‘Swiss-made’ watch redefined as Swatch debuts world’s smallest Bluetooth chip

For more than a century, the term “Swiss watch” denoted precision and fine craftsmanship in mechanical systems. Now, the Swatch Group is working to expand that reputation to electronic devices, particularly for the Internet of Things (IoT) and, yes, watches. In one of its first steps to that end, the company has announced what it claims is the smallest Bluetooth 5.0 SoC on the market.

Swatch's research and development department worked with EM Microelectronics, a Swiss company specializing in the design of low-power, low-voltage ICs, to create the new Bluetooth device. The EM9304 chip, which is now available, can operate either as a Bluetooth companion to a host processor, or operate in standalone mode. In standalone mode, its 24-MHz ARC processor can execute custom applications from built-in one-time programmable (OTP) memory. It can also connect to external sensors and digital peripherals using SPI and I² C interfaces. The device is available in several package options, including wafer-scale packaging and bare die for ultra-small installations.

But the chip is only the latest step in Swatch's large-scale plan for Swiss companies to dominate the electronic watch market as they do mechanical watches. A second effort involves the non-profit research and development organization CSEM (Centre Suisse d'Electronique et de Microtechnique). According to Swatch, the two organizations are working together to develop an entire ecosystem of Swiss-made elements for developing small connected devices, i.e., IoT. The development effort is taking a holistic approach to creating an ecosystem designed right from the start for miniaturization.

One of the key elements scheduled to come out of this collaboration is a new operating system that is tailor-made for small, connected consumer devices. Part of the motivation for creating a new operating system is to provide levels of security and durability not available with operating systems from large (mainly American) software companies. According to the CSEM, the new OS will both provide absolute data security and counteract what seems to be the planned obsolescence of consumer electronics. The OS is designed to last without a need for regular updates.

The collaboration is also scheduled to include work microbatteries and additional silicon components as well as ultra-low-power applications based on the new OS. The organizations aim to launch the first products resulting from this collaboration in late 2018.