How to get started with bluetooth?

[Terence D]

Hi, I've had an STM32F411 development board for sometime and have done hobby projects with practically every peripheral on the board (audio output, mic, accelerometer, gyroscope, etc) programming both with and without the HAL. I'm now interested in learning more about how to use bluetooth with this board but I have no idea where to begin. I've googled some and haven't really found much basic info (i.e. how bluetooth works with an STM32F4 board, what hardware I need to buy, etc). Could someone please recommend a good starting point?

[Pavel A.]

https://www.silabs.com/support/getting-started/bluetooth/xpress

-- pa

[Imen.D]

Hello,

You can use X-CUBE-BLE1 (Bluetooth Low Energy software expansion for STM32Cube) and follow the resources available in the page.

Refer to this STM32 Step-by-Step beginner’s guide, which helps you on building projects with the STM32 microcontroller.

Regards,

Imen

[Terence D]

Okay, thank you both for the info. So, it sounds as though instead of using an add on board with the STM32F411 development board you are recommending using a different board all together with its own MCU, correct? I am hoping I can use a bluetooth add on board that communicates with the STM32F411 via a standard peripheral (SPI or I2C). Is that possible?

For example, I'm into audio projects and I recently bought this DAC from Adafruit: https://www.adafruit.com/product/3678 and I use it with my STM32F411 dev board to send it data via I2S to play audio. Is there something similar for bluetooth?

[Pavel A.]

Then you need a bluetooth add-on which has the audio profile.

Bluetooth Low Energy (aka "Smart") isn't smart enough to support audio.

-- pa

[Terence D]

Hi Pavel - Thank you for the reply. I think I might not have been clear. I was only using the Adafruit DAC as an example of a smaller device I used with the STM32F411 development board. I don't necessarily want to transmit audio over bluetooth - I simply want to do a very basic project first to understand bluetooth better. For example, something very basic that would just transfer text between a bluetooth capable computer and my STM32F411 development board. Can you recommend a bluetooth add on board that would work with my STM32F411 development board?

[Pavel A.]

I've just recommended one such add-on board for BLE. And Imen reminded that ST has similar devices too.

Instead of BLE, you may want to play with serial profile adapters such as RN42

https://www.digikey.com/eewiki/display/Wireless/Getting+Started+with+RN42+Bluetooth+Module

It works great with standard built-in bluetooth of a Windows computer.

You can also try a iBeacon adapter like this.

-- pa

[Terence D]

Ah, got it! I think I understand now. Thank you Pavel!

[MikeDB]

Here is a link that compares some of the cheaper Bluetooth modules on the market

http://www.martyncurrey.com/bluetooth-modules

Any of these would plug into the development board via the USART port.

[Terence D]

Okay, great! Very helpful! Thanks, Mike!

[MikeDB]

I've found the JDY-09 to be the best of the bunch, but obviously check if it meets your needs first.