CSR has announced its latest Bluetooth and Wi-Fi chipset for smartphones and tablets, adding Wi-Fi Direct, Bluetooth low energy, and HD Voice.
"Wi-Fi Direct is a standard from the Wi-Fi Alliance that defines new ways for Wi-Fi devices to connect to each other," said CSR. "It allows users to turn their phones into mobile hotspots, providing the ability to share files from device to device or use another device's 3G data pipe."
The chipset is called CSR9100.
There are two modes of operation within Wi-Fi Direct.
The first makes a device into a hotspot, more formerly known as an access point, allowing a number of Wi-Fi nodes to connect to it and share services.
"This functionality also enables the mobile warrior use case in which users can share 3G or 4G data pipes with a number of stations connected to it via Wi-Fi," said CSR.
The second mode is point-to-point, where Wi-Fi devices will make direct connections to print, sync, and share content without an access point or router.
CSR's 6030 (for China) and CSR6031 (rest-of-world) chips provide the Wi-Fi half of the 9100 chipset.
Bluetooth low energy is part of Bluetooth 4.0 and sprang out of Nokia's Wibree programme.
Once also called Bluetooth ULP (ultra-low power), it allows short-range wireless connections to be made.
Power is low - several years use from a cell in simple applications - and supporters claim it will replace many proprietary short range RF protocols as well as infra-red links in mouses, keyboards, TV remote controls and personal area network - for example those beginning to appear for medical monitoring.
CSR sees phones with its chipset collecting health data over Bluetooth low-energy and acting as domestic remote controls.
"The way we use smart phones and high-end feature phones is getting more sophisticated," CSR marketing v-p Raj Gawera told Electronics Weekly. "We will be controlling things around the house, sharing data, transmitting video [via Wi-Fi] and receiving video."
9100 is an upgrade from last-year's 9000 chipset which supported standard W-Fi and Bluetooth 3.0, which did not have the low energy option.
CSR also makes chips for the lightweight end of Bluetooth low energy applications: TV remote controls for example; and Gawera estimates end-products using these are likely to appear at the Consumer Electronics Show early in 2011.
Processor agnostic APIs from CSR within the firm's Synergy and Synergy for Android software packages support the various Wi-Fi and Bluetooth profiles as well as FM reception and GPS.