What is Bluetooth?
Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) is similar to the Bluetooth technology that you use for your phone, computer and headphone connectivity.
However, it is specifically designed for IoT solutions with low data transmission requirements, hence extending battery life as an outcome. BLE is the common Bluetooth connectivity protocol used in fitness trackers, where as Bluetooth (‘classic’) is the connectivity protocol used in wireless headphones.
Bluetooth, whether Bluetooth ‘classic’ or BLE, has a transmit distance of 10-30 metres. For a more comprehensive explanation, refer to the video below.
What is Bluetooth – Explanatory Video
Uses in Agriculture (AgTech)
BLE is not commonly used for in field IoT, however providers are finding applications in deployments such as animal tracking. The benefits of using BLE for these examples is that the tag life is long, it doesn’t need solar recharging (hence a lighter weight unit) and can transmit data each time the livestock come to a common point, such as a water point, where the BLE central device is installed.
One provider is HerdDogg. Learn more here.