Bluetooth wireless RS232 modules used in SOS communications pillars

12 March 2003 News

Electrowave has been a member of the Bluetooth Special Interest Group and involved in the development of Bluetooth short-range wireless communication applications for over two years. The company has built up significant understanding and expertise in the use of various Bluetooth devices.

In one of the applications, a Bluetooth RS232 module paired with a second Bluetooth RS232 module, allows a wireless RS232 communications link to be made at various data rates ranging from 9600 up to 115,2 kbaud with 'line of sight' distances of up to 500 m. This module is currently being used to run a communications link between pairs of master and slave 'electrowave SOS emergency communication pillars' that have been installed on opposite sides along the N1 and N4 national highways outside Pretoria.

These master and slave pillars are installed approximately 70 to 100 m apart and the Bluetooth link eliminates the need for a cable to be installed under the highway for the transfer of information between the pillars. Such a cable would have been expensive to install and would have become a maintenance problem, as it would be subject to potential damage during the process of road maintenance and resurfacing. Electrowave says that these modules have run successfully with no failures to date in spite of the harsh temperature extremes that they have been subjected to as a consequence of the SOS Pillars being exposed to the effects of the sun.

The Bluetooth RS232 module is a relatively inexpensive way of establishing a remote point-to-point RS232 link and is suitable for harsh environmental conditions, in particular, where electromagnetic interference in the form of radiated emissions from plant or equipment is prevalent.

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