Page 83 - IBT Full Pdf

Tech
By Nobonita Roy December 2021
NO STRINGS
ATTACHED
What
Bluetooth 5.2
means for the
world
If you have owned even a
single mobile phone over the
last couple of decades, you
have inevitably used the
Bluetooth feature on it at
some point or another. For a
technology standard that was
first unveiled in the mid-90s,
Bluetooth has continued to
stay relevant for a
remarkable period of time,
and it has aged like fine
wine, steadily improving with
each new iteration. To this
day, Bluetooth remains the
world’s foremost technology
of choice for inter-device
connectivity for short ranges.
Whether it is for streaming
audio to wireless earphones,
or for quickly sending photos
to a friend’s phone without
having to fiddle with cables
or computers, Bluetooth does
it all. And now, with the
arrival of Bluetooth 5.2, the
latest version of this beloved
protocol, things are about to
get even better.
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Every new iteration of Bluetooth gets
stamped with a new version number, and
Bluetooth 5.2, the latest of the litter, is
no exception to this. Compared to the
last generation of Bluetooth, version 4.x,
Bluetooth 5 already sports significant
updates, such as twice the speed, four
times the range (Bluetooth 5.2 has a
maximum operating range of a stunning
240 meters or 800 feet), and a data
bandwidth that is over eight times wider,
making glorious use of the 2.4GHz signal
band, which is already a popular choice
for various other wireless protocols, such
as most versions of Wi-Fi, because of the
wide coverage it can provide. For version
5.2, which is more of an incremental
update, the Bluetooth technology has
nevertheless undergone several deep
revisions for this particular round, and
thanks to its new EATT (Enhanced
Attribute Protocol), it is expected to
vastly improve the quality of Bluetooth
connections between all upcoming
devices that would support its latest
version. EATT minimizes latency of
application operations, and opens up
new ways to perform concurrent
exchanges of information between
Bluetooth 5.2 devices. Pairings are
substantially quicker and less confusing,
and even the devices themselves are
more likely to show up in searches
because of their higher signal strength,
reducing hassle and frustration by a
great deal on the part of the user.
Bluetooth 5.2 has also implemented a
new technology called LEPC (Low Energy
Power Control) that ensures and
maintains the signal quality while
actively reducing background
interference caused by signal streams
from any nearby devices. And indeed, in
a world where we are essentially
swimming in wireless signals being
emitted from every device under the sun,
it can get quite difficult for a device to
punch through the ether and make itself
heard, which is where LEPC really
shines. By enabling Bluetooth
5.2-supported devices to efficiently
monitor their proximity to each other in
real time and use that as a steady
identifier, even interference from
powerful signal sources like Wi-Fi routers can be safely
overcome. The relative position of devices in a Bluetooth 5.2
link can also be used by features like ‘Find My Phone’ to
quickly locate where a device is at the moment in physical
space, allowing misplaced devices to be quickly found. Such
technologies can also boost the use of device identifier tags to
pinpoint the position of particular objects to which said tags
are attached, and its uses are only limited by the users’
imagination.
Bluetooth 5.2 is also the first iteration of the protocol to
introduce Broadcast Audio – a really nifty feature that allows
multiple devices to simultaneously connect to a single source
over Bluetooth, something that was not previously possible.
For example, while past versions of Bluetooth allowed the
pairing of any number of wireless headphones with a phone, it
only allowed one pair of wireless headphones to remain
connected with the device at a time. On the other hand,
Broadcast Audio opens up a myriad of avenues for connection
streams to be maintained
simultaneously across multiple
devices from the same source,
allowing the same media to be
enjoyed by individual users at
the same time. For instance, as a single cohesive unit over Bluetooth hearing-impaired individuals
viewers can now enjoy a film on 5.2, with separate lines of transmission can look forward to
separate Bluetooth headphones for left and right channels of audio, experiencing miniaturized
that are receiving audio which can massively improve the wireless hearing aids that
streams from the same source overall listening experience. would boast stellar battery life.
that is playing the film, with no Alongside the Low Energy Power Bluetooth 5.2’s main
latency or synchronization Control feature, Bluetooth 5.2 has also innovations and improvements
problems. This even gives introduced Low Energy Audio, an are centered around the
viewers the option to switch entirely new standard for audio streaming of audio data, and it
between audio streams in transmission that is replacing Classic remains to be seen in what new
different languages for the Audio, the legacy audio transmission exciting ways it is going to be
same film, should such options protocol used by prior versions of put to use in the upcoming
exist. The same source can also Bluetooth. The new standard involves days, but with Bluetooth 5.2
be used to broadcast the same the use of a new and highly efficient yet to be adopted by much of
music across separate audio codec called LC3 that boasts the market, it will take some
Bluetooth speakers within a vastly superior sound quality because time for the protocol to become
household in a hassle-free way. of its improved compression and mainstream. Thankfully,
Previously, pairs of wireless decompression techniques, while Bluetooth 5.2 is fully
earbuds required the pairing of keeping power consumption and battery backward-compatible, so no
one specific earbud from a pair, which was used as a master drain at a minimum. Since Bluetooth is existing gear would need to be
relay for the other unit. However, with the introduction of a a protocol that sees the most action in tossed out to make room for
new feature called isochronous channels that has been portable battery-powered devices, such new ones. However, in order to take full advantage of its
introduced in Bluetooth 5.2, it is now possible for individual efficiency is more than welcome. It entire feature set, all the devices involved in a particular
earbuds from a pair to be paired simultaneously, eliminating would also enable the option for scenario would require to support the Bluetooth 5.2 standard,
the need for their interdependence, something that can be a simultaneous audio streams from and it remains a fact that with so many existing devices in the
boon for voice assistance prospects in the future. The data multiple apps, and enable efficient market that makes use of older iterations of the Bluetooth
streams used for isochronous channels are called Connected streaming of audio to multiple devices technology, by the time Bluetooth 5.2 goes mainstream, a new
Isochronous Streams (CIS), and they are capable of from one source. iteration of the protocol may very well show up. However,
bidirectional data transfer, not just unidirectional, allowing that’s how the world of technology has always worked, and
control data to be sent back to the source device from the If all these updates and upgrades were the adoption of newer technology has always been determined
not enough, thanks to the innovations
connected Bluetooth peripherals. A pair of earbuds can work by the test of time.
brought along by Bluetooth 5.2,