smart bluetooth Bluetooth v4
Bluetooth Module
Frequently Asked Questions—Bluetooth Brand
What are the Bluetooth Smart marks?
The Bluetooth® Smart marks were created to help consumers ensure compatibility among their Bluetooth devices. There are two smart marks—Bluetooth Smart Ready trademark and Bluetooth Smart trademark.
What are Bluetooth Smart Ready devices?
Bluetooth Smart Ready devices are the most effective way to connect to billions of Bluetooth devices in the market today.
Examples include phones, tablets, PCs, TVs, even set-top boxes and game consoles that sit at the center of the consumers' connected world. These devices efficiently receive data sent from Classic Bluetooth devices and Bluetooth Smart devices and feed it into applications that turn the data into useful information.
Bluetooth Smart Ready devices:
are built to Bluetooth v4.0 specifications (or higher) with Generic Attribute Profile (GATT) based architecture
feature a dual-mode low energy radio, and
allow for the device software to be updated by the consumer.
Manufacturers of Bluetooth Smart Ready devices should also provide a way for third parties to create and distribute applications that receive data from Bluetooth devices.
What are Bluetooth Smart devices?
Bluetooth Smart devices are designed to gather a specific piece of information—are all the windows on my house locked, what is my blood glucose level, how much do I weigh today?—and send it to a Bluetooth Smart Ready device.
Examples include heart-rate monitors, blood-glucose meters, smart watches, window and door security sensors, key fobs for your car, and blood-pressure cuffs – the opportunities are endless.
Bluetooth Smart devices:
are built to Bluetooth v4.0 specifications (or higher) with GATT based architecture
feature a single-mode low energy radio
Which operating systems (OS) natively support Bluetooth Smart and Smart Ready?
All of the major operating systems now support Bluetooth Smart.
What is Bluetooth v4.0 and Bluetooth low energy technology and how do they relate to Bluetooth Smart devices?
Bluetooth v4.0 is the specification name and number and Bluetooth low energy is the hallmark feature allowing for extremely low energy devices, those that run on button-cell batteries for years, to utilize Bluetooth wireless technology. It's this feature that has opened the floodgates for development of Bluetooth devices, and Bluetooth Smart devices in particular. A product bearing the Bluetooth Smart and Bluetooth Smart Ready logos must include Bluetooth v4.0 (or higher), but must also meet additional criteria. For more information, see How to use the Bluetooth Smart Marks .
Does every Bluetooth Smart device or Bluetooth Smart Ready device use Bluetooth v4.0 or higher?
Yes.
Why didn't you just call these Bluetooth v4.0 devices?
Describing these as just Bluetooth v4.0 devices does not provide the full scope of their capabilities. Also, the Bluetooth Smart device designation transcends future specification versions. The new logos focus on compatibility, not on version number.
Why did you develop the Bluetooth Smart marks?
Bluetooth v4.0 (and higher) is enabling entirely new use cases for Bluetooth wireless technology, for the first time allowing small devices powered by a tiny button-cell battery to wirelessly connect. This advancement in technology will cause an explosion of Bluetooth enabled devices. With this change comes a better need to understand what devices work together.
What went into developing these two marks?
The Bluetooth SIG worked extensively with member companies and conducted consumer focus groups to best communicate how new Bluetooth enabled devices will work together. The inclusion of these new word marks required a unanimous vote of approval by the Bluetooth SIG Board of Directors.
Why are there two marks?
Bluetooth v4.0 (and higher) enables two different wireless radios. The radio in a Bluetooth Smart Ready device is referred to as dual mode, meaning it supports both classic Bluetooth wireless connections as well as new Bluetooth low energy connections.
The radio in a Bluetooth Smart device is referred to as single mode, meaning it supports only new Bluetooth low energy connections. A single mode radio enables extremely efficient power consumption required for devices operating on a single button-cell battery. Single mode Bluetooth Smart devices can connect only to Bluetooth Smart Ready devices with a dual-mode radio and any specific Bluetooth devices explicitly stated by the manufacturer.
The dual mode radios in Bluetooth Smart Ready devices are also backwards compatible with all of the billions of Bluetooth devices in the market today. Single-mode radios will not work with existing Bluetooth devices.
What are the criteria for Bluetooth SIG members to use the Bluetooth Smart Ready mark?
Bluetooth Smart Ready devices are built to Bluetooth v4.0 specifications (and higher) with GATT-based architecture, feature a dual-mode low energy radio, and allow for the device software to be updated by the consumer. Manufacturers of Bluetooth Smart Ready devices should also provide a way for third parties to create and distribute applications that receive data from Bluetooth devices.
What kind of devices will bear the Bluetooth Smart mark?
Bluetooth Smart devices will mainly be small, button-cell powered sensors (data collectors) designed to gather a specific type of information – are all the windows on my house locked, what is my blood glucose level, how much do I weigh today? – and send it to a Bluetooth Smart Ready device.
What about the original Bluetooth logo – will consumers still see that on packaging and devices?
Yes. The new designations of Bluetooth Smart Ready and Bluetooth Smart are extensions of the Bluetooth brand. Additionally, the Bluetooth Smart Ready and Bluetooth Smart marks will be found only on packaging, product websites and product descriptions. The original Bluetooth logos will remain the most common logo seen on actual devices and device displays.
Will current Bluetooth devices work with Bluetooth products that have the Bluetooth Smart Ready mark?
Yes.
