11/26/2012

Product News: connectBlue OLS42X - Bluetooth Smart Serial Port Service

connectBlue, market leader in demanding wireless solutions, today announced the addition of three new Bluetooth low energy solutions to the company’s Bluetooth low energy product suite. The new solutions offer Classic Bluetooth and Bluetooth low energy serial communication and consists of the Bluetooth Serial Port Module OBS421, Bluetooth Low Energy Serial Port Module OLS425 and Bluetooth Low Energy Serial Port Module OLS426.

“In February, we launched our first Bluetooth low energy product with the platform module OLP425 and the interest in our solution has been unprecedented,” says Rolf Nilsson, CEO of connectBlue. “We have seen that there is a huge need both for solutions that offer transparent serial communication optimized for low data rates at periodic intervals as well as solutions that bridge Bluetooth low energy and Classic Bluetooth communication.”

The Bluetooth Low Energy Serial Port Modules OLS425, OLS426 and OBS421 are complete Bluetooth low energy OEM modules with UART interface. All three modules have a complete embedded stack and application for replacing serial cables or accessing UART devices using Bluetooth low energy technology with the connectBlue Low Energy Serial Port Service.

The single-mode modules OLS425 and OLS426 offer a long battery life while the dual-mode OBS421 module offer compatibility support for both Bluetooth low energy and Classic Bluetooth. The OLS425 has the same small form factor as the OLP425 while the OLS426 offers interchangeability for the connectBlue Classic Bluetooth modules.
connectBlue’s complete Bluetooth low energy product suite consists of Bluetooth single-mode and dual-mode modules. They offer a wide range of flexibility for serial communication over Classic Bluetooth and/or Bluetooth low energy technologies.
Bluetooth technology facts
Bluetooth low energy technology was introduced with the Bluetooth v4.0 Specification and is rapidly being integrated in smartphones, tablets and other mobile platforms thanks to its extremely low power consumption, unique characteristics and new features. Bluetooth low energy is ideal for applications with low data rates at periodic intervals, while Classic Bluetooth is optimized for streaming data at medium to high rates. Bluetooth low energy has inherited features such as Adaptive Frequency Hopping (AFP) from Classic Bluetooth, but from an application perspective it is different and therefore there are two implementation options:
  • Single-mode: Bluetooth low energy devices that are also known as Bluetooth Smart devices. Examples include accelerometers, temperature and pressure sensors. The connectBlue OLP425, OLS425 and OLS426 are Bluetooth low energy single-mode modules that support the development of Bluetooth Smart products.
  • Dual-mode: These devices are also known as Bluetooth Smart Ready devices and include both Bluetooth low energy and Classic Bluetooth technologies. Examples include smartphones, computers and industrial platforms. The connectBlue OBS421 is a Bluetooth dual-mode module that supports the development of Bluetooth Smart Ready products.
You can find more information about Classic Bluetooth and Bluetooth low energy technologies on our website.