Pittsford, New York—Here's news of two Bluetooth products available from Saelig Co. The first is a 2 x 1-in. DIL-packaged (dual in-line) embeddable control module based on Microchip Technology's popular PIC16F877 microcontroller. The module implements Bluetooth communications directly from the UART pins of the PIC microcontroller, without any need to know the details of the complex Bluetooth protocol.
Dubbed microIceBlue, the module provides the PIC16F877's pin-out on a double-row pin-connector to enable almost any application intended previously for a wireless PIC16F877 application, with the advantage now of having Bluetooth serial communications included. No additional glue-code or electronics is required.
Totally Transparent
The result is a transparent, hardware and operating system independent approach to embed wireless Bluetooth in any equipment or device—with minimum effort and investment.
This module will let you design a device that connects to BlueTooth devices such as smart phones, PDAs (personal digital assistants, such as PocketPC and Palm), as well as PCs. Myriad applications include embedded instruments, industrial control, HVAC, home automation, and medical instrumentation, to name a few.
Development Support
The microIceBlue product comes with a set of development tools, a programming environment, and related documentation. The microIceBlue implements a Serial Port Profile and supports simple point-to-point wireless communication of devices that incorporate this profile over Bluetooth.
microIceblue is a Class 1 intelligent Bluetooth module. A Class 1 device communicates up to 100-meters. The module implements a transparent UART-to- Bluetooth interface bridge in a master or slave mode.
Radio power is 14-dBm (25-mW) at 2.4 GHz. Power supply requirements are 5-V at 150-mA maximum.
The microIceblue is available now and is priced at about $140 (qty one).
Ready-To-Go Bluetooth
The second Bluetooth product available from Saelig is a ready-to-go Bluetooth module called PearlBlue. Priced at $99, it lets you quickly implement a serial link between computers, portables, smart phones, and other PearlBlue modules.
Like the microIceBlue module, the PearlBlue product is a Class 1 module that implements a transparent UART-to-Bluetooth interface bridge in master or slave mode. However, the PearlBlue module implements proprietary command-based firmware over the Bluetooth Serial Port Profile. This connects with devices incorporating this profile over Bluetooth.
General Purpose I/O
PearlBlue connects the radio serial port to a physical UART that can be interfaced to any embedded microcontroller, PDA, or computer. Additionally, PearlBlue offers six general purpose I/O lines.
The 1.25 x 1.1-in. PearlBlue module can act as master or slave as it implements a wireless RS-232 link. The PearlBlue module can also be used as an RS-232-to-Bluetooth configurable dongle. In that capacity it offers capabilities such as initiate-a-connection, wait-for-connection, search/identify (for name and CoD (Class of Device), and definition of name and CoD. It also implements security with a configurable PIN (personal identification number).
Like microIceBlue, PearlBlue is operating system independent and hardware independent. Its RF power is also 14-dBm at 2.4 GHz. Its power requirement is 3.3-V at 110-mA maximum. Operating temperature spans -40°C to +70°C.
A less-than-$100 accessory RS-232 board is also available with sockets for a PearlBlue module and a 3.3-V regulator. It makes for a quick PC connection.
Click here for an IceBlue fact sheet (in Adobe Acrobat .PDF format).
Click here for a PearlBlue fact sheet (also in Adobe Acrobat .PDF format).
For more details, contact Alan Lowne at Saelig Co. Inc., 1160-D2 Pittsford-Victor Road, Pittsford, New York 14534. Phone: 585-385-1750. Fax: 585-385-1768. E-mail: info@saelig.com
Saelig, 585-385-1750, www.saelig.com
