Bluetooth® 4.0 Low Energy
Single Mode Smart Modules


"S" = Single Mode Low Energy, BR-LE4.0-S2A, nBlue™ (shipping)
"D" = Dual Mode Low Energy, BR-LE4.0-D2A, BlueBridge (sampling) More >>>
Both pin-for-pin compatible with legacy BlueRadios Bluetooth and ZigBee modules.

nBlue™ nano ampere network module

Bluetooth Smart low energy (LE) holds the promise of wireless connectivity everywhere, to everything.

Bluetooth Smart Low Energy (LE) is an emerging open standard developed by the Bluetooth SIG that offers state-of-the-art communication technology in the sports and fitness, medical, watch, home and office and other consumer markets. Bluetooth low energy technology will offer a low-cost, low-power interface to your cellular phone, laptop, or other Bluetooth enabled product. Though Bluetooth low energy is a separate standard from Bluetooth, it can be easily integrated into existing Bluetooth chipsets and is poised for extensive roll-out in cellular phones and Bluetooth-enabled devices in 2011.
Bluetooth Low Energy Factsheet (34KB)
Chip-on-Board vs. Turnkey Module Comparison (82KB)

As the leader in low energy OEM RF module solutions, BlueRadios is pleased to be an active contributor to the emerging Bluetooth 4.0 low energy industry. The nBlue BR-LE4.0-S2A which is the first operational single-mode, system-on-chip module to support Bluetooth low energy. Also first to market is BlueBridge BR-LE4.0-D2A a Dual mode version with the exact same packaging and pinouts.

BR-LE4.0-S2A Summary Spec. (392KB)
nBlue BR-LE4.0-S2A is a standalone Class1 module solution and requires no firmware or external components! Custom client applications can be written directly onto the nBlue, which supports both analog and digital peripherals, eliminating the need for a second costly microprocessor (see stack below). Alternately, the BR-LE4.0-S2 can be integrated into an existing design as a HCI network processor device, with a host processor running the core application and the BR-LE4.0-S2 providing Bluetooth (LE) low energy communications.

nBlue™ Single Mode Low Energy Smart Modules (Protocol Stack)
The Bluetooth low energy protocol stack is built similarly to BR/EDR stack, with a controller layer at the bottom, followed by a host layer, and finally the profile and application layers. The nBlue modules contain a full stack all the way up to the application layer as seen below. The ATBLE API contains all the necessary commands to enable the user to quickly and easily develop a fully-featured BLE application. The User Application can use the ATBLE API through the UART, using an external microcontroller, or by writing a custom application to run on the GAP and GATT layers. Standard Bluetooth LE profiles included in each module: GAP, GATT, SMP, ATT, L2CAP, BATT.

Why Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) from BlueRadios?

BlueRadios provides both single-mode and dual-mode module solutions with integrated antenna.
BlueRadios shipping the world’s first (controller, host, and application on one device) single-mode Bluetooth low energy turnkey module using a TI 8051 core CC2540 baseband.
BlueRadios shipping the world’s first dual mode turnkey module solution.
BlueRadios provides a total module solution: RF ICs, protocol stacks, profile software, application examples, development kits, integrated antenna, plus end certifications.
BlueRadios provides a $199 single & dual mode Bluetooth low energy module development kits and a royalty-free protocol stack with integrated application.
Taking advantage of the BR-LE4.0-D2A Bluetooth dual-mode infrastructure, single-mode Bluetooth devices like BlueRadios BR-LE4.0-S2A offer a low-cost, low-power solution that easily integrates into existing or new products.

Why Bluetooth LE:

Compared to classic Bluetooth-enabled products, Bluetooth low energy enables the use of coin cells and energy harvesting solutions where applications can operate more than a year on a tiny button cell battery without recharging.
Dual-mode BR-LE4.0-D2A devices enable connectivity to legacy cell phones and other Bluetooth low energy and traditional Bluetooth devices.
Single-mode devices only support Bluetooth low energy and is optimized for low-power, low-cost solutions and is not backwards Compatible with legacy Bluetooth.
Multi-vendor interoperability
Enhanced range


$119 - USB Evaluation Dongle (pictured right)
BR-USB-LE4.0-S2A (83KB) nBlue™
Contains BR-LE4.0-S2A module
External push button
Removable smoke plastic enclosure with USB cap
Breakout pads for testing
No software drivers required
Serial FTDI or USB 2.0 support

Note: Due to high initial demand only one sample per client.

