Bluetooth 4.0 will increase wireless bandwidth for sensors
The Bluetooth 4.0 standard is an update to the previous Bluetooth 3.0 wireless technology, which was announced in 2009. The new standard adds a low-power specification for transmitting small bursts of data over short ranges. The standard will also include the high-speed data transfer capabilities introduced with Bluetooth 3.0, which allows devices to jump on Wi-Fi 802.11 networks to transfer data at up to 25M bps (bits per second).
The technology could first make its way to watches, smart meters, pedometers and other gadgets that run on coin-cell batteries, Foley said. Laptops and smartphones could ultimately include Bluetooth 4.0 and be able to collect data from gadgets. That should help in activities such as monitoring health and energy usage, Foley said.
I started working with Bluetooth in the 1.0 days, when it was really more of a revision of the old infra-red communication standards. I'm excited by the possibilities of low-power high-bandwidth connectivity to small sensors.
