TDK USB Bluetooth Adapter

This write up is dated October 2002. Things have moved on - new standards have appeared. This page is for historical interest.

I purchase a TDK USB Bluetooth adaptor. They're becoming available, and the price is falling. I bought mine on 8th Oct 2002 for £99.99. Carphone Warehouse had one in stock!

I'll test it with my T68 Sony Ericsson Phone.

I research Bluetooth.

Specs on the TDK adapter

• Bluetooth Compliant with open standard Bluetooth 1.1
• Bluetooth Profile supported GAP, SDAP, SPP, DUN, FTP, OBEX, FAX, Bluetooth Synchronisation and LAP (Multi-point supported). 3 SCO channels
• Bluetooth power class: 2
• Software language support DEFIGS
• Microsoft Bluetooth Driver Compatible (expected soon)
• Interoperable with all major Bluetooth manufacturers, including Ericsson, Nokia, Inventel, RedM, Axis, 3Com, Palm, Compaq.
• Maximum RF output power 2.5mW (4dBm), Normal RF 1mW (0dBm)
• PC Compatibility: Windows 98 Second Edition/ Me/ 2000/ XP (Pentium Processor, 64M RAM, 20MB free Hard drive space, USB 1.1 Port
• Integrated Antenna
• CSR Chip set
• Range: Up to 50 metres free space
• Weight: 35 g
• Size:30x80x11mm (w x L x h) Excluding attachment cable
• Operating temperature: 0 – 35 °C
• Current consumption: Normal - 35mA / Peak - 105mA

I read the TDK FAQ page

I am amused and not surprised to read:

I can’t send my picture from my Bluetooth phone to my Laptop

•  Bluetooth mobile phones use Object Push to transfer Pictures to your device. Unfortunately we will not support this feature until version 1.3

Another reply give me a list of tests:

 What can I do with TDK's Bluetooth USB Adaptor/PC Card?

• You can connect to the Internet via a Bluetooth mobile phone or through another Bluetooth device's LAN connection.
• Transfer files or data from one computer to another without connecting to a LAN (Local Area Network)
• Print to a Bluetooth printer.
• Send/Receive SMS, managing Contact lists.
• Send/Receive Virtual business Card (Vcard) to another Bluetooth device.
• Automatically search for other Bluetooth devices within radio range.

Some cracks appear here:

Multipoint support: Why can’t I use dial-up networking to the internet and Print to my Bluetooth printer at the same time?

• Bluetooth currently support two types of configuration, point-to-point and point-to-multipoint.
  
  Point-to-point acts as a cable replacement, allowing you to remove the cable between your headset and your mobile phone, or from your printer to your Laptop.
  
  Point-to-multipoint provides the ability to connect eight devices simultaneously, this forms what is referred to as a Piconet. To achieve this one device must be the controller (referred to as the Master) and the other seven devices must follow the Controllers lead (referred to as Slave devices).
  
  As you can imagine this is not a simple task for the Master device and not all devices can perform this role. Also not all profiles can support multipoint connections.
  
  In practice only LAN Access Profile and the Serial Port Profile support multipoint connections.

Installation

Before plugging in the adapter I install the software on the CD. It's revision 1.2.

It all seems to work. There's even a diagnostic that tests the emulated serial ports.

I can only get one port to work - COM3.

I can "connect" to the faxmodem, and happily sent AT+FLCLASS commands.

I can also perform a dial up network connection. (Using my newly acquired freeserve account!)

I can read phone numbers in my phone and sim card.

I download an updated new revision "1.2.2.15" from the TDK web site.

The sequence is tedious

• unplug adapter
• unload software
• reboot
• load software
• reboot
• plug in adapter

The com port works:

at
OK
ati3
T68 Bluetooth(TM) Modem
OK
at+fclass=?
0,1,2

The fax modem also works. I use hyperterminal The com device is "Bluetooth Fax Modem" as opposed to "COM3".

The TDK Mobile application works - though it is asking for money. We'll see about that!

The serial connections chose to go to a disconnected state. A hidden FAQ says:

If you will be faxing with the same device a lot, we recommend you run the Connection Wizard (Bluetooth tray icon, Services) and make the relationship a default one. This will save you having to manually double click on the fax icon to establish the connection before running your fax software.

Hmmm...

How do I use the TCPIP stack provided directly to the Bluetooth? I guess another Bluetooth device on a PC. I guess the phone won't do that - only through the bluetooth/ ppp/ modem dial up.

This is mildly concerning In current issues in the read-me file:

Only Windows 2000 users with admin privileges can use the device.  

Spy Tool

We loose the diagnostics tool, but we do have BtserverSpylite.exe, a cool spy tool...

Amongst all the layers we see that the TDK Mobile application is using Hayes commands to do its stuff!

What's +CPBR. (Frighteningly familiar!)

Bluetooth Configuration Properties dialog

Clicking on Properties on "My Device"..

HCI - Host Control Interface

LMP - Link Management Protocol.

When I upgraded the TDK drivers, the silly install setup wizard retard doesn't say Run Bluetooth Device Information.exe in the bin directory.

I do so. Impetuous fool that I am. I run it.

It updates the BlueTooth dongle. I now enjoy Firmware revision 310, with HCI and LMP versions at 136.

Take The Lid Off

I confirm there's the CSR chip BC0113 - USB and Flash memory:

An Update

I put this page together in October 2002. It's now April 2003.

He's a link to a crystal set I'm playing with. It works on the 2.4GHz ISM band.

The latest TDK driver is a bit more together. The current version 1.3.2.19. Download size of 19.5 Mbytes. I'm amazed they let version 1.2 out the door!

The driver takes 45 minutes to download! (Yes, I'm living in a modern city in England. I must do something about this!)

Links

Cambridge Silicon Radio

Data sheet on their hardware...

http://www.btdesigner.com/pdfs/bc02-external.pdf

http://www.btdesigner.com

alt.cellular.bluetooth

Bluetooth Devices and Write ups