BLE | Bluetooth Low Energy – Why Everyone Is Using It?

BLE | Bluetooth Low Energy – Why Everyone Is Using It?

Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) is one of the most widely applicable low-power connectivity standards. This is in no small part thanks to the explosion of the Internet of Things, which gave rise to a slurry of smart personal devices that needed common and efficient means of communication. But don’t be fooled; it’s not just your smart band that has BLE. There are many commercial and business applications for this standard that made it so popular.

What is Bluetooth Low Energy?

Bluetooth Low Energy is a wireless, low-power personal area network that operates in the 2.4 GHz ISM band. Its goal is to connect devices over a relatively short range. BLE was created with IoT applications in mind, which has particular implications for its design. For example, IoT devices tend to be constrained and require extended battery use, so BLE favors low power consumption over continuous data transfer. In other words: when not in use, it goes into sleep mode to conserve energy.

What is essential to understand when talking about BLE-equipped devices is the architecture behind the technology, particularly its asymmetry. A device may function either in a central or peripheral role. Imagine your smartphone and your smart band: the more “advanced” and complex smartphone is the central device; the smart band, which has limited functionality – is the peripheral. Neither two central nor two peripheral devices can talk to each other. Communication is only possible between a central and a peripheral device. To overcome that limitation, a device may have both a central and a peripheral mode configured, as many smartphones do.

The device mode should not be confused with its Generic Attribute Profile (GATT), where a device can either act as a server or a client. Once two devices establish a connection, the one that sends out the data is the server, and the one that receives it is the client. So if a smart band sends, let’s say, heart rate monitor readings to the smartphone, then it acts as a server. But if the smartphone sends a software update to the smart band, then the smartphone is the server.

Is BLE the same as Bluetooth?

One more important question that we need to answer when talking about Bluetooth Low Energy is how it differs from Bluetooth Classic – the technology we all know for its famous icon that we click on when we want to pair our devices. Does it differ at all?

The answer is yes. BLE is an independent standard that is incompatible with the “classic” Bluetooth. The latter was first introduced commercially over 20 years ago and is now essentially no longer being developed by the Bluetooth Special Interests Group (SIG). However, “not being developed” doesn’t mean “not being used.” You will frequently find it in devices that require continuous connection, predominantly audio devices, such as wireless speakers or headphones.

Meanwhile, SIG introduced Bluetooth Low Energy in its 2010 Bluetooth 4.0 specification (with later, 2016 Bluetooth 5 specification, being devoted exclusively to BLE). Its main focus was on the growing market of health- and fitness-related devices and smart home and indoor location

You may be largely unaware which standard your devices use, as most laptops, tablets, and smartphones come equipped with both Bluetooth Classic and BLE for a seamless user experience, regardless of what peripheral they have. Having said that, there are some critical differences between the two:

• Bluetooth Classic is designed for continuous, two-way communication, whereas BLE transfers smaller packets of data over short periods of time;
• as the name suggests, Bluetooth Low Energy has much smaller energy consumption (as much as 100 times smaller than Bluetooth Classic!);
• on the other hand, because Bluetooth Classic is not so limited, it has a longer range and higher data throughput.

Where can you find BLE?

Bluetooth Low Energy is used virtually anywhere, which is one of its core strengths compared to other low-power networks. It is a commonly recognized and applied standard that essentially doesn’t require specialized compatible hardware to be deployed. So if BLE is so popular, how is it being used?

Fitness trackers and smart appliances

This is one of the primary use cases for Bluetooth Low Energy that arguably made it so ubiquitous. Because Bluetooth technologies (both classic and BLE) are so commonly available in smartphones, tablets, and laptops, it stands to reason that personal devices that we frequently pair with them – such as fitness trackers and various smart appliances – would use these, too.

While you can think of even more constrained devices, smart appliances and trackers usually have pretty heavy limitations as well. The bulk of their energy goes into basic functioning. Consider your smart band: it probably measures your steps or monitors your heartbeat continuously, using up a lot of battery life. If it were constantly relaying that information to your phone, too, it would drain the battery life a lot faster. This is why manufacturers look for ways to save energy here and there, and BLE is a perfect solution.

Indoor location tracking

One of the major BLE benefits is that it can be used for accurate positioning where GPS can’t – indoors. You can use BLE-equipped devices as beacons, i.e., to broadcast data to all devices in the vicinity, rather than to have one-to-one exchange. Based on that, devices capable of processing that data (such as phones) or simply capturing and relaying it further (such as access points) can determine the beacon’s position.

