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General explanation of BLE

What is Bluetooth Low Energy?​

Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) is a wireless communication technology designed for very low power consumption while maintaining reliable communication and sufficient range.

Introduced with Bluetooth 4.0, BLE is optimized for:

  • short and infrequent data transmissions
  • battery-powered devices
  • IoT use cases (sensors, beacons, wearables)

Unlike classic Bluetooth, BLE prioritizes energy efficiency over high data throughput.

BLE architecture​

BLE architecture is structured into several layers:

  • Physical Layer (PHY): handles radio transmission in the 2.4 GHz band
  • Link Layer: manages connections, advertising, and synchronization
  • Host:
    • L2CAP: data multiplexing
    • ATT (Attribute Protocol): data access
    • GATT (Generic Attribute Profile): data structure (services and characteristics)
    • GAP (Generic Access Profile): roles and communication modes

Data is organized into:

  • Services
  • Characteristics
  • Descriptors

Advertising vs Connected mode​

BLE mainly operates in two modes:

Advertising​

  • One-way communication
  • No connection required
  • Very low power consumption
  • Used for:
    • beacons
    • broadcast data (telemetry, identification)

Connected mode​

  • Bidirectional communication
  • Requires a connection between a central (e.g., smartphone) and a peripheral
  • Enables:
    • read/write operations
    • continuous data exchange
  • Higher power consumption than advertising

ELA Innovation BLE implementation​

ELA Innovation BLE devices are optimized for industrial and IoT use cases with the following features:

  • Supported modes:

    • Advertising (beacons, telemetry)
    • Connected mode (configuration, maintenance)

  • Protocols used:

    • Custom advertising frames (e.g., ELA frames)
    • GATT services for configuration and data access

  • Optimizations:

    • Low power consumption
    • Advanced advertising interval configuration
    • Compatibility with market standards (iBeacon, Eddystone)

  • Use cases:

    • indoor positioning
    • asset tracking
    • connected sensors

The architecture is designed to ensure robustness, scalability, and ease of integration.