Bluetooth Low Energy

Bluetooth Low Energy

Type	Wireless communication
Inventor
Inception
Manufacturer
Available
Discontinued
Website	[ Official website]
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Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), also known as Bluetooth Smart, is a wireless personal area network technology designed and marketed by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) aimed at novel applications in the healthcare, fitness, beacons, security, and home entertainment industries. Compared to Classic Bluetooth, BLE is intended to provide considerably reduced power consumption and cost while maintaining a similar communication range.

History

Bluetooth Low Energy was introduced in 2010 as part of the Bluetooth 4.0 specification. It was developed by Nokia under the name Wibree, which was integrated into the main Bluetooth standard in 2010. BLE was designed to enable devices to communicate with each other while consuming minimal energy, making it ideal for Internet of Things (IoT) applications.

Technical Overview

BLE operates in the 2.4 GHz ISM band, which is the same frequency range as Classic Bluetooth. However, BLE uses a different set of channels and a different modulation scheme. BLE uses 40 channels, each 2 MHz wide, compared to Classic Bluetooth's 79 channels of 1 MHz each.

Power Consumption

One of the key features of BLE is its low power consumption. BLE achieves this by using a simple protocol that allows devices to remain in sleep mode for most of the time, waking up only to send or receive data. This makes BLE ideal for devices that need to run on small batteries for extended periods, such as wearable technology and medical devices.

Data Transfer

BLE is optimized for short bursts of data transfer, making it suitable for applications that require periodic data updates, such as heart rate monitors and fitness trackers. BLE supports data rates of up to 1 Mbps, which is sufficient for most sensor applications.

Applications

BLE is widely used in various applications, including:

• Healthcare: BLE is used in medical devices such as glucose monitors, heart rate monitors, and thermometers.
• Fitness: BLE is used in fitness trackers and smartwatches to monitor physical activity and health metrics.
• Home automation: BLE is used in smart home devices such as smart locks, lighting systems, and thermostats.
• Beacons: BLE beacons are used for indoor positioning and location-based services.

Security

BLE includes several security features to protect data and ensure privacy. These include pairing mechanisms, encryption, and authentication protocols. BLE devices can use AES-128 encryption to secure data transmissions.

See Also

• Bluetooth
• Internet of Things
• Wireless communication

References

• Bluetooth Core Specification
• Bluetooth Low Energy Overview