

Currently (2011-03) the following semiconductor companies have announced the availability of chips meeting the standard: Atheros, CSR, Broadcom and Texas Instruments. In a dual-mode implementation, Bluetooth low energy functionality is integrated into an existing Classic Bluetooth controller.CSR, Nordic Semiconductor and Texas Instruments have released single mode Bluetooth low energy solutions. In a single mode implementation the low energy protocol stack is implemented solely.

In late 2011, new logos “Bluetooth Smart Ready” for hosts and “Bluetooth Smart” for sensors were introduced as the general-public face of BLE. Chip designs allow for two types of implementation, dual-mode, single-mode and enhanced past versions.The provisional names Wibree and Bluetooth ULP (Ultra Low Power) were abandoned and the BLE name was used for a while. As an alternative to the Bluetooth standard protocols that were introduced in Bluetooth v1.0 to v3.0, it is aimed at very low power applications running off a coin cell. Bluetooth high speed is based on Wi-Fi, and Classic Bluetooth consists of legacy Bluetooth protocols.īluetooth low energy (BLE), previously known as WiBree, is a subset to Bluetooth v4.0 with an entirely new protocol stack for rapid build-up of simple links. It includes Classic Bluetooth, Bluetooth high speed and Bluetooth low energy protocols. The Bluetooth SIG completed the Bluetooth Core Specification version 4.0 and has been adopted as of 30 June 2010.
