Bluetooth has come on in leaps and bounds since it has been introduced a few years ago and there are many Bluetooth modules available on the market. Of course, if you are working with Bluetooth modules or selling them you need to know everything that there is to know about Bluetooth and Bluetooth Modules.

At Sequoia Technology they have a resident Bluetooth expert who is always available to answer questions and queries about Bluetooth modules. We wanted to ask him a few questions about how he came to be a Bluetooth expert.

How did you first come to be involved with Bluetooth modules? In the mid 90’s, GSM cellphone technology and its rollout was driving the development in the electronics industry to produce efficient, smaller and lower powered wireless devices. The introduction of the Bluetooth standard was brought about by a collaboration between several handset manufacturers to answer the requirements of pairing devices up such as a phone to a headset.

This brought about the development of Bluetooth chips which were added to consumer equipment such as wireless headsets. However industry also recognised its use but the volumes required were much smaller. Designing in a chip is an expensive and lengthy business so the integration of a chip onto a module concept was developed and marketed.

The subsequent Bluetooth modules addressed requirements such as secure cable replacement were introduced as a solution to address this and they have been developed and improved on since.

Bluetooth is a relatively new technology, what were your first thoughts about Bluetooth modules when they were first widely available? The first Bluetooth devices came as either Class 1, 2 or 3 products. Initially Class 2 and 3 were available with Class 2 being most widely adopted for industrial use. Class 2 covered a short range and was designed for Personal Area Networks (PAN’s) – able to communicate at distances of 10 metres. Later modules came out which were capable of performing as Class 1 Bluetooth devices, capable of ranges of 100 metres and designed for Local Area Networks (LAN’s).

At this point, the technical advantages over cost became more attractive and the market developed.

How did you come to be a Bluetooth module Expert? Thank you for the compliment however I wouldn’t say I am an expert. I’ve been engaged in Bluetooth modules since they were first commercially introduced by companies such as Ezurio who were a spin off from TDK – the Japanese multinational. The connection with this technology stems from my employment with technical distribution specialising in wireless technology for mobile and static applications. So I was involved with innovators and early adopters of a breadth of wireless technology before it hit the mainstream.

Bluetooth was seen as very secure way of sending reasonable amounts of data, reliably at distances of up to 100 metres for Class 1 devices and 10 metres for Class 2 devices. Industry recognised the cost savings associated with less time installing and using CAT rated or copper cable. Furthermore it operates on 2.4GHz which is a globally accepted, licence free frequency.

What would you consider to be the best all round Bluetooth module available today? This depends on whether price or performance is the driving factor. Pricing is hugely important and we can supply Class 1 Bluetooth modules at sub £15 in low volumes. These are almost standalone modules, complete with on board microcontroller, antenna full TCP/IP stacks and drivers, only requiring power and a UART interface – no other components are required

However the market has developed and we have some feature rich products which are still class 1 devices but giving a transmission range of up to 1KM. Although at a slight cost premium, the 10 times better working range can be the difference between having a network that can cover that distance freely or using a paid for network such as the Cellular ones. Obviously with this network you would have to pay a monthly subscription to the Network operator which has to be factored into the overall system cost.

Tell us about the biggest challenge you’ve ever faced with Bluetooth Modules? It is challenging comparing a seemingly like for like Bluetooth module destined for the PC market with one of our standalone modules. Customers are attracted by the initial cost but overlook the fact that they need to write the TCP IP stack, add a micro and develop code for that plus get all the relevant approvals. Plus they need to keep all this up to date. It’s okay for consumer users who are using 50K plus modules per year but not for general industrial use in the U.K where volumes and resource are not the same.

What do you think is the future of Bluetooth Modules? There is a drive currently for ultra low power devices – being driven by the 21st Century requirements to use energy and resources more efficiently. I see Bluetooth carrying on competing against wired solutions and being adopted to provide longer working range in devices aimed to being an advantage to ourselves and in saving on energy costs such as in the home and in vehicles.