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When design engineers think of Bluetooth, it is often for sports, fitness, toys or home entertainment systems. The freedom to communicate without clunky wires makes Bluetooth a perfect match for these applications. Though Bluetooth implementations have become easier to produce over time, there are new ways to speed development for Bluetooth connected products.
Texas Instruments (TI) has released a pair of boards with built-in Bluetooth and Audio that can drastically reduce time to market. Thankfully, TI has also released reference designs, descriptions, resources, “how-to” videos, blogs and tips for how and why you should use these boards.
BT-MSPAUDSOURCE and BT-MSPAUDSINK are Quite a Pair
TI's Bluetooth and MSP430 Audio Source Reference Design (BT-MSPAUDSOURCE) can accept any 3.5 mm audio stereo output. Whether the source is a phone, tablet or audio player, the chip can link or sink to any Bluetooth device that supports the A2DP (Advanced Audio Distribution Profile) and sink role such as Bluetooth speakers or Bluetooth headphones.
This will open the door for new kinds of hands free applications for low end, low-power audio source applications. Audio streaming accessories can be designed, tested and released to market quickly.
The MSP430 Audio Source takes five easy steps to set up: plug it in, turn it on, and automated pairing and connection does the rest. Then use the capacitive touch buttons to play, pause, rewind, and fast-forward the audio. It is easy to use and packs a tremendous punch.
Figure 1 - Bluetooth and MSP430 Audio Source
Alternatively, TI's Bluetooth and MSP430 Audio Sink Reference Design (BT-MSPAUDSINK) can be used as the remote Bluetooth device using the BT-MSPAUDSOURCE . It allows designers to create a variety of applications for low end, low power audio solutions. The Sink evaluation module can also be used to create remote IoT applications.
Figure 2 - Bluetooth and MSP430 Audio Sink
Pros to using TI's Design
Perhaps the top reason to choose TI's design: the SimpleLink Bluetooth CC256x portfolio provides a product-proven solution that supports dual-mode Bluetooth 4.1 certified or Smart Ready protocols and will make designing for toys, audio streaming, health and fitness quicker and easier. This single-chip solution is based on TI's seventh generation Bluetooth core supporting Basic Rate (BR), Enhanced Data Rate (EDR) and Low Energy (LE) protocols, bridging the gap between classic and Smart Bluetooth.
It provides robust long range connections that are produced by TI's SimpleLink CC264 offering +12 dBm output power. This typically produces ranges up to 2 times farther than other Bluetooth devices. Bluetooth low energy (BLE) ensures that designs have lower power consumption so that devices can run on coin cell batteries. That feature alleviates the consumer complaint of having to frequently replace batteries on children's devices.
Additionally, this BLE advantage is combined with the low cost, and low power of MSP430F5229. This chip will handle the encoding, decoding and audio processing so that your processor can do its job.
Finally, all of these advantages are supported by the TI Bluetooth software stack based on the Bluetopia stack. The stack is portable to all IC platforms and is scalable to the needs of your application. The software is royalty free for use with TI platforms so all you have to do is download it and then use it in your consumer or industrial device.
If you are not convinced, then review the 5 reasons why SimpleLink Bluetooth is the right choice for you. Some big reasons are the smaller form factor, cost savings, quicker time to market and design flexibility of the CC256x family released back in March.
Figure 3 - CC256x
You may also want to listen to TI's Dana Myers describe why customers are choosing SimpleLink Bluetooth CC256x for sports and fitness, audio and other applications for controlling devices remotely.
Get Started with TI's resources
TI provides a wide array of development tools, sample source code, BOMs, and online training to help you find what you need and learn to use it quickly. Perhaps the best place to start would be TI's wiki which list many resources including an overview and a beginner's guide.
If your project includes wireless audio, then try the BT-MSPAUDSOURCE and the BT-MSPAUDSINK modules. They will significantly reduce your time to market.
Texas Instruments has sponsored promotion of their industrial communications solutions on ENGINEERING.com. They have no editorial input to this post - all opinions are mine. Christine Halsey