Introduction to Bluetooth® LE with STM32


This page contains information such as, application examples, document references, and tips related to STM32 Bluetooth® Low Energy protocol.

1. Bluetooth® LE overview

1.1. What is Bluetooth® Low Energy (BLE)?


Technologies


Bluetooth® Low Energy is a low-power, short range, wireless personal area network technology designed and marketed by the Bluetooth® Special Interest Group (Bluetooth® SIG[1]) to allow devices to communicate with each other.

The keys features are:

  • save battery consumption as few data need to be transmitted
  • create simultaneous connections as data packet are short
  • develop standardized applications specified by the Bluetooth® SIG
  • develop Mesh network applications
  • develop proprietary applications due to the flexibility of the services and characteristics creation

Most smartphones and tablets built since 2012 support Bluetooth® LE.

The STM32WB series[2], STM32WB0 series[3] and the STM32WBA series[4]are the ideal MCUs families for developing connected accessories that control sensors and transmit information to central devices.

Regarding the technology specifications, more information is available with the STM32WBx BLE Programming Manual [5].

2. Wiki Bluetooth® LE: pages breakdown

For users aware of this wiki Bluetooth® LE, see below the direct links to dedicated articles. For beginners, start reading the next chapter first.

3. Easy bring up with STM32WBA Series and Bluetooth® LE

From a hardware point of view, STMicroelectronics offers various boards to set up Bluetooth® LE connectivity solution on STM32 MCUs. The device architecture leverage state-of-the art STM32 ultra-low-power process node and is available up to 1 MB Flash and 128KB of SRAM

Evaluation board is :


On the software side, the STM32CubeWBA MCU Package[6] provides a software solution to allow customers to quickly and easily develop their own firmware thanks to:

  • several Bluetooth® SIG specified applications
  • several ST proprietary Bluetooth® LE applications
Audio Auracast


For more information on how to use and develop Bluetooth® LE applications see the Bluetooth® LE Software setup - STM32CubeWBA page.

3.1. STM32WBA software application notes and user manuals

3.2. STM32WBA hardware guidance

4. Easy bring up with STM32WB0 Series and Bluetooth® LE

From a hardware point of view, STMicroelectronics offers various boards to set up Bluetooth® LE connectivity solution on STM32 MCUs. The device architecture leverage state-of-the art Bluetooth® LE and ultra-low-power. It is available up to 512kB Flash and 64KB of SRAM

Evaluation board are :


On the software side, the STM32CubeWB0 MCU Package[7] provides a software solution to allow customers to quickly and easily develop their own firmware thanks to:

  • several Bluetooth® SIG specified applications
  • several ST proprietary Bluetooth® LE applications


For more information on how to use and develop Bluetooth® LE applications see the Bluetooth® LE Software setup - STM32CubeWB0 page.

4.1. STM32WB0 software application notes and user manuals

4.2. STM32WB0 hardware guidance

5. Easy bring up with STM32WB Series and Bluetooth® LE

From a hardware point of view, STMicroelectronics offers various boards to set up Bluetooth® LE connectivity solution on STM32 MCUs. The device architecture leverage state-of-the art STM32 ultra-low-power process node and is available from 256 KB up to 1 MB of Flash memory and up to 256 KB of SRAM.

Various packages are available: UQFN48, VQFN68, LGA86, WLCLSP100 and UFBGA129.

The first evaluation board is the P-NUCLEO-WB55 pack including a USB dongle and a Nucleo-64 board with STM32WB55 MCU.

NUCLEO-WB15CC is the newest entry-level development board for Bluetooth 5.2 applications running on the STM32WB15CC microcontroller. It offers 329 KB of Flash memory, 48 KB of RAM and necessary peripherals to suit engineers working on simple applications.

STMicroelectronics has expanded the STM32WB portfolio of dual-core multi-protocol microcontrollers (MCUs) by introducing the first STM32WB5MMG module provided on the STM32WB5MM-DK Discovery kit. The module enriches the STM32WB ecosystem and offers customers an easy way to add this BLE feature for faster time-to-market for the product introduction.

For more information on how to bring up the hardware to run simple Bluetooth® LE application check the Bluetooth® LE hardware setup page.

On the software side, the STM32CubeWB MCU Package[8] provides a software solution to allow customers to quickly and easily develop their own firmware thanks to:


For more information on how to use and develop Bluetooth® LE applications see the Bluetooth® LE Software setup - STM32CubeWB page.

6. Quick access to STM32WBA online resources

6.1. STM32WBA Bluetooth® LE MOOC (massive online courses)


MOOC helvetica dark blue.png MOOC - STM32WBA workshop Simplify your wireless design journey with ST, from MCU selection to RF certification.

7. Quick access to STM32WB online resources

7.1. STM32WB Bluetooth® LE videos

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STM32WB Online Training

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STM32WB Getting Started Series

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1st 32-bit Wireless module presentation

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STM32WB5MM-DK presentation

7.2. STM32WB Bluetooth® LE MOOC (massive online courses)


MOOC helvetica dark blue.png STM32WB Firmware Update Over the Air (FUOTA)
Basic information about software update STM32WB MCU line using different tools and techniques, including over the air methods

MOOC helvetica dark blue.png STM32 Bluetooth® LE MESH Introduction
How to build Bluetooth Mesh network with STM32WB using STM32WB55 Nucleo pack and its software package

MOOC helvetica dark blue.png STM32 Bluetooth® LE Security
Learn basic principles concerning BLE security concepts with STM32WB

7.3. STM32WB software application notes and user manuals

7.4. STM32WB hardware guidance

8. Specific tools

9. References

10. Terms and definitions

Term Definition
ACI Application control Interface
ATT Attribute protocol
BLE Bluetooth® Low Energy
DK Development kit
GAP Generic access profile
GATT Generic attribute profile
HCI Host control interface
L2CAP Logical link control adaptation layer protocol
MCU Microcontroller unit
PDU Protocol data unit
RF Radio frequency
RSSI Receive signal strength indicator
SIG Special Interest Group
UUID Universally unique identifier
WPAN Wireless personal area network