After various other developments with partners, within EU FP6 project MIMOSA, the technology was brought out for the public in October 2006 with brand name of Wibree. After dialogues with Bluetooth SIG members, in the month of June 2007, an agreement was signed to include Wibree in the future Bluetooth specification as a very low-power Bluetooth technology.
There will actually be two different types of Wibree implementations. One of the implementations is based on the Wibree stand-alone chip and the other one based on the Wibree-Bluetooth dual-mode chip which will be able to serve different purposes and be set up on different devices. Stand-alone Wibree chips would be put through small and low cost devices like sensors, wireless mouse and keyboards and toys. The Wibree-Bluetooth dual-mode chips would likely be implemented in next generation mobile phones, thus allowing users to gain from both worlds, from Bluetooth 2.0 high speed as well as the Wibree's low power and extended ability to intercommunicate with a new generation of small wireless devices.
June 12, 2007 – The Bluetooth Special Interest Group or SIG which is having more than 8,000-company strong trade association and which is creditworthy for advancing Bluetooth wireless technology, joined hands with Nokia in the 12th of June, 2007, to declare that the Wibree Forum, the group defining the Nokia developed ultra low power wireless technology, will be unified with the Bluetooth SIG. This announcement makes the Wibree specification a part of the Bluetooth specification as one of the ultra low power Bluetooth technology. As Wibree covers devices with very low battery capacity and it can be easily incorporated with Bluetooth technology, it will h Bluetooth technology’s wireless PAN or Personal Area Networking, and strengthen the ability of the technology to provide wireless linkage for smaller devices.
Wibree is configured to work side-by-side with and help in the operation of Bluetooth. It works in 2.4 GHz ISM band with a physical layer bit rate of 1 Mbit/s. major applications include devices like wrist watches, toys, wireless keyboards and sports sensors where low power consumption is the major requirement in the designing process. The technology was declared on the 3rd of October, 2006 by Nokia. The partners that presently license the technology and join forces in defining the specification are Nordic Semiconductor, CSR, Broadcom Corporation and Epson. Other contributors are Taiyo Yuden and Suunto. Wibree is actually not configured to replace Bluetooth; it is rather a device to complement the technology in various supported devices.
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