H1000 posted:JohnGaltLine posted:As addressed before, while the tech has existed for about 2 decades now, the innovation of the jellybean BLE module for $2 is fairly recent. That same tech was much, much more expensive just a couple years ago The next best option, and one I would have preferred, Xbee, costs 10 times as much, and even a year ago cost 35 times more. The same holds for BLE, where earlier iterations of Bluetooth product cost $70 per transceiver.
In 2006 I bought a USB Bluetooth (2.1 version I believe) adapter for $9 on that popular online auction site. I used that same adapter to interface my laptop wirelessly to a Serial DB9 Bluetooth device (about $20 cost in 2006) to plug into a CAB1 base and run tmcc via Bluetooth in 2006. In 2004 I bought a very expensive RTK GPS receiver, the difference in price between the Bluetooth model and non-bluetooth model was $18 retail. Bluetooth wasn't expensive then, or now.
Lionel didn't need to wait for BLE technology. The primary purpose for BLE devices is energy conservation for devices that don't have easily serviceable batteries like TPMS sensors for vehicles. I don't get why BLE is so important for LC to function. Track power is endless supply for the module and three AA batteries will run a standard 2.1 module for 100's hours.
All of the technology being used has existed cheaply for years, Lionel just hasn't put all together until now.
There is more to a ble module than just the Bluetooth radio. It is the combination of the radio transceiver with a powerful microprocessor that makes up these modules. In the usb dongles the compute power is handled by your computer. The first such modules appear to have been made around 2012, but it wasn't until 2016 that the mass produced styles with enough compute power hit the market at inexpensive prices.
Over all the radio tech in LC/+ has followed along with what is readily available on the cheap. In the early versions the nrf24l01+ was the best option for a 99 cent transceiver, but it required a separate processor. The ble module combines both and includes a much more powerful processor.
Additionally, any large business is going to have some lead-in time. If some groundbreaking new tech hit the streets today, it will take a year or two before it is widely used. It takes time to get designs together, and to secure supply chains. I'm not saying I wouldn't have liked to see 2.4GHz used sooner, or that it couldn't be done, but the pricing wasn't there to make it work out.
You say bluetooth wasn't expensive then and at the same time say that at you paid about 10 times as much for the radios, and they still needed additional microprocessors or to be plugged into a computer to work. It might not be much on $2000 locomotives, but even that difference is pretty big on a 99 dollar complete train set.
