Roving Networks FIREFLY BP RN-270 User manual

www.rovingnetworks.com
809 University Avenue •
Los Gatos, CA 95032
RN
AAA Battery Powered Bluetooth Serial Adapter
Install Guide and User Manual
Copyright © 2009 Roving Networks, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
The contents of this document can be changed
constitute any binding undertakings from Roving networks. Roving Networks is not responsible under any
circumstances for direct, indirect, unexpected or consequent damage that is caused by this document.
User Manual
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• Tel [phone] •
[e-mail]
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F IRE F LY BP
RN
-270 & RN-274
AAA Battery Powered Bluetooth Serial Adapter
Install Guide and User Manual
Version 4.77
Sept 5
th
2009
Copyright © 2009 Roving Networks, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
The contents of this document can be changed
by Roving networks without prior notice and do not
constitute any binding undertakings from Roving networks. Roving Networks is not responsible under any
circumstances for direct, indirect, unexpected or consequent damage that is caused by this document.
User Manual
Version 1.0
3/9/2010
[e-mail]
AAA Battery Powered Bluetooth Serial Adapter
by Roving networks without prior notice and do not
constitute any binding undertakings from Roving networks. Roving Networks is not responsible under any
circumstances for direct, indirect, unexpected or consequent damage that is caused by this document.
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Overview
The FireFly BP is a battery powered Bluetooth to serial RS232 (RN-270) or RS422 (RN-274) adapter Powered by
two AAA batteries or and external source, the adapter can be used with NiMH batteries and recharged from
external power plug or pin 9 on the DB9 connector The FireFly BP will run for 10-14 hours while connected over
Bluetooth on a fully charged set of batteries
Like the FireFly (RN-240) serial adapter the FireFly BP is a Bluetooth cable replacement solution for connecting
external devices up to 100 meters away to a PC or PDA
The FireFly BP can also be used in cable replacement mode where two Roving Networks Bluetooth devices are
paired using the configuration switches The USB to Bluetooth (RN-USB-X) has pairing switches and can be used
with the FireFly BP to create a wireless connection to a PC without using the PC’s Bluetooth stack
When configured in master mode the FireFly BP will connect over Bluetooth to a remote client or Bluetooth access
point on power up, data or by command
Powering on the FireFly
The red button on the top of the FireFly is the ON/OFF switch The FireFly must have batteries to function, even if
the device is powered externally
Warning: Do NOT use alkaline batteries when connecting the external power plug or applying power
on pin 9 of the D 9 connector.
To turn ON the FireFLy press down the red button for 1 second until the green and blue LEDS start flashing, then
release it After a moment the blue LED will go off and the green LED will be flashing to indicate the device is ON
and not connected
To turn OFF the FireFly press down on the red button for 1 second until the green and blue LEDS start flashing,
then release it All the LEDs will go off
By default the FireFly BP automatically shuts itself off if not connected over Bluetooth for more than 3 minutes =
180 seconds The auto shut off duration is controlled by the sleep timer which is programmable with the "S+”
command
For example:
S+,600” Sets the timer to 10 minutes
Use the "O" command to display the current settings of the sleep timer
Status LEDs
The blue LED indicates the status of the Bluetooth connection and when the device is in configuration mode
MODE GREEN LED BLINK
In Configuration mode Fast, 10 x per second
Boot up, Remote Configurable 2 times per second
Discoverable/Idle 1 time per second
Connected On Solid
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The yellow LED blinks when data is sent or received on the serial inteface This does not indicate that the data
was sent over the Bluetooth connection If the yellow LED is not flashing when your device is sending data to the
serial port, you likely have the connection or flow control incorrectly set
The blue LED indicates battery status and will blink slowly when the batteries are low except when charging
When charging the blue LED remains off If the unit is powered on while the batteries are charging the blue LED
will come on when the batteries are fully charged
The red LED indicates external power is present at either the power plug of DB9 connector
Making a luetooth Connection
