Bluetooth FAQs

Generic
1. What is Bluetooth Technology?
2. What is Bluetooth SIG?
3. What is the operating frequency of Bluetooth?

Classic Bluetooth
4. What is classic Bluetooth?
5. What are the maximum data rates over classic Bluetooth?
6. What is Bluetooth low energy? Is it same as Bluetooth 4.0?
7. What is Single mode & Dual mode Bluetooth low energy?
8. What is the data rate supported by Bluetooth low energy?
9. What are the features of Bluetooth low energy?
10. What are advantages of Bluetooth over other proprietary & non-proprietary wireless technologies?

1. What is Bluetooth Technology? 
Bluetooth is a short range wireless technology intended for cable replacement between two devices. It is robust, cost effective & uses low power while providing a secure data transfer medium. The various Bluetooth specifications make sure that any Bluetooth enabled device can connect & transfer data to another one irrespective of the manufacturer. Bluetooth technology has seen very high penetration in mobile computing & consumer devices. 

2. What is Bluetooth SIG?
Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) was founded in 1998 & is a privately held not-for-profit trade association. The Bluetooth SIG publishes Bluetooth specifications, oversees the qualification program, and promotes Bluetooth wireless technology. It currently has more than 14,000 members from a large variety of industries. 

3. What is the operating frequency of Bluetooth?
Bluetooth operates on unlicensed ISM frequency band of 2.4 – 2.485 GHz.

4. What is classic Bluetooth?
Classic Bluetooth is a collective term used for Bluetooth Versions 1.1, 1.2, 2.0, 2.0 + EDR, 2.1 + EDR & 3.0. 

5. What are the maximum data rates over classic Bluetooth?
Classic Bluetooth has maximum data rate of ~ 1Mbps. 

6. What is Bluetooth low energy? Is it same as Bluetooth 4.0?
Bluetooth low energy or Bluetooth 4.0 is the latest specification adopted by Bluetooth SIG. The most important feature of this specification is the ultra low power consumption which extends the Bluetooth technology to small sensor based devices which use coin cell batteries. These devices can now run for more than a year without recharging while using Bluetooth technology to transfer data. 

7. What is Single mode & Dual mode Bluetooth low energy?
Bluetooth low energy has two kinds of implementations:

• Single Mode

Single mode implementation takes full use of Bluetooth low energy features. And so, it can connect to only other single mode devices only.

• Dual Mode

In dual mode implementation, the low energy functionality is added to an existing Bluetooth classic implementation. This means that this implementation can connect to both classic & low energy devices. 

8. What is the data rate supported by Bluetooth low energy?
It can support data rates of up to 1 Mbps. 

9. What are the features of Bluetooth low energy?
Following are the features of Bluetooth low energy:

• Data transfer rate of up to 1 Mbps
• Minimal interference due to frequency hopping
• Very low latency due to fast connection setup
• Range up to 100 meters
• Robust transfer due to 24 bit CRC
• Secure transmission through optional 128 bit AES encryption

10. What are advantages of Bluetooth over other proprietary & non-proprietary wireless technologies?
There are multiple proprietary and non-proprietary low power wireless technologies today; however, none of these have attained large scale deployment due to multiple barriers. Bluetooth low energy aims to leverage the established Bluetooth technology environment to introduce a revolutionary low power wireless technology. This technology will overcome barriers like interoperability and qualification which have inhibited the growth of other low power wireless technologies. The Bluetooth low energy technology will not only make inroads into the stable Bluetooth markets like cell phones and laptops, but will also empower products in emerging segments like health care, sports and fitness, entertainment, and toys