While advertising, the device can also indicate if it is using a random MAC address, or using its own MAC address. Most other devices use the first advertisement type. Devices that need to quickly connect to something else use the second type.
The four types of advertisements are:ĭevices that only transmit, such as beacons, use the third advertising type. Certain devices cannot be connected to, and this depends on what is announced in the advertisement header. A listener can use the information in these packets to gather the information being advertised or connect to the advertiser.
A Bluetooth device, like any wireless device, announces itself to the world by sending out advertisement packets.īLE advertisements are a periodic unidirectional broadcast from the peripheral device to all devices around it. Since BLE now comes native on every modern phone, tablet, and computer, it also makes for a perfect starting point to connect with the vast multitude of devices that IoT promises to bring to the world. The power efficiency and low energy functionality make this protocol perfect for battery-operated devices. Bluetooth low energy (BLE) (also known as Version 4.0+ of the Bluetooth specification, or Bluetooth Smart) is the power- and application-friendly version of Bluetooth that was built for the Internet of Things (IoT). The Impact That MAC Randomization Has On Location Analyticsīluetooth is a wireless personal area networking standard for exchanging data over short distances.