Ezurio is shipping a USB Bluetooth adapter suitable for embedded and industrial applications. The “High Speed USB Adapter” uses less power, has greater range and interference resistance, and a wider operating temperature range than consumer-grade Bluetooth radios, the company says. Linux's native Bluetooth drivers support it.

The Ezurio adapter implements the latest Version 2.0 +EDR Bluetooth specification, and supports an “Enhanced Data Rate” that gives real data throughputs up to 2.1Mbps, the company says.

According to Ezurio, “the robust nature of the standard has meant that many medical and industrial applications are turning to Bluetooth as the ideal general purpose, short range radio connection.” In addition to such uses, the adapter is appropriate for “laptop and PC users who want to experience the full feature set of the latest Bluetooth standard,” the company says.

Other touted features and performance characteristics include:

• Supports Linux's native Bluetooth drivers, without additional software
• Compact, Class 1 design includes a high performance antenna that supports open field range in excess of 300 metres with a current consumption of only 30mA — typically one tenth of the power consumption of consumer oriented Bluetooth products, Ezurio says
• Operating temperature range of -40 to +85 degrees C
• Adaptive Frequency Hopping ensures connection integrity in the presence of WiFi and other 2.4GHz radios
• Built-in Bluetooth authentication and 128 bit encryption

CTO Nick Hunn stated, “Over the last few years we have been helping designers embed Bluetooth into their products, covering a vast range of products. They've been constantly asking for a Bluetooth adaptor that is built to a professional standard that they can rely on. [This adapter] demonstrates the robustness of the Bluetooth specification and the inroads it is making into embedded short range communication.”

Availability

Ezurio BTConsole app (Click to enlarge)

The Ezurio High-Speed USB Adapter appears to be available now. Pricing was not disclosed. It supports Linux, as well as Windows XP and Windows CE, in conjunction with a “BTConsole” application distributed with the product.

Ezurio's “WISM BISM” serial Bluetooth board
(Click to enlarge)

RS-232 Bluetooth adapter (Click to enlarge)

Ezurio offers a full range of Bluetooth and WLAN modules. Its other Bluetooth products include embedded AT and HCI (host controller interface) modules, PCMCIA modules, consumer USB modules, serial modules (such as the “WISM BISM” module above), and an RS-232 adapter (pictured at right) aimed at wire replacement in industrial control systems.

Ezurio additionally offers a development board said to support all its various Bluetooth modules.

 
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