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Bluetooth modules

S

Spehro Pefhany

Jan 1, 1970
0
Have a LOW-volume mobile data acquisition application that requires
Bluetooth. Not sure yet whether it will be Class I or II. Any
suggestions as to good, reliable OEM modules? Unit cost is not a big
factor. What's the situation with FCC/Industry Canada? I presume that
type approval is required?

Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany
 
M

Meindert Sprang

Jan 1, 1970
0
Spehro Pefhany > said:
Have a LOW-volume mobile data acquisition application that requires
Bluetooth. Not sure yet whether it will be Class I or II. Any
suggestions as to good, reliable OEM modules? Unit cost is not a big
factor. What's the situation with FCC/Industry Canada? I presume that
type approval is required?

Hi Spehro,

Take a look at these: http://www.blu2i.com , especially the bare module.
You can download datasheets from their ftp site:
ftp://tdkuser:[email protected]/

The modules are certified as an end product and therefore do not need any
extra approvals. Just plug them into your application and you're ready. The
modules can be programmed by modem style AT commands and can be setup as a
'serial-wire' replacement. You make the right settings with a few AT
commands and then two paired modules operate autonomously as a fully
transparent serial channel. In Europe, they sell for about 85 euro/unit,
which compares to appr. $100.

I have used them to put BT functionality into a data multiplexer, so any
Bluetooth device (PDA, PC or what have you) using the serial profile could
talk to the multiplexer.

Meindert
 
S

Spehro Pefhany

Jan 1, 1970
0
Hi Spehro,

Take a look at these: http://www.blu2i.com , especially the bare module.
You can download datasheets from their ftp site:
ftp://tdkuser:[email protected]/

The modules are certified as an end product and therefore do not need any
extra approvals. Just plug them into your application and you're ready. The
modules can be programmed by modem style AT commands and can be setup as a
'serial-wire' replacement. You make the right settings with a few AT
commands and then two paired modules operate autonomously as a fully
transparent serial channel. In Europe, they sell for about 85 euro/unit,
which compares to appr. $100.

I have used them to put BT functionality into a data multiplexer, so any
Bluetooth device (PDA, PC or what have you) using the serial profile could
talk to the multiplexer.

Yes, that's just the sort of thing I'm looking for. Thanks for the
suggestion, Meindert. They are made by TDK, I presume.

Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany
 
B

Ben Jackson

Jan 1, 1970
0
Have a LOW-volume mobile data acquisition application that requires
Bluetooth. Not sure yet whether it will be Class I or II. Any
suggestions as to good, reliable OEM modules?

You can get SDIO cards that do bluetooth. That's a device in the
SD/MMC form factor. I'm not sure what's involved in driving one.
 
M

Meindert Sprang

Jan 1, 1970
0
Spehro Pefhany > said:
Yes, that's just the sort of thing I'm looking for. Thanks for the
suggestion, Meindert. They are made by TDK, I presume.

Yes. And they contain (as many others) a radio chipset from Cambridge
Silicon Radio.
Also the support for these modules is very good. You can mail directly with
one of the software developers of the module and he is very responsive. But
he is in the UK so mind the time difference.

Meindert
 
B

Bradley

Jan 1, 1970
0
Spehro Pefhany said:
Have a LOW-volume mobile data acquisition application that requires
Bluetooth. Not sure yet whether it will be Class I or II. Any
suggestions as to good, reliable OEM modules? Unit cost is not a big
factor. What's the situation with FCC/Industry Canada? I presume that
type approval is required?

You may also want to check out Wilcoxon Research (www.wilcoxon.com).
They have an industrial Bluetooth module with a 100m range. I have a
couple sitting on my desk, but have not had the time to test them,
yet. Their engineers were very helpful as well.

Bradley
 
M

Michael Anton

Jan 1, 1970
0
Since nobody else has pointed this out, I will. RF does not go through
aluminum, so you will need to have an external antenna, or have sufficiently
large enough cutouts in the box that the RF will "leak" out.

Mike Anton

Spehro Pefhany > said:
Have a LOW-volume mobile data acquisition application that requires
Bluetooth. Not sure yet whether it will be Class I or II. Any
suggestions as to good, reliable OEM modules? Unit cost is not a big
factor. What's the situation with FCC/Industry Canada? I presume that
type approval is required?

Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany
http://www.speff.com
 
S

Spehro Pefhany

Jan 1, 1970
0
Since nobody else has pointed this out, I will. RF does not go through
aluminum, so you will need to have an external antenna, or have sufficiently
large enough cutouts in the box that the RF will "leak" out.

Mike Anton

Thanks. ;-) It's a plastic (polycarbonate) enclosure, but I could
imagine someone making that mistake. Once.

Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany
 
E

Ethan

Jan 1, 1970
0
Some plastics will absorb RF energy and will seriously attenuate your
signal, so you still want to be carefull of what type of material you
use for your box. I don't know about polycarbonate. I have heard the
way to find out if a plastic will work well is to put it in a
microwave oven with a glass of water, and see if the plastic gets hot.

Both microwave ovens and Bluetooth are at 2.4GHz so the plastic will
absorb energy from both in the same way.

Ethan
 
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