Bluetooth Low Energy Wireless Sensors >>>

Tools:
$249 - Bluetooth 4.0 Single Mode Protocol Packet Sniffer, BlueSniff™
BR-USB-LE4.0-S2ABS
Includes USB Hardware Dongle (similar to one pictured above with plastic enclosure)
Comes with download link for Windows based PC software
Why pay $25K or more for the more expensive units from Ellisys and Frontline Test Equipment?

nBlue Module Technical Details

Data Transfers – Bluetooth low energy technology supports very short data packets (8 octet minimum up to 27 octets maximum).. All connections use advanced sniff-subrating to achieve ultra low duty cycles.

Frequency Hopping – Bluetooth low energy technology uses the adaptive frequency hopping common to all versions of Bluetooth technology to minimize interference from other technologies in the 2.4 GHz ISM Band. Efficient multi-path benefits increase the link budgets and range.

Host Control – Bluetooth low energy technology places a significant amount of intelligence in the controller, which allows the host to sleep for longer periods of time and be woken up by the controller only when the host needs to perform some action. This allows for the greatest current savings since the host is assumed to consume more power than the controller.

Latency – Bluetooth low energy technology can support connection setup and data transfer as low as 10ms, allowing an application to form a connection and then transfer authenticated data in few milliseconds for a short communication burst before quickly tearing down the connection.

Range – Increased modulation index provides a possible range for Bluetooth low energy technology of over 150 meters.

Robustness – Bluetooth low energy technology uses a strong 24 bit CRC on all packets ensuring the maximum robustness against interference.

Strong Security – Full AES-128 encryption using CCM to provide strong encryption and authentication of data packets.

Topology – Bluetooth low energy technology uses a 32 bit access address on every packet for each slave, allowing billions of devices to be connected. The technology is optimized for one-to-one connections while allowing one-to-many connections using a star topology. With the use of quick connections and disconnections, data can move in a mesh-like topology without the complexities of maintaining a mesh network.

nBlue BR-LE4.0-S2A features and benefits:

Integrated module solution
        - Lower cost
        - Smaller physical size
Flash-based
        - Flexibility for developers
        - Device firmware can be updated in the field if necessary
        - Persistent data and custom applications can be stored on-module
Complete solution
        - BlueRadios provides module, protocol stack, basic profile software and applications support
Excellent RF performance
        - Excellent link budget provides for long range
        - Excellent selectivity provides for good coexistence with other 2.4-GHz devices
Ultra-low power consumption
        - Very long battery life
        - Can use coin cells or alkaline batteries, no need for rechargeable batteries
Pin-compatible with legacy Bluetooth 1.1, 1.2, and 2.0 BlueRadios modules
        - IEEE 802.15.4 (ZigBee®, RF4CE, 6LoWPAN) systems can use the same PCBs as
          Bluetooth low energy and proprietary 2.4-GHz systems
        - Investments in hardware and software development can cross protocol boundaries

Benefits of BLE over traditional Bluetooth

IP aware, automatically interacts directly with the web application, phone PC, STB, or gateway is a pass through no special applications required on the Gateway which is a transparent pipe from device to an IP address.

Broadcast support
Connectionless always off technology
Proximity and out of range detection
Fast connect time and low data latency
First low power wireless technology standard

APPLICATIONS

nBlue module communicating once a second consumes 30uA on average. To put this in perspective, 30uA corresponds to 330 days of battery life using a CR2032 coin cell.

BLE is not recommended for data streaming applications over the standard defined profiles like GAP & GATT. Bluetooth Low Energy does not support BT SIG Serial Port Profile (SPP). BLE is not backwards compatible with legacy Bluetooth.

Telemedicine / Telehealth	Health Care and Medical
Medical Patient Monitoring	Smart Grid
Human Interface Devices	Automated Meter Reading (AMR)
Sports and leisure equipment	Home and Building Automation
Mobile phone accessories	Machine-to-Machine (M2M)
Consumer Electronics	Wireless Sensor Networks
Proximity	Wireless Alarms and Security
Remote monitoring and control	Lighting and HVAC control

Bluetooth low energy single mode is not compatible with legacy Bluetooth only dual mode devices are. Single mode is ideal for end devices and dual mode is for gateway type devices like PC, laptop, and cell phones.

Bluetooth 4.0 Low Energy Evaluation Kits>>>