Bluetooth Daughter Card (14 pins)

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Revision as of 15:28, 28 June 2014 by Siemer (Talk | contribs) (Bluetooth 4.0)
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The 14 pin Bluetooth Daughter Cards (BDC) are USB Bluetooth Adapters that are installed in a proprietary BDC socket. The connection probably carries usb, power, led and enable signal. The antenna is printed on the PCB. The location varies by model (within the screen, under the palm rest area, etc.); refer to the Hardware Maintenance Manual for the location of the BDC.

Very likely, all 14-pin-BDCs can be interchanged, allowing newer Bluetooth adapters to be installed in older ThinkPads. The Bluetooth 4.0 module, for example, works in an ThinkPad X200, even though it didn’t even exist at the time the X200 was released.

Bluetooth LogoFRU39T0497.jpg

Bluetooth 2.0 with Enhanced Data Rate (EDR)

Bluetooth 2.1 with EDR

Bluetooth 3.0

Bluetooth 4.0

Details

When Bluetooth is enabled, the Bluetooth-logo LED will light up and executing # lsusb will show an entry mentioning "Broadcom".

On recent ThinkPads the Wireless killswitch disables both WiFi and Bluetooth (verified on a ThinkPad Z60m, Z61t, T60, T61 and X61).

ThinkPads without BDC socket

Not every Bluetooth comes via 14 pin Bluetooth Daughter Card. The X130e, X140e and the X240 for example use combined WiFi/Bluetooth mini-PCIe cards instead. Older devices use the Communication Daughter Card slot to provide Bluetooth.

See Also

External Sources