ConnecTIng Wirelessly

Android joins the Bluetooth low-energy movement

Sid Shaw — Wed, 15 May 2013 14:00:00 GMT

Without a doubt, the Bluetooth low energy market has been growing, but without broad support from the Android community there was a gap. At Google I/O, the company announced what the industry has been waiting for—support for the Bluetooth v4.0 standard, which includes Bluetooth low energy, with Android API version 18.

More manufacturers are looking at Bluetooth low energy technology to attach their “appcessories” (an accessory device that uses apps to share information) to smartphones and tablets. In fact, ABI Research predicts that there will be nearly one billion Bluetooth appcessories in 2016.

Thanks to today’s announcement, any appcessory that is Bluetooth low energy capable will be able to support Android once the APIs are available – and the good news is that it should be a fairly fast upgrade process. We will be updating our SensorTag kit to include an Android app to help speed the development of new Bluetooth Smart appcessories. And all manufacturers using TI’s CC2541, CC2540 or CC2564 will be able to update their offerings and increase the number of smartphones and tablets they can “talk” to over Bluetooth low energy.

For further assistance, the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) has launched an enablement initiative, which includes a web portal with resources for the developer community. They will also offer a Bluetooth Applications Accelerator to speed time-to-market for new appcessories that you can pre-register for on the portal.

So what does Google’s support mean for the future of Bluetooth low energy? Quite frankly, the sky’s the limit now that manufacturers can deliver Bluetooth v4.0 devices for Android, iOS, Windows 8 and Blackberry operating systems.

I hope you’re excited for the new Android-based Bluetooth Smart devices on the horizon. We can’t wait to see the innovative appcessories and other Bluetooth low energy connected devices that the Android community will dream up. Cowboid, our Android mascot, is so excited he turned Bluetooth blue and is ready and waiting with his SensorTag!

What Android Bluetooth Smart appcessory would you create?

MCU Quadcopter BoosterPack blasts off – utilizing TI’s CC2560 Bluetooth and CC4000 GPS solutions to take the design to new heights

Allison Weibring — Mon, 06 May 2013 16:15:00 GMT

As an avid MCU LaunchPad user, TI’er Trey German took a look at the current BoosterPack plug-in modules and saw something was missing. “The BoosterPacks available today are good in that the showcase a TI technology, but none of them really showcase a completed end application,” said German. Trey was inspired and decided to create his own BoosterPack and enter it into the internal BoosterPack Design Challenge. “I wanted to develop something that would really knock people’s socks off and showed off TI’s technical portfolio with a fully-integrated BoosterPack plug-in module solution.” To do this, Trey decided to design a quadcopter-based BoosterPack. A quadcopter is similar to a traditional helicopter in maneuverability, but is substantially cheaper due to simplified mechanical components, which reduce the overall bill of materials cost. Instead of a complicated swashplate and tail rotor, the quadcopter employs four fixed pitch propellers and complex control algorithms to stabilize and balance the aircraft. “By removing the expensive mechanical components and moving this functionality into software, we are able to reduce costs and make this a viable option for product production.”

As with any other remotely controlled or autonomous vehicle a data link was needed, and Trey chose a combination of TI’s CC2560 and CC4000 solutions. “I chose Bluetooth because of the small size and low power requirements of the quadcopter. I needed a solution that would be small and light and the PAN1323 built off the CC2560 was a perfect solution,” stated German. This data link provides telemetry data to a ground station using the Serial Port Protocol (SPP) and also allows for manual control of the quadcopter. Additional functionality is provided by the CC4000 GPS module, “The CC4000 allows the quadcopter to fly autonomously by flying to way points programmed using a ground control station. This enables the quadcopter to fly autonomous drone missions.”

The quadcopter also incorporates other TI technologies such as InstaSPIN-FOC to control the four brushless DC motors on board as well as various power electronics and analog solutions from all over TI. “The quadcopter really showcases some of the best technologies TI has to offer. I’ve really enjoyed building my quadcopter and I’m excited to see where this project will go.”

Trey German is a graduate of Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and works as an Applications Engineer in the C2000 Microcontroller group. In his free time he enjoys flying airplanes and exploring Houston on his bicycle.

