bluetooth-hci-socket

node-bluetooth-hci-socket

Bluetooth HCI socket binding for Node.js

NOTE: Currently only supports Linux and Windows.

Prerequisites

• node-gyp requirements

Linux

• Bluetooth 4.0 Adapter

Note: the node-usb dependency might fail install, this is ok, because it is an optional optional dependency. Installing libudev-dev via your Linux distribution's package manager will resolve the problem.

Windows

This library needs raw USB access to a Bluetooth 4.0 USB adapter, as it needs to bypass the Windows Bluetooth stack.

A WinUSB driver is required, use Zadig tool to replace the driver for your adapter.

WARNING: This will make the adapter unavailable in Windows Bluetooth settings! To roll back to the original driver go to: Device Manager -> Open Device -> Update Driver

Compatible Bluetooth 4.0 USB Adapter's

Name	USB VID	USB PID
BCM920702 Bluetooth 4.0	0x0a5c	0x21e8
BCM20702A0 Bluetooth 4.0	0x19ff	0x0239
CSR8510 A10	0x0a12	0x0001
Asus BT-400	0x0b05	0x17cb
Intel Wireless Bluetooth	0x8087	0x07dc

Install

npm install bluetooth-hci-socket

Usage

var BluetoothHciSocket = require('bluetooth-hci-socket');

Actions

Create

var bluetoothHciSocket = new BluetoothHciSocket();

Set Filter

var filter = new Buffer(14);
 
// ...
 
bluetoothHciSocket.setFilter(filter);

Bind

Raw Channel

bluetoothHciSocket.bindRaw([deviceId]); // optional deviceId (integer)

User Channel

bluetoothHciSocket.bindUser([deviceId]); // optional deviceId (integer)

Requires the device to be in the powered down state (sudo hciconfig hciX down).

Control Channel

bluetoothHciSocket.bindControl();

Is Device Up

Query the device state.

var isDevUp = bluetoothHciSocket.isDevUp(); // returns: true or false

Note: must be called after bindRaw.

Start/stop

Start or stop event handling:

bluetoothHciSocket.start();
 
// ...
 
bluetoothHciSocket.stop();

Note: must be called after bindRaw or bindControl.

Write

var data = new Buffer(/* ... */);
 
// ...
 
 
bluetoothHciSocket.write(data);

Note: must be called after bindRaw or bindControl.

Events

Data

bluetoothHciSocket.on('data', function(data) {
  // data is a Buffer
 
  // ...
});

Error

bluetoothHciSocket.on('error', function(error) {
  // error is a Error
 
  // ...
});

Examples

See examples folder for code examples.

Platform Notes

Linux

Force Raw USB mode

Unload btusb kernel module:

sudo rmmod btusb

Set BLUETOOTH_HCI_SOCKET_FORCE_USB environment variable:

sudo BLUETOOTH_HCI_SOCKET_FORCE_USB=1 node <file>.js

OS X

Disable CSR USB Driver

sudo kextunload -b com.apple.iokit.CSRBluetoothHostControllerUSBTransport

Disable Broadcom USB Driver

sudo kextunload -b com.apple.iokit.BroadcomBluetoothHostControllerUSBTransport

Windows

Force adapter USB VID and PID

Set BLUETOOTH_HCI_SOCKET_USB_VID and BLUETOOTH_HCI_SOCKET_USB_PID environment variables.

Example for USB device id: 050d:065a:

set BLUETOOTH_HCI_SOCKET_USB_VID=0x050d
set BLUETOOTH_HCI_SOCKET_USB_PID=0x065a
 
node <file>.js