Power Play
By C.C. Williams
UNLESS YOU’VE BEEN LIVING IN A technological desert for the last 10 years, you know Bluetooth technology has been a runaway hit with mobile phones and wireless headsets, its first practical use case when it was introduced more than a decade ago. You also know that the technology has found its way into a wide range of other applications, from PCs and mobile media players to fitness devices and industrial equipment.
What you may not know is that, even while classic Bluetooth technology was still in its early growth phase, the Bluetooth SIG was already looking for ways to create a completely new version of the specification that would reduce power consumption and enable new applications in devices like sensors and watches. In 2000, the Bluetooth SIG began exploring emerging technologies that would help expand the market for Bluetooth wireless applications. But the quest for low energy technology didn’t move into high gear until mobile phone giant and Bluetooth SIG Promoter member Nokia introduced the Wibree solution to the group seven years later.
At the time, some industry experts predicted that Wibree, designed to connect mobile phones to small battery-powered devices, would overwhelm Bluetooth technology. But instead, the Bluetooth SIG worked with Nokia to bring Wibree under the Bluetooth technology umbrella.
“There was still work to be done to improve the technology,” explains Anders Edlund, EMEA marketing director for the Bluetooth SIG. “For two years, several hundred volunteers from member companies worked to reduce power consumption and enhance battery life.” The result is Bluetooth low energy technology, which was finalized in December 2009.
It’s designed to do more with less – and it promises to give a high-voltage jolt to the Bluetooth brand. “It’s revolutionary,” says Edlund. “It changes the way we get information to a mobile phone or other devices for personal use and other aspects.”
Operating on 2.4 Ghz radio frequency, Bluetooth low energy technology conveys small, infrequent bits of data, using just a fraction of the power required by the basic rate (classic) Bluetooth radio. The radio lies dormant until it receives a command. Then it wakes up, sends data to or receives it from another classic or low energy Bluetooth enabled device, and goes back to sleep – all in less than six milliseconds. Watches, health and fitness sensors, remote controls and other devices could operate for a year or more on a single battery, without charging.
With the specification complete, chips are expected to start shipping in the next few months. ABI Research estimates 30 million chips will be shipped in 2010, meaning that consumers should see the first Bluetooth low energy devices hit the market by the end of this year.
With almost endless application possibilities and the existing classic Bluetooth technology penetration in wireless devices, industry watchers and the Bluetooth SIG are expecting the protocol to take a leadership position among low energy wireless technology. “Over time,” predicts Edlund, “it will be the most successful wireless technology.”
C.C. Williams is a technology and business writer based in New York City. |