Bluetooth Low Energy

Bluetooth Low Energy

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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. BLE was designed to enable devices to communicate with each other while consuming minimal energy, making it ideal for devices that need to run on battery power for extended periods.

Technical Overview

BLE operates in the same 2.4 GHz ISM band as Classic Bluetooth but uses a different set of channels. It employs a frequency-hopping spread spectrum to minimize interference from other devices. BLE uses 40 channels, each 2 MHz wide, compared to Classic Bluetooth's 79 channels of 1 MHz each.

Protocol Stack

The BLE protocol stack is divided into two main parts: the Controller and the Host. The Controller includes the Physical Layer (PHY) and the Link Layer (LL), while the Host includes the Logical Link Control and Adaptation Protocol (L2CAP), Attribute Protocol (ATT), Generic Attribute Profile (GATT), and Generic Access Profile (GAP).

Power Consumption

One of the key features of BLE is its low power consumption. BLE achieves this by using a low duty cycle, which means that the radio is off most of the time and only wakes up to send or receive data. This makes BLE ideal for applications where devices need to operate for months or even years on a small battery.

Applications

BLE is used in a wide range of applications, including:

• Wearable technology such as fitness trackers and smartwatches
• Healthcare devices like heart rate monitors and glucose meters
• Home automation systems
• Proximity marketing and beacon technology
• Internet of Things (IoT) devices

Security

BLE includes several security features to protect data and ensure privacy. These include pairing mechanisms, encryption, and authentication. BLE 4.2 introduced improved privacy features and increased the maximum data packet length, enhancing both security and efficiency.

Future Developments

The Bluetooth 5.0 specification, released in 2016, introduced several enhancements to BLE, including increased range, speed, and broadcast message capacity. These improvements are expected to expand the use of BLE in new applications and industries.

Also see

• Bluetooth
• Wireless communication
• Internet of Things
• Wearable technology
• Home automation