Panasonic Automotive & Industrial Systems Europe is launching a new short-range, Bluetooth low energy and NFC combo module for implementing Bluetooth functionality into various electronic devices. Based on a leading edge Toshiba SoC, the cost-effective PAN1761 Series supports both Bluetooth low energy functionality v4.1 and NFC through a NFC Forum Type 3 compliant tag.
 
PAN1761 Series enables robust Bluetooth low energy central and peripheral nodes to be built with very low total bill-of-material costs. The unique configuration of the device allows NFC to wake-up Bluetooth low energy from standby using a NFC field and automatically initiate a Bluetooth connection.

Highly secure Bluetooth connections are created using NFC to exchange link keys (Out-of-Band pairing). Bluetooth low energy applications with extended battery life are possible as a result of zero power consumption in standby mode. A NFC enabled remote device may independently create a wake-up signal with neither host control nor local battery consumption.
 
The PAN1761 device comes in a 15.6 x 8.7 x 1.8 mm surface mount package (same form factor as PAN1026 and PAN1760 Bluetooth modules) and benefits from a high-quality RF transceiver and programmable Bluetooth low energy EEPROM memory with 32kB on-chip RAM for host-less operation of application software and driver.

Furthermore standard SIG Bluetooth low energy and “SPP over Bluetooth low energy” profiles, low-power sleep modes, short transition times between operating modes, and an operating temperature range from -40°C up to +85°C are included.
 
Simone Saile, Product Manager at Panasonic comments: “In adding NFC technology to Bluetooth applications our customer can benefit of various security and power related features in their application. Security features are enabled through the so-called man-in-the-middle scenario by NFC technology. A NFC enabled remote control device, e.g. smartphone/tablet, must be physically close to the other device which shall be connected to. On the other hand NFC as enabler for Bluetooth connection set-up leads to ease-of-use in applications. This enables new areas of application in the diagnostic and maintenance systems.”
 
The low power consumption makes the new PAN1761 module the ideal choice for many applications like healthcare and medical diagnostic systems without any human control interface, Bluetooth low energy sensor applications with a need to send data on request, diagnostic and maintenance systems with a requirement for zero standby power consumption, embedded wireless, wearable devices, mobile phone accessories, as well as industrial sensors and measurement devices.
 
An evaluation kit (PAN1761-EMK starter kit with NFC antenna) is available upon request.

For further information on the new PAN1761 Series please visit: https://eu.industrial.panasonic.com/