Bluetooth low energy
Encyclopedia
Bluetooth low energy is a feature of Bluetooth
4.0 wireless radio technology, aimed at new, principally low-power and low-latency, applications for wireless devices within a short range (up to 50 metres (164 ft) -see table below). This facilitates a wide range of applications and smaller form factor devices in the healthcare, fitness, security and home entertainment industries.
Note that the lower power consumption is not achieved by the nature of the active radio transport, but by the design of the protocol to allow low duty cycles, and the use cases envisaged. A Bluetooth low energy device used for continuous data transfer would not have a lower power consumption than a comparable Bluetooth device transmitting the same amount of data; indeed, it would likely use more power, since the protocol is optimised for small bursts.
Several chip suppliers have released Bluetooth low energy chips. Other semiconductor companies are expected to release Bluetooth low energy chips in 2011. Some of these offered chip designs include the entire protocol suite implementation, others allow for special implementing strategies. Some of these chip designs allow for dynamic change of protocol suite even outside the Bluetooth technology/Bluetooth low energy standard, others are just tailored for one protocol suite. Those offering products include Broadcom
, CSR
,, EM Microelectronic,, Nordic Semiconductor
, and Texas Instruments
.
The basic radio circuitry has almost similar power consumption as for standard Bluetooth radio (indeed, in dual-mode devices it is likely to be the same circuitry), but the overall power consumption is aimed to be lower, primarily by having a lower duty cycle. During transmission and reception these devices exhibit peak currents in the tens of milliamps (mA) range in both Bluetooth low energy technology and Bluetooth modes. In sleep modes, the aim is to have current consumption reduced to tens of nanoamps (nA). Because of very low duty cycles (of the order of 0.25%) average currents are therefore in the microamp (μA) range enabling button cell battery power sources to last up to a year.
Bluetooth technology (2.45 GHz) and Near Field Communication
(NFC 13.56 MHz) may both be used as short-range communication technologies. However, allowed transmission power for NFC 13.56 MHz is strongly limited implying short range, whilst Bluetooth technology has a range that reaches up to 100m, depending on its class. Integration with mobile phones is increasing, where Bluetooth technology is already part of almost all phone types. Bluetooth low energy technology set-up time has been designed to be faster than Classic Bluetooth technology.
There is no aim to make Bluetooth technology's WPAN implementation compatible with passive RFID. However, Bluetooth technology defines a well standardized new class of active RFID which requires comparably lower power consumption than NFC in passive read mode, due to different physical coupling: far field is used for Bluetooth technology, whilst near field/inductive is used for NFC.
standard which would provide lower power usage and price while minimizing difference between Bluetooth technology and the new technology. The results were published in 2004 using the name Bluetooth Low End Extension. After further development with partners, e.g., within EU FP6 project MIMOSA, the technology was released to public in October 2006 with brand name Wibree. After negotiations with Bluetooth SIG members, in June 2007, an agreement was reached to include Wibree in future Bluetooth specification as a Bluetooth ultra-low-power technology, now known as Bluetooth low energy technology.
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 v4.0 are expected to reach the market in late 2010 or early 2011.
Partners that currently license the technology and cooperate in defining the specification are Alpwise, Broadcom Corporation, CSR
, Epson, MindTree
, Nordic Semiconductor
, and Texas Instruments
. Other contributors are Suunto
and Taiyo Yuden
.
The first Bluetooth low energy chips, from CSR
, Nordic Semiconductor
and Texas Instruments
, were released to mass-market in late 2010 and early 2011. Bluetooth low energy chips from other semiconductor manufacturers are expected to follow. The first Bluetooth low energy Intellectual Property has been qualified by RivieraWaves in 2010.
Currently (2010–12) the definitions of respective application profiles still are not fulfilled work-items of the standardisation bodies. The first consumer products using Bluetooth low energy technology are expected to debut in first half of 2011.
The big advantage is the commonly available equipping of mobile appliances with Bluetooth chips, thus requiring no additional infrastructure for any ad-hoc networking in topologies
of peer networking
, scatter networking
or meshed networking
. Technically comparable solutions with other industry groups' standards (e.g. ZigBee
, ANT
) under the umbrella of the international standard IEEE 802.15.4-2006 show further paths, relying of special infrastructures..
