The behind the Bluetooth consortium, today announced that Nokia’s Wibree, a low-power, short range wireless standard, will merge with the Bluetooth standard.
Nokia, the world’s largest maker of cell phones, says Wibree can transmit data at 1 Mbps from distances of up to 30 feet, similar to Bluetooth, but some ten times more efficient. It will target wristwatches, medical equipment and keyboards among other things.
“Wibree technology is an important development that opens up new market opportunities and a whole new range of possibilities for mobile users,” said Dr. Bob Iannucci, head of the Nokia Research Center in October. “Our aim is to establish an industry standard faster than ever before by offering an interoperable solution that can be commercialized and incorporated into products quickly.”
The Bluetooth SIG was quick to point out that Wibree wouldn’t take the place of the majority of Bluetooth applications, but that it was interested in the low-power technology.
Wibree’s merger with Bluetooth will result in an “ultra low power Bluetooth technology” and offer connectivity with existing Bluetooth networks.
“Our members have been asking for an ultra low power Bluetooth solution. With Nokia’s innovative development and contribution to the Bluetooth specification with Wibree, we will be able to deliver this in approximately one year,” said Bluetooth SIG executive director Michael Foley. The first version of the low-power Bluetooth standard is expected to be ratified in the first half of 2008.
Last year, Bluetooth embraced another wireless technology, ultra-wideband, for high-speed data. A possible early application would be the transfer of high-definition video between camcorders and TV sets. The Bluetooth SIG is waiting for prototype ultrawideband radios at 6 GHz to complete its work on a spec for Bluetooth over ultrawideband. It expects to see its first samples of 6 GHz UWB radios before the end of the year. That would enable it to finish its spec by this time next year.
Nevertheless, Tzero has a WiMedia-based TZC7200 ZeroWire chipset with a UWB solution designed to deliver “real-time high-definition video” either wirelessly or over cabling using existing coax.
The Bluetooth group sees little overlap with slower, industrial sensor nets like ZigBee and RFID or the Near-Field Communications standard. Most industrial applications require mesh topologies and ranges in excess of 10 meters.
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