Swedish IoT company Smart Sensor Devices AB believes developing new Bluetooth® applications should be as easy as using them. That's why they have updated the BleuIO Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) USB dongle – a smart, highly integrated device that lets developers create new Bluetooth LE 5.2 applications with minimal effort.
Founded in 2016, Smart Sensor Devices provides products and data services for indoor and outdoor applications, mainly in the business-to-business (B2B) sector. This offering is built around its Internet of Things (IoT) sensor platform, using connectivity based on industry standards such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and LTE-M/NB-IoT.
"Our full stack approach gives our customers a complete plug-and-play solution so they can easily start collecting and analyzing sensor data. Thanks to this ease of use, we have been able to establish ourselves as an IoT-connected sensor supplier worldwide during the last year," said Axel Hammar, CEO of Smart Sensor Devices.
Plug-and-play Applications
The commitment to ease of use is perfectly demonstrated in the company's BleuIO Bluetooth LE USB dongle. It offers a quick and easy way to create new Bluetooth LE 5.2 applications with minimal development effort.
Targeting both B2B and B2C markets, the BleuIO dongle can be used to create peripherals, central applications, or both. It offers the latest in Bluetooth security and is suitable for secured identity and payment applications. With integrated Flash memory and a bootloader, it supports in-field firmware and application upgrades – while custom settings can be stored in Flash or one-time programmable (OTP) memory for greater integrity. This dongle supports several platforms such as Linux®, Windows®, and Android™ giving customer flexibility and ease to attach with their existing IoT devices.
An Easy-to-use Solution
At the heart of the BleuIO dongle is Renesas' SmartBond DA14695 high-security, single-chip Bluetooth solution. This combines an Arm® Cortex® microcontroller (MCU) and Bluetooth 5.2 radio in one energy-efficient chip. The DA14695 Bluetooth LE SoC has higher RF power and better sensitivity which helps in extended range for any IoT device.
"We created a quick, innovative, and user-friendly Bluetooth USB dongle based on Renesas' DA14695 Bluetooth chip and AT commands example. The DA14695 provided a real advantage in power consumption and bill of materials component count while also delivering excellent performance," Axel Hammar explained.
The use of Smart Sensor Devices' version of the Renesas AT commands greatly simplifies development for BleuIO customers. They can develop complete Bluetooth applications without writing a single line of code. Developers can also take advantage of the handy Python and JavaScript libraries that Smart Sensor Devices provide.
Growing Market Success
This new dongle is based on the success of the previous version which uses Renesas' SmartBond DA14683 high-security, single-chip Bluetooth solution. This combines an Arm Cortex MCU and Bluetooth 5.0 radio in one energy-efficient chip. To provide customers with an advanced Bluetooth LE 5.2 radio and further improve power consumption, BlueIO has updated the design with Renesas' SmartBond DA14695.
This ease of use has already generated market interest in the BleuIO dongle, leading to its use in various applications. For example, the PHYSEC SEAL® product of the German company PHYSEC is an innovative mini-radar solution that allows operators to verify the security and integrity of their infrastructure remotely in near real-time. The technology behind PHYSEC SEAL called Anti-Tamper Radio (ATR) is a result of many years of cutting-edge research in collaboration with top institutions in Germany and the USA. The ATR sensor is designed to be easily retrofitted in existing infrastructures. Once connected to PHYSEC's IoTree platform, the user can manage their asset security and alerts in one place.
Building on such early successes, Smart Sensor Devices is now ready to scale up business in selected sales regions and transition to a stable higher level of business.
"Renesas has always given us outstanding support from all parts of their organization, bringing innovative solutions to our market challenges that help our business move forward and grow. Our company wouldn't be in as strong a position today without Renesas' support," Axel Hammar added.
Learn more about the DA14695 and DA14683 SmartBond.
Learn more about the complete portfolio of Renesas Bluetooth® Low Energy products.