Bluetooth 4.0 (BLE) in production -- best practices, HM-11 or CC2541 directly?

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1

Jan 31, 2019, 11:45 pm
Hey guys!

I have a project that I am ramping up for production (10,000+ units).

I have a question on best practices in how to integrate BLE into the project.

I have prototyped on a HM-11 BLE device, which is a module that communicates with arduino through UART. It is based on CC2541, a bluetooth IC.

I am now questioning the feasibility of that in production. Do people actually mass source the HM-11 and place them directly into their production PCBs? Are there downsides to that? Other than, obviously, cost?

The alternative would be to use the CC2541 directly. My question is twofold; first--how to prototype with that chip? I would be talking to that chip directly, and I imagine the interface would be different than that provided through the HM-11. Are there guides/general practices that are used to make the dev process feasible if that's the approach we're to take?

Second, how prohibitively difficult is it to design a PCB which integrates a CC2541. Are there special considerations that I should be aware of?

Would love any answers and feedback from the smart minds in this forum. Thank you.

Will pay for answers. Just let me know your price.

2

The previous thread in the Project Guidance section:
http://forum.arduino.cc/index.php?topic=594975

3

Have you considered using an ESP32? Or a Nordic nRF5x chip?
Either may have enough power and I/O for your purpose as stand alone solutions. Obviously I'm guessing here, as I have no idea what your application does.

4

Once you're talking that volume of units, it is more common to use a System On Module that incorporates the BLE radio and a microcontroller such as an nRF52832. There are arduino libraries for that device.

[edit] Looks like jarnoldbrown beat me to it :slight_smile: