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Revision as of 10:23, 22 May 2010
 | It has been suggested that Wibree be merged into this article. (Discuss) Proposed since April 2010. |
Bluetooth low energy wireless technology is a recently-released hallmark feature of a new version of the Bluetooth wireless technology core specification aimed at new applications for wireless devices. This new feature of the Bluetooth technology specification enables the support of a wide range of applications and smaller form factor devices in the healthcare, fitness, security and home entertainment industries. Its chief advantage is enabling very low battery use and utilization of Bluetooth in coin-cell powered devices.
Key benefits
Devices using Bluetooth low energy wireless technology will consume a fraction of the power of other Bluetooth enabled products. In many cases, products will be able to operate more than a year on a button cell battery without recharging. In this way it will be possible to have, for example, small sensors operating continuously, (think of a temperature sensor) communicating with other devices, like a cellphone or a PDA. This may increase the concerns for privacy, as when the remote, low power, continuously on, sensor would be presence sensors or similar devices.
History
In June 2007, the Bluetooth SIG announced to bring Nokia’s Wibree under the Bluetooth umbrella to be offered as an ultra-low-power version of Bluetooth wireless technology. The result shall be a wireless technology with a comparable low power consumption and tremendously extended battery life as for example with ZigBee layouts.
In December 2009, the Bluetooth SIG announced the adoption of Bluetooth low energy wireless technology as the hallmark feature of the Bluetooth Core Specification Version 4.0. Samples of sensors utilizing this specification are available from some silicon manufacturers today and shipments are anticipated to follow closely behind.
Integration of Bluetooth low energy technology with the Core Specification will be completed in early 2010 and the first Bluetooth low energy enabled products should be available before the end of the calendar year. Upon completion, mobile phone and PC manufacturers may enhance their Bluetooth product offerings with support for Bluetooth low energy wireless technology. End-user devices with Bluetooth v 4.0 are expected to reach the market in late 2010 or early 2011.
Actual status
The Bluetooth low energy specification is available to the general public as part of Bluetooth Core Specification Version 4.0. Actual stage of specification includes some optional features. No commonly published document currently discloses which of these options will be included in the decided chip implementations.
Market demand
The Bluetooth SIG follows the market demand for low energy consumption respectively lesser battery wear out. This 2007 Bluetooth SIG adoption move for the 2001 Nokia 'Wibree' proposal was necessary to include low battery consumption operational modes for newly designed devices to communicate with other Bluetooth devices yet deployed. However, the compatibility depends on applications that run on existing Bluetooth devices and made capable for digesting the respective low energy transmissions with software updates. In addition to creating a market for sensors, watches and other existing devices, Bluetooth low energy’s ability to connect low power devices to mobile phones offers a great variety of new applications. Comparable solutions with other industry standards (as e.g. ZigBee) or international standards (as e.g. IEEE 805.15.4) show the path.
The new protocol stack is being referred to as Bluetooth low energy. Nokia did apparently not offer the WiBree brand for common use . The Bluetooth low energy attribute prevents from impressions, that Bluetooth ultra low power might coincide with any type of deficiencies in functional power, transmission reach or transmission rate. However, the Bluetooth low energy chips will offer a well defined set of capabilities that do not replace or supersede the existing Bluetooth v2.x standards.
Technical details
Consuming less power, Bluetooth low energy will offer long-lasting connectivity and bridge the gap between small sensor type devices and mobile devices in the scope of personal area networks (PAN).
Bluetooth low energy is designed with two equally important implementation alternatives: single-mode and dual-mode. Small devices like tokens, watches and sports sensors based on a single-mode Bluetooth low energy implementation will enjoy the low-power consumption advantages enabled for highly integrated and compact devices. In dual-mode implementations Bluetooth low energy functionality is integrated into Classic Bluetooth circuitry. The architecture will share Classic Bluetooth technology radio and antenna, enhancing currently chips with the new low energy stack—enhancing the development of Classic Bluetooth devices with new capabilities.
| Technical Specification | Classic Bluetooth | Bluetooth low energy |
|---|---|---|
| Radio frequency | 2.4 GHz | 2.4 GHz |
| Distance/Range | 100 m (330 ft) | 200 m (660 ft) |
| Over the air data rate | 1-3 Mb/s | 1 Mb/s |
| Application throughput | 0.7-2.1 Mb/s | 0.26 Mb/s |
| Active slaves | 7 | ? |
| Security | 64/128-bit and application layer user defined | 128-bit AES with Counter Mode CBC-MAC and application layer user defined |
| Robustness | Adaptive fast frequency hopping, FEC, fast ACK | Adaptive fast frequency hopping, Lazy Acknowledgement, 24-bit CRC, 32-bit Message Integrity Check |
| Latency (from a non connected state) | ||
| Total time to send data (det.battery life) | 100 ms | <3 ms |
| Government regulation | Worldwide | Worldwide |
| Certification body | Bluetooth SIG | Bluetooth SIG |
| Voice capable | Yes | No |
| Network topology | Scatternet | Star-bus |
| Power consumption | 1 as the reference | 0.01 to 0.5 (depending on use case) |
| Peak current consumption | <30 mA | <15 mA (max 15 mA to run on coin cell battery) |
| Service discovery | Yes | Yes |
| Profile concept | Yes | Yes |
| Primary use cases | Mobile phones, gaming, headsets, stereo audio streaming, automotive, PCs, security, proximity, healthcare, sports & fitness, etc. | Mobile phones, gaming, PCs, watches, sports and fitness, healthcare, sports and fitness, security & proximity, automotive, home electronics, automation, Industrial, etc. |
More technical details may be obtained from official specification as published by the Bluetooth SIG.
