book

Getting Started with Bluetooth Low Energy

by Kevin Townsend, Carles Cufí, Akiba, Robert Davidson

April 2014

Beginner to intermediate

180 pages

4h 42m

English

O'Reilly Media, Inc.

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Who This Book Is ForHow to Use This BookOverview of BLETools for Development and TestingDevelopment PlatformsConventions Used in This BookUsing Code ExamplesSafari® Books OnlineHow to Contact UsAcknowledgments
What Makes BLE DifferentThe SpecificationConfigurationsBased on Specification SupportBased on Chip CountKey LimitationsData ThroughputOperating RangeNetwork TopologyBroadcasting and ObservingConnectionsProtocols versus ProfilesGeneric ProfilesUse-Case-Specific ProfilesSIG-defined GATT-based profilesVendor-Specific Profiles
Physical LayerLink LayerBluetooth Device AddressAdvertising and ScanningConnectionsHost Controller Interface (HCI)Logical Link Control and Adaptation Protocol (L2CAP)Attribute Protocol (ATT)ATT operationsSecurity Manager (SM)Security ProceduresPairing AlgorithmsSecurity KeysGeneric Attribute Profile (GATT)Generic Access Profile (GAP)
RolesModes and ProceduresBroadcast and ObservationDiscoveryDiscoverability modesDiscovery proceduresConnection EstablishmentConnection establishment modesConnection establishment proceduresAdditional GAP ProceduresSecurityAddress TypesAuthenticationSecurity ModesSecurity Modes and ProceduresAdditional GAP DefinitionsAdvertising Data FormatGAP Service
RolesUUIDsAttributesHandleTypePermissionsValueAttribute and Data HierarchyServicesCharacteristicsCharacteristic declaration attributeCharacteristic value attributeCharacteristic DescriptorsExtended Properties DescriptorCharacteristic User Description DescriptorClient Characteristic Configuration DescriptorCharacteristic presentation format descriptorExample ServiceAdvanced Attribute ConceptsAttribute CachingGATT Attribute Data in Advertising PacketsFeaturesExchange MTUService and Characteristic DiscoveryReading Characteristics and DescriptorsWriting Characteristics and DescriptorsServer-Initiated UpdatesSecurityGATT Service
nRF51822-EK (Nordic Semiconductors)Technical SpecificationsSoftDevice ArchitectureWorking with the nRF51822-EKExamples and ToolchainsCC2541DK-MINI (Texas Instruments)Other Hardware Platforms and ModulesLaird’s BL600 ModuleBluegiga’s BLE112/BLE113 ModulesRFDuino
PCA10000 USB Dongle and the Master Control PanelPCA10000 USB Dongle and WiresharkCC2540 USB Dongle and SmartRF SnifferSmartRF-to-Wireshark ConverterBluez hcitool and gatttool
Bluetooth Application AcceleratorSensorTagLightBlue for iOSnRF Master Control Panel for Android
Getting StartedGet the HardwareGet the SoftwareConfigure the HardwareStart a New ProjectInitializing the BLE LibraryConnecting to a Remote DeviceCommunicating with a Remote Device
Simple Battery-Level PeripheralScanning for Remote PeripheralsConnecting to Remote PeripheralsLooking Up Services Associated with a Remote PeripheralLooking Up Characteristics Associated with ServicesMethods for Reading and Decoding CharacteristicsiBeaconAdvertisingRangingImplementing an iBeacon AppApple Notification Center Service with an External Display

mbed BLE APIEmbedded ToolchainsInstalling GNU Tools on OS X and LinuxInstalling GNU Tools on WindowsnRF51822 GNU Codebase and Sample ProjectGetting the nRF51822 GNU CodebasenR51822 GNU Codebase StructureCompiling ProjectsWriting to the nRF51822Going Further

Content preview from Getting Started with Bluetooth Low Energy

Chapter 6. Debugging Tools

This chapter introduces useful several debugging and development tools for working with Bluetooth Low Energy. It includes hardware tools, such as wireless protocol analyzers or sniffers (which sniff traffic over the air, displaying the captured data in a UI to analyze later), and tools to interact directly with BLE peripherals during the debug process.

To keep things accessible to small startups or engineers and developers who are just getting started with BLE, this chapter focuses on inexpensive tools, rather than high-end products that can run thousands or tens of thousands of dollars.

PCA10000 USB Dongle and the Master Control Panel

The PCA10000 is a USB dongle included in Nordic Semiconductor’s nRF51822-EK (Working with the nRF51822-EK), a low-cost evaluation kit for the nRF51822 system-on-chip (SoC). While this kit is designed for embedded hardware engineers who are designing their own BLE peripherals, it might be worth purchasing the kit even if you are only developing mobile applications, because it includes a number of extremely useful debug tools for a relatively modest price tag.

One of these tools is the Master Control Panel (MCP), a Windows-based utility that turns the PCA10000 USB dongle into something that can simulate a BLE central device. It features an easy-to-use interface that allows you to see any data available on BLE peripherals in range or send data back to any peripheral you are connected to. This is particularly useful on Windows 7, ...