.
Bluetooth low energy technology 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.
More technical details may be obtained from official specification as published by the Bluetooth SIG. Note that power consumption is not part of the Bluetooth specification.
The latest indication of ready designed and agreed profiles was on 2011-07-05 by Nordic Semiconductor
as an industrial standardisation body.
Qualification of such approaches according to US (Food and Drug Administration
) or EU medical devices qualification directives is not reported.
.
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, smartphone
s, personal digital assistants (PDAs), tablet PCs, notebook PCs, laptop PCs and other grades of 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.
concept get improved with the better economised battery consumtion of the Bluetooth v4.0 low energy protocols. Several suppliers yet offer the so-called electronic leash
solution based on standard Bluetooth v2.1 protocols. This serves for wirelessly tethering mobile appliances with each other. The RSSI
estimate serves for a radial metrics, but without any certified calibration. Setting an alarm on unintentional loss is the key service offered with this concept.
An advanced aspect has recently been launched with Bluetooth low energy technology for better economised battery life cycle. Special trimming serves for two years operation from a button cell.
15808 Common Criteria
standard, however connection-free communication limits the suitability of low energy for secure communications.
Beyond classic configurarion of appliances, a personally carried duet of Bluetooth enabled smartphone and a Bluetooth enabled watch allow for an automatic two-factor authentication en passant. Then the watch delivers just an identity in the mode of active RFID.
may be implemented by detection of coincidence of two or more Bluetooth v4.0 low energy protocol enabled tokens, appliances and smartphones. This qualifies for better protection of private and corporate data upon access for log-on to networked work positions as well as with mobile network clients.
Whereas currently known solutions rely just on transmission range limitations, the new Bluetooth v4.0 low energy protocol enables for qualified segregation of various operational distances based on assessment of received signal strength. In contrast to known proposals for locating, such unilateral estimation serves for good discrimination of cohesion in operational context, but does not pretend to deliver a certified accuracy, which is impossible due to variations in transmission conditions.
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.
Websites:
News:
Bluetooth
Bluetooth is a proprietary open wireless technology standard for exchanging data over short distances from fixed and mobile devices, creating personal area networks with high levels of security...
4.0 wireless radio technology, aimed at new, principally low-power and low-latency, applications for wireless devices within a short range (up to 50 metres (164 ft) -see table below). This facilitates a wide range of applications and smaller form factor devices in the healthcare, fitness, security and home entertainment industries.
Lower power consumption
Devices using Bluetooth low energy wireless technology are expected to consume a fraction of the power of Classic Bluetooth enabled products for Bluetooth communication. In many cases, products will be able to operate more than a year on a button cell battery without recharging. It will be possible to have sensors such as thermometers operating continuously, and intermittently communicating with other devices like a mobile phone. This may increase the concerns for privacy, as when the remote, low power, continuously on, sensor would be presence sensors or similar devices.Note that the lower power consumption is not achieved by the nature of the active radio transport, but by the design of the protocol to allow low duty cycles, and the use cases envisaged. A Bluetooth low energy device used for continuous data transfer would not have a lower power consumption than a comparable Bluetooth device transmitting the same amount of data; indeed, it would likely use more power, since the protocol is optimised for small bursts.
Several chip suppliers have released Bluetooth low energy chips. Other semiconductor companies are expected to release Bluetooth low energy chips in 2011. Some of these offered chip designs include the entire protocol suite implementation, others allow for special implementing strategies. Some of these chip designs allow for dynamic change of protocol suite even outside the Bluetooth technology/Bluetooth low energy standard, others are just tailored for one protocol suite. Those offering products include Broadcom
Broadcom
Broadcom Corporation is a fabless semiconductor company in the wireless and broadband communication business. The company is headquartered in Irvine, California, USA. Broadcom was founded by a professor-student pair Henry Samueli and Henry T. Nicholas III from the University of California, Los...
, CSR
CSR
CSR may refer to:In business:* CSR Limited, an Australian industrial company, formerly known as Colonial Sugar Refining Company* CSR plc, or Cambridge Silicon Radio, a British silicon chip designer and software company...
