Rating: Helps with location and competes with barcodes
The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) has quietly issued a new set of standards – Bluetooth Core Specification Version 4.0 – which incorporates what is now known as Bluetooth low energy. It’s possible to view low energy Bluetooth as a rival to barcodes and even RFID chips.
The low energy technology built in Version 4.0 previously had other monikers such as ULP (Ultra Low Power) and WiBree. Hence the leading Bluetooth chip provider, CSR, had shown working chips with Wibree almost two years ago.
Consequently CSR is already claiming compatibility within its existing BlueCore 7 chip. That means we’ll see a low energy capability inside handsets in a very short space of time.
Given Nokia’s enthusiasm for Wibree technology, GoMo News reckons the Finns could be first which such a handset. Although Ericsson has very strong ties with Bluetooth, of course.
The problem is with the way in which low energy Bluetooth is being positioned. In essence, it can transmit a burst of data in an instant and consume little power in doing so.
The SIG is trumpeting the endorsement of low energy Bluetooth by the Continua Health Alliance so it’s use inside medical devices is virtually guaranteed. But what else?
GoMo News chatted to CSR’s Raj Gawera and he confirmed our suspicion that the technology could compete against barcodes because outputting a URL as a data burst is an ideal application.
In terms of competing against RFID chips, the link is far more tenuous. Low energy Bluetooth requires a small button battery whereas RFID can be zero power.
CSR’s blurb said the technology can also “play a role in indoor positioning for boosting location technologies.” Gawera explained there’s two ways it might be used.
Firstly you car keys could employ it so you can find them using your mobile phone when they’ve been mislaid. Secondly it could form part of a complete (ie GPS) based location system.
In this instance, where there’s no possible GPS signal, then precise information about your location could be fed into a static low energy device and the handset’s location application could pick up on that.
CSR’s Gawera also told GoMo News that while a Version 4.0 Bluetooth capability is latent within its BlueCore 7 chips, the capability still needs to be implemented by the handset’s maker.
So a hacker with a Version 4.0 stack couldn’t get it going inside an existing mobile phone – particularly since there would need to be some kind of ‘low energy aware’ application within the handset’s OS.
Still low energy Bluetooth is a step forward especially since it won’t really impact the production cost of a handset by fitting a dual-mode Bluetooth chip. That’s one that does all the old Bluetooth stuff plus this fancy new facility.
Tony is based in Surrey and is a veteran comms journalist. Tony also writes on the UK market…. contact him here tony@mobileinsight.co.uk
