Bluetooth 5.0 wireless modules deliver high communication speed to IoT apps

By Carolyn Mathas, contributing writer

Designed to ease development of IoT devices and applications, Fujitsu Components America  unveiled the FWM7BLZ20B  series of Bluetooth 5.0 Low Energy wireless modules that offer half of the power consumption when compared with classic Bluetooth, double the transmission distance, and increase communication speed.

A new function of Bluetooth 5.0 is the addition of 255 bytes of LE advertising extensions, increasing communication capacity and the number of channels. The FWM7BLZ20B series also provides direct access to other modules through GATT layer by simple command via UART, a unique function from Fujitsu, enabling central equipment to communicate with a maximum of eight peripherals simultaneously as well as to other manufacturers’ Bluetooth modules.

Available with or without Fujitsu firmware, the Bluetooth modules provide greater design flexibility.

The series is comprised of two models powered by Nordic Semiconductor’s nRF52832 (Arm Cortex-M4F, 512-KB flash, and 64-KB RAM embedded): the FWM7BLZ20B with Fujitsu Components’ firmware and the FWM7BLZ20B-109077 without embedded firmware. The symbol rate and data rate of both modules handles 1 Mbps and improved 2 Mbps to facilitate the increased communication speed with other Bluetooth devices. The external interface features 30 GPIO pins for NFC, SPI, TWI, UART, and ADC, while out-of-band pairing uses an NFC-A Tag interface.

The FWM7BLZ20B-109077, without Fujitsu firmware, allows users to develop their own unique firmware using tools provided by Nordic Semiconductor. It includes embedded NFC support and can read out NFC embedded devices via an external antenna.

The Fujitsu Bluetooth 5 wireless modules are suited for IoT-related devices and applications in which up-to-date, higher communication speed is required. Samples are available.