Laird BL600-SA Quick setup guide

Single Mode Bluetooth Low
Energy (BLE) Module
Part # BL600-SA, BL600-SC, BL600-ST
HARDWARE INTEGRATION GUIDE
VERSION 2.1
Americas: [phone] Option 2
Europe: [phone]
Hong Kong: [phone]
http://www.lairdtech.com/bluetooth

BL600-Sx Hardware Integration Guide
Single Mode BLE Module
Americas: [phone] Option 2
Europe: [phone]
Hong Kong: [phone]
www.lairdtech.com/bluetooth
2
CONN-HIG-BL600
REVISION HISTORY
Version
Revision Date
Change History
1.0
16 April13
Initial Release
1.1
5 July13
Added:
To Table 1, smart BASIC runtime engine FW upgrade via UART.
To Table 1, smart BASIC application download via OTA.
Section 3.3.4 OTA (Over the Air) smart BASIC application download
Updated:
Table 1,make it clear number of SPI (x1), I2C(x1) interfaces and ADC channels.
Table 2 (pin list), footnote mentions SIO_7 has Internal Pull down (default in
FW).
Section 5.2 (clocks), corrected 32.768 crystal accuracy to +/-20ppm. Added
16MHz crystal accuracy (+/-10ppm).
Section 6.1 Circuit – circuit HW integration suggestion), on SIO_7 pin and Over
the Air smart BASIC application download feature.
Figure 13: BL600 Mechanical drawings – BL600 Mechanical drawing to add
measurements of the half-moon shaped positioning holes.
1.2
25 Oct 2013
Updated Recommended Operating Parameters notes to reflect 2.7 ms rather
than 2.7 µs.
1.3
12 Dec 2013
Added baking schedule information.
1.4
20 Dec 2013
Added:
ADC (AIN) input impedance into Table 6, Section 0.
AIN (ADC) impedance and external voltage divider setup into section 6.1
Circuit.
1.5
10 Jan 2014
Updated TOC with correct page numbers.
Added noted regarding smartBASIC firmware’s lack of support for GPIO high
drive state.
1.6
06 Feb 2014
Updated Bluetooth SIG Qualification section.
1.7
18 Feb 2014
Updated Operating temperature range
1.8
04 April2014
Updated or added the following for the BL600-Sx-04:
Lower power consumption figures (standby doze, deep sleep) and lower
peripheral (UART, SPI, I2C, ADC) block currents for the BL600-Sx-04
(new Nordic silicon).
Improved UART with deep RX buffer (6 bytes instead of 2 bytes).
Increased the Absolute Max rating on the VCC pin from 3.6V to 3.9V.
Added a note for External 12K resistor to GND on SWDCLK pin NOT
required on BL600-Sx-04.
Added the following for all BL600 module revisions to align with FW features:
Section on PWM output and FREQ output signals.
Note on GPIO high drive strength (5 mA).
Note regarding internal DCDC convertor turned OFF on
recommendation from chipset supplier until further notice. Updated
Peak current consumption figures with DCDC turned OFF (with internal
LDO ON).
Added in the pin list the newly FW (1.5.66.0, April 2014) enabled
internal pull-ups to prevent inputs from floating and to help with the
issue of Standby Doze current drifting with time.

BL600-Sx Hardware Integration Guide
Single Mode BLE Module
Americas: [phone] Option 2
Europe: [phone]
Hong Kong: [phone]
www.lairdtech.com/bluetooth
3
CONN-HIG-BL600
Version
Revision Date
Change History
Note on added coming out from Deep Sleep to Standby Doze through
GPIO signal through the reset vector.
New function to detect GPIO change with no current consumption, so
UART closed but still able to detect for incoming data and be woken up
so that the UART can be re-opened at the expense of losing that first
character.
Note that SIO_7 and AutoRUN (SIO_28) are not both high (externally),
otherwise cannot load smart BASIC application script.
Note on each module GND pin that must be connected to host PCB
GND.
1.9
11 June 2014
Updated BT SIG information
2.0
2 July 2014
Important information on pin 22 (reset) and pin 23 (SWDCLK).
2.1
14 July 2014
Updated SIO VIL max value in table 5

