LAS VEGAS—The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) has a new wireless audio standard, LE Audio, which will enable previously unheard-of functions.
LE Audio is short for Low Energy Audio, and is based on the Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) radio for sound transmission. Previously, BLE was only used for non-audio functions, like enabling remote control of consumer devices. It's a separate radio from the Bluetooth Basic Rate and Enhanced Data Rate (BR/EDR) radios used by standard Bluetooth audio devices, which Bluetooth SIG now calls Bluetooth Classic.
Streaming sound over BLE radio is made possible by the Low Complexity Communication Codec (LC3), a low-power audio codec. According to Bluetooth SIG and Fraunhofer IIS, LC3 offers superior audio quality and a 50 percent lower bit rate compared with the low-complexity subband codec (SBC) used in standard Bluetooth audio devices. This is an impressive accomplishment, but it doesn't mean that LC3 will sound as good as or better than the more complex Advanced Audio Codec (AAC) or aptX codecs that provide higher-quality sound than SBC. Because of this, LE Audio is less likely to be used in high-end headphones.
However, LE Audio's low-power consumption will enable the use of Bluetooth in a new category of devices: hearing aids. According to Bluetooth SIG and the European Hearing Instrument Manufacturers Association (EHIMA), "LE Audio will be one of the most significant advances for users of hearing aids and hearing implants." LE Audio hearing aids will provide Bluetooth features, including streaming audio, to users who require the devices to deal with hearing loss.
LE Audio also supports new multiple device and broadcast audio streaming functions, which Bluetooth Classic does not. Broadcast Audio is a new feature for LE Audio that enables an audio source device (like a smartphone) to send the same audio stream, or a number of audio streams, to an unlimited number of audio sink devices (like headphones) within its range. On the consumer level this will enable users to share their music with friends over LE Audio. On the commercial level, this will let event venues like theaters and arenas broadcast audio feeds to anyone in the audience with an LE Audio device.
Multiple audio streams are also enabled at smaller and more personal scales with LE Audio's Multi-Stream Audio feature. It lets an audio source broadcast multiple synchronized streams to multiple devices at once, and could improve the performance of true wireless earphones and other devices.
Bluetooth SIG plans to release LE Audio specifications over the first half of 2020, after which audio device manufacturers will be able to design and produce products that use LE Audio.