Use cases
Bluetooth low energy is the hallmark feature of v4.0 of the Bluetooth Core Specification. This enhancement to the Bluetooth wireless technology Core Specification that will enable new functionality and applications for remote controls, healthcare monitors, sports sensors and other devices. Bluetooth low energy will enhance existing use cases and will enable new ones, widening the applicability and functionality of Bluetooth.
The respective chips may be integrated into products such as tokens, watches, manual controls, wireless keyboards, gaming pads and body sensors, which may then connect to host devices such as mobile phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs) and personal computers (PCs).
However, currently in the tenth year after earliest publication with inventor Nokia in 2001 (Wibree) there is no implementing on chip-basis or on protocol-basis to any of the current PC-like or PDA-like products or with any mobile phones nor any of the announced appliance products neither disclosed nor announced. All announcement but one is recognised still just with Bluetooth SIG and not beyond (2010-01-27). The notified exception is with a wireless velo-odometer, probably not recognised as the killer-application with mobilephones.
Bluetooth low energy technology hence may extend any personal area network according to the intentions with IEEE 802.15 WPAN to include watches and toys, sports and health care equipment, human interface (HIDs) and entertainment devices.
Software updates
The respective applications with existing and deployed devices may be opened to Bluetooth low energy by updates. This will enable the Bluetooth software defined radio to receive signals from Bluetooth low energy devices. However, the capability to communicate in duplex mode is limited with the defined frequency allocation schemes for traditional Bluetooth. The common appliances such as mobile phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs) and personal computers (PCs) may then receive as host devices for complex applications the signals transmitted from Bluetooth low energy devices.
Bluetooth low energy technology hence may extend any personal area network according to the intentions with IEEE 802.15 (WPAN) to network personally carried simple devices with other appliances for complex local applications as well as for gateway support to transfer information to other networked entities.
It is sometimes possible to "recover" dissipated energy from radiation or transferred energy from motion. Such "scavenging" energy systems could power ultralow energy Bluetooth devices, leading to something like Stephenson's mites or sensor dust motes -very tiny, independent, disposable, networked sensors that report the conditions of the volume they are dispersed throughout, and do not run out of power. Also reliable.
Standardization
In the market of proprietary connectivity solutions, Bluetooth low energy technology differentiates itself through its:
- widely adopted industry standard for protocols (Bluetooth SIG)
- internationallly adopted industry standard for transmission (IEEE 802.15.1)
- Low price through single chip integration
- Compatibility with yet deployed Bluetooth devices via updates
Bluetooth Innovation World Cup marketing initiative
The Bluetooth Innovation World Cup is an international competition encouraging the development of new innovations and ideas for applications leveraging the Bluetooth low energy wireless technology in sports, fitness and health care products.The Bluetooth Innovation World Cup is a marketing initiative of the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG).
The aim of the competition is to stimulate new markets, creating new fields of applications and establishing Bluetooth low energy technology as the wireless data transfer standard for low energy applications is ordinary business in the competition of wireless standards. The initiative will go on for three years, having started 1 June 2009.
Bluetooth Innovation World Cup 2009
The first international Bluetooth Innovation World Cup 2009 drew more than 250 international entries illustrating the abundance of opportunities for product development with the new Bluetooth low energy wireless technology.
The Bluetooth Innovation World Cup 2009 was sponsored by Nokia, Freescale Semiconductor, Texas Instruments, Nordic Semiconductor, STMicroelectronics and Brunel.
Bluetooth Innovator of the Year 2009
On February 8, 2010, the Bluetooth SIG has awarded Edward Sazonov, Physical Activity Innovations LLC, the title of Bluetooth Innovator of the Year for 2009. Sazonov received this recognition at the official award ceremony held in-line with the Wearable Technologies Show at ispo 2010, the world’s largest trade show for sporting goods. The award includes a cash prize of €5,000 and a Bluetooth Qualification Program voucher (QDID) valued at up to US$ 10,000. Sazonov’s winning idea, The Fit Companion, is a small, unobtrusive sensor that when clipped-on to a user’s clothing or integrated in to a shoe, provides feedback about their physical activity. The data, transmitted via Bluetooth low energy technology, can help individuals to lose weight and achieve optimal physical activity. Intended for use in both training and daily activities like walking or performing chores, this simple, measuring device may offer a solution for reducing obesity.
Bluetooth Innovation World Cup 2010
The Bluetooth Innovation World Cup 2010 competition will be opened for entries on June 1, 2010.
References
- http://www.bluetooth.com/Bluetooth/Press/SIG/SIG_INTRODUCES_BLUETOOTH_LOW_ENERGY_WIRELESS_TECHNOLOGY_THE_NEXT_GENERATION_OF_BLUETOOTH_WIRELESS_TE.htm
- ^ Bluetooth SIG Retrieved 2009-02-17. http://www.bluetooth.com/Bluetooth/Products/More_about_emBluetoothem_low_energy_technology.htm
- Bluetooth Core Specification Download Page
- Bluetooth technology expands for ultra low power PAN applications with Nokia's Wibree
- http://www.bluetooth.com/Bluetooth/Press/Bluetooth_World_Innovation_Cup.htm