BL600-Sx Hardware Integration Guide
Single Mode BLE Module
Americas: [phone] Option 2
Europe: [phone]
Hong Kong: [phone]
www.lairdtech.com/bluetooth
4
CONN-HIG-BL600
CONTENTS
1Overview and Key Features.................................................................................................................... 6
1.1 Features & Benefits.................................................................................................................... 6
1.2 Application Areas ...................................................................................................................... 6
2Specification ............................................................................................................................................ 7
2.1 Specification Summary .............................................................................................................. 7
3Hardware Specifications ....................................................................................................................... 10
3.1 Block Diagram and Pin-out ...................................................................................................... 10
3.2 Pin Definitions ......................................................................................................................... 11
3.3 Electrical Specifications............................................................................................................ 14
3.3.1 Absolute Maximum ratings...................................................................................................... 14
3.3.2 Recommended Operating Parameters ..................................................................................... 14
3.3.3 nAutoRUN pin and Operating Modes ...................................................................................... 16
3.3.4 OTA (Over the Air) smart BASIC application download ............................................................ 17
4Power Consumption ............................................................................................................................. 17
4.1 Power Consumption................................................................................................................ 17
4.2 Measured Peak Current Waveforms during Advertising and Connection ................................. 20
4.3 Peripheral Block Current Consumption .................................................................................... 23
5Functional Description.......................................................................................................................... 24
5.1 Power management (includes brown-out and power on reset)................................................ 24
5.2 Clocks and TIMERS.................................................................................................................. 25
5.2.1 Clocks ..................................................................................................................................... 25
5.2.2 TIMERS.................................................................................................................................... 25
5.3 Memory for smart BASIC Application Code ............................................................................. 25
5.4 RF............................................................................................................................................ 25
5.5 UART Interface ........................................................................................................................ 25
5.6 SPI Bus .................................................................................................................................... 26
5.7 I2C Interface ........................................................................................................................... 27
5.8 General Purpose I/O, ADC, PWM/FREQ and Quadrature Decoder ............................................ 27
5.8.1 GPIO ....................................................................................................................................... 27
5.8.2 Quadrature Decoder................................................................................................................ 28
5.8.3 ADC ........................................................................................................................................ 28
5.8.4 PWM and FREQ signal output on upto 2 SIO pins.................................................................... 28
5.9 nRESET pin .............................................................................................................................. 29

BL600-Sx Hardware Integration Guide
Single Mode BLE Module
Americas: [phone] Option 2
Europe: [phone]
Hong Kong: [phone]
www.lairdtech.com/bluetooth
5
CONN-HIG-BL600
5.10 nAutoRUN pin......................................................................................................................... 29
5.11 Miscellaneous (Hidden JTAG)................................................................................................... 29
5.12 BL600-SA on-board chip antenna characteristics ..................................................................... 30
6Hardware Integration Suggestions...................................................................................................... 31
6.1 Circuit ..................................................................................................................................... 31
6.2 PCB Layout on Host PCB - General .......................................................................................... 34
6.3 PCB Layout on Host PCB for BL600-SA.................................................................................... 34
6.3.1 Antenna keep-out on host PCB ............................................................................................... 34
6.3.2 Antenna keep-out and Proximity to Metal or Plastic ................................................................ 35
6.4 50-Ohms RF trace on Host PCB for BL600-ST .......................................................................... 36
6.5 External Antenna Integration with BL600-SC and BL600-ST .................................................... 37
7Mechanical Details................................................................................................................................ 38
7.1 BL600 Mechanical Details........................................................................................................ 38
7.2 Host PCB Land Pattern and Antenna Keep-out for BL600-SA .................................................. 39
8Application Note for Surface Mount Modules ................................................................................... 41
8.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 41
8.2 Shipping.................................................................................................................................. 41
8.3 Reflow Parameters .................................................................................................................. 42
9FCC and IC Regulatory Statements ...................................................................................................... 43
9.1 Power Exposure Information.................................................................................................... 44
9.2 OEM Responsibilities ............................................................................................................... 44
10 Japan (MIC) Regulatory ........................................................................................................................ 46
10.1 Antenna Information............................................................................................................... 46
11 CE Regulatory........................................................................................................................................ 47
11.1 Antenna Information............................................................................................................... 47
12 EU Declarations of Conformity ............................................................................................................ 48
12.1 BL600-SA / BL600-SC / BL600-ST ............................................................................................ 48
13 Ordering Information ........................................................................................................................... 48
13.1 General Comments ................................................................................................................. 49
14 Bluetooth SIG Qualification ................................................................................................................. 49
14.1 Additional Assistance .............................................................................................................. 50