,, EM Microelectronic,, Nordic Semiconductor
Nordic Semiconductor
Nordic Semiconductor is a fabless semiconductor company, developing and manufacturing integrated circuits. The company specializes in wireless communication, mixed signal as well as complex digital and analogue integrated circuit design. High speed wireless communication in the 2.4 GHz ISM band,...
, and Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments Inc. , widely known as TI, is an American company based in Dallas, Texas, United States, which develops and commercializes semiconductor and computer technology...
.
The basic radio circuitry has almost similar power consumption as for standard Bluetooth radio (indeed, in dual-mode devices it is likely to be the same circuitry), but the overall power consumption is aimed to be lower, primarily by having a lower duty cycle. During transmission and reception these devices exhibit peak currents in the tens of milliamps (mA) range in both Bluetooth low energy technology and Bluetooth modes. In sleep modes, the aim is to have current consumption reduced to tens of nanoamps (nA). Because of very low duty cycles (of the order of 0.25%) average currents are therefore in the microamp (μA) range enabling button cell battery power sources to last up to a year.
Bluetooth technology vs NFC
| Bluetooth V2.1 | Bluetooth low energy technology | NFC | |
|---|---|---|---|
| RFID mode | active | active | ISO 18000-3 |
| Standardisation body | Bluetooth SIG | Bluetooth SIG | ISO/IEC |
| Network Standard | IEEE 802.15.1 | IEEE 802.15.1 | ISO 13157 etc. |
| Network Type | WPAN | WPAN | Point-to-point |
| Cryptography | available | available | not with RFID |
| Range | ~30 m (class 2) | ~50 m | < 0.2 m |
| Frequency | 2.4-2.5 GHz | 2.4-2.5 GHz | 13.56 MHz |
| Bit rate | 1-3 Mbit/s | ~200 kbit/s | 424 kbit/s |
| Set-up time | < 6 s | < 3 ms | < 0.1 s |
Bluetooth technology (2.45 GHz) and Near Field Communication
Near Field Communication
Near field communication, or NFC, allows for simplified transactions, data exchange, and wireless connections between two devices in proximity to each other, usually by no more than a few centimeters. It is expected to become a widely used system for making payments by smartphone in the United States...
(NFC 13.56 MHz) may both be used as short-range communication technologies. However, allowed transmission power for NFC 13.56 MHz is strongly limited implying short range, whilst Bluetooth technology has a range that reaches up to 100m, depending on its class. Integration with mobile phones is increasing, where Bluetooth technology is already part of almost all phone types. Bluetooth low energy technology set-up time has been designed to be faster than Classic Bluetooth technology.
There is no aim to make Bluetooth technology's WPAN implementation compatible with passive RFID. However, Bluetooth technology defines a well standardized new class of active RFID which requires comparably lower power consumption than NFC in passive read mode, due to different physical coupling: far field is used for Bluetooth technology, whilst near field/inductive is used for NFC.
History
In 2001, Nokia researchers determined that there were various scenarios that contemporary wireless technologies did not address. To address the problem, the Nokia Research Center started the development of a wireless technology adapted from the BluetoothBluetooth
Bluetooth is a proprietary open wireless technology standard for exchanging data over short distances from fixed and mobile devices, creating personal area networks with high levels of security...
standard which would provide lower power usage and price while minimizing difference between Bluetooth technology and the new technology. The results were published in 2004 using the name Bluetooth Low End Extension. After further development with partners, e.g., within EU FP6 project MIMOSA, the technology was released to public in October 2006 with brand name Wibree. After negotiations with Bluetooth SIG members, in June 2007, an agreement was reached to include Wibree in future Bluetooth specification as a Bluetooth ultra-low-power technology, now known as Bluetooth low energy technology.
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 v4.0 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.Partners that currently license the technology and cooperate in defining the specification are Alpwise, Broadcom Corporation, CSR
CSR plc
CSR , or Cambridge Silicon Radio, is a company based in Cambridge, England. CSR is a fabless semiconductor company whose main product lines include connectivity, audio and location chips. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index...
