Bluetooth^® Low Energy Transmitter IC

The direction finding function (AoA) that was added in Bluetooth^® 5.1 is expected to be used for indoor positioning and Real-Time Location System (RTLS) applications. Refer to an example of actual human movement detection in an office using the AK1595A Bluetooth^® transmission IC with this function.

The full version of the video and detailed documentation are also available through the link.

The AK1595A is a transmission-only IC developed for applications that require only transmission without the receiving function, and can easily realize Bluetooth^® beacons without complicated programming by simply writing the AK1595A settings and transmission data to registers using UART or I2C.

It contributes to lowering the cost of tags in applications such as real-time location systems that require a large number of beacon tags. The direction finding function can also be used for indoor positioning. It is also suitable for adding Bluetooth^® to existing microcontroller-based devices to make them wireless.

Main applications: 

Real Time Location System (RTLS), Indoor Positioning, Asset Tracking,and IoT sensor node, and addition of Bluetooth^® function to existing microcontroller devices such as blood pressure monitors

• Direction finding for Angle of Arrival (AoA)
•  Intermittent operation with a low-power timer that consumes only 0.5 µA current
• Thin QFN package with a thickness of 0.5 mm, suitable for label-type tags

Challenges for the widespread use of Bluetooth^® asset-tracking tags are the labor required for periodically replacing the batteries and the cost of the tags. The Bluetooth^® Low Energy transmission ICs from Asahi Kasei Microdevices Corporation (AKM) enable low-power consumption and a low-cost by restricting the functions to transmission only, thereby helping to solve those problems. Because they are easy to use with no programming required , the requirements needed for introduction are also very low.