Technology Overview of Bluetooth Core Specification

Technology Overview of Bluetooth Core Specification

Bluetooth^® wireless technology is the global wireless standard enabling simple, secure connectivity for an expanding range of devices and serves as the backbone for the Internet of Things. Bluetooth Smart technology, through its updatable platform and low-power consumption, creates new application opportunities for the mobile phone, consumer electronics, PC, automotive, health and fitness, smart home and retail industries.

The Bluetooth core system consists of an RF transceiver, baseband, and protocol stack. The system offers services enabling the connection of devices and the exchange of a variety of classes of data. Many features of the core specification are optional, allowing for flexible product implementations.

Below you will find some Bluetooth Specification highlights. For more technical details, visit the adopted specification page.

Bluetooth 4.1

Bluetooth Core Specification 4.1 is an important evolutionary update to the Bluetooth core specification which rolls up adopted Bluetooth Core Specification Addenda (CSA 1, 2, 3 & 4) while adding new features and benefits. Version 4.1 improves consumer usability, empowers innovation for product developers and extends the technology's foundation as an essential link for the Internet of Things.

• Improving Usability—extends the brand promise to consumers with a "just works" experience. This spec is engineered with several new features to make it work seamlessly with popular cell technologies like LTE, maintain connections with less frequent manual reconnection, and deliver more efficient data exchange.
• Empowering Developer Innovation—provides developers with greater flexibility to create innovative Bluetooth products and solutions through dual-mode topology and link-layer topology software features.
• Enabling the Internet of Things—lays the groundwork for IP-based connections by allowing devices to setup a dedicated communication channel in the future thereby extending the central position for Bluetooth technology in the Internet of Things.

Bluetooth Smart Technology

Bluetooth Smart is a revolutionary technology introduced in 2010, which provided many new benefits to manufacturers, developers and consumers. Bluetooth Smart is the brand name for the Bluetooth Low Energy feature first introduced in Bluetooth Core Specification Version 4.0.

Bluetooth Smart goes beyond being simply power-friendly; it is application-friendly too. The technology is power-friendly because it uses dramatically less power than other wireless technologies. It's application-friendly because it costs less and offers flexible development architecture for creating applications for Bluetooth Smart sensors. This allows developers to bring everyday objects like heart-rate monitors, toothbrushes, and shoes into the connected world and have them communicate with applications that reside on the Bluetooth Smart compatible smartphones, tablets, or similar devices those consumers already own.

Bluetooth Smart technology features:

• Ultra-low peak, average and idle mode power consumption
• Ability to run for years on standard coin-cell batteries
• Low cost
• Multi-vendor interoperability

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Enhanced Data Rate

Bluetooth Core Specification Version 2.1 made it easier for consumers to connect Bluetooth devices. With the introduction of "Simple, Secure Pairing," v2.1 allowed consumers to select "add Bluetooth device" from the connection menu. With this update, devices could finally find each other and connect automatically. This enhancement to the Core Specification provided:

• Lower Power Consumption—reduced power consumption for longer battery life. Bluetooth Specification Version 2.1 + EDR increased battery life by up to five times
• Improved Security—for pairing scenarios requiring user interaction, eavesdropper protection made a simple six-digit passkey stronger than a 16-digit alphanumeric character random PIN code. Version 2.1 offered "Man in the Middle" protection eliminating the possibility for undetected third-party interception
• Near Field Communication—the pairing enhancements provided by v2.1 enabled the use of near field communication (NFC) in certain scenarios