Signature Q4 2008

“We want to have a ﬂexible approach moving forward, but just because we have 802.11 today, that doesn’t mean that anything that 802.11 does in the future will automatically come in under the Bluetooth wireless umbrella,” says Linsky, noting that the Bluetooth SIG will avoid changes that conﬂict with best practices in Bluetooth technology’s development. Sensory Integration Like the Core Speciﬁcation Working Group, the Automation Working Group is developing a generic technological framework that will support a variety of use cases. The group’s immediate goal is to create a wireless sensor proﬁle. “Sensors deal with values you can physically measure or control, and we want to read and write to those values,” explains Mats Andersson, co-chair of the Automation Working Group and chief technology ofﬁcer at connectBlue AB. The proﬁle will deﬁne and set up the sensor. “Then you can apply the proﬁle for each particular use case,” says Andersson. His group is working closely with the low energy sub-group within the Medical Devices Working Group. “(That) group is deﬁning service classes for standard medical types of sensors, such as heartbeat monitors, glucose meters and weighing scales,” he explains. Other sensor applications include home and building automation. “For home automation, it could be push buttons, temperature sensors or HVAC (heating, ventilating and air conditioning) controllers,” notes Andersson. “It might be a door lock. Even a door that just opens and closes could have a sensor.” All this will be possible because Bluetooth low energy technology will enable devices that can operate for years on a coin cell battery. “A key requirement is support for different kinds of low-duty cycle modes,” Andersson says. “If it doesn’t have anything to say to the world, the sensor could disconnect the communication link completely and take up the link again later.” The Automation Working Group is also writing an attribute protocol that will be incorporated into the Bluetooth low energy speciﬁcation. “The attribute protocol would be an efﬁcient way to read sensor attributes, such as temperature and battery capacity,” Andersson explains. “It could be placed into a really small microcontroller inside the sensor.” The sensor proﬁle and low energy speciﬁcations are also relevant for conventional Bluetooth enabled devices. “If feature phones have Bluetooth low energy capabilities, you could use a generic (wireless) phone to access the sensor,” Andersson says. “That’s why phone manufacturers such as Nokia are helping to drive this.” (A feature phone is simpler than a PDA or smartphone, but still supports limited applications beyond just making and accepting calls.) Sensor applications will soon be real. “Our intent is to follow the timeframe for Bluetooth low energy technology,” says Andersson. “We’ll go public shortly after that speciﬁcation is published, probably in 2009.” David English is a technical writer whose articles have appeared in publications such as CNET, Forbes, Fortune, PC Magazine and ZDNet. “Our No. 1 goal is to enable higher speed applications that will work in conjunction with everything else we do.” — Joel Linsky, chairman, Core Specification Working Group Bluetooth Special Interest Group | 29

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