BL600-Sx Hardware Integration Guide
Single Mode BLE Module
Americas: [phone] Option 2
Europe: [phone]
Hong Kong: [phone]
www.lairdtech.com/bluetooth
6
CONN-HIG-BL600
1OVERVIEW AND KEY FEATURES
Every BL600 Series module is designed to enable OEMs to add single-mode Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) to
small, portable, power-conscious devices. The BL600 modules are enabled with Laird’s smart BASIC, an
event-driven programming language that enables OEMs to make their BLE product development quicker and
simpler, significantly reducing time to market. smart BASIC enables customers to develop a complete
embedded application inside the compact BL600 hardware, connecting to a wide array of external sensors via
its I2C, SPI, UART, ADC or GPIO interfaces.
Based on the world-leading Nordic Semiconductor nRF51822 chipset, the BL600 modules provide ultra-low
power consumption with outstanding wireless range via 4 dBm of transmit power. A broad range of BLE
profiles including Temperature and Heart Rate are available and smart BASIC provides the ideal mechanism to
support any BLE profile development of your choice. This document should be read in conjunction with the
smart BASIC user manual.
1.1 Features & Benefits
1.2 Application Areas
Bluetooth v4.0 - Single Mode
External or Internal Antennas
smartBASIC programming language
Full Bluetooth EPL
Compact Footprint
Programmable TX power 4 dBm to -20 dBm
TX whisper mode (-30 dBm, -55 dBm)
RX sensitivity: -91 dBm
Ultra low power consumption
TX: 11.6 mA peak (at +4 dBm) (refer to Note1 in Power
Consumption section)
RX: 8.8 mA peak (refer to Note1 in Power Consumption
section)
Standby Doze: 2.6 uA typical
Deep Sleep: 0.6 uA (refer to Note4 in Power Consumption
section)
UART, GPIO, ADC, PWM, FREQ output, TIMERS, I2C, and SPI
interfaces
Fast Time to Market
FCC, CE, IC, Taiwan (-SA version only) and Japan certified;
other regulatory certifications on request
No external components required
Medical devices
Wellness devices
iOS “appcessories”
Fitness sensors
Location Awareness
Home automation

BL600-Sx Hardware Integration Guide
Single Mode BLE Module
Americas: [phone] Option 2
Europe: [phone]
Hong Kong: [phone]
www.lairdtech.com/bluetooth
7
CONN-HIG-BL600
2SPECIFICATION
2.1 Specification Summary
Table 1: Specifications
Categories
Feature
Implementation
Wireless Specification
Bluetooth®
V4.0 –Single Mode
Slave (from base FW v1.1.50.0 onwards)
Frequency
2.402 - 2.480 GHz
Maximum Transmit Power
Setting
4 dBm
Conducted BL600-SA
4 dBm
Conducted BL600-SC
~2.5 dBm
Conducted BL600-ST (RSMA
connector on dev board)
Minimum Transmit Power
Setting
-20 dBm (in 4 dB steps) with smart BASIC command
-16 dBm
-12 dBm
- 8 dBm
- 4 dBm
0 dBm
TX Whisper Mode1
Transmit Power
-30 dBm (min) with smart BASIC command
TX Whisper Mode2
Transmit Power
-55 dBm (min) with smart BASIC command
Receive Sensitivity
(0.1% BER)
-91 dBm typical
Link Budget
95 dB (@ 1 Mbps)
Range
Up to 100 m in free space
TX Whisper Modes
Range reduction feature with TX Whisper Modes
with smart BASIC command.
Range
(TX Whisper Mode 2)
<~30 cm
Raw Data Rates
1 Mbps (over the air)
Host Interface and
Peripherals
TOTAL
28 x Multifunction I/O lines
UART
TX, RX, CTS, RTS
DCD, RI, DTR, DSR, CTS, RTS (Note 1)
Default 9600, n,8, 1
From 1,200 to 115,200bps
BL600-Sx-04 onwards has improved UART with
Deep RX buffer (6 bytes instead 2 bytes).
GPIO
Up to 28, with configurable: I/O direction,
O/P drive strength (standard 0.5 mA or high 5 mA),
Pull-up /pull-down
ADC
Six 10-bit channels (including ADC reference)
10 bit resolution
1.2 V internal reference

BL600-Sx Hardware Integration Guide
Single Mode BLE Module
Americas: [phone] Option 2
Europe: [phone]
Hong Kong: [phone]
www.lairdtech.com/bluetooth
8
CONN-HIG-BL600
Categories
Feature
Implementation
1/1, 2/3, 1/3 pre-scaling
PWM or FREQ output
Output a PWM or FREQ output on up to two GPIO
output pins.
PWM output duty cycle
0%-100%
PWM output frequency
Up to 500 kHz (Note 7)
FREQ output frequency
0 MHz-4 MHz
(50% duty cycle)
I2C
One I2C interface (up to 400 kbps) (Note 2)
SPI
One SPI Master interface (up to 4 Mbps) (Note 3)
Profiles
Services supported
(Note 4)
(FW v1.1.50.0)
Heart Rate Service
Health Thermometer Service
Battery Alert Service
Blood Pressure Service
Device Information Service
Immediate Alert Service
IOPT (Interoperability)
Link Loss Service
Transmit Power Service
Custom services (from base FW v1.2.54.0
onwards)
FW upgrade
smart BASIC runtime
engine FW upgrade
(Note 5)
Via JTAG. Using the supplied J-link programmer.
Via UART.
Programmability
smart BASIC
On-board programming language similar to BASIC.
smart BASIC application
download
(1) Via UART.
(2) Via Over the Air (if SIO_7 pin is pulled high
externally).
Control Protocols
Any
User defined via smart BASIC
Operating Modes
Self-contained Run mode
Selected by nAutoRun pin status:
LOW (0V). Then runs $autorun$ ( smart BASIC
application script) if it exists.
Interactive / development
mode
HIGH (VCC). Then runs via at+run (and “file name”
of smart BASIC application script).
Supply Voltage
Supply (VCC)
2.1 –3.6 V –internal DCDC converter (Note 5)
1.8 –3.6 V –internal LDO
DCDC switched on if VCC>2.1V at power-up.
Power Consumption
(Note 5
Active Modes Peak
Current (for Max TX PWR
4 dBm)
Advertising or
Connected mode
11.6 mA peak TX
8.9 mA peak RX
Active Modes Peak
Current for TX Whisper
mode2 PWR -55 dBm)
Advertising or
Connected mode
5 mA peak TX
8.5 mA peak RX
Active Modes Average
Current
Depends on many factors, see Power Consumption.
Ultra Low Power Modes
Standby Doze
Deep Sleep
2.6 uA typical (Note 6)
600 nA (Note 6)

