u‑blox has expanded its series of BMD Bluetooth Low Energy modules that it recently acquired from Rigado. With the introduction of the BMD‑341, the BMD‑345, and the BMD‑360 Bluetooth modules, u‑blox has further underlined its continued commitment to Bluetooth low energy innovation. These products offer customers a comprehensive selection of solutions for their specific application criteria.
Fully compliant with the latest Bluetooth v5.1 specification, the BMD‑360 module is the first u‑blox Bluetooth module to support Bluetooth’s direction-finding feature. The BMD‑360 is highly optimized for cost-sensitive, long-range beacon applications, asset tags for smart building and smart manufacturing systems, Internet of Things (IoT) infrastructure, warehouse logistics, and many other high precision, indoor location‑based services. Central to its functional capabilities is the nRF52811 system‑on‑chip (SoC) from Nordic Semiconductor. This incorporates a 32‑bit Arm® Cortex®-M4 processor running at 64MHz, and a built‑in antenna element.
The BMD‑360 is complemented by the BMD‑345 and BMD‑341 Bluetooth 5.0 modules, both of which are built around Nordic’s nRF52840 SoC. Both modules feature a U.FL connector for applications requiring an external antenna. This makes them ideal for deployments in challenging use cases, such as medical and industrial devices built into metal enclosures.
Pushing the long-range performance even further with its embedded power amplifier and a low noise amplifier, the BMD‑345 will play a pivotal role in use cases requiring best‑in‑class link budget for extended coverage and enhanced signal quality. These use cases can, for instance, include agriculture, asset tracking systems, and Bluetooth‑based mesh networks repeaters, enhancing their operational range and their ability to deal with obstacles.
u‑blox will be showcasing the BMD product range at Mobile World Congress 2019 (Hall South S.2702) in Los Angeles, from October 22 to 24. To learn more about the BMD product range, click here.
