CC2564C: Is CC2564C blue tooth 4.2 or blue tooth 5.1? Why TI support line says it is blue tooth 4.2 but TI product data sheet says it is blue tooth 5.1?

Hi,

The CC2564C as a controller is certified for BT5.1. So we support all of the HCI commands and required BT features as listed in the BT5.1 spec. If you were to use a 5.1 stack with our CC2564C then you can submit it for qualification as a BT 5.1 product.

However, our current Bluetopia stack is only certified for BT4.2. So if you paired our controller with our stack, then they can only certify it as a 4.2 product. Now, our datasheet lists our CC2564C as a 5.1 product since that’s accurate when considering us as a BT controller. However, if you use our TI-provided free stack then you are limited by that Bluetopia certification. Do note that there are other free stacks such as BlueZ that may already be certified for BT5.1 that will allow you to certify your component system as 5.1.

One final note is that you should always review the declaration ID description for what is supported with our controller. The spec includes many features that don't need to be supported in order to certify a controller as BT 5.1. One example is BLE (Data Length Extensions), which is optional and not supported on the CC2564C. So regardless of whether BT 4.2 or 5.1 is supported, it is important for you to check the QDID to ensure that the features you need will be supported.

Let me know if you need more clarification or have further questions on this topic.

Regards,

Michael

Hi Michael,

Greetings! Posting in behalf of our customer(Quanying Peng). 

According to Bluetooth SIG website www.bluetooth.com/.../ Blue tooth 4.2 - Blue tooth 5.1 are all marked as "Legacy" standard. Could product based on these versions, for example, based on CC2564C and TI Bluetopia stack 4.2, still be able to pass the qualification test in the near future? (core specification 4.1 is marked as Deprecated and will come withdraw on Feb.1 2023).

Thank you for the answer. 

Best regards,

Jonathan

Hi Jonathan,

You will be able to pass the qualification tests for products certified with BT 4.2 and 5.1 for quite a while into the future, as while they are legacy specifications, they are still active with no public deprecation and withdrawal schedule.

https://www.bluetooth.com/archived-specifications/

As you point out, BT 4.1 is scheduled to be withdrawn in 2023, which is still a year+ away despite being a very old BT spec at this point. Even still, users who desire to design and certify on BT 4.1 can still do so up until that withdrawal date.

Given how long of a withdrawal timeline is in place for BT 4.1 and how there is no public schedule to do so for 4.2+, I think your customer can rest assured that we do not anticipate any qualification issues with BT 4.2 for the near future.

Regards,

Michael

Hi,

We will have an update to the Bluetopia stack to support BT 5.1, currently planned for later this year. Please contact your local TI field support team to email me directly if you need a more precise timeline.

Regards,

Michael