BL600-Sx Hardware Integration Guide
Single Mode BLE Module
Americas: [phone] Option 2
Europe: [phone]
Hong Kong: [phone]
www.lairdtech.com/bluetooth
9
CONN-HIG-BL600
Categories
Feature
Implementation
Antenna Options
Internal
Ceramic chip monopole antenna –on-board
BL600-SA
External –Option 1
Dipole antenna (with IPEX connector)
Dipole PCB antenna (with IPEX connector)
Connection via IPEX MH4 –BL600-SC
External –Option 2
Dipole antenna (with RSMA connector)
Connection via Trace Pads –BL600-ST
Physical
Dimensions
Weight
19 mm x 12.5 mm x 3 mm
<1 gram
Environmental
Operating
-25 ˚C to +75 ˚C (VCC 1.8V-3.6V)
-40 ˚C to +85 ˚C (VCC 3.3V+/-10%)
Storage
-40 ˚C to +85 ˚C
Miscellaneous
Lead Free
Lead-free and RoHS compliant
Warranty
1 Year
Development Tools
Development Kit
Development Kit DVK-BL600-Sx and
Free Software Tools
Approvals
Bluetooth®
End Product Listing (EPL)
FCC / IC / CE / MIC
All BL600 Series
Note 1: DSR, DTR, RI, and DCD can be implemented in the smart BASIC application.
Note 2: With I2C interface selected, pull-up resistors on I2C SDA and I2C SCL MUST be connected
externally as per I2C standard.
Note 3: SPI interface (master) consists of SPI MOSI, SPI MISO and SPI CLK. SPI CS is created by customer
using any spare SIO pin within their smart BASIC application script allowing multi-dropping.
Note 4: BL600 module comes loaded with smart BASIC runtime engine FW, but does not come loaded
with any smart BASIC application script (as that is dependent on customer end application or
use). Laird provides many sample smart BASIC application scripts covering the services listed.
Additional BLE services being added every quarter.
Note 5: smart BASIC runtime engine firmware v1.2.54.0(Jun2013) and subsequent versions, the internal
DCDC convertor was switched off on recommendation from the chipset provider until future
notice.
Note 6: Measured with BL600-Sx-04.
Deep Sleep current for BL600-Sx-02 and BL600-Sx-03 ~1000nA (typical).
Standby Doze current for BL600-Sx-02 and BL600-Sx-03 Standby Doze current 3.5uA (typical).
Note 7: PWM output signal has a frequency and duty cycle property. PWM output is generated using
32-bit hardware timers. The timers are clocked by a 1MHz (1uS period) clock source.
Trade-off PWM output frequency with resolution. For example:
PWM output frequency of 500kHz (2uS) results in resolution of 1:2
PWM output frequency of 100kHz (10uS) results in resolution of 1:10
PWM output frequency of 10kHz (100uS) results in resolution of 1:100
PWM output frequency of 1kHz(1000uS) results in resolution of 1:1000
Refer to the smart BASIC user manual for details.

BL600-Sx Hardware Integration Guide
Single Mode BLE Module
Americas: [phone] Option 2
Europe: [phone]
Hong Kong: [phone]
www.lairdtech.com/bluetooth
10
CONN-HIG-BL600
3HARDWARE SPECIFICATIONS
3.1 Block Diagram and Pin-out
Figure 1: Functional HW and SW block Diagram for BL600 series BLE smart BASIC module
Figure 2: BL600-Sx module pin-out (top view).
Note: Pin 30 (RF_ANT) is for BL600-ST only. On the BL600-SA and BL600-SC, pin 30 is NC.