Bluetooth 4.0 Specifications Unveiled

From DailyTech: Bluetooth is one of the many technologies that many of use couldn't get through a day without using. It connects us to our phones, our cars, and a myriad of other devices we use for entertainment and work. The Bluetooth SIG has announced the release of Bluetooth Core Specification 4.0 and an enhancement to the specification called Bluetooth low energy is also part of the package.

Bluetooth low energy will allow a myriad of devices that were previously unable to utilize Bluetooth to take advantage of the specifications and connectivity it offers. Bluetooth low energy will be ideal for markets like healthcare, sport and fitness, security, and home entertainment. The Bluetooth SIG claims that devices using Bluetooth low energy can last for years with power from common coin-cell batteries.

“With today’s announcement the race is on for product designers to be the first to market,” said Michael Foley, Ph.D., executive director, Bluetooth SIG. “Bluetooth low energy modules for all sorts of new products may now be qualified – this is an important step towards our goal of enabling new markets with Bluetooth wireless technology. For example, the Continua Health Alliance has already selected Bluetooth low energy technology as a transport for the next version of its guidelines.”

Hallmark features of Bluetooth low energy include ultra-low peak, average, and idle mode power consumption. Low cost is a main feature and the specification allows for multi-vendor interoperability and an enhanced range. Bluetooth low energy has a maximum range of over 100 meters.

Data transfers with the low power specification will be at 1Mbps with very short data packets of 8-octet minimum and 27-octet maximum. The specification uses adaptive frequency hopping common to all versions of Bluetooth and operates in the 2.4GHz ISM band. Latency for the spec is as low as 3ms allowing an authenticated session to be established and data sent in a tiny amount of time.

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