An overview of Bluetooth Smart (Low Energy) for Android. This was presented to the Android Australia User Group in March 2014 in Melbourne, Australia. We explore Bluetooth Smart advantages, support on Android devices, look at Apple's iBeacon technology and emerging Bluetooth smart services.
4. 90% of smartphones will be
Bluetooth Smart ready by 2018
75
150
225
300
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Source: http://eecatalog.com/consumerelectronics/2013/10/31/bluetooth-smart-chip-growth-to-exceed-55-percent-driven-by-adoption-in-consumer-electronics/
Bluetooth Smart IC shipment forecasts
millionofunits
source:
5. It’s already supported by
000’s of devices
smartphones
$
watches
⌚
healthcare devices
&
automobiles
🚘
fitness equipment
(
GPS
)
cameras
📷
laptops
+
IoT devices
,
phone accessory
-
game systems
♞
A/V systems
♫
6. Bluetooth smart devices
constantly advertise their presence
Classic Bluetooth devices wait for requests
from active scanning devices
0 0 0
1
00
7. The proximity interaction sweet spot
source: localz research
Bluetooth Smart!
Proximity accuracy range!
5cm! .5m! 1m! 5m! 10m! 50m! 500m! 1km+!
Wi-Fi!
QR!
NFC!
GPS!
Mobile
Network!
!
!
!
Micro-location interactions!
9. “a new class of low-powered,
low-cost transmitters that can
notify nearby iOS 7 devices of
their presence”
Source: https://developer.apple.com/ios7/
10. iBeacon can be used as …
2 A relative positioning system
3 A trigger for app events
4 A cookie for the real world
11. It is not a replacement for
two-way Bluetooth services
more on that later
15. Currently working on…
Nexus 4, 5, 7, 10
Droid RAZR, MotoG/X, Ultra, Maxx, Mini
Galaxy S3*, S4, S5, Note2/3
One, One Max, One X+, Droid DNA
Xperia Series
source: www.bluetooth.com/Pages/Bluetooth-Smart-Devices-List.aspx
16. Not all roles are supported
Peripheral
Central
Broadcaster
Observer
0
5
6
⌚
Supported?*
client that connects to peripheral
server that connects to clients
server that only broadcasts
client that scans/listens but does not connect
$
7
*As of Android 4.4Props to: http://www.doubleencore.com/2013/12/bluetooth-smart-for-android/
17. iBeacon protocol
Built on the Bluetooth Smart specification
Note: Apple has only released the iBeacon specification to select Made for iPhone program participants. However, this is under NDA. iBeacon is a trademark of Apple Inc.
Fixed iBeacon Prefix
(9 Bytes)
UUID
(16 Bytes)
Major ID
(2 Bytes)
Minor ID
(2 Bytes)
Tx power
(1 Byte)
preamble, addresses and headers
(12 bytes)
checksum
(5 bytes)
BLE advertisement packet
(~47 Bytes)