In most cases the FireFly BP acts as a slave (default mode) and the PC is the master Connecting to the FireFly
BP is done through the Bluetooth device manager which has a different look and feel in Window CE, 2K, XP and
Vista Regardless of the PC operating system, the process is essentially the same: Discovery, Pairing, Connecting
These processes are described below for a Windows 7 machine
Discovery: The FireFlyBP must be discoverable by simply turning it on The Green LED should be blinking On
your PC open the Bluetooth device manager and click on “add” a new device The Bluetooth device manager will
display a list of all the Bluetooth devices that are discoverable The FireFly will be displayed as “FireFlyBP-XXXX”
where XXX is the last 4 digits of the MAC address
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Pairing: Next you must pair with the device by double clicking on FireFlyBP-XXXX in the list Enter the default
pin code of 1234 Once the Bluetooth device manager completes you will see a message to the effect, “Bluetooth
device installed on COMX” where COMX is unique to your machine In some cases the Bluetooth device manager
will create two COM ports, in this case you only want to use the COM port labeled “outgoing”
You only need to pair with the FireFlyBP once
Connecting: To establish a Bluetooth connection, open up the COM port assigned to the device from either your
application or a terminal emulator Once the COM port is open you will notice the green LED switches from
blinking to solid ON The device will remain connected until the COM port is closed or the FireFly BP is turned off
NOTE: Only one client can connect to the FireFly BP at a time
Security Modes
Pin Codes and Link Keys
If either the local or the remote Bluetooth device has authentication enabled, the following process occurs
1 The first time a connection is attempted, a “passkey” is required This is a series of numbers or
characters (1234 is the default for the Roving Networks Bluetooth devices and modules)
2 Once this is entered, the remote Bluetooth device and local device compare their passkeys and if they
match, a link key is generated, and stored Usually, but not always this is stored by the remote device
3 Upon subsequent connections, the devices will first compare link keys and if they are correct, no pin code
will have to be re-entered
If the remote device is a PC or PDA, a prompt is generally made to the user to enter this pincode To remove the
stored link key on the remote device, generally you “unpair” or remove the device from the Bluetooth manager
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You can change the Pin Code to
remove the link key on the FireFlyBP This will
process to occur upon subsequent connection attempts
Encryption
By default the encryption is OFF on the FireFly BP With that said Bluetooth is very difficult to intercept
the transmission are frequency jumping across 79 channels The ordering is pseudo random with the devices
agreeing on a seed during the pairing process Data encryption can enabled using the SE,1 command SE,0
disables encryption
Configuration Switches
The configuration switches on the top of the FireFly BP are small You will need a paper clip or small screw driver
to change them Hold the devices with the DB9 connector facing to the right, the switches are numbered one to
four from bo
ttom to top and the off position is towards the DB9 connector
1 – RESTORE FACTORY DEFAULTS
Set this switch ON, power up unit, and toggle the switch from ON to OFF 3 times to return the unit to factory
settings
2 - AUTO DISCOVERY
In slave mode, sets a
special class of device that is used the master to auto connect If Switch 3 also ON, the
device performs a search, stores, and connects to a remote slave which has this switch 2 set
3 - AUTO MASTER
Device acts as Bluetooth master, auto-
connects to
the slave device using the SR command or through instant cable replacement settings
4 - DEFAULT AUD RATE
OFF = 115K will be overridden by software baud rate configuration commands, ON = 9600 ignores any software
configuration
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remove the link key on the FireFlyBP This will
force
a new Pin Code exchange
process to occur upon subsequent connection attempts
By default the encryption is OFF on the FireFly BP With that said Bluetooth is very difficult to intercept
the transmission are frequency jumping across 79 channels The ordering is pseudo random with the devices
agreeing on a seed during the pairing process Data encryption can enabled using the SE,1 command SE,0
The configuration switches on the top of the FireFly BP are small You will need a paper clip or small screw driver
