Specifications one through five

Between 1994 and 1998, Bluetooth wireless technology was invented, the Special Interest Group (SIG) was founded, the unique Bluetooth brand and logo, and the 1.0 specification were developed. About what the name means Harald Blatand, who gave the technology the name Bluetooth, - written separately. The one point zero specification referred to adapters operating in the radio frequency range from 2402 to 2480 MHz with a maximum power of up to 100 mW and up to 100 dBm, with a range of up to 100 meters.

Bluetooth 1.0 Disadvantages

Wireless interface Bluetooth versions 1.0 and 1.0B, developed in 1998, did not support connection anonymity at the protocol level, suffered from a short range action, weak noise immunity, poor compatibility between devices from different manufacturers. Version 1.1 got rid of 1.0B bugs, received unencrypted channels and RSSI. Version 1.2 received accelerated discovery and connection, speeds up to 1 Mbps, resistance to interference, improved voice quality, replay of bad packets, the ability to delay the audio signal during parallel transmission of video data, AFH, eSCO, support for UART in HCI, Flow Control and Retransmission Modes for L2CAP. In the summer of 2002, the Bluetooth SIG and the IEEE came to an agreement, and the Bluetooth specification became part of the IEEE 802.15.1 standard.

Backward compatible version of Bluetooth 2.0

In 2004, version 2.0, backward compatible with versions 1.x, was introduced. In Bluetooth version 2.0, many innovations appeared, and the speed, thanks to the improvement of EnhancedDataRate radio transfer technologies using EDR, increased to 2.1 Mbps (in theory - 3 Mbps). The speed of 1 Mbps with GFSK signal modulation when using GFSK and PSK has grown to real 2 Mbps. The Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR specification implied that EDR is connected as an additional functional node and it is possible to use version 2.0 without EDR. In 2007, the Bluetooth 2.1 version introduced extended device feature queries, Sniff Subrating, up to 10 times more efficient power saving, fast connection, key change while maintaining connection, Near Field Communication protection. In 2008, version 2.1 + EDR reduced power consumption by up to five times, increased the level of protection, facilitated automatic identification and pairing of Bluetooth devices.

Two radios specification 3.0

In April 2009, the 3.0 + HS specification was released with the addition of AMP (Alternate MAC / PHY) to 802.11 and a theoretical speed of up to 24 Mbps (like Wi-Fi networks). Bluetooth 3.0 + HS modules had two radio systems: the first, operating according to the Bluetooth 2.0 standard with minimum power consumption and a theoretical speed of 3 Mbps, and the second, according to the 802.11 standard, which allowed switching speeds up to 24 Mbps, but incompatible with 802.11 b / specifications g/n. Small files, signals, and audio data are exchanged over a power-efficient channel, while large files and packets are exchanged over a high-speed channel. Version 3.1 of TH accelerated to 40 Mbps in theory.

Three protocols version 4.0

In 2010, specification 4.0 was published, including three protocols: with minimum power consumption LE, high-speed 802.11 and backward compatible classics. The last two protocols received minor improvements and bug fixes from previous versions. But in the Low Energy protocol with minimal energy consumption, a special algorithm is introduced. The transmitter works exclusively when sending a packet of 8 to 27 bytes at a speed of 1 Mbps. The rest of the time he sleeps. The connection is established in less than 5 ms at a distance of up to 100 meters. Error correction and 128-bit AES encryption are applied. One standard CR2032 battery in such a sensor lasts for several years. Such a protocol is used in electronic sensors of illumination, temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, movement speed, as well as in automatically working miniature sensors placed in wearable sensors, sports equipment, exercise equipment, clothes and shoes.

In 2013, the new 4.1 specification optimized the wireless transmission and reception of information, protected from mutual interference, and improved the joint work of Bluetooth and LTE. IoT (Internet of Things) devices have received a direct connection to the Internet via Bluetooth. In 2014, version 4.2 received improvements to the pairing process, energy efficiency, security, privacy, and speed improvements. In 2016, Bluetooth 5.0 was introduced. Learn more about the Bluetooth 5.x specifications - these are the latest versions for the near future.

Basic information about Bluetooth 5.x specifications

The Bluetooth 5.0 specification was first published in 2016. Significant improvements have been made to the Low Energy protocol with low power consumption. The high-speed mode has assimilated all the Wi-Fi improvements. Now it is possible to expand the radius to 200 meters with a speed limit, or increase the speed due to energy efficiency, or vice versa. Maintained full compatibility with previous versions.

The harmonious combination in the fifth version of the best features of versions 4.2 and 3.0 with an increase in bandwidth up to 2 Mbps in BLE mode allows, with the support of the device of the fifth version, to update the firmware of fitness bracelets, smart watches and other gadgets autonomously and energy efficiently via Bluetooth. This is relevant, since on some gadgets the inconveniently implemented connection to Wi-Fi networks makes it difficult to update the software wirelessly.

Bluetooth 5.1 optimizes power consumption, improves connection reliability, optimizes Piconet and Scatternet, and users are able to determine location and direction with high accuracy. In 2020, version 5.2 received many new features: LE Isochronous Channels, LE Audio, LE Power Control with signal level optimization (quality / power consumption). In addition, EATT has been improved and securitized. In the summer of 2021, the Bluetooth 5.3 specification removed MAC and PHY Alternative Extension (AMP) functionality, improved channel classification, protocol stack, and encryption management, and introduced a number of other minor improvements.

On the page https://www.bluetooth.today/en/downloads you can download Bluetooth drivers for Windows 7 , 8, 8.1, 10, 11 and XP through direct links to files. Also on the page https://www.bluetooth.today/en/android see a selection of tips and useful applications Bluetooth for Android and iOS.