Two new Bluetooth® Low Energy (BLE) solutions of the next generation are the RN4870 and RN4871 from Microchip. They support the most recent Bluetooth 4.2 specifications and have a Bluetooth-stack on board and include a scripting engine for stand-alone use, so that a microcontroller (MCU) is not required for simple applications. With the easy-to-use, ASCII-style command interface they are easy to configure and also the compilation of complicated code is avoided.

The data rate is up to 2.5 times faster than that of the previous generation of products, which were based on the Bluetooth 4.0 standard. In addition, these new Bluetooth solutions offer connection security that is based on Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS), and have advanced functionality. These modules can seamlessly pass serial data via BLE components and support different Beacon formats such as iBeacon™ from Eddystone™. Both modules are fully certified and comply with the appropriate standards worldwide. They are housed in compact packages measuring only 6x8 mm.

More information: www.microchip.com/RN4870_Wireless6321.