Support : Serial and USB™ Quickstart Guide

Thank you for purchasing an AIRcable. Your satisfaction is very important to us, so please read this quickstart guide before installing your AIRcable modules. We'd appreciate your feedback

We strongly suggest you read the Command Line Interface documentation. Also see our Support Forum for any questions you have that were unanswered here.

Configuration

When you receive an AIRcable Serial or AIRcable USB™ module, the device must be configured.

Our new AIRcables support these modes:

• Cable Mode
• Service Mode
• Manual Mode

Cable Mode

In Cable Mode two AIRcable modules are paired with each other. Only these two devices can communicate. The AIRcable modules are no longer visible to any other Bluetooth device such as cell phones or PDAs; they can only communicate with whatever it's paired with. In Cable Mode, the AIRcable devices are a Wireless Cable.

To pair two AIRcables use this simple procedure:

• Press and hold the pairing button for 5 seconds. The AIRcable module automatically configures itself and starts in slave mode. The power LED (green) will be on again and the connection LED (blue) will start flashing rapidly.
• Do this on both devices that are going to be paired.
• On one device press the pairing button again (short click) to change the mode to master.
  At this time the two devices will find each other, pair, and establish a connection.
• The pairing information has been stored in the flash memory and the two AIRcable modules will connect automatically when they are powered on. No other device can connect to either AIRcable while the two AIRcable devices have a [paired] connection to one another.

Connecting to your AIRcable Device

To setup Service Mode; plug the AIRcable module into your computer and run a terminal program such as Minicom or Hyperterminal on the corresponding com port. Always specify the following:

• 115200 baud
• No parity
• One stop bit
• 8 bit data
• Hardware handshake enabled

When you connect to your device you won't get any sort of "banner," don't panic. The device is still working properly, but the AIRcable software does not have a banner on connect. Now that you are connected to the device, you should be able to enter commands. If this is your first time using hyperterminal, then when you enter in any form of data you will not see what you're typing. To allow yourself to see what you're typing, go to File->Properties->Settings->ASCII Setup-> and check Echo Delay, then press "Ok." Now that you can see what you're typing it makes entering commands much easier. From here on, just enter the command and hit Enter. If your command worked, you will get a response of "OK."

Service-Slave Mode

If you need access to the AIRcable from other Bluetooth devices you can put the AIRcable into the "Service Slave Mode". In this mode, the AIRcable allows other devices to connect to is. You can specify a PIN number for security, require authentication, enable encryption, and more. See the full description of the Command Line Interface for more information.

Each command starts with a "control-A" (^A) or 0x01, then the command in capital letters, and ends with a "carriage return" (CR) or 0x0d. Don't add a "line feed".

Quick Setup for Service-Slave mode (Setting the Pass Key, Device Name, etc).

Type in, without the spaces and the commas:

• ^A, Z, CR (erase all pairing information)
• ^A, P, 1, 2, 3, 4, CR (this changes the PIN number to "1234", this command enables authentication)
• ^A, P, D, CR (this disables the authentication, meaning the PIN number is not required)
• ^A, D, D, S, CR (make the device discoverable and enable the Serial Port Profile SPP)
• ^A, A, 3, CR (this switches the mode to "Service Slave")

Now you can discover the device from other Bluetooth devices, connect to it without a PIN to a serial port, and communicate. Make sure that the serial port parameters are correct. The device comes with 8 bit, no parity, one stop bit settings, but you can change it using the Command Line Interface. Switch the baud rate with the external switches.

Service-Master Mode

The Service-Master Mode is the counter part to the Service-Slave Mode. It can be used as a master to connect to several Bluetooth devices that are in range, one at a time. The advantage to this is that it does not require pairing or bonding with the other end. It is a truly automatic-connect to many other Bluetooth devices. [Certainly you can configure automatic pairing with a PIN number of your choice.]

For example, it can connect to Bluetooth scanners without pairing it to a particular one. In this case the Service-Master AIRcable would be configured with the PIN number of the scanner (often "0000") with authentication enabled and it will automatically connect to the first scanner it finds. This way you can move between scanners without changing the configuration.

The Bluetooth Service-Master Mode can also be used to connect to a number of AIRcable devices in Service-Slave Mode. This is designed for field usage where the AIRcable Service-Slave modules are stationary and the AIRcable Service-Master is going from one Service-Slave module to another. Below an example of how to configure your AIRcable module to Service-Master mode. Remember to configure it to your needs.

• Configure the PIN number that corresponds to the device(s) you want to connect to, either a fixed 2-5 digit number or an automatically generated 5 digit ID that will be added to the name to identify the AIRcable.
  "^A P 0000 <CR>": set pin number to 0000, require authentication
• Disable authentication if the devices you are connecting to don't require authentication: "^A P D <CR>"
• Switch mode to "Service-Master Mode"
  "^A A4<CR

Advanced Modes

Please consult our online manual (Command Line Interface) for the description of additional modes. For example there is a "Service Master Mode" which allows an AIRcable to become a master and automatically make connections to other Bluetooth devices such as AIRcables in "Service Slave Mode" or Bluetooth barcode scanners, Bluetooth access points, etc.

There is also a Manual Mode that allows to issue simple Bluetooth commands such as inquiry, connect as slave, connect as master etc.

Hardware Handshake

The new AIRcable Serial and AIRcable USB™ devices have a new feature that will allow you to disable and enable hardware handshake, causing the RTS/CTS connection to no longer be required. However, the RTS/CTS lines are used to control traffic over the air. Disabling hardware handshake can lead to data loss when/if the buffers overrun, but data loss is unlikely. Hardware handshake is enabled by default.

The difference between with the hardware handshake involving the AIRcable Serial module and the AIRcable USB™ module is that the AIRcable Serial module has a switch on the device that will allow you to disable hardware handshake where the AIRcable USB™ module has a software configurable "switch" that will allow you to disable hardware handshake, but lacks a switch on the outside of the device. The AIRcable USB's™ software "switch" also disables other handshake lines such as DTR, DSR, and DCD as well.

Thanks again

We hope you have fun using our AIRcable products. We appreciate your feedback.