Parrot Drives Ericsson B'tooth

STOCKHOLM -- Ericsson Technology Licensing has signed a licensing agreement with Parrot, a provider of Bluetooth products for the automotive market. The license covers Ericsson's new Bluetooth baseband core, which holds the complete range of mandatory Bluetooth version 1.2 features.

The Ericsson Core Bluetooth Baseband Platform Q-E1 is based on the Bluetooth v1.2 specification with for example better voice and audio quality and improved coexistence with other wireless technologies. Parrot will use Ericsson's Core Baseband to develop their own system-on-a-chip (SoC), Parrot5, to be used in Parrot's next generation Bluetooth products. Parrot also has an option to license Ericsson's full portfolio of software and all profiles suitable for the automotive industry.

"We regard Parrot as a unique and important partner, due to their integrating capabilities as an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM), combined with their ability to develop system-on-a-chip for the Bluetooth market," says Maria Khorsand, President of Ericsson Technology Licensing. "Parrot is a pioneer and a major player in the automotive segment with handsfree products already on the market for numerous car manufacturers."

"Designing our next generation of chipset Parrot5 with Ericsson's Baseband Core allows us to bring a cost effective solution to the market in a very short time" says Nicolas Besnard, CTO of Parrot.

"We appreciate that Ericsson has long experience and dedication to Bluetooth and that they feel responsible for their solutions all the way to the consumer market, says Henri Seydoux, CEO of Parrot."

LM Ericsson