Bluetooth Smart modules get bigger packet size, better bonding

AMBER wireless GmbH, a Würth Elektronik eiSos Group company, expands the functionality of its AMB2621 Bluetooth Smart Module: The packet size for payload data transmission is raised from 128 to 243 bytes. Additionally, the extremely compact and energy-saving wireless module now has a bonding option. In use, this allows the pairing key to be stored securely in the module and a new connection with the device equipped with AMB2621 can be established without re-authentication.

AMB2621 is a 2.4 GHz wireless module compliant with the Bluetooth Smart 4.2 standard and is available with or without an integrated antenna. As a special feature for the industrial wireless module domain, AMB2621 also offers the ‘peripheral only’ operating mode. This even allows pairing to be initiated from a smartphone, as the device in which the AMBER wireless module is integrated provides a BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) connection. The manufacturer has now advanced a method from consumer electronics, whereby the wireless module stores the key of the remote terminal and renders pairing permanent. This ‘bonding’ means the user only needs to enter a key with the first connection.

Thanks to the ‘peripheral only’ operating mode, the AMB2621 Bluetooth Smart module is especially energy-saving. The UART interface (Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter) is only active once a wireless connection is established. The module offers manufacturers of controllers for industrial or Smart Home applications a very simple means of developing modern operating concepts using mobile terminal devices. The ‘peripheral only’ operating mode, static passkey pairing and bonding make a secure connection easy – as familiar to users from their car hands-free speaking system.