Bluetooth Is for the Internet of Things – My thoughts from Bluetooth World 2013

Sid Shaw — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 14:54:00 GMT

Last week, the Bluetooth SIG hosted the first Bluetooth World conference in Shanghai, China. Normally reserved for members, the conference opened its doors to non-members who were interested in learning more about Bluetooth technology and trends.

While a portion of the conference was tied to the existing markets for Bluetooth and Bluetooth low energy like health and fitness devices and proximity tags, overwhelmingly the theme of the conference was that this is just the beginning. More traction worldwide. More applications. More devices.

Where the growth is

At the center of this growth is that Bluetooth and Bluetooth low energy have an important role to play in the Internet of Things (IoT). While it might not seem intuitive at first because Bluetooth does not connect to the Internet, the technology complements the other work horses of the IoT, namely Wi-Fi and ZigBee.

Wi-Fi has established itself for home automation and networking applications and is starting to make inroads in connected cars. Likewise, ZigBee is finding success in smart grid and home automation as well as lighting because of its mesh networking and low power capabilities.

So where does Bluetooth fit? With low power modes and low cost, Bluetooth/Bluetooth low energy can connect the last 10 meters—for advanced remote controls to operate TVs and set-top-boxes, to obtain data from a basketball, pill bottle or other home electronics, portable devices, sporting and medical equipment and share that data with a smartphone or tablet to upload to the Internet.

Sensors, Bluetooth and the IoT

The use of sensors is also expanding the use of Bluetooth in the IoT. Sensors used to determine temperature, movement, humidity, light and more are being paired with Bluetooth/Bluetooth low energy connectivity to gather more information from the billions of devices that have yet to be connected. To this point, TI showed off its Bluetooth low energy SensorTag kit at Bluetooth World in a standing room only training session. The SensorTag is a development tool that can get a sensor-based app up and running in minutes. TI also demonstrated the industry’s only Bluetooth/Bluetooth low energy dual-mode solution – the CC2564 – and several customer products during the vendor showcase and one-on-one with the hundreds of attendees at the show.

What the next year will bring

Bluetooth is quickly expanding into new applications, while it is also gaining traction in new regions around the world. Shanghai was a perfect backdrop for the 2013 event since China is embracing Bluetooth connectivity. The number of companies focused on making consumer products for the China market is growing rapidly, as is the demand for technologies that are simple, cheap and already integrated in the smartphones (i.e. Bluetooth low energy) because of the familiarity for consumers.

The possibilities are endless in terms of what Bluetooth can be connected to thanks to its battery friendly, low cost and fairly ease of design compared to other RF technologies. And when added to the Wi-Fi and ZigBee networks at the foundation of the IoT, Bluetooth and Bluetooth low energy become a true extension to connect battery-powered devices. We look forward to the next year of Bluetooth developments and the new and exciting applications that are changing how we live. How are you using Bluetooth technology?

-- Sid

Develop a Bluetooth Smart sensor app in one hour

Jarle Boe — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 12:19:00 GMT

In cooperation with Bluetooth SIG we will present a webinar how to develop Bluetooth Smart (low energy) apps based on the SensorTag. Join us to learn how to get started with app development for Bluetooth accessories!

Register now

Date: Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Time: 8:00 a.m. (PDT) / 11:00 a.m. (EDT)
Duration: One hour

Archived webinars will be available here

Jarle

How to develop Bluetooth low energy ‘appcessories’

Jarle Boe — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 10:29:39 GMT

Using a smartphone as user interface for your product has never been easier!

We recently released the SensorTag, a Bluetooth low energy development kit and reference design. You can read about the challenges and how to design your own accessory at:

http://www.electronicproducts.com/Analog_Mixed_Signal_ICs/Communications/Developing_Bluetooth_low_energy_appcessories_.aspx?terms=Jarle

If you want to test out your own Bluetooth low energy “appcessory,” the complete design files for this project can be downloaded at: www.ti.com/ep0213-4. The source code for both the embedded firmware and app sample project can be downloaded at www.ti.com/ep0213-5.