This is why BLE is frequently used in indoor navigation systems, for example, in shopping malls that want to provide customers with GPS-like indoor mapping that will help them navigate to their favorite shop. But retail software for indoor positioning has more applications. Among other things, stores can use platforms such as Linkyfi to identify potential customers nearby and advertise their best deals (for example, via push notifications) for more targeted marketing that attracts more attention.

Contact tracing

Indoor positioning has gained importance even more when occupancy management became one of the top priorities for all businesses. To keep their colleagues safe, employers are increasingly looking into BLE-based solutions for unintrusive contact tracing.

In this scenario, people coming into the office are equipped with a simple, single-functioning BLE tag that collects the information on where they go and whom they come in contact with. At the same time, it doesn’t store any sensitive data that might be considered an invasion of privacy. If someone in the office is sick, it is easy to identify who might have been exposed and contain the outbreak.

Solutions for location-based services, such as Linkyfi Location Engine, also allow offices to identify how people move around and where they tend to gather, providing heat maps of the most frequented places. This information can be used to manage occupancy and keep everyone safe; it can also be used to optimize space in general, such as by repurposing underused spaces.

Employee safety

BLE tags can help keep employees safe in more ways than one. Some popular cases, other than contact tracing, are panic buttons and fall detection systems.

Panic buttons can be used by bank clerks, hotel staff, or anyone who works a job that poses a degree of sudden danger. When carrying a BLE tag, these workers can discreetly call for help if they feel threatened, for example, by a suspicious customer. This will immediately alert the security and, thanks to location tracking, let them know where the person in danger is.

As for fall detection, BLE tags with movement sensors can be used on construction sites or in nursing homes. Whenever the sensor registers a sudden fall, the BLE tag will automatically send an alert with the information of who’s in danger and where they are so that they can be helped as fast as possible.

Asset tracking

It’s not just the people that you can track with BLE tags. They can be used for asset tracking just as well – simply attach the tag to objects you want to keep an eye on. You can either monitor how they move or, with geofencing, make sure they stay where they should be (e.g. carts in a shopping mall). This has applications for various verticals. For example, in logistics, it can be used to follow cargo. In medicine – to monitor essential supplies so that they can always be easily found when needed. In IT – to track equipment to determine how, where, and when it’s being used and then introduce optimizations, or to make sure it stays in the office. And these are just a few examples. It’s applications like these, where the longevity and small data transfer that BLE allows are becoming crucial differentiators.

So, should you use BLE?

It is for precisely that reason why everyone looks into BLE when designing their solutions. An intelligent and well-thought-of architecture made it truly perfect for the use cases it was intended for. On the other hand, because of the well-established name of Bluetooth Classic, BLE had an easier time gaining trust among developers. All these factors combined made it the go-to choice for many consumer IoT applications and much more, further reinforcing its position on the market. And the Bluetooth SIG hasn’t said its last word yet – Bluetooth Low Energy is constantly being developed and perfected to meet the most current demands of the market, so it should definitely remain on your radar.

What is BLE(Bluetooth Low Energy)? Why it’s so Popular in IoT

The Internet of Things (IoT) has been more like jargon in recent decades. However, in the present day, this market has gone beyond a simple theory. Over 8 billion active IoT devices exist worldwide, and Bluetooth Low Energy(BLE) is a key technology fostering this market’s rapid growth.

Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) came to light in 2012, and this versatile protocol provides wireless connection for several of IoT’s most critical applications. It majors on operating with very low power, which enables it to be used in several industries, including healthcare, consumer electronics, and logistics.

This article will discuss the basics of BLE and it’s applications. Let’s dive in!

Table of Contents

Is BLE the same as Bluetooth?

BLE operates via the 2.4 GHz ISM band, and the Bluetooth SIG sustains the standard. However, it doesn’t support the classic Bluetooth, which uses the Basic Rate/Enhanced Basic Rate (BR/EDR) protocol.

Initially, Bluetooth SIG’s primary focus was improving the Bluetooth Classic until 2010, when they released v4.0. This new version took a different direction than the former by including a new protocol: Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE).

The makeup of Bluetooth Classic is such a way that it can handle bulk data. However, given that feature, it consumes power rapidly. A typical traditional use case for Bluetooth Classic is transmitting music from your phone to Bluetooth headphones.

Conversely, BLE is made for applications that don’t need to handle bulk data but need a very good battery life. Consider a sensor in a temperature-controlled warehouse that you want to set up and leave behind for years. In this case, BLE would be a good option.

Although more technical nuance exists in the two protocols at a high level, the difference between Bluetooth Classic and Bluetooth Low Energy boils down to the difference in data handling and power consumption.

Why BLE Gets Popular in the Internet Of Things (IoT)?

An IoT system is a network of billions of devices – “things” interconnected wirelessly to exchange data over the internet.

