Helpful Advice About Bluetooth Modules

As technology advances, our wireless communication abilities grow at a rapid pace. The latest wave of this wireless frenzy is the Bluetooth technology. Bluetooth is a standard developed by a group of electronics manufacturers that allows any sort of electronic units, including computers, cell phones, keyboards, and headphones, to make its own connections, without wires, cables or any direct action from a user. As this technology becomes more diverse, established, and affordable, it will reach all portable equipment and will no longer just be an add-on for equipment but a standard.

One of the more recent uses for Bluetooth is between cars and cell phones. This opens up several security questions about this "mini network" that takes place with Bluetooth. Bluetooth modules can be either built into electronic devices or used as an adaptor. It can be used to replace a wired serial network with a wireless network. It can be incorporated as a PC card. These can also be attached externally via the USB port. It are components and they can be integrated into project designs.

Bluetooth modules are of dire importance for this project. It are inexpensive to include in equipment, resulting in low overall manufacturing costs. It are also much cheaper and consume much less power, only having a 9 foot radius of signal strength. Bluetooth modules are available from a wide range of suppliers. It may require programming by the user for them to work properly.

Bluetooth modules may require programming by the user for them to work properly. For instance the AIRcable module must be programmed in the "service-slave mode" for it to work with a Palm device and the front switches set as follows: sw 1 down, sw 2 down, sw 3 up, sw 4 down. All Bluetooth modules must be configured to 19,200 baud, 8 data bits, 1 stop bit, no parity. Bluetooth modules are inexpensive to include in equipment, resulting in low overall manufacturing costs.

These savings can be passed on to the customer. Additionally, as no network contract needs to be set up, (Bluetooth is free) there are no service costs. The Bluetooth modules can be used to replace a wired serial network with a wireless network. The DTE module may be connected to any Telemetrics control equipment wile the DCE module may be connected to any serial Pan/Tit Head. The wireless range is 328 feet standard but it may be increased to 3280 feet with different antennas.

 Many Bluetooth modules do not have connectors, but have leaded BGA or SMD packages. Rework on any products that feature these leaded modules requires the use of a BGA or SMD rework station.

These stations are costly, and the process can be time consuming when these components need to be extracted from the PCB for test, debug, or repair. In such cases, the main PCB could easily be damaged. And, reworking the leaded module back onto the PCB could be challenging. (For instance, a BGA X-ray machine may be needed to verify whether the pins have connected properly to the PCB.) Working with a module that has the appropriate signals brought out on a connector can be a major time and aggravation savings for a designer.