Jarle

The Innovation World Cup 2012: Wearable wireless connectivity technology at its finest

Volker — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 23:05:00 GMT

Last week I was at the Wearable Technologies Conference in Munich, Germany. It was a very exciting event and amazing proof of momentum the ‘wearables’ sector is enjoying right now. Fueled by technological progress in low-power performance and wireless connectivity, and combined with the innovative creativity of the conference speakers and Innovation World Cup 2012 finalists, this segment can be considered post-infancy and driving force for the industry. Safety and healthcare applications are key drivers for the long term, but the hottest new products at this conference came from the lifestyle, sports and fitness segment. Not surprising, considering the event coincided with the world’s largest trade fair for the sports industry, ISPO, with over 80,000 visitors.

For the 4^th year now, Texas Instruments has supported the Innovation World Cup through a sponsorship and discounted development tools to help fuel innovation. With almost 300 participants using our development kits, I am very happy about the contribution to this fascinating market and the great feedback we got from many companies. Take for example Sensoria from Heapsylon, body sensing sock with a tracking device using an MSP430 low power microcontroller. Or Horatio of Germany with their Kinder-Radar, a tracking device based on TI’s CC2541 Bluetooth low energy SOC, targeting daycare centers, kindergartens and schools. I actually think such a product is also very useful for your child’s birthday – do you know the feeling at the end of the party when you’re not sure if all the kids were actually picked up by their parents… I do!

In the end, a company out of Canada convinced the Innovation World Cup jury of their awesome technology and their “vision of vision.” Recon Instruments won the 2012 Wearable Technologies Award for their head-up display (HUD) for skiing and other sports goggles. The success story of Recon is already impressive with more growth ahead of them, and it is a real pleasure to see that Texas Instruments embedded processing and wireless connectivity solutions like Bluetooth low energy are at the heart of their winning product. Congratulations to Recon and all other innovators.

I look forward to witnessing more wearable innovation in 2013. Plus we have new, cool TI products and tools for you, like the Bluetooth low energy Sensor Tag which I showed during the conference’s closing keynote. The sensor tag comes with 6 sensors o with over-the-air download (OAD) update capability. Keep on innovating!

Volker

Calling all Wireless Connectivity fans!

Allison Weibring — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 16:23:00 GMT

Have you been missing out on the latest and greatest from TI’s Wireless Connectivity team? Well, have no fear because we have just the fix for you. Subscribe today to TI’s Wireless Connectivity monthly eNewsletter to keep up to date on new software and hardware releases, developer updates and other news and events across TI’s broad wireless connectivity portfolio.

You are just a click away!

Wireless Connectivity eNewsletter

Also, make sure to check out TI’s other eNewsletters at TI.com/newsletter.

Bluetooth article in EDN

Karl T. — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 14:27:48 GMT

Hi,

Just a quick post to let you all know that a Bluetooth article that I wrote just appeared in EDN. It covers the various flavors of Bluetooth ("Classic", single-mode and dual-mode). Check it out here: http://www.edn.com/design/analog/4405960/Three-flavors-of-Bluetooth--Which-one-to-choose-

Best regards,

Karl

TI’s Wireless Connectivity products come to life at CES 2013!

Helana Zhang — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 21:42:00 GMT

As another CES has come and gone, we want to share with you how TI spent the week of January 7th showing off its products from the Wireless Connectivity portfolio at the Las Vegas Convention Center. We demonstrated some very exciting applications enabled by TI products so check out the videos below!

For a full list of TI CES videos, visit our YouTube Channel here. If you have questions regarding our demos or products, please comment on the video(s) or post your comment below.

SimpleLink™ Wi-Fi® CC3000 in the Modern Dollhouse

The Wirelessly Connected Home

The WiLink™ 8Q Family for Automotive Connectivity

ZigBee® Home Automation Lighting

Wirelessly Connected Street Lights enabled by 6LoWPAN

Wirelessly Connected Riddell Football Helmets

ZigBee Smart Energy Overview

ZigBee BoosterPack from Anaren

Did you go to CES 2013? If so, what was your favorite part and which demo was your favorite?