IoT technology aids in connecting things like smart lights, thermostats, animals with implanted trackers, cars with driver assist sensors, and people with wearable medical devices. Any animal, object, or person can become a “thing” in IoT, which connects people, systems, and processes.

But to make these long-lasting connections a reality, IoT depends on low-power connectivity technologies like BLE, LoRaWAN and ZigBee. Ampng them, BLE is mostly seen as the most widely-used technology for IoT applications because of the following reasons:

Low power consumption

Batteries power several IoT devices and must last long in the field. For instance, it would be unfeasible to frequently replace batteries in over a hundred sensors in a warehouse environment.

Enhancing battery life by reducing power consumption is a major differentiator for such devices and is crucial to their end applications. BLE beacons can run for years on tiny coin-cell batteries thanks to the BLE technology consuming minimal energy. This is also main factor behind BLE’s prominence in the IoT.

On the other hand, BLE stays in sleep mode when a connection is unavailable. This mode enables the BLE to provide lower bandwidth and reduced power consumption compared to Bluetooth.

The type of data being exchanged

BLE is optimized for the transmission of data in small amounts. It designed to clowly send a maximum of about 1Mbps data, consuming as little power as 0.01 to 0.5 Watts. This feature is perfect for IoT devices such as BLE sensors that only need to transfer small-packet state data, greatly extending their lifespans.

Things need to be reminded is that BLE devices don’t have IP addresse, because Bluetooth Low Energy is a different protocol than IP (Internet Protocol). Therefore, to transfer data from BLE-only device to the Internet, a Bluetooth gateway that has an IP connection is needed to receive data from downlink BLE end devices and then relay it to cloud server for futher data visualization.

Bluetooth Low Energy M2M and IoT Applications

Let’s now examine the applications of BLE in IoT and the Machine to Machine (M2M) world.

BLE AoA in Asset Tracking

BLE direction-find function, or BLE AoA can be used in locating and tracking the movement of valuable assets, like, inventory or equipment. This can be helpful to companies in the improvement of efficiency, reduction of costs and losses, and optimization of asset utilization.

For instance, a distribution center or a warehouse could use BLE positioning systems to track inventory movement and optimize the use of space, leading to increased effective operations and reduced costs.

In addition, BLE gateways (sometimes people call it AoA locator) can help identify the precise assets location in warehouses and industrial settings. Regular monitoring gives detailed information on the movement of the equipment, its state, and working and idle time during the day. After installing beacons on equipment like forklifts, they will transmit the equipment data in real-time to the AoA locators and caution on the dangers of leaving the enterprise’s premises or possible collisions. Using the devices facilitates accurate planning of tasks on asset tracking, thereby reducing equipment malfunction and optimizing logistics processes.

BLE Mesh in Agriculture Lighting

Bluetooth Low Energy Mesh became accessible in the summer of 2017. The mesh network is a new choice of topology for Bluetooth Low Energy. Because of other wireless protocols like ZigBee, using the mesh technique as the core feature and validated by the market, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) accepted the Mesh Network to maintain its dominant position in wireless technology.

BLE mesh protocol-based lighting control solutions can aid in the control of grow lighting, including the ON/OFF, CCT adjustment, brightness adjustment functions, etc. This control is to satisfy plant growth requirements as there are variations in growing conditions like humidity, brightness, and temperature. In addition, the lights can be automatically adjusted to suit the environment. BLE Mesh is also widely used in building automation.

BLE used in Sensors of Wearable Medical Devices

BLE technology prevails in this field because BLE-enabled medical wearables are easy to be found in a varity of online shops. BLE sensors are widely used within wearable medical devices like ECG stickers and IoT-based pulse oximeters. It helps patients and senior citizens to gather real-time data about their body’s vital signs and send to cloud platforms of healthcare providers to via a Bluetooth gateway to form data visualization.

Due to the popularity of home health monitoring, a lot of hospitals and manufacturers of medical devices began developing an IoT-based remote patient monitoring system, which helps professionals monitor their patient’s health conditions without patients going to the hospital.

Takeaway

Bluetooth and Bluetooth low Energy share the similarity of helping users connect to their important devices for commercial and consumer use. However, they share a difference in how they distribute data for energy conservation. Bluetooth can handle Enormous amounts of data but rapidly consumes battery power and costs much more. Bluetooth low Energy, on the other hand, is used for applications that don’t require an exchange of large amounts of data and can operate well on battery power for a long time at a cheaper rate.

https://avsystem.com/blog/linkyfi/bluetooth-low-energy-ble

What is BLE(Bluetooth Low Energy)? Why it’s so Popular in IoT