Accelerate IoT development with pre-verified Bluetooth modules

Bluetooth technology has been around for more than 20 years. With the Industrial Internet of Things and widespread consumer adoption, it has become the most used wireless technology today, ahead of all other wireless standards. Research shows that Bluetooth shipments were 4 billion in 2019, and forecasts show that by 2023, Bluetooth shipments are expected to reach 5.4 billion, an increase of 26%.

Bluetooth is popular because of its reliability, flexibility, and the fact that it is easy to use. On top of that, the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) continues to develop, improve, and fine-tune the standard to make it even better.

However, Bluetooth has a key disadvantage: it usually requires some combination of RF and wireless knowledge, experience, and design capabilities to develop a Bluetooth product, starting with the radio chip design. Most engineers today typically don’t have this wireless background. This is not to say that engineers can’t complete a Bluetooth design from scratch, but the learning curve is steep and the extra design time can break the budget and delay the product’s time to market.

The best solution is to use a Bluetooth module.

Benefits of using Bluetooth module

A Bluetooth module is a complete radio in a small package that only needs a DC power supply, an external antenna, and any inputs (such as sensors) to generate the data to be communicated. You don't need to be an RF and microwave expert or know Maxwell's equations or antenna design to use a module. Buy it, integrate it with your host product, write some firmware, and use your Bluetooth-enabled device.

The module saves you a lot of design and development cycles for the PCB layout of the Bluetooth chip and other analog signals, as well as sensor inputs that need to be conditioned and digitized, the usual mechanical packaging challenges, etc. You can focus on your primary goal while you can trust the Bluetooth wireless capabilities that are being processed.

Keep in mind that if you do try to make an RF, Bluetooth, or other product, you will probably need some firmware development to get the radio to work properly in your application. Additionally, you will have to get your final product through testing and certification with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). These tests are often beyond the knowledge of most engineers, not to mention the high-priced test equipment required. The solution is to find a professional test lab to perform the testing and certification, which can add thousands of dollars to your budget. Using a module eliminates this need, process, and cost.

However, as you know, plug-and-play modules can cost more than your own special design. However, when you do your own cost-benefit analysis of the module options, you will save design time, testing, and other costs more than enough to offset those expenses.

Next generation Bluetooth module

Bluetooth modules have been around for many years, evolving from large, clunky boxes to today's small, chip-like modules. A good example of the latest module is the BGX220 from Silicon Labs. This is a pre-programmed module designed to replace wired applications, and there is no firmware development required. The module utilizes the Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) 5 standard, which allows for a maximum data rate of 2 Mb/s.

Using BGX220, embedded systems can communicate with other modules and devices such as smartphones through BLE connection. The module comes with I2C, UART and GPIO interfaces.

Some of the latest Bluetooth modules, such as Silicon Labs' BGX220 and BGM220P, have been shrunk to smaller chip sizes.

Other BLE modules include BGM220S and BGM220P. BGM220S is an ultra-compact, low-cost 6×6 mm system-in-package (SiP) module that relies on a button battery and can provide up to 10 years of life. BGM220P is a 13×15×2.2 mm module with 8dBm transmit power and -106.7 dBm receiver sensitivity, as well as the latest BLE5.2 standard, which can provide a larger signal transmission range.

Other features include:

Low power consumption: 4.8mA, when the transmit power is 0 dBm, the power consumption is 4.8mA.

Excellent security: AES128/256 with ECC (up to 256-bit), SHA-1, SHA-2 (256-bit)

12-bit ADC with 16 input channels

Wake-up radio RF sensing function

Built-in temperature sensor

As a reminder, these new modules support Angle of Arrival (AoA) and Angle of Departure (AoD) technologies, enabling BLE Mesh configuration and positioning capabilities.

The applications are so vast that they can be anything you can imagine. With low-cost IC-sized modules, you can integrate BLE into almost any product.