, Epson, MindTree
MindTree
MindTree Limited, formerly known as MindTree Consulting Limited , is a mid-sized international information technology consulting and implementation company. It operates in two units: production engineering services and IT services. MindTree was started in 1999 by ten industry professionals from...
, Nordic Semiconductor
Nordic Semiconductor
Nordic Semiconductor is a fabless semiconductor company, developing and manufacturing integrated circuits. The company specializes in wireless communication, mixed signal as well as complex digital and analogue integrated circuit design. High speed wireless communication in the 2.4 GHz ISM band,...
, and Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments Inc. , widely known as TI, is an American company based in Dallas, Texas, United States, which develops and commercializes semiconductor and computer technology...
. Other contributors are Suunto
Suunto
Suunto Oy, based in Finland, is a company that produces and markets sports precision instruments for Diving, Training and Outdoor sports. Headquartered in Vantaa, Suunto employs more than 500 people worldwide, and its products are sold in over 100 countries...
and Taiyo Yuden
Taiyo Yuden
is a Japanese materials and electronics company, situated in Ueno, Taito, Tokyo, that helped pioneer recordable CD technology along with Sony and Philips in 1988. Founded 60 years ago, Taiyo Yuden currently operates factories in Japan, Singapore, Korea, China, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia,...
.
The first Bluetooth low energy chips, from CSR
CSR plc
CSR , or Cambridge Silicon Radio, is a company based in Cambridge, England. CSR is a fabless semiconductor company whose main product lines include connectivity, audio and location chips. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index...
, Nordic Semiconductor
Nordic Semiconductor
Nordic Semiconductor is a fabless semiconductor company, developing and manufacturing integrated circuits. The company specializes in wireless communication, mixed signal as well as complex digital and analogue integrated circuit design. High speed wireless communication in the 2.4 GHz ISM band,...
and Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments Inc. , widely known as TI, is an American company based in Dallas, Texas, United States, which develops and commercializes semiconductor and computer technology...
, were released to mass-market in late 2010 and early 2011. Bluetooth low energy chips from other semiconductor manufacturers are expected to follow. The first Bluetooth low energy Intellectual Property has been qualified by RivieraWaves in 2010.
Currently (2010–12) the definitions of respective application profiles still are not fulfilled work-items of the standardisation bodies. The first consumer products using Bluetooth low energy technology are expected to debut in first half of 2011.
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 technology’s ability to connect low power devices to mobile phones offers a great variety of new applications.The big advantage is the commonly available equipping of mobile appliances with Bluetooth chips, thus requiring no additional infrastructure for any ad-hoc networking in topologies
Topology
Topology is a major area of mathematics concerned with properties that are preserved under continuous deformations of objects, such as deformations that involve stretching, but no tearing or gluing...
of peer networking
Peer-to-peer
Peer-to-peer computing or networking is a distributed application architecture that partitions tasks or workloads among peers. Peers are equally privileged, equipotent participants in the application...
, scatter networking
Scatternet
A scatternet is a type of ad-hoc computer network consisting of two or more piconets. Both of the terms 'scatternet' and 'piconet' are typically applied to Bluetooth wireless technology.-Description:...
or meshed networking
Wireless mesh network
A wireless mesh network is a communications network made up of radio nodes organized in a mesh topology. Wireless mesh networks often consist of mesh clients, mesh routers and gateways.The mesh clients are often laptops, cell phones and other wireless devices while the mesh routers forward traffic...
. Technically comparable solutions with other industry groups' standards (e.g. ZigBee
ZigBee
ZigBee is a specification for a suite of high level communication protocols using small, low-power digital radios based on an IEEE 802 standard for personal area networks. Applications include wireless light switches, electrical meters with in-home-displays, and other consumer and industrial...
, ANT
Ant
Ants are social insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from wasp-like ancestors in the mid-Cretaceous period between 110 and 130 million years ago and diversified after the rise of flowering plants. More than...
) under the umbrella of the international standard IEEE 802.15.4-2006 show further paths, relying of special infrastructures..
