice quality, UniVox supports 802.11e and WMM-SA to provide optimised and prioritised quality of service (QoS), eliminating potential latency or jitter. UniVox also supports 802.11i to add enhanced levels of security.

UniVox benefits from the lowest power embedded WiFi solution in the industry. Utilising WMM-PS mode with a compatible access point will also provide handsets with advanced power-save mechanisms for extended battery life. This means that instead of the standard 1500mAh battery providing 8 hours talk time and 250 hours standby, WMM-PS can extend talk time to a potential 20 hours, and standby time to 400 hours.

UniVox is a secure platform preventing unauthorised use or eavesdropping. Support for 802.11i, WEP, WPA and WPA2 security standards means UniVox based phone designs will be compatible with standard wireless router protocols. UniVox can also be pre-configured with IP and gateway addresses, allowing ODMs to produce branded 'out of the box' VoWiFi phones specific for broadband or VoIP service providers. CSR's UniVox uses SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) version 2, the widely adopted open standard for initiating voice or video calls across internet connections. UniVox can also be configured (at the production stage) to support the alternative IAX2 protocol, depending on the requirements of the VoIP service provider.

The DSP co-processor inside CSR's applications processor includes the company's own CVC (Clear Voice Capture) echo cancellation software, which combined with the prioritised QoS, gives the end-user the maximum sound quality at the lowest cost. UniVox has a default MMI (Man Machine Interface) included; a software development kit can be used to further configure the phone's interface and to add additional audio CODECs if required.

Simon Finch, VP WiFi Strategic Business Unit, CSR, commented, "UniVox based phones are the next step in the evolution of VoIP phones that are set to replace the residential phones we use today, such as DECT." Finch continued, "We designed UniVox in the knowledge that VoWiFi phones on the market today are just too expensive and power hungry to drive wider consumer adoption. UniVox was designed from the ground up with the intention of enabling phone ODMs to produce high quality, very low cost and low power phones for the mass market."