Wilink™ 8Q family keeps cars connected inside and out

WYA — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 17:25:00 GMT

It’s no mystery that Facebook posts and Twitter updates are happening around the clock and we want to be connected. The concept of the connected car is old news. So what’s new here? It’s the integration of all wireless technologies within the car and with the outside world all happening at once.

TI’s newly announced WiLink 8Q family of wireless automotive connectivity devices can make the head unit your media control center and the rear seat your entertainment zone. With 100Mbps of Wi-Fi streaming capability on the 5GHz band, kids in the backseat can watch multiple movies simultaneously while keeping mom and dad from being distracted with their own Bluetooth® headset. Peace-and-quite on road trips is no longer a dream.

Plus, GNSS technology combines GPS and GLONASS signals with the on-chip positioning engine producing a more accurate fix of your location, making “urban canyons” non-existent. With near field communication (NFC) technology, we can now have simple pairing of Bluetooth and Wi-Fi to mobile phones and accessories – farewell complicated pairing procedures. And for the technology that you don’t see, Bluetooth low energy can connect the sensors on your car to the head unit to give real-time information about your tire pressure, or replace heavy and expensive wires to lighten up the car.

I’m at CES this week to showcase our super-combo WiLink wireless automotive connectivity family. Stay tuned for highlights and coverage after the show.

Re-connecting

Karl T. — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 11:19:00 GMT

Hello again,

It’s been more than three years since I kicked off the Bluetooth low energy blog with a summary of what when on during the Bluetooth All-Hands meeting in Tokyo in May 2009. Bluetooth 4.0 has come a long way over the course of these three years, from the first public demo of the CC2540 in 2009 to being supported by many mobile devices and having a lot of different Bluetooth Smart devices on store shelves this Christmas season.

From the start, TI has believed that Bluetooth 4.0 has great mass-market potential, and from the announcement of the $99 CC2540DK-MINI kit in 2009 to the recent launch of the SensorTag, we have been working hard to make BLE accessible to all interested developers. Expect us to continue along this path in the future. We are if anything more excited about Bluetooth 4.0’s prospects than we were 3 years ago, and continue to be amazed at the innovation being enabled by an ultra-low power technology allowing easy communication with “hub” devices like smartphones, tablets and PCs.

So, why this look backward when we are still a month and a half away from New Year’s Eve (the traditional time for these kind of things)? Well, this is going to be my last post on this blog. This does not mean that I am leaving, nor that I will stop writing about Bluetooth 4.0. However, we are concentrating our wireless blogging efforts on a single, unified blog that is going to be called “ConnecTIng Wirelessly”. This new blog is going to touch on a wide range of subjects related to wireless communication and wireless connectivity, unlike the Bluetooth low energy blog, which has been exclusively focused on Bluetooth 4.0.

All existing posts will be archived, but going forward, new Bluetooth 4.0 posts will appear on the ConnecTIng Wirelessly blog rather than here. With a broader focus and more contributing bloggers, you can expect a more constant flow of content than I have been able to provide on the Bluetooth low energy blog. I hope you will sign up for the new blog as soon as that goes live (planned to happen end of November 2012). Thank you for reading my ramblings so far; I hope you have found them worth your time.

See you on the ConnecTIng Wirelessly blog!

Best regards,

Karl

Bluetooth low energy can be rocket science (if you want it to)

Karl T. — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 08:28:00 GMT

Hello again,

As a follow-on to yesterday's post, one of the partners who has had early access to the SensorTag has a very interesting blog post on how BLE can be rocket science, or that at least BLE can be very useful in model rocketry:

http://www.byteworks.us/Byte_Works/Blog/Entries/2012/10/31_Collect_Data_from_an_iPhone_Rocket_Flight.html

Best regards,

Karl H.

Introducing the SensorTag

Karl T. — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 14:18:00 GMT

Hi,

Today, TI is launching the Bluetooth low energy SensorTag, a pre-programmed development platform that allows developers without hardware or embedded firmware to prototype and experiment with a wireless sensor device. The SensorTag contains 6 sensors (Temperature - both ambient as well as IR measurement from a distance, Humidity, Pressure, Accelerometer, Gyroscope and Magnetometer), and these can all be accessed from a Bluetooth Smart Ready smartphone, tablet or PC without having to do any embedded programming.