Technical details
Bluetooth low energy technology operates in the same spectrum range (2402-2480 MHz) as Classic Bluetooth technology, but uses a different set of channels. Instead of Bluetooth technology's 79 1 MHz wide channels, Bluetooth low energy technology has 40 2 MHz wide channels. Bluetooth low energy technology uses a different frequency hopping scheme to Classic Bluetooth technology; as a result, whilst both FCC and ETSI classify Bluetooth technology as an FHSS scheme, Bluetooth low energy technology is classified as a system using digital modulation techniques or a direct-sequence spread spectrumDirect-sequence spread spectrum
In telecommunications, direct-sequence spread spectrum is a modulation technique. As with other spread spectrum technologies, the transmitted signal takes up more bandwidth than the information signal that is being modulated. The name 'spread spectrum' comes from the fact that the carrier signals...
.
Bluetooth low energy technology 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 technology | Bluetooth low energy technology |
|---|---|---|
| Distance/Range | 100 m (328.1 ft) | 50 m (164 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 | Not defined; implementation dependent |
| Security | 64/128-bit and application layer user defined | 128-bit AES Advanced Encryption Standard Advanced Encryption Standard is a specification for the encryption of electronic data. It has been adopted by the U.S. government and is now used worldwide. It supersedes DES... with Counter Mode CBC-MAC CBC-MAC In cryptography, a cipher block chaining message authentication code , is a technique for constructing a message authentication code from a block cipher. The message is encrypted with some block cipher algorithm in CBC mode to create a chain of blocks such that each block depends on the proper... and application layer user defined |
| Robustness | Adaptive fast frequency hopping, FEC Forward error correction In telecommunication, information theory, and coding theory, forward error correction or channel coding is a technique used for controlling errors in data transmission over unreliable or noisy communication channels.... , fast ACK Acknowledgement (data networks) In data networking, an acknowledgment is a signal passed between communicating processes or computers to signify acknowledgment, or receipt of response, as part of a communications protocol... |
Adaptive frequency hopping, Lazy Acknowledgement, 24-bit CRC, 32-bit Message Integrity Check |
| Latency (from a non connected state) | Typically 100 ms | 6 ms |
| Total time to send data (det.battery life) | 100 ms | 6 ms |
| 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 | <20 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, security & proximity, automotive, home electronics, automation, Industrial, etc. |
More technical details may be obtained from official specification as published by the Bluetooth SIG. Note that power consumption is not part of the Bluetooth specification.
Compatibility
The Bluetooth low energy protocol is not backward compatible with classic Bluetooth protocol. However, Bluetooth low energy technology and Bluetooth technology operate on the same spectrum so the underlying hardware is likely to be similar. A given device may be able to operate as a Bluetooth low energy technology and Bluetooth device using the very same chip and radio hardware, though not simultaneously; this is a Bluetooth 4.0 dual-mode device. More smartphones, laptops and tablets that support Bluetooth 4.0 (which includes both Classic Bluetooth technology and Bluetooth low energy technology) are expected to be released in late 2011 and early 2012.Application profiles
The commonly available specification of Bluetooth low energy application profiles has to be expected prior to commonly available appliances. Currently there are hints that application profiles get commonly published. Membership in Bluetooth SIG is the minimum requirement to get access to readily edited specification documents.The latest indication of ready designed and agreed profiles was on 2011-07-05 by Nordic Semiconductor
Nordic Semiconductor
Nordic Semiconductor is a fabless semiconductor company, developing and manufacturing integrated circuits. The company specializes in wireless communication, mixed signal as well as complex digital and analogue integrated circuit design. High speed wireless communication in the 2.4 GHz ISM band,...
Consumer profiles
The first simple consumer profiles notified by members of Bluetooth SIG are- Find Me: The find me profile shall support electronic leashElectronic leashElectronic leash is a concept offered from various vendors in various functional shapes and physical designs. It is usually a miniature wireless appliance that extends the concept of a key pager, adding the feature of adjustable distance sensitivity and an option of a multiplicity of identity codes...
applications. - Proximity: The proximity profile shall support wireless lockWireless lockWireless lock is a protection concept for authenticated LAN or WLAN network clients offered from various vendors in various functional shapes and physical designs...
applications as well as authentication procedures. There is no indication yet that said proximity profile contributes to qualification procedures according to ISO/IEC 15408.
