Bluetooth Low Energy The Developer's Handbook

The book is split into four parts. The first part provides an overview of the technology, the basic concepts that guided the development of Bluetooth low energy, the architecture of the system from the radio through the various protocol layers up to the application layers, and finally the new usage models that this new technology enables. The second part goes into detail on how the radio chip, called a controller, works. This is the silicon chip that a product designer needs to incorporate into their end products. This part covers the radio, direct test mode, and the link layer. It also shows how to interact with the controller from the upper layer stack, called a host. The third part goes into detail of how the host, the software stack, works. It covers the concepts and details behind the main protocol used to expose attributes of a device. It also covers the security models and how to make connections and bond, or associate, two devices with each other. The final part describes how an application can use Bluetooth low energy to interact with peripherals, explains how a peripheral can be designed to make the best use of the low energy technology, and explains how to test and qualify a design so that it can be sold or distributed.

Robin Heydon was educated as a software engineer, graduating with a degree in computer science from the University of Manchester, UK. He worked in the computer entertainment industry for a decade working on networked flight simulators. He then moved into wireless communications in 2000, working for what was then a small company called CSR. There he moved from a firmware engineer to a full time standards architect. In this work, Robin has worked on fixing and improving all versions of the Bluetoothspecification. In early 2007, Robin started working on a project called Wibree, that later became the Bluetoothlow energy specification. He co-chaired the group, and drove through the specification to publication, being recognized by the Bluetooth SIG as an inductee to the BluetoothSIG Hall of Fame in 2010.

 

Preface

Acknowledgments

About the Author

 

Part I: Overview

Chapter 1: What is Bluetooth low energy

1.1 Device Types

1.2 Design Goals

1.3 Terminology

 

Chapter 2: Basic Concepts

2.1   Button Cells

2.2   Time is Energy

2.3   Memory is Expensive

2.4   Asymmetric Design

2.5   Design For Success

2.6   Everything Has State

2.7   Client Server Architecture

2.8   Modular Architecture

2.9   One Billion Is A Small Number

2.10 Connectionless Model

2.11 Paradigms

 

Chapter 3: Architecture

3.1 Controller

3.2 Host

3.3 Application

3.4 Stack Splits

 

Chapter 4: New Usage Models

4.1 Presence Detection

4.2 Broadcasting Data

4.3 Connectionless Model

4.4 Gateways

 

Part II: Controller

Chapter 5: Physical Layer

5.1 Background

5.2 Analog Modulation

5.3 Digital Modulation

5.4 Frequency Band

5.5 Modulation

5.6 Radio Channels

5.7 Transmit Power

5.8 Tolerance

5.9 Receiver Sensitivity

5.10 Range

 

Chapter 6: Direct Test Mode

6.1 Background

6.2 Transceiver Testing

6.3 Hardware Interface

6.4 Direct Testing with HCI

 

Chapter 7: Link Layer

7.1   Link Layer State Machine

7.2   Packets

7.3   Packet Structure

7.4   Channels

7.5   Finding Devices

7.6   Broadcasting

7.7   Creating Connections

7.8   Sending Data

7.9   Encryption

7.10 Managing Connections

7.11 Robustness

7.12 Optimizations for Low Power

 

Chapter 8: Host Controller Interface

8.1 Introduction

8.2 Physical Interfaces

8.3 Logical Interface

8.4 Controller Setup

8.5 Broadcasting & Observing

8.6 Initiating Connections

8.7 Connection Management

 

Part III: Host

Chapter 9: L2CAP

9.1 Background

9.2 L2CAP Channels

9.3 L2CAP Packet Structure

9.4 LE Signaling Channel

 

Chapter 10: Attributes

10.1 Background

10.2 Attributes

10.3 Grouping

10.4 Services

10.5 Characteristics

10.6 Attribute Protocol

10.7 Generic Attribute Profile

 

Chapter 11: Security

11.1 Security Concepts

11.2 Pairing & Bonding

11.3 Signing of Data

 

Chapter 12: Generic Access Profile

12.1 Background

12.2 GAP Roles

12.3 Modes and Procedures

12.4 Security Modes

12.5 Advertising Data

12.6 GAP Service

 

Part IV: Application

Chapter 13: Central

13.1 Background

13.2 Discovering Devices

13.3 Connecting to Devices

13.4 What does this device do?

13.5 Generic Clients

13.6 Interacting with Services

13.7 Bonding

13.8 Changed Services

13.9 Implementing Profiles

 

Chapter 14: Peripheral

14.1 Background

14.2 Broadcast Only

14.3 Being Discoverable

14.4 Being Connectable

14.5 Exposing Services

14.6 Characteristics

14.7 Security Matters

14.8 Optimizing for Low Power

14.9 Optimizing Attributes

 

Chapter 15: Testing and Qualification

15.1   Starting a Project

15.2   Selecting Features

15.3   Consistency Check

15.4   Generating a Test Plan

15.5   Creation of a Compliance Folder

15.6   Qualification Testing

15.7   Qualify Your Design

15.8   Declaring Compliance

15.9   Listing

15.10 Combining Components

 

Index