Instakat
Instakat

Reputation: 101

Difference between primary and secondary phy?

In android SDK 28+, Bluetooth Advertising can be performed using the new startAdvertisingSet() methods that integrate Bluetooth 5. One of the parameters, an AdvertisingSetParameters object, has two settable properties in its builder: setPrimaryPhy() and setSecondaryPhy().

I'm wondering what the difference is between the primary and secondary phy - are they used at different times? For different processes? Thanks in advance!

Upvotes: 0

Views: 758

Answers (1)

Bogdan Alexandru
Bogdan Alexandru

Reputation: 5542

You can use the secondary PHY to talk to other devices supporting the secondary PHY. Why would you want to do that?

  • Majority of devices today use the primary PHY, so by moving to a secondary PHY you avoid collisions with the existing primary PHY ecosystem and get improved communication.
  • On the secondary PHY the bitrate is double, so it comes with all the advantages of a higher bitrate.

So in principle you should use the secondary PHY anytime you can, i.e., anytime you are very likely to talk to devices that support it.

Upvotes: 1

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