Is a term used in telephony and commonly used abbreviation for second-generation. 2G designs a wireless technology for cellular communication. Thanks to 2G, mobile phone networks could offer services such as text/picture or multimedia messages.

3G is an abbreviation designing third-generation of wireless technology for cellular communication. 3G enabled cellular networks to provide services such as fixed wireless Internet access and mobile internet access or video calls.

4G is an abbreviation designing fourth-generation of wireless technology for cellular communication, which came after 3G. 4G technology is also called International Mobile Telecommunications Advanced or IMT-Advanced. 4G standard was adopted for the first time in Korea in 2005 under the name WiMAX. 4G enables e.g. a video conference, 3D TV, high-definition mobile TV, etc.

An acronym for fifth-generation wireless standards with characteristics like fast data speed (e.g. downloading) or very low latency. 5G is also adapted to Internet-of-Things (D2D being device-to-device communication).

ANT is one of wireless protocols, comparable to Bluetooth® Low Energy, developed for sensor data exchange. This short-range wireless technology was designed and is marketed by Dynastream Innovations Inc company based in Canada.

ANT+, being a part of ANT protocol, enables sensors to exchange data with another ANT+ devices (e.g. smartphones, fitness equipment, vehicles) anytime and anywhere. More Information

An approach coupled to aggressive miniaturization of the antenna itself, using the same substrate technologies as the SiP leads to a new class of sub-systems termed Antenna in Package (AiP).

Beacon or wireless beacon detection transmits packets of data in regular intervals, and this data can be then picked up by devices like smartphones for instance. It has been developed to explore the full range of application possibilities for beacons using Bluetooth SMART and allowing indoor positioning, letting your phone know that you are in the range of a beacon.

BLE is an abbreviation for Bluetooth Low Energy, commercial name for BLE is Bluetooth® SMART.

Bluetooth is defined as wireless technology or a short-range radio technology standard. Bluetooth, pioneered by Ericsson, was first launched as a “cable replacement technology”. The idea was that devices that you connected together by cables – PC’s, phones, headphones, printers etc. – could be connected wirelessly instead, removing cable spaghetti over the desk. The name “Bluetooth” comes from a 10th century Danish King who united Danish tribes into a single kingdom – with the parallel being that this technology could unite disparate communication technologies..

This device supports both Classic Bluetooth and Bluetooth Low Energy – i.e. it can connect to either type of device. But it is not a “Low Power” device itself (as the need to support Classic means it cannot be). In practice, you find this kind of device in your phone, tablet or laptop (as these need to be able to connect to either type of device).

This is old style Bluetooth device, supporting the one of the earlier Bluetooth protocols. In practice, you would find this in an audio accessory, such as a headset, wireless speaker, or car connectivity module.

Bluetooth Low Energy “single mode” is a Bluetooth Low Energy device that only supports the Bluetooth Low Energy protocol. As such, it is a low power device. In practice this is what is used in your peripheral that you want to power for a long time of a simple battery, without the need for frequent recharges – your fitness tracker, or a sensor, or a mouse or remote control.

Bluetooth Special Interest Group (Commonly used abbreviation SIG) is a standards organization overseeing revisions of Bluetooth standards. SIG also supervises Bluetooth licensing and trademarks to manufacturers.

The Bluetooth Standard had various revisions overseen by Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG):

• V1.0: First release.
• V1.1: Mainly fixing errors in the v1.0, and added a signal strength indicator to the standard.
• V1.2: Speeded up initial discovery and connection, increased data rate.
• V2.0 + EDR: Major step up in data rate to around 2Mbit/s. Note that the EDR (enhanced data rate) is technically a “add-on” so a 2.0 device does not need to support this.
• V3.0 + HS: This allowed data rates of up to 24 Mbit/s, although confusingly, it doesn’t actually use Bluetooth to achieve this – the link is established via Bluetooth, but data transfer is then carried out by a 802.11 (basically WiFi) link. Also note that the HS, as for EDR is an “add-on”, so if you need it, check your device supports it.

Bluetooth Low Energy is a revision of Bluetooth standard (V4.0) adopted in 2010. This revision was similar to “classic” Bluetooth, but saved power by not needing a constant connection. Discovery and connection was also simplified. A commonly used abbreviation for Bluetooth Low Energy is BLE, the commercial name for Bluetooth Low Energy is Bluetooth SMART.

Designed for Low Power Applications where aim is LONG BATTERY LIFE (months/years off coin cell)

Aimed for applications where data volume is low

• occasional data exchange

BLE chip saves power by being in “sleep mode” most of the time

• Power consumption is strongly related to data rate

BLE evolution toward improved connectivity

• V4.0 = slave only
• V4.1 = master & slave
• V4.2 = IPv6 connectivity

Bluetooth Smart is the new commercial name for former Bluetooth Low Energy (abbreviation BLE).

Bluetooth Smart Ready is the commercial banner used for hosts.

D2D is an acronym for device-to-device commonly used in Internet-of-Things terminology.

Global Positioning System is more known under its abbreviation GPS. The GPS enables a device to detect an exact position on the Earth (altitude & longitude).

GPS is an abbreviation of the term Global Positioning System. GPS is a navigation system enabling a space positioning. Thanks to GPS, a receiving device detects an exact position on the Earth (altitude & longitude).

IMT-Advanced is a mobile telephony standard succeeding 3G. IMT-Advanced, enabling e.g. a video conference, 3D TV, high-definition mobile TV, etc., is marketed under the name 4G.

ISM Band meaning Industrial, Scientific and Medical Band is a specific part of radio frequencies reserved for industrial, scientific and medical applications. ISM band is not used for telecommunications.

LTE meaning Long-term Evolution is a wireless communication standard similar to 4G (fourth generation). LTE is a term commonly used in Scandinavian countries and United States, while 4G is employed more in Asia and Eastern Europe.

M2M is an acronym meaning machine-to-machine and being employed in Internet-of-Things terminology.

Bluetooth is a packet-based protocol with a master-slave structure. One master may communicate with several slaves, all devices share the master's clock. In other words, one device is a Master, controlling when communications are initiated, and the other is a Slave, which listens but only “speaks when spoken to”.

NFC is an acronym for Near-field communication being a type of short-range wireless technology based on Radio frequency. This protocol allows communication between 2 devices which begin to interact automatically once they are very close (their maximum distance is 4 cm).