Health care profiles
Main focus in health care with Bluetooth low energy technology is vital monitoring. A promoter of such applications in coioperation with Bluetooth SIG is The Continua Health AllianceThe Continua Health Alliance
Continua Health Alliance is an international non-profit, open industry group of nearly 240 healthcare providers, communications, medical, and fitness device companies....
as an industrial standardisation body.
- Health Thermometer Service
- Heart rate Monitor
Qualification of such approaches according to US (Food and Drug Administration
Food and Drug Administration
The Food and Drug Administration is an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, one of the United States federal executive departments...
) or EU medical devices qualification directives is not reported.
Sporting profiles
Main focus in sports with Bluetooth low energy technology is locating as well as vital monitoring. The promoter of such applications is Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) as an industrial standardisation body as well as Continua Health Alliance. Bluetooth low energy technology is in competition with other industry solution standards such as ANTAnt
Ants are social insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from wasp-like ancestors in the mid-Cretaceous period between 110 and 130 million years ago and diversified after the rise of flowering plants. More than...
.
Use cases
Bluetooth low energy technology is the hallmark feature of v4.0 of the Bluetooth Core Specification. This enhancement to the Bluetooth Core Specification that will enable new functionality and applications for remote controls, healthcare monitors, sports sensors and other devices. Bluetooth low energy technology will enhance existing use cases and will enable new ones, widening the applicability and functionality of Bluetooth technology.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, smartphone
Smartphone
A smartphone is a high-end mobile phone built on a mobile computing platform, with more advanced computing ability and connectivity than a contemporary feature phone. The first smartphones were devices that mainly combined the functions of a personal digital assistant and a mobile phone or camera...
s, personal digital assistants (PDAs), tablet PCs, notebook PCs, laptop PCs and other grades of and personal computers (PCs).
However, currently in the tenth year after earliest publication with inventor Nokia
Nokia
Nokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational communications corporation that is headquartered in Keilaniemi, Espoo, a city neighbouring Finland's capital Helsinki...
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.
Electronic leash
Existing solutions of the electronic leashElectronic leash
Electronic leash is a concept offered from various vendors in various functional shapes and physical designs. It is usually a miniature wireless appliance that extends the concept of a key pager, adding the feature of adjustable distance sensitivity and an option of a multiplicity of identity codes...
concept get improved with the better economised battery consumtion of the Bluetooth v4.0 low energy protocols. Several suppliers yet offer the so-called electronic leash
Electronic leash
Electronic leash is a concept offered from various vendors in various functional shapes and physical designs. It is usually a miniature wireless appliance that extends the concept of a key pager, adding the feature of adjustable distance sensitivity and an option of a multiplicity of identity codes...
solution based on standard Bluetooth v2.1 protocols. This serves for wirelessly tethering mobile appliances with each other. The RSSI
RSSI
In telecommunications, received signal strength indicator is a measurement of the power present in a received radio signal.RSSI is a generic radio receiver technology metric, which is usually invisible to the user of the device containing the receiver, but is directly known to users of wireless...
estimate serves for a radial metrics, but without any certified calibration. Setting an alarm on unintentional loss is the key service offered with this concept.
An advanced aspect has recently been launched with Bluetooth low energy technology for better economised battery life cycle. Special trimming serves for two years operation from a button cell.
Automatic authentication
Connection-based communication allows for design of secure communication under the qualification schemes of ISO/IECIEC
-Organisations:* Independent Electoral Commission * Independent Electrical Contractors, a U.S. national trade association.* Institut d'Estudis Catalans , a Catalan academic institution....
15808 Common Criteria
Common Criteria
The Common Criteria for Information Technology Security Evaluation is an international standard for computer security certification...
standard, however connection-free communication limits the suitability of low energy for secure communications.
Beyond classic configurarion of appliances, a personally carried duet of Bluetooth enabled smartphone and a Bluetooth enabled watch allow for an automatic two-factor authentication en passant. Then the watch delivers just an identity in the mode of active RFID.
