Intercom Solution

[Ali Khan]

Hi
I am designing an intercom and I need help related to it. The following are the requirements of my project.

I need an intercom module through which two-person can communicate with each other via Bluetooth and also it connects with earbuds for voice communication.
For two persons, I will design two systems. Each system will connect with another person and also with one pair of earbuds.
Any hint or guideline will be helpful.

Let me know if you can help me with it. Thanks

[ovrebekk]

Hi Ali

Do you know which Bluetooth audio profile you are planning to use?

All the Bluetooth audio solutions currently on the market are based on classic Bluetooth (Bluetooth 3.0 or earlier), and Nordic doesn't provide any solutions for classic Bluetooth. 

There is a new Audio profile for Bluetooth 5.2 called LE Audio which we will support, but we haven't yet updated our Bluetooth stacks to implement this, so this is something that will only be available later this year. 

Best regards
Torbjørn

[Ali Khan]

Hi Torbjorn
Thanks for the reply. I have no issue with using any audio Bluetooth profile until it does the job. My main goal is to develop an intercom which able to communicate between two users without noise and at least a distance of 30 feet. Even if I have to use some other technology like RF.

[ovrebekk]

Hi Ali

Do you have any other system requirements, such as low power consumption or low latency?

What kind of audio quality do you require?

Are you planning to enter mass production with this product?

Best regards
Torbjørn

[Ali Khan]

Hi ovrebekk
The product will be battery operated so it is better that it consumes low power. The audio quality should be fine so users can communicate with each other without any issue but not like a wireless headset.
Yes, after the prototype we will soon enter into mass production.

[ovrebekk]

Hi Ali

It's technically possible to do this with Nordic devices using a proprietary (non standard) protocol, but one thing to note regarding the 2.4GHz band is that it is highly affected by objects containing metal or water blocking the signal, so the range can vary a lot depending on the environment you are in. 

We also don't have any good examples showing how to do point to point audio communication, so if you need to get started soon it will be a significant amount of work to do on the software side. 

In a year or so when the LE Audio standard is more mature I am hoping the situation will be different. 

Best regards
Torbjørn