to change them Hold the devices with the DB9 connector facing to the right, the switches are numbered one to
ttom to top and the off position is towards the DB9 connector
Set this switch ON, power up unit, and toggle the switch from ON to OFF 3 times to return the unit to factory
special class of device that is used the master to auto connect If Switch 3 also ON, the
device performs a search, stores, and connects to a remote slave which has this switch 2 set
connects to
a stored remote address First set the Bluetooth address of
the slave device using the SR command or through instant cable replacement settings
OFF = 115K will be overridden by software baud rate configuration commands, ON = 9600 ignores any software
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a new Pin Code exchange
By default the encryption is OFF on the FireFly BP With that said Bluetooth is very difficult to intercept
because
the transmission are frequency jumping across 79 channels The ordering is pseudo random with the devices
agreeing on a seed during the pairing process Data encryption can enabled using the SE,1 command SE,0
The configuration switches on the top of the FireFly BP are small You will need a paper clip or small screw driver
to change them Hold the devices with the DB9 connector facing to the right, the switches are numbered one to
Set this switch ON, power up unit, and toggle the switch from ON to OFF 3 times to return the unit to factory
special class of device that is used the master to auto connect If Switch 3 also ON, the
device performs a search, stores, and connects to a remote slave which has this switch 2 set
a stored remote address First set the Bluetooth address of
OFF = 115K will be overridden by software baud rate configuration commands, ON = 9600 ignores any software
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atteries and Charging
Only use NiMH rechargeable batteries when externally powering the FirFly P Applying power with
alkaline batteries will damage the device and could cause a fire hazard
The red LED comes on SOLID when external power is present When turning on the firefly a BLINKING blue LED
indicates low battery Battery life between charges depends on use With typical usage you should get at least 10
hours of continuous use between charges Enabling sniff mode can extend the battery life
External power can be applied from either the 5 VDC plug or pin 9 on the DB9 connector The power plug is
center pin positive, outer cylinder GND Input MUST be 5 VDC for proper battery charging Higher voltages can
permanently damage the charger and battery
In configuration mode the bat command will return the current battery voltage Note that with rechargeable NiMh
batteries the voltage will remain relatively unchanged just until they go dead
RN-270 attery Life Table (Tested using rechargeable 1000mAHr AAA batteries)
Sniff mode
Sniff Time (milli sec) attery Life (with
status LEDs)
attery Life (without
status LEDs)
0 8 hrs, 20 mins 10 hrs
100 17 hrs 19 hrs, 30 mins
200 17 hrs, 30 mins 20 hrs
400 18 hrs 20 hrs, 30 mins
Please Note: The above readings are approximate and are to be used as a reference only Battery life varies
depending on the type of batteries used and usage profiles New rechargeable batteries tend to have a longer
battery life than older rechargeable batteries
Operating Modes
The operating modes for the FireFly BP are set using the “SM” command when in command mode The possible
operating modes are:
Slave (SM,1<CR>) Default mode, whereby other Bluetooth devices can discover and connect to the
FireFly BP
Master (SM,1<CR>) In this mode, the FireFly BP makes connections when a Connect Command “C”, is
received This command can also contain the Bluetooth address of the remote device If no device is
specified, then the store remote address is used The connection can be broken if the special break
character or string is sent (use the SO command to set the break character) This is a low speed
connect mode
Trigger (SM,2<CR In this mode, the FireFly BP makes connections automatically when a character is
received on the serial port The connection will continue as long as characters are received on either end
There is a configurable timeout (which is set using the ST command) which will cause a disconnect after
XX (from 1 to 254) seconds of inactivity This is a low speed connect mode
Auto Master (SM,3<CR>) In this mode, the FireFly BP makes connections automatically on power up,
and re-connects when connection is lost This mode can also be enabled by setting Dip Switch #2 This
is the high speed connect mode, and cannot be broken by software break characters
In all master modes the device will not be discoverable or allow configuration remotely over Bluetooth
