Bluetooth® Low Energy
Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) is designed for very low power operation and is optimized to short burst data transmission. In order to achieve reliable communication in the 2.4 GHz frequency band, it employs a robust frequency hopping spread spectrum method that transmits data over 40 channels.
The Bluetooth LE radio provides great flexibility to developers with data rates from 125Kb/s to 2 Mb/s, multiple PHY options that support power levels from 1mW to 100mW, and multiple high-level security options required by government agencies.
The Bluetooth LE supports multiple network topologies such as "Point-to-Point" used for data transfer, "Broadcast" used for location services, and "Mesh" used for building large-scale device networks.
Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) |
|
|---|---|
| Frequency Band | 2.4GHz ISM Band (2.402 – 2.480 GHz Utilized) |
| Channels | 40 channels with 2 MHz spacing (3 advertising channels/37 data channels) |
| Channel Usage | Frequency-Hopping Spread Spectrum (FHSS) |
| Modulation | GFSK |
| Power Consumption | ∼0.01x to 0.5x of reference (depending on use case) |
| Data Rate | LE 2M PHY: 2 Mb/s LE 1M PHY: 1 Mb/s LE Coded PHY (S=2): 500 Kb/s LE Coded PHY (S=8): 125 Kb/s |
| Max Tx Power | Class 1: 100 mW (+20 dBm) Class 1.5: 10 mW (+10 dbm) Class 2: 2.5 mW (+4 dBm) Class 3: 1 mW (0 dBm) |
| Network Topologies | Point-to-Point (including piconet) Broadcast Mesh |
The profits of the Bluetooth LE is that it can communicate with applications for smartphone or tablet. The Bluetooth LE is already used in many new applications such as healthcare & fitness, home electric appliances, home automation, gadgets, accessories and location systems. As the IoT market grows, it is expected that products support the Bluetooth LE will increase at an accelerated pace.
Renesas Electronics is an associate member of the Bluetooth SIG, Inc.
* The Bluetooth® word mark and logos are registered trademarks owned by Bluetooth SIG, Inc.
The Bluetooth wireless standards includes the LE standard and the BR/EDR standard that supports the Basic Rate and Enhanced Data Rate that are the classic standards.
Devices are classified into types that support LE only, BR/EDR only, and both LE and BR/EDR.
Renesas devices (RL78/G1D, RX23W, RA4W1) are the types that support only LE.
Applications using Bluetooth LE technology have spread from healthcare devices and continue to expand into a wide variety of fields such as sports and fitness, smart homes, industrial equipment, and beacon applications.
| Block | Semiconductor Device | Recommended Product Name | Features, etc. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Main Control | MCU | RL78/G1D Group | Built-in 2.4 GHz Bluetooth Low Energy |
| RX23W Group | Built-in 2.4 GHz Bluetooth Low Energy, Long range | ||
| RA4W1 Group | Built-in 2.4 GHz Bluetooth Low Energy, Long range |
【RL78/G1D】
| Title | Part No. |
|---|---|
| Bluetooth® Low Energy Protocol Stack for RL78/G1D | RTM5F11A00NBLE0F10RZ |
| QE for BLE: Development Assistance Tool for Bluetooth® Low Energy | - |
【RX23W】
| Title | Part No. |
|---|---|
| Bluetooth® Low Energy Protocol Stack Basic Package for RX23W | RTM5F523W0NBLE0F22JZ |
| QE for BLE [RX]: Development Assistance Tool for Bluetooth® Low Energy | - |
【RA4W1】
| Title | Part No. |
|---|---|
| Flexible Software Package (FSP) including Bluetooth® Low Energy Protocol Stack | - |
| QE for BLE [RA]: Development Assistance Tool for Bluetooth® Low Energy | - |
【RL78/G1D】
| Title | Part No. |
|---|---|
| RL78/G1D Evaluation Board | RTK0EN0001D01001BZ |
| RL78/G1D BLE Module Expansion Board | RTKYRLG1D0B00000BJ |
【RX23W】
| Title | Part No. |
|---|---|
| Target Board for RX23W | RTK5RX23W0C00000BJ |
【RA4W1】
| Title | Part No. |
|---|---|
| Evaluation Kit for RA4W1 MCU Group | RTK7EKA4W1S00000BJ |