MindTree streams multi-user audio via Bluetooth

BARCELONA, SPAIN: MindTree Ltd, a global IT and R&D services company and a leading provider of Bluetooth intellectual property (IP), today announced that its Bluetooth multicast (multi-user audio streaming) application would be unveiled during the GSMA Mobile World Congress, the world’s leading event for the mobile communications industry, to be held February 16-19, 2009 in Barcelona, Spain.

MindTree will showcase its Bluetooth multicast application on the Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) OMAP34x processor-based development platform, in TI’s booth (#8A84, Hall 8, Fira Barcelona). This application streams audio over Bluetooth technology using TI’s WiLink 6.0 WLAN/BT/FM integrated solution, via the WL1271chipset, available in TI’s development platform.

With mobile phones evolving into key infotainment devices, OEMs are facing the challenge of developing innovative applications that cater to the trend. To address this, MindTree and TI worked together to bring forth a new Bluetooth application where multiple users can listen to the same audio stream on different headsets connected to a mobile device. This opens up a whole new range of multi-user scenarios like song-sharing or even watching a movie together.

The application is built on MindTree’s field proven EtherMind stack and profile IP suite, and has been integrated into the Gstreamer framework. This enables ready integration with a whole range of other multimedia components that are already available for this framework. Importantly, TI’s OMAP™ platform, with its high-performance and low power consumption, seamlessly enables such unique application scenarios.

“This unique application not only needed the foundation of EtherMind, a robust Bluetooth stack, but also required innovative ways to overcome technical challenges like synchronization among multiple headsets,” said MindTree President and Co-CEO, R&D Services, Vinod Deshmukh. “This multi-user audio streaming application on TI’s industry-leading OMAP platform and proven WiLink integrated connectivity solution gives us leverage in the mobile phones space,” he added.

“Consumers increasingly look at mobile handsets not only as communication devices, but as tools to share music, pictures and other information with friends and family anytime, anywhere,” said TI Marketing Manager, Connectivity Platform, Eran Sandhaus. “The combination of MindTree’s Bluetooth multicast technology with TI’s proven WiLink and OMAP technologies is enabling the next generation of peer-to-peer use cases.”

MindTree’s relationship with TI started in 2003, and has evolved over the years. The primary areas of work include wireless communications, consumer electronics, and automotive and medical spaces.

MindTree is a leading player in Bluetooth IP with a comprehensive set of offerings including the baseband controller and stack and profile solutions. MindTree has licensed its IP to several marquee customers, and its IP has been shipped in several products in volumes.

MindTree is a member of TI’s OMAP Developer Network, a group of leading software developers porting advanced applications to TI’s high performance, power-efficient OMAP processors. Handset manufacturers adopting OMAP devices enjoy the rapid deployment of compelling wireless applications, including streaming audio and video, multimedia messaging, gaming, security, speech recognition, location based services and mobile commerce, across all leading operating systems. Systems level integration services are also provided worldwide by independent OMAP Technology Centers.

The OMAP platform has been selected by leading manufacturers, such as Nokia, Palm, NEC, Fujitsu, LG Electronics, Hewlett-Packard, Sendo, HTC and many more, for their 2.5 and 3G wireless devices.