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Low Speed Connect Mode: in Manual and Trigger mode, the FireFly BP is making a LOW speed connection,
that is, data is being processed by the FireFly BP before being sent over the air Because the FireFly BP is looking
for break or config character(s), the latency will increase and data rate will be decreased in these modes Thus it
is recommended that for data rates above 57 6K these modes not be used
Low Power Mode
Reducing power while connected
Lower power while connected can be achieved by setting the sniff mode By default, Sniff mode is disabled, and
the radio is active continuously when connected (about 25-30ma) In Sniff mode, the radio wakes up at specific
intervals, and sleeps in very low power mode (around 2ma) otherwise The power savings can be quite
dramatic
To enable it, use the “SW,<hex word>“ command
Example interval timers:
0x0020 = 20ms (32 decimal * 625 = 20)
0x0050 = 50ms, 0x00A0 = 100ms, 0x0190 = ¼ second, 0x0320 = ½ second, 0x0640 = 1 second,
(Maximum) 20 seconds = 0x7FFF
Sniff mode only pertains to an active connection When a connection is made, both master and slave must
support Sniff mode, and agree to the Sniff window, otherwise the radio will stay in full active on mode
Automatically turning off the FireFly when not connected
By default the FireFly BP automatically shuts itself off if not connected over Bluetooth for more than 3 minutes =
180 seconds The auto shut off duration is controlled by the sleep timer which is programmable with the "S+”
command
For example:
S+,600” Sets the timer to 10 minutes
Use the "O" command to display the current settings of the sleep timer
Reducing power while not connected
Low power connect mode disables the Bluetooth radio and LED timers while not connected When set, the module
will cycle between active (discoverable and connectable) and low power deep sleep This can save considerable
power when the module is waiting for long periods of time without a connection The trade off is additional
latency when connecting or pairing
Lower power connect mode is turned on using the command
S|,<value>
Value is a four digit number made up of two one byte intervals The first interval is the ON period and the second
the OFF period Both are in seconds The maximum value is 20 seconds for either of the periods Default is 0000
always actively waiting for a connection
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Serial Connec
tor Specification
D 9 connector Pin Out
Pin RN-270M
Male D 9
RN
Female D 9
1 NC
2 RXD
TXD
3 TXD
RXD
4 NC
5 GND
GND
6 NC
7 RTS
CTS
8 CTS
RTS
9 4-12VDC 4-
12VDC
NOTE: The RS422 interface uses the MAX490 transceiver This device is designed to operate with input voltage
range of 4 75 to 5 25 VDC
RXD+ and TXD+ each have a 4 7K pull up to 5VDC
RXD- and TXD-
each have a 4 7K pull down to GND
NOTE: The RS232
interface uses the SIPEX SP3232ECA chip with capacitor switch to generate the + and
and thus is not driving the full RS232 voltages Devices stealing power from the RS232 pins may not have enough
voltage
Device Configuration
The default configu
ration for the FireFly BP is
Bluetooth slave mode
Bluetooth pin code 1234
Serial port 115K baudrate, 8 bits, NP, 1 stop bit
Serial port flow control disabled
Low power mode off
Configuration is done by putting the FireFly BP into command mode and sen
done over the serial port or over the Bluetooth link
Once you change the configuration parameters, they persist until changed or a factory reset is performed
Local configuration over the serial port
Connect the FireFl
y BP to the serial port your computer You may need a null
swapped) if you have a RN-
270M or a straight cable if you have a RN
serial port you can use a USB serial cable such as the RN
computer
The RN-
274 will require a RS422 to RS232 converter or RS422 to USB cable to connect the FireFly BP to your
computer
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tor Specification
RN
-270F
Female D 9
RN-274M
Male D 9
NC NC
TXD
NC
RXD
RXD-
NC TXD+
GND
GND
NC +5 VDC (input)
CTS
RXD+
RTS
TXD-
12VDC
NC
NOTE: The RS422 interface uses the MAX490 transceiver This device is designed to operate with input voltage
RXD+ and TXD+ each have a 4 7K pull up to 5VDC
each have a 4 7K pull down to GND
interface uses the SIPEX SP3232ECA chip with capacitor switch to generate the + and
and thus is not driving the full RS232 voltages Devices stealing power from the RS232 pins may not have enough
ration for the FireFly BP is
Serial port 115K baudrate, 8 bits, NP, 1 stop bit
Configuration is done by putting the FireFly BP into command mode and sen
ding ASCII commands This can be
done over the serial port or over the Bluetooth link
