Following Bluetooth Special Interest Group’s (SIG) market introduction of Bluetooth 5 on June 16, 2016, Bluetooth Core Specification v5.1 (shortened here to 5.1) was introduced on the 21st of January this year. Focusing on both the former and the latter, let’s start by considering respectively what has brought Bluetooth its fifth generation title, and of course where the latest update comes in.
BLE: Bluetooth’s 5th-Generation Turning Point
This decade has seen a milestone in both Bluetooth connectivity and power efficiency, thanks largely to Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), originally called Bluetooth Smart, which was first introduced in the 2011 release of 4.0.
BLE’s introduction was crucial, as the tech continues to ensure the best of both worlds: it transmits an always-on signal, but can remain in its sleep mode to avoid the device battery drainage (an infamous issue in pre-2011 Bluetooth) that would otherwise come from having a permanently-transmitted frequency (at around 2.45 GHz).
Naturally, from its lower energy consumption has come higher efficiency; to break down the 3 core improvements that generation 5 has over its immediate predecessor, 4.2:
a) Twice the speed;
b) 4 times the range;
c) And 8 times the data transmission potential.
Consumer-wise, such enhancements in efficiency have even led to dual headphone connectivity; but more importantly, the above breakthroughs have also accommodated broader benefits, including the following: position tracking and IoT functions.
Check out the original and full article at electronicspoint.com.