The idea behind the SensorTag is to broaden the audience for Bluetooth low energy device development by allowing people with no embedded device experience to experiment with a Bluetooth Smart sensor device. All the sensors are can be accessed and configured over the BLE link, providing a PC application or mobile app full control of the sensors. This puts Bluetooth Smart wireless sensor development within reach of hobbyists, hackers, Makers, students or just someone with a good wireless sensor idea and $29 to spend.

More information about the SensorTag can be found here: www.ti.com/sensortag

An accompanying iOS app can be downloaded from the iTunes app store: https://itunes.apple.com/th/app/ti-ble-sensortag/id552918064?mt=8

Enjoy!

Karl

BLE for Arduino

Karl T. — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 09:25:00 GMT

Hello again,

For those of you who are into Arduino, I came across a BLE-enabled Arduino shield, module and software developed by Dr. Michael Kroll. More information on his web site: http://www.mkroll.mobi/

Cool stuff!

Karl

The battle for the next-gen remote control: ZigBee RF4CE and Bluetooth low energy

Stig — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 17:52:00 GMT

Consumers’ living rooms are evolving with more advanced TVs, set-top boxes (STBs), DVD/Blu-ray players, gaming systems and other home entertainment equipment. To make the most of the features and premium content being delivered to these new devices, OEMs and service providers are also renovating the remote control.

TV has changed a lot the last decade with the move to high definition, flat screens and more. The content choices are also increasing at a rapid pace including casual gaming and access to social media content from Facebook and Twitter. User interfaces are also advancing to improve the TV watching experience. In short, “everything” on the TV and STB has changed, but the way people “touch” the new features hasn’t – the remote control has remained infrared (IR)-based. The industry is now making the move from IR- to radio frequency (RF)-based remote controls to provide non-line-of-sight functionality, increased reliability and two-way communications.

Enter ZigBee RF4CE and Bluetooth low energy. Both low power technologies are finding their way into state-of-the-art remotes that deliver intuitive interfaces for consumers to better access content. Though mouse-like pointing and keyboard functionality as well as gesture-, touch- and motion-based input controls users can take their viewing or gaming experience to the next level. Plus, consumers have the freedom to move and still control devices from behind cabinet doors, walls and furniture.

The remote control market evolution started with ZigBee RF4CE and now manufacturers are looking to Bluetooth low energy as another option for next-gen remotes. Not only do both technologies deliver the capabilities OEMs and service providers want to offer, but also are battery-friendly and low-cost solutions.

At the International Broadcasting Convention (IBC) 2012, which starts today in Amsterdam, we expect to see the latest in consumer electronics equipment, and remote controls are no exception. We are excited to collaborate with Hillcrest Labs and Movea to promote motion-enabled ZigBee RF4CE and Bluetooth low energy remotes. With low power RF devices including the CC2533 and CC2541 for ZigBee RF4CE and Bluetooth low energy respectively, RemoTI and BLE-Stack network protocol, and working with leading software including Hillcrest Labs FreeSpace MotionEngine Lite and Movea SmartMotion, TI and its third parties are able to deliver the latest in motion-enabled remote control technology.

Additionally, TI is uniquely positioned with pin-for-pin compatibility between its ZigBee RF4CE and Bluetooth low energy solutions, which enables reuse of existing ZigBee RF4CE remote designs for Bluetooth low energy remotes for even faster time to market. As a matter of fact, the only difference between TI’s ZigBee RF4CE and Bluetooth low energy devices is the radio due to different modulation techniques. This means the application software investment a manufacturer does on one technology can be directly reused on the other technology, further reducing costs and time to market.

So which RF technology will win the battle of the living room remote control? We think there will be space for both to coexist in the market as manufacturers chose RF technologies to meet their individual needs and strategies. Regardless of the technology inside, the ultimate winner is the consumer with more functionality and more freedom as the remote control of the future becomes a reality with ZigBee RF4CE or Bluetooth low energy on board.