Once you change the configuration parameters, they persist until changed or a factory reset is performed
Local configuration over the serial port
y BP to the serial port your computer You may need a null
-
modem cable (DB9 pins 2 and 3
270M or a straight cable if you have a RN
-
270F If your computer does not have a
serial port you can use a USB serial cable such as the RN
-USB-SERIAL to connect the
FireFly
274 will require a RS422 to RS232 converter or RS422 to USB cable to connect the FireFly BP to your
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NOTE: The RS422 interface uses the MAX490 transceiver This device is designed to operate with input voltage
interface uses the SIPEX SP3232ECA chip with capacitor switch to generate the + and
– signals
and thus is not driving the full RS232 voltages Devices stealing power from the RS232 pins may not have enough
ding ASCII commands This can be
Once you change the configuration parameters, they persist until changed or a factory reset is performed
modem cable (DB9 pins 2 and 3
270F If your computer does not have a
FireFly
BP to your
274 will require a RS422 to RS232 converter or RS422 to USB cable to connect the FireFly BP to your
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With the FireFLy BP connected and powered on, start your favorite terminal emulator and open the COM port that
the serial interface or serial USB is connected to (A free terminal emulator, Teraterm for the PC is available at
www rovingnetworks com/support/teraterm zip)
The communication settings of the terminal emulator should match the default serial port settings of the FireFly
BP of 115,200Kbps, 8 bits, No Parity, 1 stop bit
Remote Configuration over luetooth
You must first pair the Bluetooth device with your computer Click on the “Bluetooth devices” icon in the system
tray at the bottom right of your computer Select “Add a Bluetooth device”
NOTE:
Remote configuration can only occur if the bootup configuration timer (default 60 seconds) has not
expired. This timer is set to 0 (remote config disabled) for master mode, and auto-connect slave
mode, so that data can immediately flow between the 2 devices in cable replacement fashion.
You must first pair the Bluetooth device with your computer Click on the “Bluetooth devices” icon in the system
tray at the bottom right of your computer Select “Add a Bluetooth device”
Getting into command mode
Launch TeraTerm and make sure that the default settings are selected (115,200Kbps, 8 bits, No Parity, 1 stop
bit) You can change these settings by clicking on Setup  Serial Port from within TeraTerm
Type $$$ into the terminal emulator (3 dollar signs) You should see CMD returned to you If you see CMD you
know that your connection and terminal settings are correct
Entering a valid command will return an AOK, invalid syntax returns ERR, and unrecognized commands will
return a ? Type “h”<cr> to see a list of commands, and “d”<cr> to see a summary of current settings
To return to data mode, type
“---“ ( 3 minus signs) <cr>, or reset the device and connect again
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Command Summary
All configuration information is stored in flash memory The “set” command modifies the flash memory however
the Bluetooth module only reads the configuration from flash when powering up or after a reboot
Some examples of common configuration commands:
SU,9600 sets Uart Baudrate to 9600
SN,myname sets Bluetooth name to “myname”
SA,1 enables secure authentication
SP,secret sets security pincode to “secret”
SF,1 restores all values to factory defaults
R,1 reboots the module
Set commands
S7,<1,0> 7 bit data mode 1 to enable, 0 to disable (setting can be seen with the “d” command)
SL,<E,O,N> Set UART parity Can be any of, Even, Odd, or None Only the first character is needed and
must be capital
SU,<rate> Baudrate, {1200, 2400, 4800, 9600, 19 2, 28 8, 38 4, 57 6, 115K, 230K, 460K, 921K },
only the first 2 characters are needed
SN,<name> Name of the device, 20 characters maximum Example: “SN,MyDevice”
SS,<text> Service Name (1 to 20 characters )
S-,<name> Serialized Friendly Name of the device, 15 characters maximum This command will
automatically append the last 2 bytes of the BT MAC address to the name Example: S-
,MyDevice will set the name to “MyDevice-ABCD”
SC,<hex word> Service Class (four hex values, 11 bits used) this is used with Device Class command below
to create the 24 bit Class of Device number
SD,<hex word> Device Class (four hex values, major and minor in a 16 bit word, used with service class
above)
To set the Class of Device (COD) to 0x1F0123 use the commands
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