Automatic context detection and automatic log-off
Detecting operational contextOperational context
An operational context for an operation is the external environment that influences its operation. For a mobile application, the OLC is defined by the combined hardware/firmware/software configurarions of several appliances or devices, as well as the bearer of the mobiles of these units and other...
may be implemented by detection of coincidence of two or more Bluetooth v4.0 low energy protocol enabled tokens, appliances and smartphones. This qualifies for better protection of private and corporate data upon access for log-on to networked work positions as well as with mobile network clients.
Whereas currently known solutions rely just on transmission range limitations, the new Bluetooth v4.0 low energy protocol enables for qualified segregation of various operational distances based on assessment of received signal strength. In contrast to known proposals for locating, such unilateral estimation serves for good discrimination of cohesion in operational context, but does not pretend to deliver a certified accuracy, which is impossible due to variations in transmission conditions.
Keeping pace
The community openness of the standard with Bluetooth SIG and compatibility with wireless regulations under the IEEE framework as well as the downward compatibility of the chips allows for a wide acceptance of the additional protocol stack.Downloading software updates
Presuming the availability of the low energy enabled chip and low energy protocol stack on the target device, the respective applications with existing and deployed devices may be opened to Bluetooth low energy technology 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 Classic Bluetooth technology. 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.
Standardisation
In the market of proprietary connectivity solutions, Bluetooth low energy technology differentiates itself through its:- widely adopted industry standard for protocols (Bluetooth SIG Bluetooth v4.0 and future later versions)
- widely commonalised application profiles agreed under the auspices of Bluetooth SIG
- multi vendor availability of respective chips
- internationally adopted industry standard for transmission (IEEE 802.15.1)
- possibility to emulate the protocol stack with compliant 2.45 GHz chips (IEEE 802.15)
- low price through single chip integration
- availability of new application via applet downloads
- continuous compatibility with yet deployed Bluetooth devices (V4.0 or later) via software updates
See also
- DASH7DASH7DASH7 is an open source wireless sensor networking standard for wireless sensor networking, which operates in the 433 MHz unlicensed ISM band. DASH7 provides multi-year battery life, range of up to 2 km, low latency for connecting with moving things, a very small open source protocol...
- IEEE 802.15IEEE 802.15IEEE 802.15 is a working group of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers IEEE 802 standards committee which specifies wireless personal area network standards. It includes seven task groups.-Task group 1 :...
- Ultra wideband (UWB)
- UWB ForumUWB ForumThe UWB Forum was an industry organization dedicated to ensuring that Ultra-Wideband products from multiple vendors are truly interoperable...
- WiMedia AllianceWiMedia AllianceThe WiMedia Alliance is a non-profit open industry association that promotes and enables the rapid adoption, regulation, standardization and multi-vendor interoperability of ultra-wideband worldwide....
- WirelessHDWirelessHDWirelessHD is an industry-led effort to define a specification for the next generation wireless digital network interface for wireless high-definition signal transmission for consumer electronics products. The consortium currently has over 40 adopters; key members behind the specification include...
- Wireless USBWireless USBWireless USB is a short-range, high-bandwidth wireless radio communication protocol created by the . Wireless USB is sometimes abbreviated as "WUSB", although the USB Implementers Forum discourages this practice and instead prefers to call the technology "Certified Wireless USB" to distinguish it...
- ZigBeeZigBeeZigBee is a specification for a suite of high level communication protocols using small, low-power digital radios based on an IEEE 802 standard for personal area networks. Applications include wireless light switches, electrical meters with in-home-displays, and other consumer and industrial...
– IEEE 802.15.4 - ANT+ANT+ANT+ is an interoperability function that can be added to the base ANT protocol...
- Z-waveZ-WaveZ-Wave is a proprietary wireless communications protocol designed for home automation, specifically to remote control applications in residential and light commercial environments...
External links
Official:Websites:
- Wibree news site
- UK Wibree Guide
- HowStuffWorks (How Wibree Works)
- What is Wibree?
- Bluetooth low energy profiles explained
News:
- "Bluetooth rival unveiled by Nokia", BBC News, 4 October 2006
- "Nokia's Wibree and the Wireless Zoo", The Future of ThingsThe Future of ThingsThe Future of Things is an online magazine covering diverse topics related to science and technology. The magazine was launched in 2006.-History:...
(TFOT), 16 November 2006, An interview with Nokia and a comparison to other wireless technologies