Role of Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) in Wearable Technology
- by BLE Mobile Apps
The technological wonders which could be just imagined in past can be experienced in real life today with the help of wearable technology in devices like Smart watches, glasses, smart jewelry, health trackers etc. Much smarter than Smartphones, the popularity of wearable technology is increasing day by day. As per the forecast stated by CCS Insights, 411 million smart wearable devices worth $34 billion will be sold in 2020. The day is not far when these wearable devices would become indispensable part of our day to day life. Taking the technology world by a storm, these wearable devices have the potential of transforming the way companies work and do business. This innovative wearable technology unfolds the fact that our future would be much more secure, healthier, quicker and entertaining than it is today.
About Wearable Devices:
A wearable device is a portable device which is either worn or attached to the body. Almost all wearable devices include at least one sensor, a processor, storage, radio controller, display and battery.
Where Can You See Wearable Devices?
- Sports & fitness wearable technology can be seen on wrists in the form of sports watches, activity monitors, location trackers, sleep sensors and emotional measurement. Smart clothing worn on body indicates overall wellness of a person. There are also smart socks, smart helmet, smart glasses available providing real-time information and helping to monitor your fitness goals.
- Infotainment wearable technology includes smart glasses, music glasses, Bluetooth gloves, smart headsets and many more which help in gaming, social networking or for finding a restaurant open near your location.
- Wearable health devices include Glucose monitors, ECG monitors, in sole sensors, etc. These devices can monitor the heartbeat, blood pressure and other health related issues of the patient.
The wearable devices are supposed to be extremely energy efficient so that usage for longer period can be guaranteed. Various communication modes can be used to power wearable technology like Bluetooth Classic, Zigbee and Wi-Fi. But, these protocols do not include low power consumption as their attribute. Due to this reason, the device manufacturers prefer to use low energy wireless protocol like Smart Bluetooth (Bluetooth 4.0) to power these wearable devices. Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) enables low power consumption in these wearable devices and ensures longer operating life.
Below mentioned are some salient features of Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) which makes it perfect technology to be used for wearable devices –
- BLE’s low data rate makes it ideal for the applications which require only state information to be exchanged.
- BLE has been optimized in such a manner that it can transmit small blocks of data at regular intervals. So, when the information is not being transmitted, it can work on a low power mode and that makes it extremely power-efficient.
- BLE has the ability to setup a connection between two devices within few milliseconds
- Bluetooth Low Energy supports only broadcaster mode which makes it perfect for wearable devices as they don’t need to undergo connection procedure every time they need to communicate with the Smartphone.
- Each layer of BLE architecture has been optimized in a specific manner which enables power consumption. It has a robust architecture which supports adaptive frequency hopping with a 32-bit CRC.
- BLE has the ability to ignore duplicate packets while establishing a connection which helps the wearable devices to work on low power modes for a longer duration.
Mobile Application Development for Wearable Technology
These high-tech wearable devices which can connect to a Smartphone is an emerging trend in the world of technology today. The mobile application development companies have grabbed this opportunity and come up with many innovative applications ensuring maximum mobility of the end users utilizing these wearable devices. The researchers are working towards developing many more BLE powered wearable devices which would contribute to the substantial expansion of wearables market.
For more information about wearable app development, please contact us. We have experts to understand your needs and offer reliable advice.
Also Read:
Wearable Technology: Revolutionizing the Healthcare Industry