Bluetooth Smart Becomes Centerpiece Of Internet Of Things

There was a consistent theme at the CEATEC 2013, which was held in Makuhari, Chiba Prefecture—Bluteooth Smart as an essential component of the Internet of Things.

Photo 1　CEATEC hall

Major parts makers such as Rohm and Murata, Mitsumi, and Alps, which are developing entire modules as well as discrete parts, proposed a number of solutions that will be used over the next two or three years.

Because the Bluetooth Smart standard will be supported by Android OS, each Rohm, Murata, Mitsumi Electric and others are pushing products to market quickly. All of them displayed modules at CEATEC. Murata displayed a small-sized 5.4mm×4.4mm Bluetooth Smart module and a small 7.4mm×7.0mm module with a built-in antenna (Photo 2).

Bluetooth Smart is a common standard for running wireless in the IoT. It is compatible with conventional Bluetooth but offers significantly lower power consumption. (Reference document 1).

Photo 2　Small-sized 5.4mm×4.4mm Bluetooth Smart module produced by Murata manufacture

Rohm developed a disk-shaped module (Photo 3) for using Bluetooth Smart to be applied in health care. This module is used like an adhesive plaster, detecting body temperature with a sensor attached to the body and sending the data continuously from module to smart phone. Inside the smart phone, the Bluetooth Smart Ready standard’s chip records multiple body temperature readings.

LAPIS Semiconductor (formerly OKI Semiconductor), which is affiliated with Rohm is commercializing the chip that meets the current Bluetooth Smart standard.

Photo 3　Rohm developed communication module by using LAPIS’s Bluetooth Smart chip.

Mitsumi also displayed a Bluetooth Smart standard module for a health care pressure sensor, consisting of a pressure-sensing MEMS and sensor signal processing IC in a single package, which is unique (Photo 4). This integrates 7mm × 7mm package accommodation, ΔΣ type AD converter with 16-bit resolution into the signal processing IC. The output is passing through the 16-bit digital SPI bus. Because the EEPROM and temperature sensor are built-in, temperature corrections can be made.

Photo 4　Pressure sensor with feasible digital output Mitsumi Electric

（2013/10/03）
Reference Document
１．Bluetooth Smart standard is to lead the smartphone accessories market （2013/06/04）
https://www.semiconportal.com/archive/editorial/technology/applications/130604-bluetoothsmart.html